For two weeks on May 7 and 14, “Friday Roadshow” (for Nippon Television Network, from 9:00 p.m.) will broadcast “Titanic,” an enduring love story that has left its mark on movie history. Upon its release in 1997, Titanic became the highest grossing film in Japan at 26.2 billion yen.Titanic is a masterpiece that still reigns as the third highest grossing film of all time and continues to be the number one foreign film of all time and the number one live-action film of all time.

Titanic” has been aired many times on “Friday Roadshow,” but the reason it became a hot topic this time is that the main character, Jack, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, will be dubbed by voice actor Ishida Akira. This was news that caught the attention of anime and voice actor fans.

However, some people who are not familiar with anime and voice actors must have wondered, “Who is Ishida Akira?” So, I would like to briefly introduce why otaku were so excited about Ishida Akira’s appearance in “Titanic”.

■Not Just Nagisa Kaworu in “Eva”! Characters played by Akira Ishida

If I were to introduce Ishida-san in a very simple way to those who have not been exposed to anime or voice acting before, the first name that comes to mind is “Nagisa Kaworu” from “Neon Genesis Evangelion”.
More recently, he appeared in the worldwide hit movie “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” Infinity Train Arc as Akaza, a member of the twelve demon moons.

However, this is not the only representative work of Ishida-san. The “reason why otaku were shaken” lies in his other brilliant performances during his career. There are too many to list here, so I will just list some of my favorite works and characters below.

– Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon SuperS Fish Eye
– Slayers series Xellos
– Saiyuki Series: Chohakkai
-Mobile Suit Gundam SEED/DESTINY Althrun Zala
– Naruto/Shippuden Gaara
– Gintama Series Katsura Kotaro
– Natsume’s Book of Friends Natori Shuuichi
– Kid the Phantom Thief Hakuba Saguru
…etc
I’ve already mentioned my favorite characters, but Ishida-san’s voice is characterized by a slightly high-pitched quality that has a “luster” to it. He often plays beautiful boys and young men with a somewhat mysterious atmosphere, like Nagisa Kaworu.

He has many fans in the entertainment industry, and actress Kuriyama Chiaki has publicly stated that she likes Ishida Akira. In addition to that, Matsui Reina also co-starred with Ishida-san in the movie “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and said in an interview, “I can’t believe it!”

■Ishida Akira is a legend in his own right.

Ishida-san actually has a number of “legends” in addition to his works.

First of all, all fans of Ishida-san will know that he does not sing character songs. In “Saiyuki series” broadcast in 2000s, he declared that he would not sing them. Since then, otaku recognizes that he won’t. However, in episode 88 of “Gintama”, he performed a rap called “Katsura-rap”, which has remained in the hearts and ears of fans as “a very precious episode”.

It is also a famous story that he is not very good at socializing. He said on the radio of “Gintama” that when his voice actor friend Tomokazu Sugita invited him to lunch, he refused saying, “I’m going out to eat.”

In addition to this, there are many other “legends” that can be found by researching. If you are interested, why don’t you check it out?

■ What is the appeal of Akira Ishida’s “Titanic” DiCaprio?

Actually, Ishida-san is not the only one who dubbed the role of Jack in “Titanic”.

Matsuda Youji (software version), Tsumabuki Satoshi (Fuji TV version), Uchida Yuuya (Fuji TV new version), and Kusao Takeshi (in-flight version) are some of the splendid voice actors and actors who have played the role so far. Ishida-san is dubbing for the NTV version.

If you have seen Titanic, you know that DiCaprio was the “most handsome man in the world” in 1997, and many people’s hearts were burning. With his silky blond hair and piercing blue jewel eyes, your heart beats fast when he looks at you even through the screen. At that time, he was called “Prince” or “Leo-sama” and was loved by many.

Ishida-san’s dubbing of “Titanic” was first aired in 2003. At that time, Ishida-san was also playing lightly pigmented beautiful boys with a hint of suspicion, such as Eyes Rutherford in “Spiral” and Hiwatari Satoshi in “D.N.Angel”. I remember how impressed I was.

The affinity between Ishida-san’s beautiful voice and DiCaprio’s good looks is so strong that I think it can be called “God’s gift to us.

■ The more I look into Ishida Akira , the more I become interested in him.

Ishida-san has appeared in anime that I have been watching since I was a child, such as “Neon Genesis Evangelion,” “Sailor Moon,” and “Slayers”. If you’ve never heard of him except “Eva” or “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba,” you might have seen him in some of the anime you watched as a child.

I thought I knew a lot about Ishida-san, but when I looked up his “legend,” …… I learned once again that he is a truly profound person!

　If you are interested in this article, why don’t you check out Ishida-san? You may be attracted not only to his voice and works, but also to his essence.