Masakazu Morita

Masakazu Morita
森田 成一
Born (1972-10-21) October 21, 1972 (age 52)
Sumida, Tokyo, Japan
Occupations
Years active1995–present
Notable work

Masakazu Morita (森田 成一, Morita Masakazu, born October 21, 1972) is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer. He previously worked for Aoni Production.[1] He is also the host of the radio show Bleach B-Station. He played Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Maeda Keiji in Sengoku Basara, Marco the Phoenix in One Piece, Tidus in Final Fantasy X, Whis in Dragon Ball Super, Auel Neider in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny, Pegasus Seiya in Saint Seiya – Hades Chapter, Pod in Pokémon, Tenjuro Banno in Kamen Rider Drive and Li Xin in Kingdom. He won the "Best Rookie Actor" at the first Seiyu Awards.[2] He is also the official Japanese dubbing voice of Zac Efron.

Career

Morita attended Kyoka Junior and Senior High School.[3] When in high school, he joined the brass band club and was in charge of conducting the marching band, which led him to discover the joy of entertainment. He worked as an actor at NHK Promotion, studied under film director Yukio Fukamachi, and appeared in films, stage plays, and dramas.[4] His motion capture for the role of Zell Dincht in the 1999 PlayStation game Final Fantasy VIII was his debut as an actor.[5]

He voiced Tidus Final Fantasy X. While originally only in charge of motion capturing for a role, after over 100 people auditioned and no voice actor was chosen, Morita was finally called in for an audition and was hired.[6] When he was chosen to play the role, he thought he could handle it because he only had to do a voice, but in reality, he was shocked when he heard his own voice on the recording and his motionless performance.[5] When Morita met Hideo Ishikawa, Kazuya Nakai and Hiroshi Kamiya, he came to respect the fun of voice acting and their attitude toward their work, and decided that he wanted to work in the same industry like them and join the same agency.[5] On September 1, 2003, after working as a freelancer, he moved to Aoni Production, his first voice acting agency.

Morita voiced Ichigo Kurosaki in the anime series Bleach. He said that Ichigo was one of his favorite characters he ever played alongside Tidus,[7] and in 2005 he was chosen to replace Tōru Furuya as the voice of the main character Pegasus Seiya in Saint Seiya: Hades. Morita was said to have shed tears of joy when he was chosen at the audition.[8] He voiced Ryūji Takane, the main character in Ring ni Kakero 1, and was thus selected twice to play the lead in works written by Masami Kurumada.

In 2007, he won the Best Rookie Actor award at the 1st Seiyu Awards. In 2008, he returned to the stage as a guest performer in a performance by the K-Show theater company organized by Kentarō Itō, and in October 2009, he played his first leading role and first performance as a chairman.

In 2012, Morita made his debut as a singer with RING BONES. In 2013, he confessed on his Twitter page that he was in a critical situation at one point, wavering between life and death due to anaphylactic shock.[9] He said he had "almost died three times" due to anaphylactic shock, myocardial infarction and side effects.[10] He was in a very dangerous state, but thanks to the efforts of doctors, he recovered.

On December 31, 2020, he announced on Twitter that he would be leaving Aoni Production, the company to which he had belonged for 17 years, and would be working as a freelancer from January 1, 2021.[11]

Filmography

Anime series

Original video animation

Anime films

Live action

Video games

Unknown date

Drama CD

Dubbing

Discography

Albums

Year Single details Catalog No. Peak Oricon
chart positions
2012 Semegiau Kakushitsu
  • Released: February 15, 2012
  • Label: Sony Music Direct
  • Format: CD
 MHCL-2006 75

References

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  2. ^ 声優アワード (in Japanese). Seiyu Awards. Retrieved July 11, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  3. ^ "学校ニュース". Kyoka Junior and Senior High School. July 23, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  4. ^ VOICE ACTOR. Nikkei Business Publications. 2005. p. 22. ISBN 978-4822217136.
  5. ^ a b c 別冊ぱふ VOICE COLLECTION 声優インタビュー2005. Zassosha. 2005. p. 65.
  6. ^ "『FFX/X-2 HDリマスター』開発者インタビュー完全版". Famitsu. April 1, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  7. ^ Truong, Kei (February 10, 2011). "Anime Expo 2010: Interview with Masakazu Morita". Asia Pacific Arts. Archived from the original on August 6, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  8. ^ 声王子 Voice of Prince Special. Enterbrain. 2006. p. 49. ISBN 978-4757730588.
  9. ^ "声優・森田成一、入院していた 一時は危険な状態に アナフィラキシーショックで". Cinema Today. February 12, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  10. ^ "アニメ『キングダム』第2シリーズキャストインタビュー". アニメイトタイムズ. May 24, 2013. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  11. ^ "ご報告". 森田成一. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
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  13. ^ "Tomoaki Maeno, Masakazu Morita, Kana Hanazawa Join World Trigger Cast". Anime News Network. August 20, 2014.
  14. ^ "Masakazu Morita Joins Kuroko's Basketball 3rd Season's Cast". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
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  22. ^ "Major 2nd Anime's Promo Video Reveals Cast, Staff, April 7 Debut". Anime News Network. January 19, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  23. ^ "New Shaman King Anime Casts Masakazu Morita as Mosuke". Anime News Network. February 3, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  24. ^ "Key's 1st Crossover TV Anime Kaginado Reveals Cast, Staff, October 12 Debut". Anime News Network. September 24, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  25. ^ "Love of Kill Anime Reveals Promo Video, 3 Cast Members, January 12 Premiere". Anime News Network. December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
  26. ^ "Delico's Nursery TV Anime Unveils Cast, Visual, Teaser Video". Anime News Network. September 10, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  27. ^ "Bungo Stray Dogs OVA Casts Masakazu Morita as Shōsaku Katsura". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
  28. ^ "Dragon Ball Super Film announcement". animenewsnetwork. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
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  37. ^ "ダーティ・グランパ（ブルーレイ）". Shochiku. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
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