Talent agency Aoni Production announced on Monday that prolific voice actor Makio Inoue passed away on November 29 after his health worsened after a chronic heart attack. He was 80. (Note: Comic Natalie lists his age at death at 80, and Oricon lists it as 81.)
Inoue is perhaps best known for his roles as the second generation voice actor for Goemon Ishikawa XIII in the Lupin III anime franchise, and Captain Harlock in various anime.
Inoue took over the role of Goemon in 1977 after Chikao Ohtsuka. Ohtsuka himself passed away in 2015. Inoue voiced the role from the Lupin III: Part II series in 1977 until Lupin III: the Last Job in 2010. Daisuke Namikawa took over the role in 2011.
Inoue voiced Captain Harlock in the Space Pirate Captain Harlock series, the Galaxy Express 999 TV and film, the Adieu Galaxy Express 999 film, the Captain Harlock: Mystery of the Arcadia film, the Queen Emeraldas OAV, the Arcadia of My Youth film, and the Arcadia of My Youth: Endless Orbit SSX TV series.
Other prominent roles in anime include Mitsuru Hanagata in the Kyojin no Hoshi an Shin Kyojin no Hoshi franchises, Ithaca in Andromeda Stories, Sleggar Law in Mobile Suit Gundam – The Movie Trilogy, Toshito Kutajima in Toki no Tabibito -Time Stranger-, Ryuu in Ryu, the Cave Boy, Selinuntius in Hashire Melos, and Baron Ghost in The Fantastic Adventures of Unico, among many other roles.
In video games, Inoue voiced Master Eraqus in Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts III, and Black Lotus in Bushido Blade.