Biography
Since his debut in 1973, Inoue has become one of Japan's most well established seiyus. His early roles from the 1970s include Anthony in Candy Candy, and later as Joe in the 1979 remake of Cyborg 009. In the 1980s, Inoue's work ranged from the adult-oriented Oishinbo (The Gourmet) to the popular Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato for the younger generation. More recently, He is known internationally for roles such as Kakashi Hatake in Naruto, Eiri Yuki in Gravitation, Aion in Chrono Crusade, Hatori Sohma in Fruits Basket, and Nyanko-sensei/Madara in Natsume Yūjin Chō. Inoue's voice performance is often described as natural and relaxed.
This wide and versatile vocal range allows Kazuhiko Inoue to voice roles of varying personality types: hot-blooded, righteous main characters such as Joe in Cyborg 009, Akira Kogane in Golion, and Kusanagi in Blue Seed; cold and indifferent Eiri Yuki; always fussing, hilarious, yet truly powerful mazoku (demon), Guenter in Kyo Kara Maoh!; dangerously seductive Aion; and sexy Chi no Byakko, Tachibana no Tomomasa in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Hachiyō Shō. Inoue is also well known for more unusual roles such as the transvestite Nagisa Sawa in Haru wo Daiteita, and Shiron the Windragon in Legendz, who spends half his time as a screeching hamster.
Inoue does voices for anime, video games, drama CDs, Japanese-dubbed movies, and audio books. He has put out many LP and CD albums and has sung in various anime character albums. His most well-known songs are the ones related to the Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Hachiyō Shō series, which he performs live on stage at the annual NeoRomance voice acting events in Japan. In recent years, Inoue has also tried his hand in backstage work such as sound directing. He has set up his own voice acting agency and school, B-Box, to teach the next generation voice talents.
Being a "Hibakusha Nisei" (Second-generation of A-Bomb Survivors), Kazuhiko Inoue feels strongly against wars. In his autobiographical piece, "Ai ni Tsuite", (爱について About Love, from his CD album Ai, 2003) Inoue expresses his longings for world peace and his love and respect for the ocean and Mother Earth. Similar thoughts can often be seen in the entries he writes in his Kazufan Blog. He was also a close friend of the late fellow voice actor Daisuke Gori. Recently, Inoue won as "Best Supporting Actor" in the Third Seiyu Awards for his role as Nyanko-sensei in Natsume Yūjin Chō.
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