Find out whose voices melt listeners’ hearts just a little bit every time they open their mouths.
voice actor
JR East’s newest venture reimagines each of the 30 stations on Tokyo’s most famous train line as a singing and performing idol.
Based on the quality of this Kiki’s Delivery Service homage, it’s hard to believe that his day job is voice actor and not manga artist.
Perhaps the 52-year-old voice of Inuyasha and Ranma should seriously consider a mid-life career change to manga artist?
This isn’t a scene from the running of the bulls — it’s from the running of the otaku at KiraFes 2016!
It’s not unusual for stars to perform in Japanese commercials, but what they’re asked to do can sometimes lead to head-scratching.
The release of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has been met with as much excitement and frenzy as you might expect from the latest instalment of a legendary video game franchise. But while most players are preoccupied with riding D. Horse around, frolicking in cardboard boxes and puzzling over the intricate story, it’s a certain voiceover that’s had us scratching our heads. Where on earth have we heard iDroid‘s soothing tones before? Oh, that’s right – on the Shinkansen!
Voice actor and vocalist Donna Burke is a veteran of the video game industry, lending her vocal cords to multiple games including MGSV and Silent Hill, and she ALSO provided the English-language spoken announcement that’s broadcast on the bullet train to help foreign visitors navigate their way around Japan!
The last few years especially have seen a notable increase in the number of western-developed narrative-driven video games. Notable entries include Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and of course Game of Thrones, which deliver their respective stories in downloadable chunks once every few months, leaving players itching to play the next episode and find out what happens.
Telltale pretty much cornered the market on this genre until French development studio DONTNOD Entertainment released the absolutely captivating five-part supernatural high school story game Life Is Strange. The game has been a surprise hit, selling over a million copies to date, with players falling in love with the endearingly complex characters, time-travelling mechanics, mellow game atmosphere, and killer soundtrack. In fact, the game has done so well for itself that publishers Square Enix have decided it’s time Japan got a piece of the photo-snapping, heavy decision-making, time-rewinding fun for themselves. Yep, Life is Strange is being released in Japan, and it’s getting an entirely new Japanese voice cast, too!
Check out the reveal trailer to hear Max, Chloe and the rest of the characters speaking Nihongo!
The Goo Ranking website held a poll to see which “old guy” voice actor fans think is the coolest. The poll was inspired by the recent Tiger & Bunny film and about 1,054 fans weighed in. Here are the full results:
Ichirô Nagai, the voice actor of Sazae-san‘s Namihei and Ranma ½‘s Happōsai, was discovered after he had collapsed in a Hiroshima City hotel on Monday morning. He was taken to a hospital, but he passed away. He was 82.
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Monthly
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New definition of “Japanese whiskey” goes into effect to prevent fakes from fooling overseas buyers
Foreign passenger shoves conductor on one of the last full runs for Japan’s Thunderbird train
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Kyoto bans tourists from geisha alleys in Gion, with fines for those who don’t follow rules
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Sales of Japan’s most convenient train ticket/shopping payment cards suspended indefinitely
Sold-out Studio Ghibli desktop humidifiers are back so Totoro can help you through the dry season
Japanese government to make first change to romanization spelling rules since the 1950s
Ghibli founders Toshio Suzuki and Hayao Miyazaki contribute to Japanese whisky Totoro label design
Doraemon found buried at sea as scene from 1993 anime becomes real life【Photos】
Tokyo’s most famous Starbucks is closed
One Piece characters’ nationalities revealed, but fans have mixed opinions
We asked a Uniqlo employee what four things we should buy and their suggestions didn’t disappoint
Princesses, fruits, and blacksmiths: Study reveals the 30 most unusual family names in Japan
Studio Ghibli’s new desktop Howl’s Moving Castle will take your stationery on an adventure
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Japan Railways opening reservations for ridiculously luxurious Kyoto-west Japan sleeper train
The oldest tunnel in Japan is believed to be haunted, and strange things happen when we go there
There’s a new world’s largest anime robot statue, and it’s not in Japan【Photos】
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The town with Japan’s best castle also has one of Japan’s best breakfasts. Here’s where to eat it
Why is “Akihabara” shortened to “Akiba?” The historical reason may surprise you
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