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Kouichi Yamadera to Succeed Ichiro Nagai in Hajime no Ippo
posted on by Emma Hanashiro
Voice actor Kouichi Yamadera will replace Ichirô Nagai as for voice actor of Ginpachi Nekota in Hajime no Ippo Rising. Nagai passed away on January 27 at the age of 82.
Yamadera has appeared in series such as Cowboy Bebop as Spike and Ranma 1/2 as Ryouga. Recently he also appeared in Evangelion: 2.0 You Can [Not] Advance as Ryoji Kaji and recent Lupin III as Inspector Zenigata. He often does dubbing roles for live-action Hollywood films.
Nekota is the rival of protagonist Ippo Makunouchi's teacher Genji Kamogawa in the series. Kamogawa's original voice actor Kenji Utsumi passed away last June before Hajime no Ippo Rising premiered, so Shōzō Iizuka has been playing the character in the series.
The Hajime no Ippo Rising series will end with a four-episode spin-off arc titled "Sengo-hen" (After the War Arc) and focusing on Kamogawa and Nekota in their younger days. Mamoru Miyano will play young Kamogawa and Hiroyuki Yoshino will play young Nekota.
These episodes are being produced as a special arc in tribute to Utsumi and his Genji Kamogawa role. The first episode will premiere on March 8.
Nagai also had ongoing roles as Netero on Hunter x Hunter and Namihei Isono on Sazae-san, and was replaced by Banjō Ginga and Chafurin, respectively.
Source: Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web
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