Biography
Who is Kōichi Yamadera?
Early life and education
Kōichi Yamadera was born in Shiogama, Japan. He attended Tohoku Gakuin University, where he studied in the economics school. Before finding success in entertainment, he served as the manager for the Tagajō Senior High School basketball team.
During his early years, he did not initially plan to pursue a career in voice acting. He had expressed interest in working in sales or perhaps becoming an onscreen actor instead. His professional path began with a role as Shinji Nakagawa in the Megazone 23 OVA.
Career highlights
Kōichi became a major figure in the industry through roles like Ryōga Hibiki in Ranma ½. He has voiced many famous characters, including Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop and Togusa in Ghost in the Shell. In the Lupin III series, he has provided the voice for Koichi Zenigata since 2011.
His versatility is evident in his work with Disney, where he provides the Japanese voices for characters like Sebastian and Genie. He has also appeared in every Pokémon film to date, often playing different characters. In the video game Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, he voiced all five Monokuma Kubs.
Kōichi Yamadera is highly respected by his peers. He ranked first in a TV Asahi poll of voice professionals in both 2011 and 2017. He also topped a Niconico survey among anime voice actors in 2017.
Family and relationships
Kōichi has been married three times. His first marriage was to Mika Kanai on May 23, 1993, but they divorced in 2006. His second wife was the voice actress Rie Tanaka. They married in 2012 with a ceremony in Hawaii, but later announced their divorce in 2018.
In June 2021, he announced he had married radio personality Robin Shoko Okada. She is 31 years younger than him. He currently works with the agency Across Entertainment and was previously with the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society.
Birthday and age
Kōichi Yamadera was born on June 17, 1961, which makes Kōichi 65 years old today. That birthday falls under the Gemini sign. Kōichi shares the date with 65 other famous people.
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