- Interview Date: 8/22/2025
- Interview Location: Anime NYC 2025
- Interview Format: Round Robin
Anime Corner: The rivalry between Seto Kaiba and Yugi is one of the most iconic in modern anime. How do you approach the scenes whenever they clash?
Kenjiro Tsuda: Kaiba is a character with strong mental fortitude. Sometimes, he’ll be driven into a corner in battle, but he never gives up. That’s the mindset that I bring to those sessions.
Anime Corner: Do you relate to him in any way when he has that mentality?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I think he’s a cool person and I aspire to be like him. When you look at his duels, a lot of the time he is on the losing side, but in his mind he never loses. (Laughs)
Queens Gazette: You had said that there are times when episodes are packed with consecutive duels. “The staff would ask us, ‘How many duels can you handle today?’ They were constantly testing our endurance.’ What is the most amount of duels you’ve done in one day?
Kenjiro Tsuda: Probably two was the most. I believe that we could have done three. After two, the staff was concerned for our health.
Black Ramen Podcast: When picking up a new role, do you read the source material, or do you have the production crew tell you about how to play the character?
Kenjiro Tsuda: For Kaiba, I did read the source material as a reference. However, the TV series went on so long that there were anime-original episodes and films. For the anime-original episodes, there is no publicly available source material. The source material is important to draw from when playing the character. What I treasured most is how it felt when recording.
Anime Herald: Do you remember the casting process from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and if so, can you share some thoughts from that time?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I auditioned for the role. Back then, I was just starting my voice acting career. I had a lot of energy and I was aggressive going in. I think the production team enjoyed that energy.
The Natural Aristocrat: When it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh!, what is your most memorable fan interaction, at a convention or otherwise?
Kenjiro Tsuda: Most of the Yu-Gi-Oh! fans are really out there. (Laughs)
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Yu-Gi-Oh!. I do a lot of anime, and appear on TV. When I’m on set, or in the recording booth, a lot of staff who grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh! will quietly come up to me and say, “I used to be a duelist,” with a childlike expression on their face. They see Kaiba in me. Having that interaction makes me happy.
Anime Corner: Despite mainly being selfish and focusing on his own goals, Seto Kaiba occasionally helps out Yugi and his friends. Do you approach those moments differently than others?
Kenjiro Tsuda: To me, it’s the same motivation. Yugi is Kaiba’s biggest rival. If Yugi loses, it’s the equivalent of Kaiba losing as well. He wants Yugi to be strong. That’s his motivation. To achieve the strongest self, Kaiba will help Yugi. The ulterior motive is to become stronger himself. The crazed enthusiasm to be strong is the appeal of Kaiba.
Queens Gazette: Why do you think people love Kaiba’s powerful lines?
Kenjiro Tsuda: He’s such a strong character. With his charisma, he doesn’t care about the rules other people created. He creates his own rules. From an outside perspective, he’s annoying, but when you take it to that extreme, it feels good to see him push the limits like that. Fans admire that part of him.
Doctor Anime: How did you change your approach as the series went on?
Kenjiro Tsuda: My approach hasn’t changed. However, ten years after the initial series ended, I voiced Kaiba in a video game. One of the reactions on the internet was “Wow, he aged.”
That really pissed me off. When I did Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions, I really gave it my all so I could negate the effects of aging. (Laughs)
Black Ramen Podcast: Would your first passion be film directing? After your success with voice acting, would you ever go back to doing documentaries again?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I don’t want to do something halfway. For a time, I stayed away from directing and writing films. Then, I realized you only live once, and life is short. I am in the process of writing again, so maybe someday.
That said, I want to deepen my craft as an actor as well.
Anime Herald: When you first got the role of Seto Kaiba, did you ever imagine it would play such a large role in your career?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I never imagined it would. I think it was somewhat of a fated encounter. Playing Kaiba helped me grow as a voice actor. I grew alongside him.
The Natural Aristocrat: Knowing what you know now, if you could go back would you tell yourself to do anything differently?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I would tell myself that this is such an amazing series and it will grow a lot. Back then, I was still working at a part time job. I would tell myself this is a career-defining role for you, so go full throttle.
