Justin Briner

Justin Patrick Briner (born August 23, 1991 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA) is an American voice actor affiliated with FUNimation Entertainment. His best known roles include Mikaela Hyakuya in Seraph of the End, Izuku "Deku" Midoriya in My Hero Academia, Kensuke Hanasaki in Trickster, Qwenthur Barbotage in Heavy Object, Tazuna in Hand Shakers, and Elam in The Heroic Legend of Arslan.

Biography
Briner was born and raised in Maryland. He attended the University of North Texas 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, which was released through Funimation's broadcast dub service. He voiced Elam, a boy who serves Arslan's main party member Narsus, in The Heroic Legend of Arslan. He voiced main protagonist Qwenthur Barbotage in the mech-themed anime show Heavy Object.

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, and made Briner's name known in mainstream news.

In My Hero Academia, 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 noted that he and his Japanese counterpart "nail the optimistic nerdiness and heroic attitude" with Briner "channeling a bit of Morty Smith for good measure". The series has run for three seasons, with Briner and fellow voice actor Christopher Sabat doing panels and interviews at anime conventions including Anime Expo and San Diego Comic-Con 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 in the anime adaptation of Puzzle & Dragons X, and Nasu no Yoichi in the alternate history anime Drifters. In the prison comedy Nanbaka, 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 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.

Films

 * Rurouni Kenshin: The Final (2021) - Sōjirō Seta

Anime

 * B't X (1996) - Marcello (Anime Midstream Dub)
 * The Vision of Escaflowne (1996) - Additional Voices (FUNimation Dub)
 * One Piece (1999-present) - Palms, Additional Voices
 * Fairy Tail (2009-2019) - Eve Tilm (2nd voice; eps. 302-present), Male Random Adult Wizard A (ep. 319) , Additional Voices
 * Gosick (2011) - Theodore (ep. 8), Additional Voices
 * Rio: Rainbow Gate! (2011) - Additional Voices
 * Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (2012-2013) - Toru Hoshina, Additional Voices
 * Attack on Titan (2013-present) - Grisha Jaeger (Young), Additional Voices
 * Free! Iwatobi Swim Club (2013) - Additional Voices
 * Free! Eternal Summer (2014) - Additional Voices
 * Garo: The Animation (2014-2015) - Alfonso San Valiante
 * Dragon Ball Super (2015-2018) - Kuru, Young Vegeta (ep. 6), Citizen (ep. 15) , West City Civilian (ep. 17) , Ogre Guide (ep. 93)
 * Garo: Crimson Moon (2015-2016) - Minamoto no Yorinobu
 * Blood Blockade Battlefront (2015) - Additional Voices
 * The Heroic Legend of Arslan (2015) - Elam, Additional Voices
 * Show by Rock!! (2015-2016) - Arashi
 * Yamada-kun & the Seven Witches (2015) - Additional Voices
 * Drifters (2016) - Nasu Suketaka Yoichi
 * The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance (2016) - Elam
 * Joker Game (2016) - Additional Voices
 * My Hero Academia (2016-present) - Izuku "Deku" Midoriya
 * Orange (2016) - Additional Voices
 * Tales of Zestiria: The Cross (2016-2017) - Tao (ep. 0), Additional Voices
 * Black Clover (2017-2021) - Luck Voltia, Additional Voices
 * Garo: Vanishing Line (2017-2018) - Alan, Additional Voices
 * Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid (2017-present) - Additional Voices
 * Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card (2018) - Yukito Tsukishiro/Yue, Additional Voices
 * DARLING in the FRANXX (2018) - 9'α
 * Free! Dive to the Future (2018) - Ralph
 * Pop Team Epic (2018) - Popuko (ep. 1b), Additional Voices
 * ACTORS: Songs Connection (2019) - Minori Shido
 * Dr. Stone (2019-present) - Ginro, Additional Voices
 * Fire Force (2019-2020) - Sho Kusakabe, Matsuda (ep. 8), Additional Voices
 * Fruits Basket (2019-2021) - Boy Classmate B (ep. 22), Male Park B (ep. 22) , Male Funeral A (ep. 24) , Additional Voices

OVAs & Specials

 * One Piece 3D2Y: Overcoming Ace's Death! Luffy's Pledge to His Friends (2014) - Additional Voices
 * One Piece: Adventure of Nebulandia (2015) - Additional Voices

Anime Films

 * Hells (2008) - Additional Voices
 * One Piece Film: Gold (2016) - Additional Voices
 * Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic (2017) - Edward Midford
 * My Hero Academia: Two Heroes (2018) - Izuku Midoriya
 * My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (2019) - Izuku Midoriya

Video Game Dubbing

 * Akiba's Beat (2016) - Megane Taro, Additional Voices
 * Octopath Traveler (2018) - Additional Voices
 * My Hero One's Justice 2 (2020) - Izuku "Deku" Midoriya

Voice Director

 * Rio: Rainbow Gate!

Writer

 * Rio: Rainbow Gate!