Anime Anime Global

Jul. 16 is Furukawa Toshio-san's birthday.

He debuted as a voice actor in the 1970s and has voiced many characters up until today. In 2020, he plays the main characters of TV anime such as “Gegege no Kitarou” (6th series) and “Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga”.
He is also the headmaster of the voice actor agency Aoni Production's training school, Aonijuku Tokyo campus, and puts much effort into teaching the next generation.

At Anime!Anime! we had an interview with him when “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” was released and when he was a judge for a “One Piece” cosplay event.

To celebrate his birthday, we have conducted the same survey as last year asking “Who's Your Favorite Character Voiced by Furukawa Toshio-san?”. There were 90 votes during the survey period from Jul. 3 through Jul. 10.
The gender ratio was fairly balanced with 45% male to 55% female, and the age range was widely spread with 30% being under 19, 25% being in their 20s, and 30% being over 40.

■Ace from “One Piece” took the top, and there were also votes for dubbing roles.
1st Place
1st place went to Portgas D. Ace with roughly 25% of the vote and rose to the top from last year's 2nd place.

He is popular for being Luffy's reliable brother with comments such as, “Each and every word Ace says is so cool! I can't think of anyone else but Furukawa-san to voice Ace,” and “I love how he cares about Luffy as his big brother.”
Some comments pointed out the battle in the Summit War, “I can't get the line 'Thank you… for loving me!!!' out of my head,” and “Furukawa-san's performance made me cry even more.”

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd was Moroboshi Ataru from “Urusei Yatsura” with roughly 20% of the vote making him one rank higher from last year's 3rd place.

“He's a lazy womanizer. A character you would probably not love if he really existed. But Furukawa-san's voice turns him into a character that you can somehow forgive,” is a comment that points out how he brought out a lovable side of the character.
There was also a comment from a fan who enjoyed it since the first airing, “He seems shallow, but is sincere. He cheats a lot but is devoted. And he seems flexible but is stubborn. I think Furukawa-san is the only person who could turn this bizarre and complex boy into such a lovable character. Ataru is my first love.”

3rd Place
3rd place went to Piccolo from “Dragon Ball” with roughly 10%. He, unfortunately, dropped his position from last year's 1st place.
“The coolest green character in the universe. I admire his vintage voice and also love that he's like a parent to the other characters,” and “I love his cool attractive voice and he is my ideal man of character,” show how the fans love his caring personality. Thanks to the broadcast of “Dragon Ball Super” from 2015, he was also popular among the younger generations.

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Kai Shiden from “Mobile Suit Gundam”, “I was moved by how the boy with an attitude, who never opened up to anyone, grew so much through meeting and sadly parting with a girl.”
For Nezumi-Otoko from “Gegege no Kitarou” (6th series), “I like how he sometimes makes convincing remarks about people's true natures,” and “I was touched by his cry in the last episode.”

For Shinohara Yuuma from “Patlabor”, “He seems to be shallow, but is actually diligent, and his rational personality gives us a sense of Furukawa Toshio-san himself.”
There were even votes for a dubbed character, Panchito from “The Three Caballeros”, “I love Furukawa-san's Panchito with that brotherly vibe. He's a character I've come to love thanks to the energetic and caring voice of Furukawa-san.”

Characters from a variety of titles from the 1970s to 2020 made the list.

■Top 20
[Who's Your Favorite Character Voiced by Furukawa Toshio-san? 2020 Edition]
1. Portgas D. Ace “One Piece”
2. Moroboshi Ataru “Urusei Yatsura”
3. Piccolo “Dragon Ball”
4. Kai Shiden “Mobile Suit Gundam”
5. Shinohara Yuuma “Patlabor”
5. Yamamura Misao “Detective Conan”
5. Olivier Poplan “Legend of the Galactic Heroes”
5. Houjou Takeru “Magne Robo Gakeen”
5. Nezumi-Otoko “Gegege no Kitarou”
10. Chairman Alphonne “Cutie Honey Flash”
10. Shin “Fist of the North Star”
12. Enedra “World Trigger”
12. George Mcfly “Back to the Future”
12. Soramame Taro “Dr. Slump”
12. Takkard “Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack”
12. Date Boo Masamune “Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga”
12. Panchito “The Three Caballeros” and other titles
12. Bishop “Aliens”
12. Faceless “Karakuri Circus”
12. Mephisto II “Akuma-kun”

(Voting Period: Jul.3 to Jul. 10, 2020)