You know that feeling when you're watching a heavy, emotional anime and a voice just... clicks? It’s familiar, but you can’t quite place it. That’s exactly what happens for most fans watching the English dub of the 2016 masterpiece Koe no Katachi. If you’ve been wondering who does Max Mittelman voice in A Silent Voice, the answer is Satoshi Mashiba.
He’s the tall, somewhat lanky redhead with the famously thick eyebrows.
Honestly, Mashiba is one of those characters that feels a bit like an enigma. He shows up later in the story, riding that fine line between being a supportive friend and someone with a terrifyingly rigid moral compass. Max Mittelman, who most people recognize as the loud, energetic Ryuji from Persona 5 or the hilariously bored Saitama from One-Punch Man, brings a totally different vibe here. It's subtle. It's grounded.
Why Max Mittelman as Satoshi Mashiba Actually Works
Mashiba isn't your typical anime sidekick. In the movie, he’s the guy who befriends Shoya Ishida and Nagatsuka, eventually joining their group to help with a student film. But there’s a darkness to him. He has this deep-seated hatred for bullies because he was picked on as a kid—mostly for those eyebrows, which he’s actually quite sensitive about.
Mittelman has this incredible ability to sound like a "regular guy" while hiding a layer of intensity underneath. In A Silent Voice, Mashiba is generally calm and friendly. However, when the topic of bullying comes up, his tone shifts. You can hear the edge in Mittelman’s delivery. It’s a performance that doesn’t rely on the "screamy" shonen tropes he’s famous for in other series.
The Layers of the Character
Mashiba is often seen as a bit of a "perfect" student on the surface. He's popular, he's handsome in a quirky way, and he seems well-adjusted. But the movie hints at his internal struggles. He’s impulsive. He’s prone to violence when he thinks someone is being "bad."
When you listen to the English dub, Mittelman captures that specific brand of self-righteousness perfectly. It’s not a villainous voice, but it’s a voice that makes you realize this kid might be just as broken as Shoya, just in a different direction.
Beyond the Movie: The Voice Acting Context
Max Mittelman is a titan in the industry now, but back when the A Silent Voice dub was being recorded around 2017, he was still cementing his status as a lead actor. The dub was directed by Stephanie Sheh, who is known for being incredibly meticulous with emotional beats.
If you look at the cast list, it’s basically a "who’s who" of modern voice acting:
- Robbie Daymond as Shoya Ishida
- Lexi Cowden (who is actually deaf) as Shoko Nishimiya
- Kira Buckland as Naoka Ueno
- Amber Lee Connors as Miki Kawai
Mittelman fits into this ensemble like a missing puzzle piece. While Shoya is drowning in guilt and Nagatsuka is providing the comic relief, Mashiba (Mittelman) acts as a bit of a wildcard. He’s the outsider looking in on a group of people with a very messy shared history.
A Departure from Saitama and Ryuji
Most fans are used to Mittelman’s "high-energy" roles. If you’ve played Genshin Impact, you know him as the boisterous Arataki Itto. If you’re a Persona fan, "For real!?" is probably etched into your brain.
In A Silent Voice, he dials it back by about 80%.
It’s a reminder that voice acting isn't just about the "cool" voices or the big screams. It’s about the quiet moments. Mashiba’s interactions with Miki Kawai, for instance, are played with a soft, almost detached kindness. It makes the moments where he loses his cool—like when he offers to beat up Shoko’s bullies—feel much more jarring.
The Impact of the English Dub
There’s always a debate in the anime community about "Sub vs. Dub." With A Silent Voice, the English version is widely respected, largely because of the casting choices. Having a deaf actress play Shoko was a huge deal for authenticity, but the supporting cast needed to be just as strong to ground the realism of a high school setting.
Mittelman’s Mashiba feels like a real teenager. He’s not a caricature. He’s a guy trying to find his place in a social circle that he doesn't fully understand yet.
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If you haven’t revisited the movie in a while, it’s worth watching just to hear how different Max sounds compared to his current roles. It’s a masterclass in "less is more."
Identifying the Performance in Other Projects
If you enjoyed his work in this film, you’ve probably heard him elsewhere without even realizing it. He’s Atsushi in Bungo Stray Dogs, where he plays a much more frantic and nervous protagonist. He’s also Meruem in Hunter x Hunter, which is perhaps his most "menacing" and philosophical role to date.
The range is honestly kind of stupid.
Going from a genocidal ant king to a sensitive piano prodigy in Your Lie in April (Kousei Arima), and then to a high schooler with an eyebrow complex in A Silent Voice, shows why he’s one of the most booked actors in Los Angeles.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans
If you're looking to dive deeper into Max Mittelman's filmography or the world of A Silent Voice, here is what you should do next:
- Watch the "Making of" Content: Look for interviews with Stephanie Sheh regarding the casting of A Silent Voice. She often discusses why specific actors were chosen for these nuanced roles.
- Compare the Manga: If you've only seen the movie, read the manga. Mashiba’s character is much more fleshed out there. You get a deeper look into his backstory and his specific brand of "justice" that Max captures so well in his vocal performance.
- Check out LAVA: Max is part of a group called LAVA with Ray Chase and Robbie Daymond. They do a lot of live streams and "behind the scenes" content. It’s a great way to see his natural personality versus the characters he plays.
- Listen for the "Micro-Shifts": The next time you watch the film, pay attention to the scene where Mashiba learns about Shoya's past. Listen to how Mittelman changes the pitch and pacing of his words. It's a subtle masterclass in character development through audio.
The role of Satoshi Mashiba might not be the loudest in Max Mittelman’s career, but it’s certainly one of the most interesting. It proves that even in a story about silence and miscommunication, every voice matters.