Akari Kitō makes breaths and murmurs carry feelings that dialogue would usually explain. We admire her restraint as Nezuko in Demon Slayer, though her composed rivals and higher-voiced heroines give a fuller sense of what she can do.
Fi1m perspective
In Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Movie: Mugen Train (2020), Akari Kitō has little dialogue with which to make Nezuko Kamado felt. Breaths, growls and murmurs carry much of the feeling, and she makes them expressive without turning the character into a collection of vocal effects. The precision is worth listening for, even when the film is busy elsewhere. In an animated fantasy this forceful, a restrained performance can be easy to take for granted.
That restraint was already useful in the reserved Suzune Horikita, whom she voices in Classroom of the Elite (2017), where small changes in delivery allow the character to develop gradually. This was among the leading roles that followed her first major part, Calen in Time Bokan 24 (2016). Nezuko in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019) brought wider recognition. Nene Yashiro in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (2020) offers a useful contrast: an energetic, high-pitched voice distinct from Kitō’s naturally lower speaking tone.
Haruo Sotozaki’s Mugen Train places her alongside Natsuki Hanae, whose earnest Tanjiro Kamado gives the film a human focus amid the action. Kitō shares the ensemble’s willingness to take the characters’ feelings seriously, rather than treating sincerity as something that needs an apology. We found ourselves caring because the performances leave those feelings intact, without a joke arriving to dismiss them. That commitment helps the film earn its emotion, although Kyojuro Rengoku is chiefly responsible for how strongly it lands.
The reservation is that Nezuko gives us only a partial account of Kitō’s abilities: near-wordless expression leaves little opportunity to hear what she does with dialogue. Nor does the cast’s conviction prevent Mugen Train from becoming tiring when the music and action keep insisting. We recommend it for action fans, and suggest listening for Kitō amid the commotion. For a better sense of what she can do with words, follow it with Classroom of the Elite.
Biography
Akari Kitō is a Japanese voice actress and singer. Born on 16 October 1994 in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, she debuted in voice acting in 2014 and gained her first major role as Calen in the 2016 series Time Bokan 24.
She is best known for voicing Nezuko Kamado in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019) and its 2020 film Mugen Train, as well as roles including Suzune Horikita in Classroom of the Elite (2017), Nene Yashiro in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (2020) and Tsukasa Yuzaki in TONIKAWA: Over the Moon for You (2020). Kitō voices Talia Yang in the 2026 series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2. She has also pursued a solo music career since 2019 under Pony Canyon and is affiliated with the agency Raccoon Dog.
