Wataru Takagi is a veteran Japanese voice actor and actor born on July 25, 1966, in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. He is affiliated with the talent management firm Arts Vision and is a graduate of the Katsuta Voice Actor Academy. His career in voice acting began in 1987.

Takagi is widely recognized for his versatile and energetic voice, often portraying characters with a rough or distinctive edge, from comedic sidekicks to menacing villains. His most prominent and enduring roles are in the long-running anime series Detective Conan (also known as Case Closed), where he voices two very different characters: the gentle and earnest police detective Wataru Takagi, who shares his name, and the gluttonous young member of the Junior Detective League, Genta Kojima. He has also taken over legacy roles in rebooted anime series, such as Nezumi-Otoko in GeGeGe no Kitaro and the role of Nobita's teacher in Doraemon.

His career is marked by a wide array of memorable performances in major franchises. He has played lead roles such as Garrod Ran in Mobile New Century Gundam X and Eikichi Onizuka in Great Teacher Onizuka. In the world of shonen anime, he is known for his roles as Tobi in Naruto Shippūden, Bellamy in One Piece, Ganju Shiba in Bleach, and Okuyasu Nijimura in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable. His range extends to villainous and eccentric characters, including the Hammerhead in One Punch-Man, Tatsumi in Shiki, and multiple roles in the long-running Precure franchise, such as Bunbee in Yes! Precure 5.

Beyond these signature roles, Takagi has an extensive filmography that includes the diverse examples provided, such as Nikita/Niccolo in Legend of Mana: The Teardrop Crystal, Zeus in Record of Ragnarok, Cherry in Urusei Yatsura, Pipimi in Pop Team Epic, Caiman in Dorohedoro, Pilar in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, and many others. He is also known for his work in foreign language dubbing, notably as the long-running Japanese voice of Daffy Duck in Looney Tunes productions. His contributions to video gaming are significant, particularly with Capcom, where he has voiced numerous characters across franchises like Mega Man and Street Fighter.

Takagi is renowned within the industry for his adeptness at ad-libbing. A famous anecdote from his time on Detective Conan illustrates this: when a minor police character needed a name, he improvised his own, and the name Wataru Takagi stuck, evolving the character into a series regular. While known for his humor and skill at improvisation, he is also described as a dedicated professional who values the recording studio environment and consults with directors before adding ad-libs. Despite often playing tough or intimidating characters, he is known among colleagues as a kind and hardworking mood-maker.

In addition to voice acting, Takagi is active in theater. He leads a theatrical group called Akapela Club and has been part of a drama trio with fellow voice actors Kappei Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Seki. He has also appeared as an on-screen actor, making his debut in the 2016 NHK taiga drama Sanadamaru.