Kazuhiko Kishino

Description
Kazuhiko Kishino was a Japanese actor and voice actor born on February 14, 1934, in Tokushima Prefecture and raised in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture. He was a graduate of Doshisha University. His performance career began in 1957 as a member of the Shiki Theatre Company before he joined the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society, also known as Haikyo, in 1970, where he remained affiliated for the rest of his career.

Kishino first established himself as a stage actor and became a familiar presence in television dramas from the 1960s onward. His warm, baritone voice and natural ability with dialects, including his native Kansai dialect, led to extensive work in voice acting, narration, and dubbing foreign films. He was known for his versatility, seamlessly shifting between serious villainous roles and endearing comedic characters.

He was most recognized for his work in the long-running anime series Kinnikuman, where he voiced multiple characters, including Mayumi Kinniku (King Kinniku) and Neptuneman. His extensive anime filmography includes roles such as Ezra Gurney in Captain Future, Dr. Hell in Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact!, Ivan Pasarov in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Thompson Tomonaga in Odin: Starlight Mutiny, and Liu Zhang in Sangokushi [3] Harukanaru Taichi. Other notable anime roles include Jerome Borda in Full Metal Panic!, Genbu Kururugi in Code Geass, and Greevus in Record of Lodoss War.

Beyond anime, Kishino was a prolific voice actor in tokusatsu superhero live-action series. He provided voices for numerous monsters and characters in the Super Sentai series for decades, from Himitsu Sentai Gorenger in 1975 to Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger in 2004. He was also a frequent voice actor in the Kamen Rider and Metal Hero series. His work also extended to film dubbing, where he lent his voice to actors such as Lawrence Olivier and Ron Silver.

Kishino continued to work well into his eighties. He died of acute heart failure on February 22, 2020, at the age of 86. His long-standing and prolific contribution to Japanese animation and live-action entertainment solidified his legacy as a treasured figure in the industry.