'Doraemon' original Japanese voice actor Tomita Kosei passes away at 84 due to stroke

Written by:

Jei Beltrano

Published on:

October 4, 2020 at 7:55 PM PHT (GMT +8)

His agencies Aoni Production and Production Baobab released a statement on their website few days ago that reads: "Our company’s Tomita Kosei (age of death, 84) passed away on September 27 in the second year of Reiwa (2020) due to a stroke.".

Kosei, born on February 4, 1936 in Tokyo, started his career as a voice actor and later as an actor. He voiced in more than 50 anime series and films including some in Ozamu Tezuka's productions. In 2009, Kosei was honoured with an Achievement Award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards, a ceremony held in recognition of voice acting talent held annually in Japan.

His most famous role was voicing Doraemon when the anime started its run in 1973. He was then later replaced by Masako Nozawa after his stint on the first 26 episodes of the series.

Doraemon is the first anime TV series based on Fujiko Fujio's manga of the same name. It was produced by Nippon Television Douga (previously known as Japan Broadcast Film, and Tokyo TV Movie). It aired from April 1, 1973 to September 30, 1973. After the anime ended, Doraemon remained exclusively a manga until 1979 when Shin-Ei Animation produced a more successful second anime adaptation, which officially ended in 2005; it was in turn replaced by a third anime adaptation shortly after which continues to air to recent days. (via Wiki)