The anime community, industry, and medium suffered a major loss recently with the passing of prolific voice actor Unsho Ishizuka. Announced by Aoni Productions, Ishizuka, aged 68, passed away on August 13 from esophageal cancer.
Anime fans undoubtedly recognize Ishizuka’s work as he has provided the voices for many major standouts over his 30 plus years of work in the industry across many anime, live-action series, and video games.
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Providing the voices for many huge characters such as Dragon Ball‘s Mr. Satan (taking over after the passing of Daisuke Gori in 2010), Professor Oak of the Pokemon anime series, Cowboy Bebop‘s Jet Black, Fullmetal Alchemist’s Van Hohenheim, One Piece‘s Admiral Kizaru, Old Joseph Joestar in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Naruto‘s Zabuza Momochi, and various major Super Sentai Villains just to name a handful of his major standouts.
With such a juggernaut now gone, fans are certainly feeling a void left by Ishizuka as they took to Twitter to share their condolences along with many of their favorite Ishizuka performances.
Read on to see how fans are responding to Ishizuka’s passing, and let us know what your favorite Ishizuka performances are in the comments.
Remembering Ishizuka as ‘Dragon Ball Super’s Mr. Satan
RIP to the only Satan we werenโt afraid of. Unshล Ishizuka, the Japanese voice of Hercule, was a highly prolific VA who was a master of his craft. He will be sorry missed by the anime community. pic.twitter.com/71PrzXAb6e
โ Christopher Sabat (@VoiceOfVegeta) August 17, 2018
Remembering Ishizuka as ‘Pokemon’s Professor Oak
Unsho Ishizuka, known for the role of Professor Oak in Pokรฉmon, has passed away at 68. I enjoyed Pokรฉmon anime with your voice as a child… Thank you for your hard work, your great work will forever remain in my heart. Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/bEO88RJj40
โ BUSHIDO (@BlackDragonSP) August 17, 2018
Remembering Ishizuka as Major Super Sentai Villains
For toku fans, Ishizuka Unsho was Ra Dues in Choushinsei Flashman. Also, Table Shadow in Ressha Sentai Togqer, Jeruda in GoGoV and Larry in Zyuohger.
โ Painted Rinascimento (@CoralianRainbow) August 17, 2018
Whether it was a menacing mad scientist or a caring Zyuman, Ishizuka was your man. RIP, good sir. pic.twitter.com/SthS0sdCol
Remembering Ishizuka’s ‘OH MY GOD’ in ‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’
Rest in peace, Unsho Ishizuka.
โ Satomii? (@Nintendoushio) August 17, 2018
You were a seiyuu legend. Your voice was always so varied in your roles and you portrayed consistently.
We will never get the same “OH MY GOD” sound from Joseph or the sloooooooooow taaaaaaaaaaaalkiiiing sound from Kizaru.
Cancer is so unfair… pic.twitter.com/bQtvMm999B
Remembering Ishizuka as ‘One Piece’s Kizaru
So one of my favorite voice actors of all time just passed away….. He voiced iconic characters like Joseph Joestar & Kizaru…. even Professor Oak from Pokemon. RIP Unsho Ishizuka pic.twitter.com/1ySplbxjAs
โ Chibi Reviews (@ChibiReviews) August 17, 2018
Remembering Ishizuka as ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’s Van Hohenheim
Woke up to some sad news.
โ Sami Koivisto (@_samikoivisto) August 17, 2018
Unsho Ishizuka was such a talented voice actor. Hohenheim from FMA Brotherhood and Jet Black from Cowboy Bebop were some of my favourite roles of his. pic.twitter.com/KWQfz3zUTz
Remembering Ishizuka as ‘Naruto’s Zabuza Momochi
@blumspew R.I.P. Unsho Ishizuka, Japanese voice of Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist…. ???????? pic.twitter.com/AMudsMmg6k
โ GaijinGekirin (@GaijinGekirinVA) August 17, 2018
Remembering Ishizuka as ‘Cowboy Bebop’s Jet Black
To celebrate the life of Unsho Ishizuka (็ณๅก ้ๆ) and his legendary role as Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop, I’ve returned to my original avatar/persona with a matching Jet avatar. While it feels good to be back, you will be missed. RIP.
โ Brandon Orselli (@brandonorselli) August 17, 2018
ใๅฅ็ฆใใ็ฅใใใใใพใ. pic.twitter.com/MK9zwH1pIs
Remembering Unsho Ishizuka
RIP Unshล Ishizuka
โ TyranitarTube (@TyranitarTube) August 17, 2018
Voice of Oak and so many others. You and your work wont be forgotten man pic.twitter.com/3Dc4A6hKEe
