Makoto Koji
Makoto Koji | |
|---|---|
 Koji at PAX Australia 2024 | |
| Born | 7 March 1987 Hiroshima, Japan |
| Alma mater | Griffith University |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Spouse | Ari Gibson |
Makoto Koji (Japanese: 小路真琴, Hepburn: Koji Makoto; born 7 March 1987) is a Japanese illustrator, animator, and voice actress. She voiced Hornet, a major character in Australian studio Team Cherry's video game Hollow Knight (2017), and the protagonist of Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025).
Early life and education
Makoto Koji was born in Hiroshima, Japan,[1][2][3] on 7 March 1987.[1][4][5]
She moved Goomeri, Queensland, Australia, when she was three and grew up there.[1][2][3] She became interested in animation due to her family watching Japanese cartoons on VHS.[2][3] Koji graduated from Griffith University with a Bachelor of Animation, 3D Animation and Film in 2007.[2][3][6]
Career
In her final year of university, Koji traveled to Adelaide for work experience with The People's Republic of Animation. After graduating, she began working for them,[2] where she worked on animations such as the award-winning The Cat Piano (2009), which Ari Gibson also worked on.[7][3] After working with several other animation studios, she went freelance and formed Paper Rabbits in 2011, as she felt "many of the jobs had masculine subject matter and themes", but she "wanted to make animation and tell stories from a female perspective".[2][8] Paper Rabbits' first directed animation was "Ko-Oni (Little Troll)" (2013).[7] In 2016, its sci-fi comedy "animated anthology following young space-faring women" Cosmica received funding by Screen Australia's Gender Matters initiative.[9][10]
Around c. 2014-2016, during the early development of Team Cherry's Hollow Knight (2017), Koji began voice acting for the character Hornet. Initially, that role was planned to go to a friend of hers, but once Koji learned that her friend was going to move overseas, she offered to voice-act herself.[11] Koji, not a trained voice actress, explained in an interview with The Verge that she "did a lot of making up [her] own gibberish" while voice acting, and used made-up words that felt "instinctual".[11] In addition to Hornet, Koji voice acted other characters.[3][12] She reprised her role as Hornet in Hollow Knight: Silksong (2025),[11][13][14] completing voicework by March 2022.[12][15] Her performance as Hornet, especially in Silksong, has been praised, with Matt Patches of Polygon praising its showcase of emotion,[13] and The Washington Post's Gene Park lauding its showcase of confidence and strength.[14]
Koji worked on the German-Australian film Maya the Bee: The Honey Games (2018).[3] She has done illustration work, such as being the illustrator for Katrina Nannestad's Lottie Perkins book series (2019-2020),[1][16] and Liz Ledden's Everyone Wants an Octopus Book (2024), described by The Guardian as having "vibrant illustrations [which make] important themes of representation fun".[17]
Personal life
Koji is married to Ari Gibson, co-founder of Team Cherry; they began their relationship in 2007.[18] As of 2018, she shares her office with Team Cherry.[11][19]
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Makoto Koji". HarperCollins. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 OUTLINE (2014). "OUTLINE Magazine, Issue 1" (PDF). Illustrators Australia. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Castro, Bárbara (27 September 2025). "Silksong: Quem é Makoto Koji? Conheça a atriz de voz de Hornet presente desde Hollow Knight". IGN Brasil (in Portuguese). Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Koji, Makoto (1 October 2016). "First time I'm getting onboard Inktober! I turn 30 next year so I'm going to take this chance to look back, draw things that have influenced me, things I like. A mix bag of things that have made me. Let's see how this goes! Day 1: Born 1987 year of the Rabbit 🐇💖 @inktober @jakeparker #inktober #inktober2016". Instagram. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Koji, Makoto (7 March 2015). "7th March - Birthday! 🎂🎉🎈💕✨". Instagram. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
- ↑ Koji, Makoto. "Makoto Koji". LinkedIn. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- 1 2 Tsuka (8 July 2013). "Ko-Oni (Little Troll) (court de Makoto Koji)". Catsuka (in French). Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Koji, Makoto. "About". Paper Rabbits. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Tiley, David (12 July 2016). "Gender Matters picks winners and hits the ground running". ScreenHub. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
- ↑ Mediaweek Staff (13 July 2016). "Gender Matters: Complete details of every project to receive Screen Australia funding". Mediaweek. Retrieved 19 June 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 Peters, Jay (28 September 2025). "How the voice of Silksong's Hornet brought her to life through gibberish". The Verge. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- 1 2 Mukherjee, Soumyajit (5 September 2025). "Meet Makoto Koji: She Voices Hornet in Hollow Knight: Silksong". FandomWire. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- 1 2 Welsh, Oli; Polygon Staff (12 October 2025). "The best game performances of the year not by Troy Baker". Retrieved 19 June 2026.
- 1 2 Park, Gene (18 September 2025). "'Silksong' is cruel, majestic and not for everyone. That's why it's for me". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Joffard, Jerome (15 March 2022). "Hollow Knight Silksong n'est pas mort ! L'actrice donne des nouvelles du jeu". Jeuxvideo.com (in French). Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Harrison, Jessica (9 December 2019). "Lottie Perkins series good choice for emerging readers". Cracking the Cover. Retrieved 29 May 2025.
- ↑ Wong-Nizic, Shannon; Ayoub, Sarah; Gorman, Alyx; Boyd, Rebecca Lowrey (8 December 2024). "Australian Christmas kids' gift guide 2024: 60 great ideas for babies, toddlers, kids and tweens". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 June 2026.
- ↑ Koji, Makoto (3 August 2017). "We don't usually do anniversaries but this one was kinda big. Last week I celebrated 10 years with this guy ☝🏻️@arigibson ☺️🎉💕 He's my inspiration, No. 1 fan & harshest critic all in one. His joy & hard work in all he does is infectious, believes in my silliest ideas & let's me be me. (No, he's not a figment of my imagination) So grateful to have you in my life & look forward to more cray fun times to come 😁💛✨xx". Instagram. Retrieved 16 May 2026.
- ↑ Valdiva, Angelo (25 September 2018). "Adelaide game developers Team Cherry on top with Hollow Knight". The Adelaide Review. Retrieved 19 June 2026.