The Japanese voice actor Tomomichi Nishimura, known for his portrayals of Akuma and M. Bison in several Street Fighter games, as well as his extensive work in anime, has passed away aged 79, we're sad to report.
The news was originally shared on the website of the actor's agency, Arts Vision, earlier today (as accessed via the Anime News Network), with the announcement stating that the voice artist passed away from an unspecified illness on November 29th. His agency had previously reported he would be taking a break from voice acting, earlier this year, in September, due to poor health.
Nishimura was born in Chiba Prefecture in Japan, on June 2nd, 1946, and later became known for roles in anime, as the narrator in YuYu Hakusho, Tsuchikage Onoki in Naruto, Coach Mitsuyoshi Anzai in Slam Dunk, and the Titan leader Jamitov Hymem in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
In addition to that, he also had a prolific career dubbing international movies into Japanese, notably providing the voice for Harvel Keitel's Winston Wolfe in Pulp Fiction, and also featured as a member of the voice cast on many games such as Hot Shots/Everybody's Golf (where he voiced the recurring character Suzuki), Judgment (Mitsugu Matsugane), and Ghost of Tsushima (Gyozen), alongside other titles.
It is arguably his work in the '90s and early 2000s, voicing the demon Akuma and dictator M. Bison (known as Vega in Japan) across multiple Street Fighter projects, that gamers will likely most fondly remember him from, however, with the actor having previously contributed to titles like Street Fighter Alpha 1-3, Street Fighter III: Third Strike, X-Men vs. Street Fighter, and the Street Fighter EX series, to name just a few.
Our thoughts go out to Nishimura's family at this difficult moment in time.