The Old School Otaku Lounge

I already made a post about it on my podcasts' Tumblog, but Ichiro Nagai passed away unexpectedly on Monday morning. He was a very prolific voice actor, but he's mostly well-known in the US for the roles of Happosai in Ranma 1/2, Cherry in Urusei Yatsura, Jingoro in Yawara!, Dr. Sado in Space Battleship Yamato, Karin-sama and Tsuru Sennin in Dragon Ball, etc etc etc. He was in a TON of things.

I was so sad to hear about this!! He was one of the quintessential "old man" voices in anime. Apparently Ranma Saotome's Japanese voice actor was heartbroken on Twitter when he heard the news, too.

It's almost fitting that one of his last roles was the old man of the Phantom Ramen Shop in ep. 2 of Space Dandy.

RIP, Nagai-sama! You'll never be forgotten!

I really loved to see Happosai in action. He was one of my favorite characters. I like to see an artist continue to work until death like that. Bernard Herman, who did the soundtrack to Taxi Driver, finished the film soundtrack the day he died. I really appreciate the fact he finished the Taxi Driver soundtrack; it is one of my favorites.

It's just after 6:30 am Tuesday morning, before work. The news just showed excerpts for Nagai-san's funeral. As the hearse drove away, everybody shouted his famous catchphrase, "BAKAMON!" with a fist in the air. I thought that was cute. When somebody lives that long, of course it's sad because you'll miss them. But at the same time, you celebrate the life they've had. From what I saw just now, they celebrated his life at the funeral.

My daughter watches Sazae-san every Sunday evening, but I typically don't pay any attention to it. But having recently watched all of Yawara, an appreciation for him is fresher in my mind. I didn't know he played Dr. Sado in Yamato! He certainly was the quintessential old man's voice in anime.

The last episode of Hajime no Ippo Rising was dedicated in his memory (along with Utsumi Kenji before he could record as Kamogawa). I loved him as Nekota.