Shuichi Ikeda

Shuichi Ikeda (池田 秀一, Ikeda Shuuichi, born December 2, 1949 in Tokyo) is a Japanese voice actor and narrator affiliated with Haikyo. Before joining his present agency, he had formerly associated himself with NAC and Kato Kikaku. He once married fellow voice actor Keiko Toda, but the two of them divorced on amicable terms. His current spouse is Sakiko Tamagawa.

From a young age, Ikeda was already familiar with the world of acting, having been scouted by a children's theater company in 1958. He made a name for himself starring in various NHK-produced dramas before his voice acting career even took off. Upon graduating from Takanawadai Senior High School, he went to Nihon University College of Art for his higher education only to drop out for personal reasons.

As Ikeda focused more on his on-screen performances, he began to dub Western movies at some point. He initially had very little enthusiasm for voice overs in general, but got fired up after looking at Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's illustrations of Char Aznable, the character he would eventually play as in Mobile Suit Gundam. When he started doing anime roles, Ikeda personally found them more difficult than his previous dub parts. Nonetheless, he came to the realization that voice overs had the potential of letting unmarketable actors shine. 2010 had him earn the Synergy Award during the 4th Seiyu Awards.

Ikeda also wrote serialized columns for Kadokawa Shoten's Gundam Ace magazine, providing various advice and consultation to readers. He even released an autobiography detailing his time with his Gundam castmates. Despite not being much of a speaker, he has little problem conversing with co-star Tōru Furuya during promotional events. He was also very close with former co-star Hirotaka Suzuoki who had been his drinking partner. Back when Ikeda was still new to the voice acting scene, he was constantly comforted by Suzuoki's presence in the studio.

Throughout his career in voice acting, Ikeda usually voices imposing and charismatic characters who sometimes serve as antagonistic figures. So far, he has lent his performances to Odin in Valkyrie Profile, Blanca in Shadow Hearts: Covenant, and Marluxia in the Kingdom Hearts series. He is also the official dub voice for Jet Li.

Works

 * Former Sacred Guardian of Greenery - Angelique, Fushigi no Kuni no Angelique
 * Seedle - Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tome
 * Char Aznable - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series; reprise of his original role in Mobile Suit Gundam
 * Full Frontal - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series; reprise of his original role in Gundam Unicorn
 * Shanks - One Piece: Pirate Warriors series