Naoki Makishima was a Japanese voice actor born on August 23, 1962, in Ibaraki Prefecture. He passed away on September 29, 2023, at the age of 61. After graduating from the Tokyo Announcing Academy, he began his professional voice acting career in 1985. His early work included roles in prominent series such as Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and the Dirty Pair franchise, where he provided the voice for the character Mughi across multiple installments, including the television series and films like Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy.

Makishima became a familiar presence in anime throughout the 1980s and 1990s, taking on a wide variety of roles. He was particularly active in the Sunrise-produced Brave series, a franchise known for its transforming robot characters. His contributions to this series were extensive and included roles such as Thunder Geist in The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, Tri Bomber in Brave Express Might Gaine, Gunmax in The Brave Police J-Decker, and Sorakage in The Brave of Gold Goldran. In addition to these, he voiced characters in other notable series of the era, including Pesu in Tsurupika Hagemaru-kun and Inomata in Megumi no Daigo.

Beyond these featured roles, Makishima built a substantial career voicing numerous supporting and guest characters, demonstrating his versatility across many long-running and popular shows. He was a frequent presence in the Case Closed franchise, appearing in dozens of episodes from 1996 onwards, often as police officers, detectives, or other background characters, with one of his more notable recurring roles being Officer Tome. His filmography also includes appearances in acclaimed series such as Cowboy Bebop, Fullmetal Alchemist, and CLANNAD. In addition to his on-screen work, he was also an instructor at his own voice actor workshop, the Voice Actor Acting Institute, where he mentored aspiring talents. His distinctive vocal style was once described by screenwriter Hiroyuki Kawasaki as being like a jackknife. His career was ultimately curtailed by illness, and he passed away in 2023, with the news being made public by his agency, Office Kaoru, in June 2024.