Doraemon voice actress Nobuyo Oyama dies at 90
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Nobuyo Oyama, the actress who voiced Doraemon for 26 years, died at age 90.
PHOTO: THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
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JAPAN – Japanese voice actress Nobuyo Oyama, who was the voice of beloved robot cat Doraemon for 26 years in the Japanese animated TV series Doraemon, died of old age on Sept 29. She was 90.
A funeral was held with her close relatives in attendance.
Oyama was the voice of Doraemon from 1979 to 2005. The animated series revolves around the titular blue cat robot Doraemon, who travels back in time from the future to befriend lazy schoolboy Nobita.
Doraemon is known for its “magic pocket” full of fantastical gadgets, including the Take-Copter, a bamboo headgear that allows its users to fly, and the pink Anywhere Door, which acts as a portal for users to go wherever they want.
The series has been watched by millions of people around the world, and translated into 55 languages.
In a poignant coincidence, Noriko Ohara, the actress who voiced Nobita alongside Oyama’s Doraemon from 1979 to 2005, died a few months ago on July 12. She was 88.
Oyama also voiced Monokuma, the main villain from video-game series Danganronpa. She played the character from 2010 to 2016, for its first three video games, two stage shows and the animated TV series Danganronpa: The Animation (2013).
In 2015, Oyama’s husband, Japanese actor Keisuke Sagawa, said on a radio show that she was living with dementia, and would not embark on new work. THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK
