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voice


For Tenshinhan, I would say that truly, his voice is worth a billion words.  In this section we’ll take a look at who brings Tenshinhan to life in the anime.  Ultimately, my bias toward the original version of the series brings the main focus of this section to the Japanese voice actor who plays Tenshinhan over the entire run of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.

In Japan, such actors who lend their voices to characters are called seiyuu.  The characters which make up this word are and , which are koe (“voice,” read as sei) and (from the word haiyū, 俳優, meaning “actor.”)

Hirotaka Suzuoki
Surname: Suzuoki 鈴置
Given Name: Hirotaka 洋孝
March 3, 1950 - August 6, 2006

Other Roles
Dragon Ball/Z - Budokai Announcer
Dragon Ball GT - “Wu Shenron”
Gundam series - Bright Noa
Pokémon - Sakaki
Ranma 1/2 - Tatewaki Kunou
Rurouni Kenshin - Hajime Saitou
Saint Seiya - Dragon Seiryu

The wonderful Hirotaka Suzuoki. (Image from Ken Productions site.)



     Hirotaka Suzuoki is the man who helped give Tenshinhan his soul, his every emotion, with just his voice.  Mr. Suzuoki will always be my favorite Japanese voice actor.  Sure, I‘m incredibly biased, but one cannot deny the fact that he was a truly talented actor.

     Some seiyuu play many different characters throughout their careers.  Suzuoki-sensei‘s list of roles may not be as lengthy as others’ are, but each and every one of his is absolutely unforgettable. He makes his characters who they are and gives life to them.

     I love the way he gives Tenshinhan all of his emotions. Tenshinhan, who seems so stoic and serious all the time. Yet Suzuoki-sensei is able to make him sound totally goofy, such as when he announces Tenshinhan’s Haikyuuken; or all kind and reassuring when he speaks to Chaozu. And after all, no one shouts the Kikoho like Suzuoki-sensei does.

     In addition to playing Tenshinhan, Suzuoki-sensei provided the voice of the Tenkaichi Budokai announcer, who is echelons more energetic. He also voices Wu Shenron, one of the dragons in the Evil Dragon Arc of DBGT. I can’t tell you much about it, since I’ve never seen DBGT before.  One of these days...?

     Sadly, Suzuoki-sensei passed away on August 6, 2006 from lung cancer. The news was sudden and struck a great blow to the many fans of his voice-work.

     Thank you so much for everything, Suzuoki-sensei.



Sound Clips
Coming soon.


Trivia
◦ His name: suzu, means “bell;” oki, means “to place;” hiro, means “ocean,” “foreign,” or “Western;” taka, means “obedience” or “mourning.”
◦ He and Hiroko Emori (Chaozu’s seiyuu) both did voice work on the Saint Seiya anime.


Voice Info Links
Ken Production
     his page (click on his picture for a voice clip)
Full list of roles

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Three’s the Charm © 2007 Meghan M.

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