Naoki Bandō

Naoki Bando was a Japanese voice actor whose rough, authoritative delivery filled out villains, officers, elders and comic officials across more than four decades of anime, games and foreign-film dubs. Production Ace, the agency that represented him in later years, announced on 2 October 2026 that he had died on 28 September 2026 at the age of 69 while receiving treatment for an illness. Private funeral rites were held for family only, and the agency asked the public not to send telegrams, incense money or flowers.

He was born Koichiro Bando on 12 December 1957 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, and worked under the stage name Naoki Bando, often romanised Bandou in English credits. Over his career he moved through Seinenza Theater Company, Nine Productions, Mausu Promotion, Liberta and ALBA before joining Production Ace. He was never a household leading man, but Japanese audiences heard him constantly in supporting parts from the early 1980s into the 2020s. That durability, more than any single starring role, defined his reputation inside the industry.

In television anime he voiced Gato in Naruto, Elder Centipede in One-Punch Man, Vargas Dyson in Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, and a slate of Yo-kai Watch characters that included Jinmenken, Robonyan and Gurerurin. Other familiar credits included Junichi Ishizaka in Crayon Shin-chan, Kinetsu Osawagi in Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku, Naoto Fukuda in Space Brothers, and Torenov Y. Minovsky in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Anime News Network and his English Wikipedia article list dozens more appearances as officials, soldiers, elders and villains across Code Geass, Berserk, Monster, Detective Conan and D.Gray-man.

In games he was Lord Emon, the mysterious priest who sets Shadow of the Colossus in motion, and Larikush in Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean. He also worked extensively as a dubbing actor, giving Japanese voices to Tank in The Matrix, Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Splatter in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, and roles in Serendipity, The Family Man and New York Minute. Colleagues remembered a dependable character actor who could shift from menace to bureaucracy without drawing attention to himself.

Nikkan Sports, Oricon and other Japanese entertainment outlets carried the Production Ace notice on 2 October. The cause of the illness and the place of death were not disclosed. Fans and fellow seiyu shared tributes that stressed his range and reliability rather than celebrity, a fitting close for a performer whose voice was everywhere even when his name was not.