Jujutsu Kaisen Star Discusses Voice Acting and the Industry's Gender Problems

By Evan Valentine

Megumi Ogata has long been a major actor in the world of anime, most recently giving life to Yuta Okkotsu, the primary hero of the prequel film of Jujutsu Kaisen 0, as well as Shinji Ikari of Neon Genesis Evangelion fame. With Ogata recently winning the award for Best Voice Actress during this year's Seiyu Awards in Japan, the voice actor took the opportunity to discuss some gender issues that the industry was facing, as well as touching upon her work of the past.  

Megumi began her quote, stating that she was surprised to win an award for "Best Actress," especially considering that around "70%" of her roles in the realm of anime are for characters who are young men: 

"I have never really thought of myself as actress, per se. These days, we live in what's called a gender-free society, and in the voice actor world, there are people who have come out [as LGBTQ+]. There are also many people, like me, who hardly think of themselves as 'women' at all as they live their daily lives."  

Ogata added that she was happy to receive the award for the work that she's done in the past within the anime industry:

"I think that accepting the award will have significance within this industry, so I have decided to accept it sincerely. I am sorry for being pompous. I really am very happy."  

Finally, Megumi added that she was beyond proud when it came to the work she had done on Neon Genesis Evangelion and the films of the Rebuild series, with Ogata playing the role of Shinji Ikari for decades:

"I think that accepting the award will have significance within this industry, so I have decided to accept it sincerely. I am sorry for being pompous. I really am very happy."

Besides playing parts in Jujutsu Kaisen and Evangelion, Ogata has also played roles in numerous other anime properties such as Cardcaptor Sakura, Bleach, Assassination Classroom, Persona, and Detective Conan to name a few.

Are you hyped for the arrival of Jujutsu Kaisen 0 into theaters in North America later this month? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Jujutsu Tech.

Via ANN

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