Natsuki Hanae gives earnest young heroes a clear, youthful voice that can turn harsh under pressure. We rate him most for keeping their compassion audible, though that recognisable sound can make different characters feel too close together.
Fi1m perspective
Listen to the change from quiet speech to a cry in Natsuki Hanae's performances: the clear, high tenor can acquire a roughness that sounds physically costly. As Tanjiro Kamado in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025), he plays a protagonist whose kindness matters alongside his determination. His youthful delivery suits a character who has to endure pain without becoming indifferent to anyone else's. We were moved by his Tanjiro's compassion, because Hanae gives concern for suffering the same urgency as the resolve to fight.
Tokyo Ghoul (2014) gave him Ken Kaneki and the vocal extremes of a character undergoing transformation. In Your Lie in April (2014), Kōsei Arima required quieter work around trauma and a return to music. Those parts established two demands that suit him: making distress audible in ordinary speech, then finding the force for an outburst. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019) brought the international breakthrough and a sustained opportunity to adapt his performance as its protagonist matured.
Haruo Sotozaki's Infinity Castle supplies inventive animated combat and gives the demons enough history to make their suffering matter. Hanae's sympathetic delivery suits that willingness to care about who is being hurt. Repeated flashbacks make an already long film feel longer, however, and his emotional commitment cannot make every pause in the action welcome. We recommend it to series followers, with that substantial caveat about the pacing. For them, the familiarity of Hanae's voice is part of the attraction.
Dandadan (2024), in which he voices Ken Takakura, also called Okarun, makes further use of his vocal shifts during transformation. There is a danger of hearing the familiar Hanae sound before hearing a new character, and the distinction between roles needs more than a change in intensity. We prefer him when a quieter delivery lets us hear a character working through something difficult without immediately announcing the distress. Try Your Lie in April before asking him to raise his voice again.
Biography
Natsuki Hanae is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Across Entertainment. He was born on 26 June 1991 in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture. He joined the agency in 2009 after submitting a voice sample and made his debut in 2011. His first leading role came in the 2012 anime Tari Tari.
Hanae is best known for voicing Tanjirō Kamado in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba (2019) and its 2025 film Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle. Other prominent roles include Ken Kaneki in Tokyo Ghoul (2014), Falco Grice in Attack on Titan (2013), and Beam in Chainsaw Man (2022). In 2015 he received the Best Rookie award at the 9th Seiyuu Awards. He has co-hosted the radio programme ŌHana with Ryōta Ōsaka.
