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Celebrate Norio Wakamoto’s Birthday by Learning About the Man Behind the Iconic Voice!

There are certain voices that resonate with us, leaving us with a sense of satisfaction or joy in hearing them over and over again. In anime, one of those voices is the soothing, deep voice of Norio Wakamoto, whether he’s rolling those R’s hard in comedy shows or chilling our bones in dramas, Wakamoto is truly one of the kings of voice acting. Since today is his 74th birthday, we thought it only fitting to pay some respects to the man behind hundreds of amazing character voices between anime and video games from as far back as 1977, and who is still going strong today! So come along with us and join in on wishing Norio Wakamoto a HAPPY BIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTHDAY!

Born in 1945 in Shimonoseki and raised in Sakai, Norio Wakamoto started out life with a far more serious career in mind than voice acting; after attending Waseda University, Wakamoto joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Anti-Riot Squad! Wakamoto is also a 3rd Dan in both Kendo and Shorimi Kempo, meaning that between his imposing voice and martial prowess, you could probably just imagine criminals cowering in fear when they heard him shout “halt!” Thankfully for the anime watching world, it seems that Wakamoto decided after some time to change careers, however, with his first credited voice role in Glacier Warrior Gaislugger as Onoriki in 1977. Since then, he’s gone on to voice countless classic roles, with some of his early work in titles such as Gunbuster (as Koichiro “Coach” Ota) and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (as Oskar von Reuenthal) cementing his role as one of the most versatile and unique voice talents in anime.

You might be asking: “But what exactly makes Norio Wakamoto so special?” Well, it’s probably the style of speaking that he’s developed over the years as a voice actor; there’s really nothing else quite like it! Between the sharp and astringent quality of his voice and his ability to roll his R sounds (among other verbal tics), Wakamoto has a sound unlike any other voice actor; when you hear his voice, you immediately know it’s him! While he’s mostly played villainous, devious, or overly serious masculine characters, his unique vocal range has allowed him to play numerous comedic roles as well, some of which operate solely on the unexpected quality of his voice. While many fans may know him as “Coach”, Oskar, Cell, Vicious, and other roles, many more fans know him as the voice of everyone’s favorite badass delinquent: Mechazawa! And that’s not all; Wakamoto has lent his voice to various comedic character legends such as Chiyo’s Papa in Azumanga Daioh, Onsokumaru in Ninja Nonsense, and even just recently as Pipimi in Pop Team Epic, alongside fellow Dragon Ball Z villain Ryusei Nakao (Frieza) as Popuko, and as the greatest idol of all time, Shining Saotome in the Uta no Prince-sama series!

Perhaps even more stunning is just how long Wakamoto has been in our hearts as the voice of so many different characters, with his career hitting 40 years this year and still going! You wouldn’t be wrong to claim that Wakamoto is a generational voice actor either; probably every generation of anime fan has their first Norio Wakamoto memory or favorite role, whether it be Hellsing’s Alexander Anderson, Code Geass’ Charles Zi Britannia, Dragon Ball Z’s Cell, or the aforementioned “Coach”, there’s probably a Wakamoto for all seasons and ages out there. That said, some of his roles are famous for the enduring legacy for more comical reasons, such as a classic moment in which Sugita Tomokazu, Nakamura Yuuichi and Sakurai Takahiro played the Yu Yu Hakusho fighting game, trying to do their best Wakamoto impressions while all of them selected Chu.

Crossing my fingers that Nakamura is just constantly doing his best Wakamoto voice when voicing Reuenthal in the new Legend of the Galactic Heroes anime. pic.twitter.com/ZVYn0V62zd

— HDKirin (@HDKirin) March 3, 2018

When up and coming voice actors memorize your intonation and roles to such an amazing degree, you know you’ve likely left a deep impact! Some other apocryphal Wakamoto lore is preserved on the internet, such as the time Wakamoto helped us all fall asleep by recording himself counting sheep! Originally recorded for a CD titled “Hitsuji de Oyasumi Bangai hen”, Wakamoto joined various other voice actors in recording themselves soothing listener’s thoughts as they attempted to drift off to sleep by counting sheep; if you ask us, Wakamoto’s is obviously the best!

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Wakamoto isn’t just an anime voice actor though, as he’s done quite a few video game voices as well! Getting his start in 1991 reprising his role of Dekachu from Cyber City Oedo 808, Wakamoto debuted in video games on the PC Engine, and has regularly popped up in various games ever since. Besides reprising the voices of characters he played in their anime counterparts, one of Wakamoto’s most famous video game roles is that of Johnny from Arc System Works’s Guilty Gear series, the dashing sky pirate with the sultry voice! Johnny isn’t Wakamoto’s only famous fighting game role, as he also plays King of Fighters villain Rugal Bernstein as well! And, in Capcom’s Street Fighter IV and subsequent titles replaced Tomomichi Nishimura as the voice of M. Bison with that of Wakamoto, who continues to voice the character in newer incarnations of the game. Kingdom Hearts fans may know of Wakamoto as the voice of Xemnas, although you’d have to play the original Japanese versions to hear him! That said, there is one other role that you might not recognize Wakamoto in, as the most famous rendition of that character’s dialogue is forever memorialized in English. Who is it? None other than Castlevania’s Dracula, with Wakamoto playing the role for the first time in the now legendary Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in 1997.

We hope that Wakamoto-san has had an amazing 74th birthday, and we can’t wait to share many more of them with him as he continues his voice acting journey. You never really know just where he’ll show up, and we’re sure that as long as he feels willing, we’ll all be able to hear his beautiful voice in many roles to come! If you want to give him a gift, practice rolling your R's while watching some of his classic roles, and see how your Norio Wakamoto impression stacks up! Happy Birthday, Norio Wakamoto!

What’s your favorite Wakamoto role? Let us know in the comments below!

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Nicole is a features writer and editor for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

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