Supporting Japanese Voice Actors - Dragon Ball
Since the amount of long-running series and movies based on the original Dragon Ball manga written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama is quite large, it should go as no surprise that there is a similarly impressive list of voice actors and actresses that lent their voices to all of the well-known Dragon Ball characters. While there is, of course, Goku (Masako Nozaka), Vegeta (Ryo Horikawa), Bulma (Hiromi Tsuru), and Krillin (Mayumi Tanaka), an incredible number of other voice actors and actresses have also participated in voicing the impressive cast of other colorful characters that appear in the story.
Toshio Furukawa
A voice actor born on July 16th, 1946 in Ohira, Tochigi Prefecture that belongs to Aoni Production. Furukawa is responsible for voicing General Blue, among other minor roles. Later on in the Dragon Ball anime, he also voices Piccolo Jr. (who is later simply referred to as Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z). He would continue to voice Piccolo all the way through to the Dragon Ball Super series.
Takeshi Aono
Another Aoni Production voice actor, born on June 19th, 1936 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido Prefecture. Although he had a quite prolific voice acting career, when it comes to the Dragon Ball series, he is known for voicing one of the major antagonists of the entire series, Evil King Piccolo, as well as his good counterpart, Kami. As he voiced Kami, Aono also lent his voice to another minor character named Shen, a human possessed by Kami so he could participate in the World Martial Arts tournament.
Takeshi Kusao
An Aoni Production voice actor born in Saitama Prefecture on November 20th, 1965. At first, Kusao was only given the minor role of a character named Pigero in Dragon Ball Z, but went on to voice a much more important character, Trunks (both as Future Trunks and Child Trunks). Outside of the Dragon Ball franchise, he is known for voicing Sakuragi Hanamichi, the main character of the Slam Dunk series.
Shin Aomori
A Sigma Seven voice actor that was born in Aomori Prefecture on October 20th, 1941. In the world of Dragon Ball, Aomori began by dubbing Major Metallitron from the Red Ribbon Army arc, but would later go on to voice Kibito (Supreme Kai’s bodyguard) in Dragon Ball Z and Naturon Shenron in Dragon Ball GT.
Shigeru Chiba
An 81 Produce voice actor that was born in Kumamoto Prefecture on February 4th, 1954. He began voicing Emperor Pilaf in Dragon Ball and later went on to voice Raditz, the first antagonist in Dragon Ball Z. Later on, he voiced several other minor roles like the TV version of Garlic Jr.
Hiroko Emori
A voice actress associated with Aoni Production that was born in Saitama Prefecture on January 27th, 1961. She voiced Chiaotzu, Tien’s best friend. She also voices minor roles like an unnamed phantom in Dragon Ball Z, Bulma’s mother, and other such characters.
Toru Furuya
An Aoni Production voice actor that was born in Yokohama Prefecture on July 31st, 1953. He is the voice of Yamcha in both Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z. Later, Furuya would go on to voice a minor character named Puck that was introduced in the final episode of Dragon Ball GT. During Yamcha’s fight with Tien, Furuya also sang an insert song in character.
Banjo Ginga
A voice actor that was born in Kofu, Yamanishi Prefecture on November 12th, 1948 that is associated with Aoni Production. In Dragon Ball, he voices both Bora and the Red Ribbon Army’s Colonel Silver. Later on in Dragon Ball Z, he also voices King Vegeta and Toolo, a creature that allows Bardock to see the future in Bardock - The Father of Goku.
Daisuke Gori
An Aoni Production voice actor that was born on February 8th, 1952 in the Koto ward of Tokyo. Gori has voiced a number of characters throughout the Dragon Ball series, including Umigame, Drum, Vinegar, and Mr. Satan.
Chieko Honda
A voice actress from the Max Mix group that was born in Nagano Prefecture on March 28th, 1963. Throughout the entire franchise, she only voices a minor character named Pocawatha in Dragon Ball, but has voiced many more major roles in other anime projects like Full Moon wo Sagashite, Sailor Moon S, Kimagure Orange Road, Ys, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ.
Yukitoshi Hori
An Aoni Production voice actor, born in the metropolitan area of Tokyo on September 12th, 1952. He has voiced a number of minor antagonists like Sansho from Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, Android 19 from Dragon Ball Z, and Bon Para from Dragon Ball GT, but is likely more known for voicing one of Frieza’s right-hand men, Dodoria.
Yasuhiko Kawazu
Like Hori, Kawazu is also an Aoni Production voice actor from the metropolitan area of Tokyo, but was born on January 21st, 1966. He voiced several minor roles from both Dragon Ball Z like all of the Great Apes (with the exception of Vegeta’s Great Ape form), Caterpy, and Froug. In the Dragon Ball Kai dub, Kawazu voices Mr. Popo, replacing the late Toku Nishio.
Links
Dragon Ball Series
Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
Akira Toriyama