You know that feeling when a character's voice just clicks? Like, you can't imagine anyone else ever speaking those lines. That’s exactly what happened with David Martinez in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Most people watch an anime and think, "Oh, he sounds cool." But with David, it was different. It felt raw. It felt like Night City was actually chewing someone up in real time.
If you’re wondering who is behind that chrome-enhanced voice, it’s actually two different powerhouses depending on if you’re a sub or dub person. In the English version, it’s Zach Aguilar. Over on the Japanese side, it’s Kenn (Kenichiro Ohashi).
Honestly, both of them brought something so specific to the role that it changed how fans viewed the character's descent into cyberpsychosis.
The English Voice: Zach Aguilar and the "Anti-Tanjiro"
You’ve definitely heard Zach Aguilar before. He’s basically the voice of every "good boy" protagonist in the last five years. He’s Tanjiro in Demon Slayer. He’s Aether in Genshin Impact. He’s even Byleth in Fire Emblem.
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But David Martinez? David isn’t a good boy. Not by the end.
Zach has talked about how he didn’t even get the full script upfront. The producers kept him in the dark, giving him only the lines he needed for that specific recording session. Imagine being an actor and finding out your character’s friends are dying one page at a time. It kept his performance grounded. When David sounds shocked or traumatized, it’s because Zach was often reacting to the plot developments for the first time too.
What’s wild is the vocal range. At the start, David is this skinny kid at Arasaka Academy. He sounds high-pitched, a bit whiny, and definitely out of his element. By the time he’s lead of the crew, Zach drops his register. It’s gravelly. It’s tired. It’s the sound of a kid who has seen way too much "chrome" and way too many dead friends.
KENN: The Japanese Legend
If you watched the sub, you heard Kenn. This guy is a veteran. He’s been around since the mid-2000s, famously voicing Jaden Yuki in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
Kenn brings a certain "street" energy to David that’s hard to replicate. In Japan, David is often seen as a tragic hero in the classic "delinquent" mold. Kenn plays into that perfectly. While Zach focuses on David’s vulnerability, Kenn leans into the bravado. It’s the sound of a guy who knows he’s special, even when the world is telling him he’s just another body in the gutter.
Interestingly, Kenn is also a professional singer and stage actor. That background in musical theater gives him incredible breath control. If you listen closely to the scenes where David is using the Sandevistan, the way Kenn handles the grunts and the physical strain of the tech is masterclass level stuff.
Why the Voice Acting Won Awards
Zach Aguilar actually won Best English VA Performance at the 2023 Anime Awards for this role. It wasn't just because the show was popular. It was because he nailed the "Night City" vibe—that mixture of hope and inevitable doom.
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A lot of fans pointed out how weird it was to hear him cuss so much. If you’re used to him being the polite Tanjiro, hearing David Martinez drop F-bombs while ripping through Arasaka guards is a trip. But that’s the point. The voice acting reflected David’s loss of innocence.
Key Roles for Zach Aguilar:
- Tanjiro Kamado (Demon Slayer)
- Aether (Genshin Impact)
- Genos (One Punch Man)
- David Martinez (Cyberpunk: Edgerunners)
Key Roles for KENN:
- Jaden Yuki (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)
- Gieve (The Heroic Legend of Arslan)
- Leopold Vermillion (Black Clover)
- Phinks (Hunter x Hunter)
The Real Secret to the Performance
The chemistry mattered. It wasn't just Zach or Kenn in a vacuum. The interaction between David and Lucy (voiced by Emi Lo in English and Aoi Yuki in Japanese) is what makes the ending hurt so much.
In interviews, the cast often mentions how Studio Trigger and CD Projekt Red wanted the dialogue to feel "dirty." Not just the swearing, but the pacing. They wanted people to talk over each other. They wanted the Ripperdoc (Borge Etienne) to sound like a jaded uncle. This allowed the voice actors to move away from the "stiff" delivery you sometimes get in older anime dubs.
David Martinez isn't just a character; he's a cautionary tale. And without the right voice, he would have just been another guy in a cool jacket. Instead, we got a performance that actually made us feel the weight of every piece of cyberware he added to his body.
How to Follow the Cast
If you want to keep up with what these actors are doing now, both are still incredibly active. Zach Aguilar is a regular on the convention circuit and often shares behind-the-scenes tidbits on his socials. Kenn remains one of the top-tier "seiyuu" in Japan, recently taking on roles in Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury.
To really appreciate the work that went into David, try watching a few scenes back-to-back in both languages. You'll notice that while the words are the same, the "soul" of the performance changes slightly. Zach’s David feels like a kid trying to be a man; Kenn’s David feels like a man who never got to be a kid.
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Check out the official Cyberpunk: Edgerunners behind-the-scenes documentaries on YouTube if you want to see the literal faces behind the mics. Watching Zach record the "to the moon" sequence is a genuine gut-punch once you know the context of the scene.