Mitsuo Yamaguchi (山口 光雄), better known by his stage name Kappei Yamaguchi (山口 勝平), is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and rakugoka affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox. After making his voice acting debut in 1989 as the male version of Ranma Saotome in Ranma ½, Yamaguchi went on to other notable roles, including Inuyasha in Inuyasha and its sequel Yashahime, and L in Death Note. He currently voices Shinichi Kudo and Kaito Kid in Case Closed, Usopp in One Piece and Teddie in Persona 4. He is married and has a son, Ryunosuke, and a daughter, Akane. Ryunosuke and Akane are also voice actors, while the latter is also a rakugoka.

Biography

Early life and education

Yamaguchi was born in Fukuoka. He graduated from Fukuoka's prefectural Chikuzen High School. In 1984, Yamaguchi moved to Tokyo and entered the Tokyo Announce University College, a vocational school training various performers from voice actors to singers to announcers or even reporters and dancers.

Background

Yamaguchi is the son of a carpenter father. He had been into anime as a child, but his interest lapsed in high school after joining a band. He attended acting classes taught by Kaneta Kimotsuki, and soon joined her 21st Century Fox theater company. About a year after joining, he took the stage for the first time in a supporting role, and played the lead role of the boy detective in So Kitamura's "Odoriko THE DANCER MURDER CASE". Yamaguchi began working as a voice actor, voicing Ranma Saotome in Ranma ½.

Activities as a voice actor

He has appeared in numerous works in the fields of live-action dramas, animation, games, and foreign film dubbing. In anime, he specializes in playing lively children and young people. In the early 1990s, he also played low-key roles such as Eto in Record of Lodoss War and Gokujurota in Gale! Iron League. In Case Closed, he plays Shinichi Kudo and Kaito Kid. His favorite "Conan" episode is "Flying Locked Room Shinichi Kudo's First Incident". In One Piece, he originally wanted to play the role of Monkey D. Luffy, the main character, and went to audition, but was unsuccessful. He decided to play the role of Usopp after receiving an offer. Yamaguchi has been reading the original manga since the beginning of the serialization, and couldn't imagine what kind of voice the character would have prior to getting the role.

Other ventures

In Japanese dubs of international works, Yamaguchi is the voice of Kyle Broflovski, Bugs Bunny, and Crash Bandicoot. He appeared in hentai and eroge as Kyōya Ushihisa (牛久 京也). After performing rakugo at an event in 2017, Yamaguchi started studying under Shirano Tatekawa. He uses the name のゝ乃家ぺぺぺぇ as a rakugoka. Yamaguchi made his first public appearance in North America at Otakon 2008 and in Sakura-Con 2009. His third appearance to date has been at Animazement in 2010. He also made a fourth appearance in Hawaii at Kawaii Kon in 2011. Yamaguchi won the individual seiyu award at the 2003 Tokyo International Anime Fair. He established his own entertainment production company called Goku Co. Ltd., of which he is president. In 2019, Yamaguchi won the Kei Tomiyama Award at the 13th Seiyu Awards.

Filmography

Anime series

Original video animation

Anime films

Web animation

Live action

Video games

Drama CD

Dubbing roles

Live-action

Animation

Commercials

Discography

Audio dramas

Devil May Cry CD Drama Volume 2 Episode 1: Devil's Neverland - Peter Pan

Singles

Albums

Radio shows

Awards