Daisuke Gouri

Daisuke Gouri (郷里 大輔, Gōri Daisuke, February 8, 1952 - January 17, 2010) was a Japanese voice actor and narrator who was affiliated with Aoni Production. His real name was Yoshio Nagahori (長堀 芳夫) and he is survived by his wife and at least one known child. When he was training to become a voice actor, he met and became good friends with Kazuhiko Inoue. For three years, both worked at various part-time jobs and met at soba stands or McDonalds to practice their performances or read manuscripts. When they finally entered the industry, they both tearfully congratulated one another. Their friendship continued throughout their careers. Gōri was known as a gentle and friendly person. It's said he was also a strong one as well, since his wife apparently didn't let him touch their newborn child. She supposedly had suspicions that Gōri could have unintentionally harmed it. Masaya Onosaka claimed that he was a nice person but really scary if he got angry.

Known for his deep baritone voice, Gōri voiced several villains and comedic characters. Outside of the anime and game industry, he provided narration for various television programs, commercials, or live events. Anime fans may know him best as Robin Mask in the Kinnikuman series, Dozle Zabi or Bask Om within the Gundam franchise, or Mr. Satan, Ox-King, and several other characters in the Dragonball franchise. Video game fans may know him better as Heihachi Mishima in the Tekken series (and for the majority of Heihachi's cameo appearances), Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy XII, and Albert Simon in the Shadow Hearts series.

On January 17, 2010, at approximately 3:00 P.M., Gōri was found lying on his stomach with blood dripping from his wrists in the middle of a Nakano, Tokyo street by a passerby, who then notified the police. Authorities from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's Nakano station discovered a utility knife under his body as well as a note with the words "I'm sorry" (ごめんね Gomenne) and "Thank you" (ありがとう Arigatō) scrawled on it in his pants pocket. According to following reports, Gōri was already dead for one or two hours by the time his body was found. His body was in an area where not too many people commuted, so the idea of a late discovery is a believable story. His death is legally ruled as a suicide. Coupled with the earlier death of Isamu Tanonaka, it was a sad week for the anime industry. Inoue remarked that Gōri looked depressed after a recording of Anpanman and his friend said, "I'm getting old". Though his death was sudden, many fans still fondly remember Gōri for his warm-hearted performances.

Works

 * Dong Zhuo - Romance of the Three Kingdoms drama CD series
 * Puppeteer, puppet - Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2 ~Toki no Fuin~ Two drama CD
 * Jeffrey Hammond - Ninja Ryūkenden OVA
 * Shogen Kuji - Dark Hunter
 * Georg Schnyder - Nanatsu no Hikan: Senritsu no Bishou
 * Bass Armstrong - Dead or Alive 1~4
 * Yoshihiro Shimazu - Kessen
 * Xiahou Dun, Narrator - Dynasty Tactics
 * Narrator - Romance of the Three Kingdoms IX, Samurai Warriors series - His role as narrator for the latter title was taken over by Unshō Ishizuka.
 * Shingen Takeda - Samurai Warriors series, Warriors Orochi series - Last voiced posthumously in Pachislot Sengoku Musou Moushouden; stock voice clips from Samurai Warriors 3 are used in the Xtreme Legends expansion. Replaced by Ryūzaburō Ōtomo after his death.
 * Takashige Tsukuba - Naval Ops: Warship Gunner 2
 * Jeffery Stanford - Boukoku no Aegis 2035: Warship Gunner
 * Volf - Ninja Gaiden II (including Sigma 2 and Sigma 2 Plus)
 * Dozle Zabi - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series; reprise of his role in Gundam; replaced by Tesshō Genda in the third title.
 * Dagda - TRINITY: Souls of Zill O'll (posthumously)

Trivia

 * Daisuke Gouri was the first voice actor in non-Warriors collaboration title to pass away.
 * Daisuke Gouri was also the first voice actor in Samurai Warriors to pass away.