Koichi Yamadera

The voice does not have to change much for Koichi Yamadera to change the character. He can play a relaxed lead, an antagonist or a comic part without insisting that we notice the vocal adjustment. We value that naturalness, particularly when a character has to sustain a series. Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop (1998) is a useful example from his leading work. The cool sounds unforced.

His breakthrough work in 1989 included Ryōga Hibiki and the Jusenkyō Guide in Ranma ½, but the film to start with is Hayao Miyazaki’s Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). There he voices a bakery worker and a policeman. We were moved by the film’s attention to the courage an ordinary working day can require. Those small parts belong within its gentle humour, and should not be promoted into an explanation for everything that works. A few lessons are over-tidy, but we recommend it warmly.

In Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell (1995), he voices Togusa. We recommend the film for its absorbing melancholy and the images that make its questions about identity worth the work, despite some needlessly opaque plotting. Its city is more vivid than several of its people, so this is not the obvious choice for an evening devoted to performances. Togusa became a continuing role across the franchise’s films and series. Keeping a performance natural over time is one of Yamadera’s strengths, and a continuing part needs precisely that.

Later work includes Beerus, the God of Destruction in Dragon Ball Super (2015), and Dessler in the Space Battleship Yamato remakes. Discussing Dessler, Yamadera said, "I want to master 100 different ways to say 'Hmf.'" That is a precise ambition for someone whose skill often lies in how little he needs to alter. Describing him simply as versatile misses the pleasure of listening to an actor who does not make every change conspicuous. For a fuller introduction to Yamadera, follow the two films with Cowboy Bebop.