Justin Briner is an American voice actor. He has provided voices for English-language versions of Japanese
anime
is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening o ...
films and television series with
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
. He is best known for his roles as
Izuku "Deku" Midoriya in ''
My Hero Academia
is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected in ...
'', Mikaela Hyakuya in ''
Seraph of the End
is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto with storyboards by Daisuke Furuya. The series is set in a world that allegedly comes to an end at the hands of a "human-made" virus, ...
'', Maki Katsuragi in ''
Stars Align
is a Japanese original anime television series written and directed by Kazuki Akane at studio Eight Bit. The series aired from October 10 to December 26, 2019.
On January 31, 2020, it was announced that there would be a Special Collaboration ...
'', Qwenthur Barbotage in ''
Heavy Object'', Alfonso San Valiante in ''
Garo: The Animation'', Luck Voltia in ''
Black Clover
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since February 2015, with its chapters collected in 33 ''tankōbon'' volumes ...
'', Kensuke Hanasaki in ''
Trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise ...
,'' Ichi in the game ''
Cibele'', Shō Kusakabe from ''
Fire Force
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Atsushi Ohkubo. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from September 2015 to February 2022, with its chapters collected in thirty-four ' ...
'' and Hanako/Amane Yugi from ''
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by AidaIro. It has been serialized in Square Enix's magazine '' Monthly GFantasy'' since 2014. It has been collected in eighteen ''tankōbon'' volumes as of August 2022. The story follows Ne ...
''.
Biography
Justin Briner was born and raised in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean ...
.
He has a younger sister, Hayley Briner. He attended the
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...
and studied theater prior to finding voice acting work. In 2015, he starred as the voice of
Mikaela Hyakuya, one of the two main teenage orphans who turns into a vampire in the anime series ''
Seraph of the End
is a Japanese dark fantasy manga series written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto with storyboards by Daisuke Furuya. The series is set in a world that allegedly comes to an end at the hands of a "human-made" virus, ...
'', which was released through Funimation's broadcast dub service.
He voiced
Elam
Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stre ...
, a boy who serves Arslan's main party member Narsus, in ''
The Heroic Legend of Arslan
is a Japanese fantasy novel series written by Yoshiki Tanaka. It was published from 1986 to 2017, with sixteen novels and one side-story in the official guidebook ''Arslan Senki Dokuhon''. Set in ancient Persia, it is loosely based on the ...
''.
He voiced main protagonist
Qwenthur Barbotage in the mech-themed anime show ''
Heavy Object''. A reviewer wrote on Anime UK News that she was impressed with the quality of the dub and that Briner and fellow voice actor
Micah Solusod
Micah Solusod is an American voice actor. His best-known role in anime has been the title character Soul Evans in '' Soul Eater'', which was broadcast on Adult Swim's programming block ''Toonami''. He debuted as Malek Yildrim Werner in ''Blassr ...
"have a lot to do with how instantly likably the characters come across, which helps carry the whole show".
In video games, Briner voiced Ichi, the love interest of the main character, in ''
Cibele'', an indie video game about developing an
online relationship. ''Cibele'' won a
Nuovo Award at 2016
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...
,
and made Briner's name known in mainstream news.
In ''
My Hero Academia
is a Japanese superhero manga series written and illustrated by Kōhei Horikoshi. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 2014, with its chapters additionally collected in ...
'', Briner voiced the lead character
Izuku Midoriya, a middle school student who was not born with superhero powers but lives in a superhero-based world, and is recruited to enroll in a school for superheroes. Alex Osborn of
IGN described his performance as excellent and standout,
while Tom Speelman of
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed '' polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two t ...
noted that he and his Japanese counterpart "nail the optimistic nerdiness and heroic attitude" with Briner "channeling a bit of
Morty Smith
Mortimer Chauncey "Morty" Smith, Sr. is one of the eponymous characters from the American animated television series ''Rick and Morty''. Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, and voiced by the former, Morty is a 14-year-old boy loosely in ...
for good measure".
The series has run for six seasons, with Briner and fellow voice actor
Christopher Sabat doing panels and interviews at anime conventions including
Anime Expo
Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...
and
San Diego Comic-Con
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is co ...
regarding their work on the show.
Briner has continued to voice lead and main characters in other anime shows. He voiced
Alfonso San Valiante the crown prince in the first ''
Garo: The Animation'' series, which Robert Prentice of Three If By Space described the English cast "a great lineup", in particular highlighting Briner.
In 2016, voiced
Lance
A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike si ...
in the anime adaptation of ''
Puzzle & Dragons X,''
and
Nasu no Yoichi in the alternate history anime ''
Drifters''.
In the prison comedy ''
Nanbaka
, also known as ''Nanbaka - The Numbers'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Shō Futamata. An anime television series adaptation by Satelight aired between 5 October 2016 and 22 March 2017. The title is a play on words, ...
'', his vocal performance was described as "more awestruck and childlike" than that of the original Japanese counterpart.
Anne Laurenroth of Anime News Network found Briner's portrayal of
Kensuke Hanasaki in ''
Trickster
In mythology and the study of folklore and religion, a trickster is a character in a story (god, goddess, spirit, human or anthropomorphisation) who exhibits a great degree of intellect or secret knowledge and uses it to play tricks or otherwise ...
'' helped prevent his pre-backstory character from getting overly annoying.
Briner has also been involved in the production side as the head writer on the ADR script for ''
Rio: Rainbow Gate''.
In 2017, he voiced lead characters
Haruki Mishima in ''
Convenience Store Boy Friends'',
Tazuna Takatsuki in ''
Hand Shakers'', and Ernesti "Eru" Echavalier in ''
Knight's & Magic''.
In the same year, he landed the lead role of Justice "Seigi" Akatsuka in ''
Taboo Tattoo''.
Filmography
Anime
Films
Web series
Video games
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Briner, Justin
Living people
American male video game actors
American male voice actors
Male actors from Baltimore
Male actors from Texas
People from Denton, Texas
Twitch (service) streamers
University of North Texas alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American male actors