Hiroaki Hirata is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator born on August 7, 1963, in Tokyo, Japan. He is the founder and representative of his own talent agency, Hirata Production Japan, which he established in 2012 after departing from the Theatre Company Subaru, where he had been a member for 27 years.

Hirata's path to voice acting began after his work as a stage actor. Following his graduation from the Subaru Theatre School, he joined Theatre Company Subaru and made his stage debut in a 1986 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. While working as a stage actor, his manager suggested he try voice acting, leading him to audition and begin a new chapter in his career.

He is widely recognized for several iconic and long-running roles in anime. He is most famously the voice of Vinsmoke Sanji in the monumental series One Piece, a role he has played for over two decades across the television series, numerous films like One Piece Stampede and One Piece Film Red, and various specials. Another significant early role was Sha Gojyo in the Saiyuki franchise, appearing in series such as Saiyuki Reload -ZEROIN- and various OVAs. He also voiced the narrator and Leomon in the original Digimon Adventure and its subsequent sequels and films, including Digimon Adventure tri..

His versatility extends to a wide range of characters in the 2010s and beyond. He won widespread acclaim and the Seiyu Award for Best Lead Actor for his performance as Kotetsu T. Kaburagi, also known as Wild Tiger, in the superhero series Tiger & Bunny and its sequel, Tiger & Bunny 2. He voices Klein, the supportive friend of the protagonist, in the Sword Art Online series, including its films and the Alicization arc. In the science fiction series Space Brothers, he played the lead role of Mutta Nanba. More recent prominent roles include the enigmatic Sensei in The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, the pragmatic leader Wazukyan in Made in Abyss: The Golden City of the Scorching Sun, the villain Re-Destro in My Hero Academia, and Otto in Fena: Pirate Princess. He also took over the role of Shiro Fujimoto in Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga from the late Fujiwara Keiji.

In addition to his animation work, Hirata is the primary Japanese dubbing voice for several major Hollywood actors, most notably Johnny Depp, as well as Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Ewan McGregor. His work in video games is also notable, particularly as the voice of Vergil in the Devil May Cry series.

For his acclaimed performance in Tiger & Bunny, which also included his work on One Piece and Air Gear, Hirata was awarded the Best Actor in a Leading Role at the 6th Seiyu Awards in 2012. In the same year, he also received the Best Voice Actor award at the Tokyo Anime Award.