Ask John: Is there a Mel Blanc of Anime?

Question:
Is there a Mel Blanc of Anime? The man of a thousand voices coined phrases such as “What’s up, Doc?”, “Sufferin’ Succotash!” and “I tawt I taw a puddy tat!” And just as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck just don’t sound the same unless Mr. Blanc voices them, are there Japanese voice actors best known for their respective anime characters? Have they coined any catch phrases?

Answer:
Based on my limited knowledge of anime and Japan’s anime culture, I don’t think Japan has an exact equivalent to Mel Blanc. Mel Blanc’s voice performances have become iconic, especially in America. The distinctive phrases he’s performed for characters have become part of the lexicon of American English language. I may be ignorant, but I can’t think of any singular Japanese voice actor that has reached that level of preeminence in Japanese culture.

Fumi Hirano played the voice of Lum in Urusei Yatsura. Her quotable phrase, “Darling no baka,” is quite famous. But Lum is Hirano’s only landmark role. Likewise, Yasuo Yamada was the definitive voice of Lupin the Third, until Yamada passed away in 1995. But Lupin was Yamada’s only significant anime character portrayal. The rest of his work in anime consisted of supporting characters and work in less popular titles.

Voice actress Masako Nozawa is highly respected for playing characters including Son Goku in Dragonball, Tetsuro in Galaxy Express 999, and Kitaro in Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, but she has no oft quoted catch phrases.

Although she doesn’t have any particular commonly used catch phrases or quotes, the Japanese dialogue performer most likely to be comparable to Mel Blanc might be Megumi Hayashibara. The fan favorite actress has played many of the most adored characters in anime, including Rei Ayanami in Evangelion, Lina Inverse in Slayers, female Ranma in Ranma 1/2, Hello Kitty, Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop, Pai in 3×3 Eyes, and Nuku Nuku in All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku. But while Megumi’s range of performances is tremendously varied and beloved, I don’t think any of Megumi Hayashibara’s lines have ever been so popular as to become adopted into common Japanese language and lasting mainstream awareness.

Addendum added October 6, 2005
Although Akira Kamiya wasn’t an actor whom I initially thought to cite in my response, multiple recommendations from readers have led to this addendum.

Akira Kamiya has been the voice of many memorable anime characters including Roy Fokker of Macross, Mendou Shuutaroh in Urusei Yatsura, Ryo Saeba in City Hunter, and Mouri Kogoro in Detective Conan. While Kamiya’s delivery of Kenshiro’s famous line “Omae wa mou shinderu,” (“You’re already dead”) from Fist of the North Star isn’t exactly a commonly used phrase, it is arguably iconic because it’s very well known.