Nobuyuki Furuta was a veteran Japanese voice actor. Primarily, he had roles in a wide range of anime series over the course of his career, but it is interesting to note that he had roles in other media projects as well, with an excellent example being the Japanese dub of Heroes. Unfortunately, it has been reported that Furuta died at the age of 59 on August 29 of 2017 at the hospital in his hometown of Kawasaki because of complications related to the blood vessels in his lungs. As a result, it can be said that Japanese voice acting has lost a person of some importance.
What Were Some of Furuta Nobuyuki’s Roles?
Furuta started voice acting in the 1980s. Most of the anime series in which he voice acted are no longer well-known to the anime fans of present times, but it is important to note that a number of them had significant influence on the anime series that followed in their footsteps. For example, Super Dimension Century Orguss was the second installment in the Super Dimension series of anime series, which is notable because the other two were Super Dimension Fortress Macross and The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross. All of these series have had an impact on the so-called real robot genre of anime, though Macross is by far the most well-known in its homeland because of its follow-ups. Regardless, people in the west might be familiar with some of these names as the source material for Robotech, though Orguss was never used for this purpose because of clashes over the rights.
Other influential anime series in which Furuta was involved include both God Mazinger and an installment in the Machine Robo franchise, which were influential in the so-called super robot genre of anime. Furthermore, there was Laputa: Castle in the Sky, which remains one of Miyazaki Hayao’s most beloved movies, as well as Appleseed, which had a fair amount of influence on sci-fi fans both in Japan and in the west. Finally, Furuta was even in Gundam 0080: A War in the Pocket, which focused on a child learning to see past the spectacle of war in a rather traumatic manner by watching two of his friends fight one another in giant robots without ever realizing what they were doing.
In more recent times, Furuta has appeared in an even bigger number of well-known series. For example, he had one-episode appearances in Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto: Shippuden, and Samurai Champloo as well as more extensive appearances in other well-known series. However, his most memorable role might be the vicious and villainous but nonetheless fair Sakyo in Yuu Yuu Hakusho. For those who are unfamiliar with that series, it was centered around a boy who was killed in an accident but got a second chance at life by being a Spirit Detective. As a result, the protagonist and his friends clashed with Furuta’s character on more than one occasion, seeing as how Sakyo was a prominent member of a smuggling syndicate.
Summed up, it is clear that Furuta Nobuyuki has built up an impressive list of roles over the course of his career in voice acting. As a result, the loss of his friends and family members is a loss for all of the anime fans out there.
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