Nishimura also played notable roles in a number of animated series, including Slam Dunk and Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam.
A uniquely talented voice actor has passed away this week. Tomomichi Nishimura has passed away at 79 years old. He was an actor who lent his voice to a number of grizzled and burly roles. Longtime fighting game fans would recognize him as M. Bison (Vega in Japan) and Akuma’s voice from various Street Fighter games, but his work spanned several animated series as well.
Nishimura’s passing was reported by his talent agency, Arts Vision, as shared by the Anime News Network outlet. Born in 1946 in the Chiba Prefecture of Japan, Nishimura held a number of notable roles throughout his career, such as Coach Mitsuyoshi Anzai in Slam Dunk and Jamitov Hymem in Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, as well as countless smaller parts as supporting or minor characters. However, Tomomichi Nishimura also exclusively ran the voice of Bison and Akuma in all Street Fighter games from the first Street Fighter Alpha all the way up to Namco x Capcom in 2005. That includes playing the characters in Third Strike and Capcom vs SNK 2.
Nishimura’s voice was iconic for the era of Street Fighter he represented. His delivery of lines on moves like Bison’s Psycho Crusher were gritty and gruff, the way Bison should be, and he haunted the minds of many a player, especially having played Bison in his most ridiculous form in Street Fighter Alpha 3 where he has a secret boss form, Shin Bison. Nishimura would be replaced by the equally impressive Norio Wakamoto from Street Fighter 4 to Street Fighter 5, but Nishimura’s voice is arguably the one fans will remember from Street Fighter’s traditional 2D days.
For that role, and countless others, Tomomichi Nishimura ran an illustrious career and gave us memorable performances for decades. Shacknews sends condolences to Nishimura’s family and friends.
