was a Japanese voice actor affiliated with who worked primarily in video games and anime.
Bandō voiced Lord Emon in Shadow of the Colossus and Larikush in Baten Kaitos. Some of his anime voice roles include Gatō in Naruto. He was also the voice of Splatter in the Japanese dubbed version of the feature film Thomas and the Magic Railroad.
Life and career Naoki Bandō was born in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, Japan on December 12, 1957. During his junior high and high school years, Bandō lived in Hakodate.
He moved from Hokkaido to Tokyo to attend the Department of Japanese Literature (Evening Division) in the . However, he spent the tuition money provided by his parents on the Evening Division of the Seinenza Theater Company Actor's Training Institute and dropped out after two years.
Aspiring to become an actor, he graduated from the regular course of the Gekidan Seinenza Theater Company’s Actor Training School and then joined the Gekidan Shinjinkai Theater Company. However, his small stature made him look overshadowed on stage, so he rarely got good roles.
The reason he started voice acting was because he held an academic complex deep down, still carrying a bit of a bitter, cynical attitude, thinking, "After all, I’m just a theater person who never properly learned voice training for voice acting." While helping with sound effects during a stage production, he developed a deeper interest in sound, which ultimately led him to pursue voice acting. A senior from the theater company, who used to voice act, found out and said to him, "If you're good with sound, why don't you give it a shot?"
Around that time, the television anime City Hunter had started airing. With a massive list of antagonists appearing every week, they needed all the extra talent they could get, leading to Bandō being called in for recordings almost every week. In 1991, he passed an audition and secured his first regular voice role as Guard Star in The Brave of Sun Fighbird.
A founding member of , he was affiliated with Mausu Promotion, Liberta, ALBA, and throughout his life. When he started to get voice work once per week, it became difficult to fit two-month stage performances into his schedule. Believing that juggling both would be difficult, he made the decision to transfer to a voice acting agency.
In 2011, Bandō established the voice acting academy Shovel Tech and began to mentor younger talent.
Bandō died on September 28, 2026, at the age of 68. His death was publicly announced days later on October 2 of that year by .
Filmography Television animation Hikaru no Go (2001) – Shinoda Insei Instructor (ep 63) Rockman EXE Beast (2005) – Zoano DarkMan One Punch Man (2019) – Elder Centipede
Unknown date Armored Trooper VOTOMS: The Heretic Saint – Elder C (ep 3); Officer (ep 5); Pope Theo VIII Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto – Hata Meifuu (eps 5–8); Tatsugorou Shinmon (eps 6, 9–14) Battle Spirits: Brave – Elder Battle Spirits: Shōnen Gekiha Dan – Old Otherworld King (ep 26) Berserk – Owen Betterman – Officer The Brave of Sun Fighbird – Guard Star, Guardion The Brave of Gold Goldran – Jet Silver, Star Silver, Drill Silver, Fire Silver, Silverion, God Silverion The Bush Baby – Kankari Chimera - Angel of Death – Hitman City Hunter: Bay City Wars – Soldier A Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion – Izumi Crayon Shin-chan – 20-year-old D (ep 173); Junichi Ishizaka D.Gray-man – Alphonse Claus (ep 45) Daa! Daa! Daa! – Principal Detective Conan – Masaharu Motoyama (eps 371–372) The Five Star Stories – Man E Gokudo – King Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino – Inspector Moro (ep 4) Hakkenden: Legend of the Dog Warriors – Yoshinari Satome (ep 11) Hyper Police – lizard A (ep 5); Mudagami Ki*Me*Ra – Soldier Kobato. – Addition voice(ep 5) Kodocha – Maeda-san Lupin III: The Columbus Files (special) – Doctor A Madlax – Nayman Magic User's Club – TV Broadcaster Mao-chan – Tokusaburo Tokugawa Matchless Raijin-Oh – Heavy Metal Man (ep 33) Miracle Girls – Yoshimura-sensei (ep 11) Mobile Suit Victory Gundam – Fusark; Otis Arkins Monster – Janáček Moonlight Mile – Noguchi (eps 9–11) Mujin Wakusei Survive – Tako Naruto – Gatoo; Toubei Kagetsu (ep 186) Nightwalker – Director (ep 2); Doctor (ep 3); Furano (ep 4) Nurse Angel Ririka SOS – Announcer (ep 30); Dark Joker (ep 34); Hiroshi Uzaki Photon: The Idiot Adventures – Bandit 1 Pom Poko – Male tanuki A Rockman.EXE Beast – Zoan Darkman Shugo Chara! – Kōtarō Himeno (ep 49) Slayers – Examiner A (ep 16) The Story of Saiunkoku – Enjun Sa-taiho; Young Enjun Sa Sword for Truth – Officer A Ultra Nyan 2: Happy Daisakusen – Goemon Urayasu Tekkin Kazoku – Kintetsu Oosawagi; Toragorou Ushimatsu Warau Salesman – Additional voice(s) Witch Hunter Robin – Institute Head Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl – Fujiko's Father Yomigaeru Sora - Rescue Wings – Hirofumi Morimoto (eps 8–9) Zipang – Matome Ugaki
Theatrical animation Crayon Shin-chan: Action Kamen vs Leotard Devil (xxxx) – Staff Crayon Shin-chan: The Secret Treasure of Buri Buri Kingdom (xxxx) – Guard Crayon Shin-chan: Adventure in Henderland (xxxx) – TV Caster Yo-kai Watch: Enma Daiō to Itsutsu no Monogatari da Nyan! (2016)
Original video animation (OVA) Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (2016) – Torenov Y. Minovsky
Video games Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War PS2 (xxxx) – Additional Voices Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean GameCube (xxxx) – Larikush Rockman DASH: Hagane no Boukenshin Nintendo 64, PC, PS, PSP – Police Inspector, Officer, Wily Skylanders: Giants PS3, Wii Wii U, Xbox 360 (xxxx) – Arkeyan Conquertron, Arkeyan King Bloody Roar 4 PS2 (xxxx) – Long the Tiger Shadow of the Colossus PS2, PS3 (xxxx) – Lord Emon Lego Island (1997) – Captain D. Rom Okage: Shadow King PS2 (2001) – Narrator
Tokusatsu Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger (2002) – Disaster Ninja Kangaroulette
Drama CDs Happy Time (xxxx) – Saegusa Ishiguro Kazuomi shi no, Sasayaka na Tanoshimi (xxxx) – Mitamura
Dubbing roles
Live-action Airheads – Pip (Adam Sandler) Bottoms Up – Uncle Earl Peadman (David Keith) Christopher Robin – Giles Winslow Jr. (Mark Gatiss) Downfall – Hans Krebs (Rolf Kanies) Dreamcatcher – Joe "Beaver" Clarendon (Jason Lee) The Family Man – Arnie (Jeremy Piven) Gossip Girl – Roman (William Abadie) Joey – Zach Miller (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) Kung Fu Hustle – Donut The Matrix – Tank (Marcus Chong) The Motorcycle Diaries – Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) New York Minute – Maxamillion "Max" Lomax (Eugene Levy) Screamers – Private Ross (Charles Powell) Serendipity – Dean Kansky (Jeremy Piven) Space Jam – Muggsy Bogues A Star Is Born – Carl (Ron Rifkin) Star Trek: The Motion Picture – Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) Storm Catcher – Captain "Sparks" Johnson (Mystro Clark) The Take – Marco Ruiz (Yul Vazquez) They Found Hell – Dr. Maro Tomorrowland – Science Teacher (David Nykl)
Animation Batman: The Brave and the Bold – Doctor Sivana Exchange Student Zero – Principal Rogerson Thomas and the Magic Railroad – Splatter
References
External links