The Natural Aristocrat: What was the part time job?
Kenjiro Tsuda: Lots of them. (Laughs)
(Editor’s note: There was a brief discussion about New York. This was Mr. Tsuda’s first time visiting New York. He noted Jim Jarmusch and Spike Lee graduated from NYU. He felt like Hollywood film directors had pressure to be commercial, while New York directors were edgy and artistic. “I am attracted to that. Being here and seeing steam rising out of the manholes has been great.”)
Anime Corner: If Seto Kaiba could see how modern Yu-Gi-Oh! is, how would he feel about it?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I think he would enjoy it. Kaiba is the kind of person who pursues state of the art technology. In the film, he went up to space. I think he would probably be interested in AI.
Queens Gazette: How have fans who grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh! different or the same between America and Japan?
Kenjiro Tsuda: The same. I haven’t had much interaction with US Yu-Gi-Oh! fans, but they are probably the same.
I think that Yu-Gi-Oh! has such a multi-faceted appeal to the series. There’s the story and the characters, as well as the gameplay, and the experience of collecting the cards. The fans deeply love the series, the characters, and the story. That’s something they all have in common.
Doctor Anime: A lot of the time Kaiba is viewed as an antagonist or rival. Fans love him as a tragic character. How do you portray that side of him?
Kenjiro Tsuda: In the story, narratively Kaiba is sometimes portrayed as a villain, sometimes as a rival. He’s a supporting character. But he doesn’t think of himself as a supporting character. I think that (Kazuki) Takahashi-sensei had a mind to turn anything negative that he felt into a positive thing. He reflected that in Kaiba more than he did with Yugi. When I play Kaiba, I try to channel that dark side that Takahashi-sensei had.
Black Ramen Podcast: Where do you see the Japanese voice acting industry going in the next five years and do you have any concerns about [Generative] AI?
Kenjiro Tsuda: Traditionally, the Japanese voice acting industry has followed the old system of how things were done. I do think we will see changes in how the industry operates. I am the kind of person who will welcome and adapt to the changes. I feel positive for the future of the voice acting industry in Japan.
The distinction for drama, film, and voice acting has traditionally been very clear. However, a lot of voice actors, myself included, have started appearing on TV, and vice versa. I think the boundaries are being broken.
AI is such a complicated issue. Japan is very slow to adjust laws and regulations and adapt to things like that. I hope we can speed things up to catch up. If there’s anything I can do to help facilitate that, I’d be happy to.
AI can probably capture superficial things like the voice and the tone, but when it comes to acting, it’s intrinsically human. AI will probably not be able to capture the soul of a character, so I’m not too pessimistic.
There might be a new generation that might prefer AI voice and AI acting, like with vocaloids, but I do believe it is the human voice that can touch the human soul.
Anime Herald: That was a tremendous answer.
I’m going to lighten this up. Do you have any fun stories from recording Yu-Gi-Oh! that you would like to share?
Kenjiro Tsuda: All of the recording sessions were fun. It’s such a fun place to be. Sometimes, Takahashi-sensei would come to the recording sessions and we would hang out afterwards.
Thinking back, the voice actor for Yugi, Shunsuke Kazama, was sixteen. He would show up for the recording sessions in his school uniform. Having seen that, and to see him grow up and become a tremendous actor in Japan is giving me a lot of feelings.
The Natural Aristocrat: Between the TV series, the movies, and the games, what has been the most challenging line to deliver?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I’ve gotten used to doing this. Sometimes the IP will collaborate with clothing and merchandise. I have to say the product names in Kaiba’s voice. Sometimes I wonder if it sounds okay. That was the hardest thing to balance. But the rest of voicing him has always been fun.
Doctor Anime: Now that it is the 25th anniversary for the anime, why do you feel it is so beloved?
Kenjiro Tsuda: I would like to know that, myself. What drew US fans to Japanese anime? Maybe there was something different about Japanese anime.
I remember the daily struggle in middle school. I would go to the movie theater and see movies with James Dean and Audrey Hepburn. That was my escape from reality. Perhaps for a lot of global fans, it is anime and manga that gives them that escape and happiness that they need to face reality again.
If there is something universal, it doesn’t matter where it comes from.