Zach Aguilar has made a name for himself as a voice actor for characters who persevere, despite what the world may say.
Aguilar’s most famous role is the English dub voice of Tanjiro Kamado, the empathetic teenage sword-wielding hero of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, available on Hulu, Netflix, and Crunchyroll.
Aguilar’s role as Tanjiro has only grown with the Demon Slayer franchise, including Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, which debuted domestically with a $70 million box office haul, a record for an anime film.
The success of Infinity Castle has qualified it for a Critics Choice Association International Animation Award nomination at the organization’s Celebration of AAPI Cinema and Television, a Golden Globe nomination for Best Motion Picture, Animated, and an Astra Film Award nomination.
Outside of Demon Slayer’s battlefield, Aguilar plays Genos, the cyborg disciple with a jaw always clenched in frustration and an ego always bruised, in One-Punch Man. His other roles include Netflix’s anime series Blue Box, in which he plays the lead, Taiki.
And for those reeling from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, he’s also the voice of David Martinez, a role that called for a different kind of emotional vulnerability.
In an exclusive interview with Where Is The Buzz, Aguilar discussed his work with heavy subject matter, the changing place of anime in world film, and his four choices for his personal Mount Rushmore of anime characters.
Preparation, he said, depends on what the production allows. With Demon Slayer, he used the manga as a guide to prepare for the toughest moments of the story. With Edgerunners, however, he did not know what to expect.
“They purposefully didn’t tell me what was going to happen until we were about to record the scene,” Aguilar said. “I didn’t get the script beforehand.”
The method gave his performance the feel of real-time shock, especially on the days he worked on the more traumatic moments of the story. Afterward, he prefers to decompress rather than think too much about what he had just done.
“After recording on those more emotional days, I usually shut myself in my dark bedroom and watch TV to wind down,” he said.
For the voice actor, the recognition Infinity Castle has brought to the industry has been both personal and professional. He grew up with anime, which, back then, was considered” weird.” To see it recognized by the industry and the general film community has been “surreal.”
“A lot of my friends growing up didn’t understand it, and I was picked on in school for liking it,” he said. “I don’t know how to tell you how incredible it is to see Demon Slayer receive such recognition.”
Even with the franchise’s massive popularity, the responsibility of meeting the fans where they are remains personal.
“I feel incredibly blessed to be part of it and hope I can meet fan expectations performance-wise as the franchise moves forward,” Aguilar said. “I’m going to give it everything I’ve got and then some.”
However, when the topic turned to Genos, Aguilar sounded like a fan first. He revealed that he actually read the original webcomic before auditioning, and he even auditioned for other parts, but Genos is the one he really wanted to play.
“He’s just really relatable,” Aguilar said. “He’s always working hard to be the best he can be.”
The key to Genos’ popularity, Aguilar said, was his character, built on hard work, frustration, and loyalty. A character who would try, fail, try again, and show up to the fight looking fearless.
“He might not win a lot of fights, but at least he looks cool while giving it his all,” Aguilar said.
Aguilar also talked about the strange perk of being familiar with multiple fandoms. He hopes that fans will continue to be immersed in the world, despite being familiar with his voice, and that they will notice it at all.
Playing David Martinez was a departure from the good-boy roles he usually gets, and Aguilar is eager to continue breaking out of the mold.
“I think playing a villain in the future would be super fun and a nice challenge,” Aguilar said.
The final question was: which anime shows were on his Mount Rushmore?
Aguilar laughed and quickly ruled out the shows he had already mentioned, and gave his answers with the confidence of someone who had been immersed in this world their whole lives: Naruto, Goku, Luffy, and Edward Elric.
