Yūki Masuda

For other uses, see Yuki Masuda (disambiguation).

Yūki Masuda (増田 裕生, Masuda Yūki; born September 12, 1979) is a Japanese actor and voice artist from the Tokyo Metropolitan area.

Yūki Masuda
増田 裕生
Born	(1979-09-12) September 12, 1979 (age 45) Tokyo, Japan
Occupations	Actor voice actor
Years active	1990–present
Height	171 cm (5 ft 7 in)

Career

Voice acting

Masuda’s breakthrough came with voice director Takayuki Hamana’s 2004 television adaptation of The Prince of Tennis. Cast as Masaharu Niō, a doubles specialist who “reads ten moves ahead,” he quickly became a fan favourite and has reprised the character in original-video animations, feature films and stage recordings.^[1][2]

Parallel to his anime work he joined the Sonic games, debuting in Sonic Heroes (2003). A 2024 casting survey by specialist outlet Siliconera lists Masuda among the returning Japanese leads for Sonic x Shadow Generations, underscoring Espio’s importance to the current franchise canon.^[3]

Other notable roles covered in the trade press include Ferb Fletcher in the Japanese dub of Phineas and Ferb, for which he supplied promotional comments during the Disney/Marvel crossover campaign.^[4]

Live-action and stage

Masuda’s highest-profile screen role remains Hiroshi Kuronaga, “Boy 9” of Class 3-B, in Kinji Fukasaku’s dystopian thriller Battle Royale (2000). The Arrow Video archival booklet names him in the principal cast list for both the original theatrical cut and the director’s edition.^[5]

On stage he has featured in several 2.5-dimensional musicals, among them the second Prince of Tennis live series, where reviewers singled out his chemistry with co-star Eiyū Tsuda for sustaining the franchise’s comedic “trick play” routines.^[2]

Filmography

Anime

1992

• The Little Twins (Tafuru)^[6]

2003

• Sonic X (Espio)

2004

• The Prince of Tennis (Masaharu Niou)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Daichi Misawa)

2005

• Idaten Jump (Masa)
• Ginga Legend Weed (Kyōshirō)

2006

• Eyeshield 21 (Riku Kaitani)
• Kekkaishi (Yoshiro Takemitsu)
• Strain: Strategic Armored Infantry (Colin)
• Tokko (Ajiro)
• Musashi Gundoh (Kirigakure Saizō)
• Red Garden (Luke)

2007

• Moribito: Guardian of the Spirit (Sune)

2008

• Kure-nai (Tadashi Kunō)
• True Tears (Jun Isurugi)
• Persona: Trinity Soul (Watanabe)

2010

• Angel Beats! (Fujimaki)
• Katekyo Hitman Reborn (G)
• Night Raid 1931 (Kiyoshi Mitani)
• Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (Breo)

2011

• Kamisama Dolls (Fujima, Torimasa)

2012

• The New Prince of Tennis (Masaharu Niou^[7])

Original video animation

• The Prince of Tennis series (Masaharu Niō)
• Red Garden: Dead Girls (Luke)

Film animation

• Only Yesterday (Shuji Hirota)

Video games

• Angel Beats! 1st Beat (Fujimaki)
• Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War (Charles VII of France)^[6]
• Sonic the Hedgehog series
  • Sonic Heroes (Espio the Chameleon)^[6]
  • Shadow the Hedgehog (Espio the Chameleon)
  • Sonic Heroes (Espio the Chameleon)
  • Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Espio the Chameleon)
  • Sonic Colors (Espio the Chameleon)^[6]
  • Sonic Generations (Espio the Chameleon)^[6]
  • Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (Espio the Chameleon)
  • Sonic Forces (Espio the Chameleon)^[6]
  • Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (Espio the Chameleon)
  • Sonic at the Olympic Games (Espio the Chameleon)
• The Prince of Tennis series (Masaharu Niou)
• Yu-Gi-Oh!
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 2 (Daichi Misawa)^[6]
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3 (Daichi Misawa)^[6]
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Tag Force 6 (Breo)^[6]
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V Tag Force Special (Daichi Misawa)^[6]
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links (Daichi Misawa)^[6]

Dubbing

• City of God (Bené (Phellipe Haagensen))^[8]
• One Tree Hill (Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray))^[9]
• Shameless (Lip Gallagher (Jeremy Allen White))^[10]
• Untraceable (Owen Reilly (Joseph Cross))^[11]

Live-action

• Battle Royale (Hiroshi Kuronaga)