Summary
For over 27 years,the main cast ofOne Piecehas been fortunate to be voiced by some of the most talented voice actors in the anime industry, andRoronoa Zorois obviously no exception. This honorable but goofy swordsman has been portrayed by the greatKazuya Nakaifrom the very beginning.
Most people associate Nakai’s deep and intimidating voice with Roronoa Zoro, and for good reason, but this is not the only iconic anime character that he has brought to life, seeing ashe has credits in over 300 different anime shows and films. He has excelled in each one of them, but the following eight are some of his most impressive roles so far.
Roronoa Zoro may be one of the most recognizable deuteragonists in anime, but Kazuya Nakai has also excelled in one of his few starring roles. Anime fans who haven’t watchedOne Piecemost likely know his voice fromSamurai Champloo, where he lent his voice to the protagonist of the show,Mugen.
Funnily enough, Mugen shares a lot of similarities with Zoro, so Nakai’s performance is strikingly similar while still having an identity of its own; both characters are rude, competitive and alcoholic swordsmen with a deep sense of honor, which means that there’s a possibility that Nakai was cast in the first place due to his experience voicing Zoro. Regardless of the reason he was chosen, Nakai still stood out as the voice of one of the most memorable anime protagonists.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget thatOne Pieceis, in part, a comedy anime, and Kazuya Nakai has definitely contributed to the show’s humor many times. He has proven on numerous occasions that he can shine in other goofy and over-the-top roles,with his performance asToushirou HijikatainGintamabeing one of the most prominent examples.
At first, Hijikata may seem like the typical intimidating and serious swordsman, but, because this isGintama, he is eventually put in many funny situations that showcase Nakai’s incredible range. His voice can go both very high and very low, and the voice actor’s solid performance perfectly complements this hilarious character.
Not every character that Kazuya Nakai voices in action shōnen anime has to be a tough and aggressive swordsman. For example, inFire Force, he voiced none other thanAkitaru Ōbi, the brave captain of Tokyo’s Special Fire Force Company 8, who stands out from most of his other roles.
Unlike mostFire Forcecharacters, Ōbi doesn’t have any pyrokinetic abilities,so he relies more on his immense physical strength and his powerful gear. Coupled with his courageous and selfless personality, Captain Ōbi turned out to be one of Nakai’s most endearing performances, as he proved that he can portray more kindhearted authority figures as well.
With a voice as deep and imposing as his, one would think that Kazuya Nakai would voice evil characters more often, but he hasn’t had the opportunity to do it many times. However, one of the few times he portrayed a villain, it turned out extremely well, as he voicedFlect Turn, the main antagonist of the filmMy Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission.
Nakai’s performance in this film is absolutely incredible, and it’s definitely one of his best. He completely disappears into the role, sinceFlect Turn is a cold, calculating and ruthless villainwith a deep voice that fits him perfectly. Curiously enough, Flect Turn made a brief appearance in Season 5 ofMy Hero Academia, which also introduced the villain Re-Destro, who was voiced by Hiroaki Hirata, better known as Sanji’s voice actor. So, in a way, Zoro and Sanji appeared inMy Hero Academiaas villains around the same time.
Toei Animation is known for casting some of their most prominent voice actors for more than one of their series. And, since they animate bothOne PieceandDragon Ball, it was inevitable that Kazuya Nakai would eventually land a role inDragon Ball Super,where he appears as the villainousTagoma.
Even though this is yet another antagonist, Nakai’s performance as Tagoma is much more conventional and sounds more like an evil version of Zoro,seeing that this character is not as intimidating or important as Flect Turn. Nevertheless, it still was super charming to hear his iconic voice in a more prominentDragon Ballrole, since he also voiced some minor characters inDragon Ball GTat the very beginning of his career.
3Kazuma & Urashiki Ōtsutsuki
Naruto: Shippuden/Boruto
That’s right; Kazuya Nakai has had the honor of voicing characters in the three biggest titans of the action shōnen genre:One Piece,Dragon BallandNaruto. Specifically, he first appeared inNaruto: Shippūden,where he voicedKazuma, one of the main antagonists of the non-canon Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc.
However, Nakai had a way bigger role in the sequel seriesBoruto, in which he voiced the anime-onlyUrashiki Ōtsutsukiwho, like all the other members of his clan,is one of the most powerful characters in the series. Urashiki has a cockier and more jovial personality, which resulted in a fascinatingly unique performance from Nakai, who proved that he can still voice youthful characters, even in his 50s.
ThePokemonanime has featured multiple legendary Japanese voice actors over the course of its 27-year run, although many anime fans may be unaware of this fact, mainly because most of them watched the English dub instead. Kazuya Nakai is one of them, as he voiced severalPokemoncharacters, with one of the most notable beingNando, a calm and charming trainer fromPokemon the Series: Diamond and Pearl.
However, one of Nakai’s most significant parts was much more recent:BrassiusinPokemon Horizons: The Series. This is yet another interesting role for him, since this is a melancholic artist who can also get quite ecstatic when he’s in the middle of a Pokemon battle. In a fun coincidence, Brassius is aGrass-type Gym Leader of the Paldea region, and he has green hair, which is very similar to Roronoa Zoro, who has green hair and is often called “Mosshead” by Sanji.
If there’s a major takeaway from this list, it’s that Kazuya Nakai has a surprisingly diverse vocal range and that he hasn’t only voiced level-headed swordsmen (even though he is quite good at it). This is especially notable in one of his most recent performances as theSerpo AliensinDanDaDan.
Like everything else in this anime,this bizarre group of aliens manages to come off as both very goofy and very creepy, which wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Nakai’s excellent voice work. What’s especially interesting is that Kazuya Nakai reunited with one of his closestOne Piececolleagues, Mayumi Tanaka—the voice of Monkey D. Luffy— who voiced none other than Turbo Granny, the vengeful spirit who helped defeat the Serpo Aliens in the first episode ofDanDaDan.
