Anime Voice Talent Highlight #5: Ryo Horikawa

#5: Ryo Horikawa
A voice actor with a lot of presence, Ryo Horikawa (born Mokoto Horikawa) had a strong presence in the 80s and 90s in Japanese animation. He's probably best known as the wicked prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta, in Dragon Ball Z, but he was acting before and has been doing work since. Starting with his bishonen roles, we have the feminine Andromeda Shun in Saint Seiya and Reinhard von Lohengramm in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He has a certain gentleness in these roles, though is fully commanding when necessary. His Reinhard especially is full of a sort of confident calmness, but is capable of great anger, too. This great anger is put to good use in one particular role. The role, of course, is Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z. He supports the character's ability to exude this supreme arrogance, confidence, and superiority, and an aristrocratic snobishness. However, what he's probably best known for is Vegeta's firey rage, his earth-shattering angry screams at his enemies, which at last count, is pretty much everyone, even his allies.

What I admire about Horikawa is his sort of smooth, collected, but definitive voice that lends itself just as well to both gentleness or wrath, humbleness or arrogance. And sometimes all of it in one character. And always, always a commanding presence.      

  Notable Roles:

- Andromeda Shun in Saint Seiya (1986) - Reinhard von Lohengramm in Legend of the Galactic Heroes (1988) - Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z (1989) - Kou Uraki in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory (1991) - Karasu in Yu Yu Hakusho (1992) - Heiji Hattori in Detective Conan (1996)


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