Kiyoyuki Yanada Known Best For Voice Work As Takenori Akagi in 'Slam Dunk' Passed Away At Age 57

Kiyoyuki Yanada on the left with the character Takenori Akagi on the right

Image Source: NG News 247

Japanese voice actor Kiyoyuki Yanada passed away on November 14th at age 57. Yanada was born in Nerima, Japan, on May 10th, 1965. He became a voice actor in 1987, with Shutendouji from Ronin Warriors being the first role he auditioned for. However, the first role he landed was Ryu Dolk in the 1989 anime Jushin Liger.

His other notable anime roles include Takenori Akagi in Slam Dunk, Barton in Macross 7, Megatron in Transformers Armada, and General Rildo in Dragon Ball GT. Yanada also voiced in several video games, and these roles include Shaft in Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Jotaro Kujo in the 1998 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure game, Taka-Arashi in the Virtua Fighter series, Richter Belmont in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, Mike Haggar in Street Fighter V, and Colin Vernon E. Groubitz in the Guilty Gear series.

The actor also took up several of the roles held by the late Yō Yoshimura and Kazuyuki Sogabe after their passings, respectively. His hobbies included soccer, sports, driving, baseball, and karate. Interestingly, the actor wanted to be a physical education teacher when he was a kid before he became an actor. He was affiliated with Kyu Production, 81 Produce, and D-COLOR.

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