is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. His notable works include

Kakashi Hatake is a fictional character in the ''Naruto'' manga and anime series created by Masashi Kishimoto. In the story, Kakashi is the teacher of Team 7, consisting of the series' primary characters, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and ...

in ''

Naruto ''Naruto'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a young ninja who seeks recognition from his peers and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. T ...

'' , Kars in ''

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly ''seinen'' manga ...

'', Toichirou Suzuki in ''

Mob Psycho 100 is a Japanese web manga series written and illustrated by One. It was serialized on Shogakukan's ''Ura Sunday'' website from April 2012 to December 2017. It has been also available online on Shogakukan's mobile app ''MangaONE'' since Decem ...

'' and Gildarts Clive in ''

Fairy Tail ''Fairy Tail'' is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' from August 2006 to July 2017, with the individual chapters collected and published into 63 ' ...

''.

Biography

Since his debut in 1973, he became one of Japan's most well established voice actors. 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 is a long-running Japanese cooking manga series written by and drawn by . The manga's title is a portmanteau of the Japanese word for delicious, ''oishii'', and the word for someone who loves to eat, ''kuishinbo''. The series depicts the ...

'' (The Gourmet) to the popular ''

Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato is a Japanese manga created, written and illustrated by Hiroshi Kawamoto and later adapted to anime by Tatsunoko Productions. It ran 38 episodes on TV Tokyo from April 6, 1989 to January 18, 1990 and also received a 6-episode OVA followu ...

'' for the younger generation. More recently, he is known internationally for roles such as Kars in

in ''

'',

Eiri Yuki This is a list of characters from the shōnen-ai manga series ''Gravitation'' written and illustrated by Maki Murakami. Main characters Shuichi Shindo Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese); Rich McNanna (English)Both English and Japanese Voic ...

in '' Gravitation'', Aion in ''

Chrono Crusade ''Chrono Crusade'', originally known in Japan as , due to a typo, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Daisuke Moriyama. It was originally published by Kadokawa Shoten in ''Comic Dragon'', then a special issue of the ''Drago ...

'',

Hatori Sohma The characters of ''Fruits Basket'' were created by Natsuki Takaya in the manga written and illustrated by her. The manga was serialized in 136 chapters in the monthly manga magazine ''Hana to Yume'' between January 1999 and November 2006, and ...

in ''

Fruits Basket , sometimes abbreviated , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Natsuki Takaya. It was serialized in the semi-monthly Japanese manga magazine , published by Hakusensha, from 1998 to 2006. The series' title comes from ...

'', and Nyanko-sensei/Madara in '' Natsume Yūjin Chō''. His voice performance is often described as natural and relaxed. This wide and versatile vocal range allows Inoue to voice roles of varying personality types: hot-blooded, righteous main characters such as Joe in ''Cyborg 009'' and Akira Kogane in ''

Golion is a Japanese super robot anime television series. The animation from ''GoLion'' was edited and trimmed to create the version of the American '' Voltron: Defender of the Universe'' series, with new names and dialogue. In 2008, ''GoLion'' was ...

''; coolly arrogant

bishōnen (; also transliterated ) is a Japanese term literally meaning "beautiful youth (boy)" and describes an aesthetic that can be found in disparate areas in East Asia: a young man of androgynous beauty. This word originated from the Tang dynas ...

typified by

; the amusingly fussy yet powerful mazoku (demon), Guenter in ''

Kyo Kara Maoh! is a series of Japanese light novels written by Tomo Takabayashi and illustrated by Temari Matsumoto. The story follows the adventures of Yuri Shibuya, an average 15-year-old Japanese high school student, who is suddenly transported to a ...

''; seductive, manipulative villains like Aion; and bloodthirsty killers (e.g. Kars and Gotou). Inoue is also well known for more unusual roles such as the crossdresser Nagisa Sawa in ''

Haru wo Daiteita is a yaoi manga by Youka Nitta, about two male pornographic actors who fall in love as they attempt to break into mainstream acting. It is published in English by Be Beautiful Manga. In addition to the manga, a drama CD and OVA have been rel ...

'', and Shiron the Windragon in ''

Legendz is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Bandai and WiZ in 2003. The franchise began with a manga created by Rin Hirai and illustrated by Makoto Haruno, first serialized in Shueisha's '' Monthly Shōnen Jump'' in Japan. The manga was p ...

'', 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. He is also the official dubbing roles for

Matthew Fox Matthew Chandler Fox (born July 14, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Charlie Salinger on '' Party of Five'' (1994–2000) and Jack Shephard on the drama series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), the latter of which earned h ...

and Mads Mikkelsen. Being a second-generation A-bomb survivor, he feels strongly against wars. In his autobiographical piece, "Ai ni Tsuite", (愛について 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. He was also a close friend of the late fellow voice actor

Daisuke Gori is a common masculine Japanese given name. Possible writings Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大輔, "big, assist" *大介, "big, mediate" *大祐, "big, bless" *大助, "big, help" *大典, "big, law/rule ...

. Recently, Inoue won as "Best Supporting Actor" in the Third

Seiyu Awards The are award ceremonies for the recognition of voice acting talent for outstanding performance in anime and other media in Japan. The first Seiyu Awards were held on March 3, 2007 at the 3D Theatre of the Tokyo Anime Center in Akihabara. Award ...

for his role as Nyanko-sensei in ''Natsume Yūjin Chō''.

Personal life

Inoue has married and divorced three times. His first marriage was with manga artist

Yumiko Igarashi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known for illustrating the manga series ''Candy Candy''. Career In 1968, as a third-year high school student at the Asahi Gaoka High School in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Igarashi made her debut in Shueisha's ''Ri ...

. Together, they have a son named Keiichi Igarashi (born 1980 or 1981), known professionally as Nanami Igarashi, who is a former

idol Idol or Idols may refer to: Religion and philosophy * Cult image, a neutral term for a man-made object that is worshipped or venerated for the deity, spirit or demon that it embodies or represents * Murti, a point of focus for devotion or medit ...

trainee at

Johnny & Associates is a Japanese talent agency, formed by Johnny Kitagawa in 1962, which trains and promotes groups of male entertainers known as . History 1962–1989 In 1962, Kitagawa launched his first group, Johnnys. In its early days, Kitagawa's agency re ...

and later published a comic essay about his experiences as an ''

otokonoko is a Japanese term for men who have a culturally feminine gender expression. This includes amongst others males with feminine appearances, or those cross-dressing. is a play on the word ("boy", from the characters for 'male' and 'child'), w ...

''. His second marriage was with actress . His third marriage was with actress , whom he married in 2001 and later divorced in 2012.

Filmography

Anime

Films

Video games

Tokusatsu

Motion Comic

*''

Ultraman (manga) ''Ultraman'' (stylized as ''ULTRAMAN'') is a Japanese manga series written by Eiichi Shimizu and drawn by Tomohiro Shimoguchi of '' Linebarrels of Iron'' fame. Published in ''Monthly Hero's'' since the magazine's inaugural issue. It is part o ...

'' (2015) - Alien Sukurada Adad

Overseas dubbing

Live-action

Animation

Other roles

* '' From Far Away'' ('' 彼方から'') CD Drama (1999): Keimos Lee Goda

Discography

Albums

Singles

Drama audio recordings

References

External links

Official blog

Official agency profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Inoue, Kazuhiko 1954 births Living people Japanese male stage actors Japanese male video game actors Japanese male voice actors Male voice actors from Yokohama Seiyu Award winners Japanese voice directors 20th-century Japanese male actors 21st-century Japanese male actors