Summary
He possessed a unique, "lustrous" beautiful voice and was synonymous with handsome character voices.
He played many classic beautiful young men, such as Rei in "Fist of the North Star" and Arthur Rank in "Combat Mecha Xabungle," as well as cool and cynical handsome characters like Aries Mu in "Saint Seiya." Particularly, he excelled at portraying cold, eccentric, and beautiful villains, making him especially popular with female fans. On the other hand, he was also known for his versatility, performing comedic roles like Buriburizaemon in "Crayon Shin-chan," Hoshimaru Dai in "High School! Kimengumi," and the fool character R. Tanaka Ichiro, without any hesitation in his role choices.
In the voice acting industry, he was regarded as one of the greats and was considered irreplaceable by many. His notable roles include Rei in "Fist of the North Star" and Balrog in the "Street Fighter series."
[Passing]
On May 9, 2000, around 4 PM, he fell down the stairs at his home. At the time, there were almost no visible injuries, and he himself said, "I'm fine." However, around 10 PM, his condition suddenly worsened. He lost consciousness and was transported to the hospital. At 12:54 AM the following day, he passed away due to a brain contusion at the hospital.