Anime, or Japanese cartoons, is a cultural phenomenon that has long climbed far beyond the borders of its home country. It has long been one of the most popular leisure options in a huge number of countries. Today, anime is watched all over the world, but often the people who are behind the production, unfortunately, remain out of the attention of fans. Behind the scenes remain including the seiyu - the actors of scoring anime. One of the most famous of them is Kappei Yamaguchi (山口 勝平).
short biography
Kappei Yamaguchi is a Japanese actor and seiyu. He was born on May 23, 1965 in the city of Fukuoka. His real name is Mitsuo Yamaguchi, and Kappei is a creative pseudonym.
He began his seiyu career in 1985 at the age of 20. Little is known about him, since he is very modest, rarely gives interviews and attends events. He first appeared in public only in 2008 at the Otacon festival in the United States, in 2009 he visited Sakura-con, in 2010 Animasement and Kawai-con in Hawaii in 2011. In 2018, he visited Anirevo in Vancouver.
Interesting Facts
He is known for his ability to naturally overstate his voice. Yamaguchi often voices young characters or even children thanks to this ability. Usually these are positive, sometimes rustic, straightforward, positive and energetic heroes. His voice is great for the Senen genre (a genre whose target audience is boys and boys).
The Japanese voice actor worked with many works, but detective L (Death Note) and Hugh from the anime "Kiba" are knocked out of all his roles. Not only are these characters serious, with a low voice, Hugh is also a negative hero, which is not typical of Cappey. In addition to working on animated series, Yamaguchi participates in the voice acting of games, in radio shows and dubbing of Western projects, performs openings, endings and soundtracks for anime. And a few more facts:
- Sometimes his name is mistakenly pronounced as "Katsuhei" or "Shohei."
- It is also known that Yamaguchi has two children, he is married.
- Yamaguchi is not at all tall: his height is only 160 cm.
- He is interested in climbing and computers, and also loves and knows how to draw.
- Kappei Yamaguchi's favorite anime is The Iron Dragon Knight.
The most famous roles
Cappei Yamaguchi was widely known in Japan for his roles:
- Ranma Saotome in the anime classic Ranma ½;
- L in the sensational Death Note;
- Usopp in the pirate phantasmagoria “One Piece”;
- Tombo in the full-length film Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki Delivery Service;
- Ryuuchi Sakuma from Gravity.
He voiced the cat Artemis from the series Sailor Moon on local television and Kumu from Person 4. On his account more than 150 roles in animated series, full-length animated films, games. Moreover, he continues to work today.
In addition to voice acting in Japanese projects, Kappei Yamaguchi is engaged in dubbing Western works. He voiced:
- the rabbit Bugs Bunny, replacing Ray Tomiyama;
- Max Goofy;
- Mort's lemur from Madagascar;
- Ducky from Rio;
- Michelangelo in the 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles;
- Flashjack in the animated series of the Channel Network Network "The amazing misadventures of Flashjack."
Also in Japan, Kyle Broflovsky from the legendary South Park and Garfield from the movie Garfield: The Story of Two Kitties spoke in his voice.
Other jobs
In Japanese advertising, M & M's Kappei Yamaguchi voiced Red and made a voiceover in a commercial for Burger King.
At the beginning of his career, he played in several audio productions: The Many Faces of 1990 (Victor); "Oh my goddess!" 1991 (Keichi Morisato) and others.
In 1991, together with another famous voice actress, Megumi Hayashibara performed the song China kara no Tegami as part of her role in the anime "Ranma 1/2".
He performed the title songs for some series: “Ranma 1/2”, “Kamivaza Wanda”, “Ishild 21” and Can Can Bunny Extra.
In 1998, Kappei Yamaguchi began broadcasting "Clean Island", anime connected with the anime "The Magic Scene of the Fashionable Woman of Lala." His co-host was popular pop singer Reiko Omori.
Today, along with another seiyu, Chiza Yokoyama, he is broadcasting Hiroi Ouji's Maruten Cha Cha Cha!