With great sadness I share the news that actor Denis Akiyama, known to Sailor Moon fans as the voice of Malachite in the original English dub of the Sailor Moon anime, passed away on Thursday at age 66. Malachite was the English name for Kunzite in the DiC dub of the series. In addition to his voice acting roles in Sailor Moon and other anime, cartoons and video games Denis Akiyama was also an accomplished live action actor with roles in films such as Johnny Mnemonic and the film Pixels in which he portrayed Pac Man creator Toru Iwatani who was attacked by a recreation of Pac Man.
Just last month I was looking up Denis Akiyama and his career as I watched Johnny Mnemonic, a film which was partially shot in the actor’s home town of Toronto and was released around the same time as the Sailor Moon anime was originally playing on TV here in Canada. Denis Akiyama leaves behind a great legacy of performances in TV and film. He will be greatly missed.
Watching Johnny Mnemonic which has Denis Akiyama, the voice of Malachite from the DiC dub of Sailor Moon, in it. The movie was out around the time that dub played on TV. His character, Shinji, fights with a monomelecular wire garotte/whip. pic.twitter.com/zbVehfMvZS
— Sailor Moon News (@SailorMoon_News) May 23, 2018
Source: Anime News Network
Possibly Related Posts
-
Voice actor Chieko Honda, voice of Tellu, dies of cancer at 49 -
Roland Parliament, the voice of Melvin and voice director for Sailor Moon, to appear at Unplugged Expo in Toronto September 27th and 28th -
Tracey Moore, the first English voice of Sailor Moon, to appear at Tsukino-con in Victoria February 13th to the 15th -
Anime Expo to host a huge Sailor Moon reunion with nine voice actors in LA this July -
Terri Hawkes, the English voice of Sailor Moon, to appear at Ai-kon in Winnipeg July 17th to the 19th
He gave Malachite such gravitas and strength. When the character spoke, you could feel his hatred and anger coursing through the words. It’s such a shame he died at a relatively young age. He will be missed. My condolences to his loved ones.
Definitely one of the best of the Dic dub.They were honestly all good, the dub itself was just a product of it’s time…the VAs were great though.
At least he’s with Kirsten Bishop. :’-(
Didn’t think of the connection. Indeed scenes with these two acting together are extra sad now.
Good catch, Luke.
Thank you.
Rest in peace, Mr. Akiyama. I don’t know your work as Kunzite’s voice actor, but Kunzite is one of my favourite Sailor Moon characters, so I thank you for giving him an English voice. My condolences to his family and friends.
You should look it up on Youtube, he had a very powerful voice.
I have never grown up with the Dic dub. I actually watched the show in various languages as a child, because it has never been broadcast in my country.I don’t like the way they changed everything, but I can honestly say the cast in the DiC dub was great. They all did deliver, although some of them were miscast. Cloverway dub, although a bit more faitful had horrible voice work done. Linda Balantine sounds like cheap fan parody as Serena.This is my personal opinion. Most of the DiC VAs though were top-noth.
I will have a look on YouTube then
. Thank you!
(I wanted to write “have a listen”, but it seems to be very incorrect English.)
Either way is fine, and since you will be listening to his voice, you would be using it correctly.
Thank you saintfighteraqua!
I read on several websites that “have” or “take a listen” is an heresy, and I always pay attention to speak the best English possible.
I had issues with my connexion recently, and still haven’t listened to Denis Akayama’s voice, though.
Guys it has been 4 days without a single piece of news on Sailor Moon official wesite. Could it be they are planning the reveal of the designs?
Or they are just on summer holidays… Who knows X) ?
they never miss a day to post merch no one needs or wants.
Character Designer announced for Sailor Moon Crystal 4th period (Dead Moon section)!!!
Adam posted something ’bout it a few days ago
.
Rest well, sir.