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Kazuki Yao

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kazuki Yao
矢尾 一樹
Born (1959-06-17) June 17, 1959 (age 65)
Kanazawa,[1] Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Occupation(s)Voice actor, actor, narrator[2]
Years active1970–present
AgentMax Mix[3]
Notable credit(s)One Piece as Franky, Bon Clay, and Jango
Jankenman as Masked Osodashi
Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ as Judau Ashta
Ninja Sentai Kakuranger as Ninjaman
Bastard!!: The Dark God of Destruction as Dark Schneider
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Spouses
  • Miina Tominaga (1990–????)
Natsuki Hayashi
​
(m. 2011)​

Kazuki Yao (矢尾 一樹, Yao Kazuki, born June 17, 1959) is a Japanese voice actor, actor and narrator who is currently affiliated with Max Mix. He is married to actress Natsuki Hayashi.

Biography

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As a child, Yao was very active, building secret bases with his friends and playing outside, and did not watch TV much. In addition, because his father was a government official, he had to be transferred every three years, so he moved from place to place. When he was in the second year of junior high school, he was transferred to Tokyo, and the government office building that he moved into was too small for a TV, so his family decided not to have a TV. At that time, his sister, who was four years older than him, and his mother were fond of musicals and plays, and Yao accompanied them to see them. At the time, it was popular for kabuki actors to perform William Shakespeare's plays, and he saw a Shakespeare play starring Kawarasaki Gonjūrō, and when he saw the stage greeting at the final performance of the play, it solidified his desire to become a stage actor. As soon as he graduated from high school and went to college, one of the women in his class was the younger sister of Shōichirō Akaboshi, so he started going to the rehearsal room of Matenrō Theater Company run by Takuya Hiramitsu with her help, and after being involved in a couple of productions as a staff member, he joined the stage as an actor.[4] One of his seniors in the same theater company was Hozumi Gōda.

Matenrō Theater Company was one of the more popular small theater companies, but it did not generate enough income to keep them afloat. For a while, Yao worked part-time while doing theater activities, but when he realized that he could not go on like this, he consulted with the staff and was introduced to a production company, which led him to get work in TV dramas and movies. Among them, he had an audition for an anime and made his voice acting debut as Shurugi Nam in the OVA BIRTH.[5] Naturally, he had no experience in dubbing, and although he was the lead actor, he did not understand the technical terms included in the director's instructions, but he was helped by his co-stars Keiko Toda and Jōji Yanami, and he still looks up to them as his teachers.

In 1985, Yao played the role of Shinobu Fujiwara in the TV anime series Dancouga – Super Beast Machine God. This is the series that Yao considers most memorable, and he says it was the show that made him understand what it meant to play an anime character.[5] In addition, Shinobu's line, "I'll do it!" (やってやるぜ！, Yatte yaruze!) is a byword for Yao,[5] and is often quoted in other works. In the arcade game Kaiser Knuckle, in addition to "I'll do it!", he also shouts, "Dancouga!" in some scenes. He also sang a song called "YATTE YARUZE!", which is included in his 1986 album YAO.

After working for Haikyō,[6] M-Company,[7] and Sigma Seven (May 20, 2004[8] – May 2009), he became a member of Max Mix on June 1, 2009.

On December 8, 2024, the staff of the One Piece anime television series announced that Yao would be stepping down from his role as Franky, the staff stated in an announcement that this was part of a long discussion process. A "graduation ceremony" for Yao was held on December 22 of that year during Jump Festa, where the show announced his replacement as Subaru Kimura.[9]

Filmography

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Television animation

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Unknown date

Original video animation (OVA)

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Unknown date

Theatrical animation

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Video games

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Drama CDs

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  • Fujimi Orchestra Series 2: D-Senjou no Aria (xxxx) (Tsutomu Yasaka)
  • Fujimi Orchestra Series 6: Manhattan Sonata (xxxx) (Takane Ikushima)
  • Fujimi Orchestra Series 7: Recital Rhapsody (xxxx) (Takane Ikushima)
  • Fujimi Orchestra Series side story: Yasei no Amadeus (xxxx) (Takane Ikushima)
  • Yumemiru Nemuri Otoko (xxxx) (Kenji Anan)

Tokusatsu

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Dubbing

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Live-action

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Animation

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Other

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Awards

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Year Award Category Result
1986 9th Anime Grand Prix Voice actor of the Year Won

References

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  1. ^ 日本音声製作者名鑑2004. Vol. 1. Shogakukan. 2004. p. 112. ISBN 978-4-09-526301-4.
  2. ^ "Kazuki Yao". Talent Databank. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  3. ^ "矢尾 一樹". Max Mix. Retrieved 2019-10-06.
  4. ^ "(1)舞台役者になりたいと思った中学生のころ". Seigura WEB. 2013-03-20. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  5. ^ a b c "(2)すべて現場の経験のなかから学んでいった". Seigura WEB. 2013-04-03. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  6. ^ "Music". Newtype (December 1986). Kadokawa Shoten: 163. November 1986.
  7. ^ 声優事典 第二版. Kinema Junposha. 1996. p. 298. ISBN 4-87376-160-3.
  8. ^ "株式会社シグマ・セブン". Archived from the original on 2005-08-16. Retrieved 2014-06-20.
  9. ^ Hodgkins, Crystalyn (December 7, 2024). "Kazuki Yao to Step Down From One Piece Franky Role". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 8, 2024.
  10. ^ 禁断の黙示録 クリスタル・トライアングル(1987). allcinema.net (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  11. ^ "Earnest Evans (Video Game 1991) - IMDb". IMDb.
  12. ^ "リンダキューブがわからない". no+e (in Japanese).
  13. ^ "m26887673010_2.jpg". Mercari. Retrieved November 25, 2021.
  14. ^ "カンフーハッスル". Star Channel. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  15. ^ "ロストボーイ：ニューブラッド［吹］". Star Channel. Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  16. ^ "スナッチ". Star Channel. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  17. ^ "すべてをあなたに[吹]". Star Channel. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  18. ^ "キャラクター アドベンチャー・タイム". Cartoon Network. Retrieved October 17, 2020.
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