Voice actor Joji Yanami, who voiced multiple characters throughout the Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z anime series, has passed away at age 90.
As reported by Nikkan Sports, the anime industry veteran passed away on Dec. 3 at age 90. His talent agency, Aoni Production, announced the news of his passing to the Japanese press in a statement that expressed gratitude for Yanami's work and kindness. His family has already held a private funeral service for the actor.
A Tokyo native, Yanami was born in 1931 and began his voice acting career just as the anime industry was beginning to grow in the 1960s, where he got his start voicing characters in multiple classic anime series such as the original Devilman and Cyborg 009. He was best known for his work in the Dragon Ball anime series, which he was a part of since its premiere in 1986. Yanami served as the series' narrator, and also voiced several of the original anime's side characters, including Bulma's father, Dr. Briefs. Yanami continued to serve as the series' narrator in its second anime adaptation, Dragon Ball Z, where he also took on the role of King Kai, a martial arts teacher who helps to train Goku and several of his friends in the afterlife. The actor reprised his role as the series narrator for the Dragon Ball GT sequel series and Dragon Ball Kai, a re-edited version of the DBZ anime. Yanami would stay with the Dragon Ball series until 2015, when he took an indefinite medical leave from the production of Dragon Ball Super. His Dragon Ball roles were filled by Naoki Tatsuta, who previously voiced the shape-shifting Oolong in the series.
In addition to Dragon Ball, Yanami starred in countless other popular anime series during his nearly sixty year career, including One Piece, Inuyasha, City Hunter and Digimon Adventure. His final non-Dragon Ball role was in the 2013 crossover movie Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie, where he played the role of Master. He also appeared in multiple video games: in addition to reprising all of his Dragon Ball roles for that series' numerous video game adaptations and spin-offs, he was also part of the cast in Bandai Namco's Tales of Destiny RPG series, and also lent his voice to Capcom's cult-classic Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom fighting game.
Tragically, Yanami joins several other Dragon Ball cast members who have passed in recent years. Chris Ayers, who voiced Frieza in the English dub of the series, passed away earlier this year at age 56 after a battle with COPD and emphysema. Kirby Morrow, who played Goku in Ocean's English dub and was also known for his work in the Stargate franchise, passed away in 2020. Hiromi Tsuru, the original voice of Bulma, died suddenly in 2017 of an aortic dissection at age 57.
Source: Nikkan Sports
