Remembering Goro Naya

I’ve just heard that the man himself, the prolific voice actor behind the Great Leader, passed away March 5th at age 83. Naya’s health had been waning in later years, but even as late as 2012 he was still working away, hard as ever. Which really sums him up as an artist: this is a man who loved his craft and gave his all, even long after he had every right to call it a day. In the early 2000’s, he faced a rough bought with stomach cancer that required surgery, leaving him worse for the wear. And yet he still kept on going! I always used to say that I hoped Naya outlived me; he really did have that strangely mythic quality to him where you almost believed he really could do it.

And, he had a body of work that goes back to the 1950’s, covering countless roles on radio, TV and film. Numerous anime and video games feature his vocals, as well as live-action, both homegrown and imported. He was a reoccurring dub voice for actors like Clark Gable, Jack Palance, Lee Van Cleef, and John Wayne (a role he shared with Akiji “Tachibana” Kobayashi.) He’s a dub for Obi-Wan in the original Star Wars Trilogy, no less!

But of course for me it’s his connection to Tokusatsu where I know him best. He’s been good guys (Ultraman Ace in his original show) bad guys (Henshin Ninja Arashi’s Majinsai and The Kagestar’s Doctor Satan) narrators (Kamen Rider Amazon, Star Wolf) foreign actor dub voices (numerous Godzilla movies) and monsters-of-the-week (Chojin Bibyun, and believe me, that doesn’t happen often so it makes you take notice.)

And then there’s the Great Leader, Kamen Rider’s ultimate villain IMHO. Naya voiced him right from the very first episode, all the way up to his appearance in the 40th anniversary film, Let’s Go Kamen Riders. To talk about what the character himself is a subject for another day, but it’s pretty fair to say Naya really WAS the Great Leader. He’s a character with no consistent physical form who even now still remains wrapped in mystery. What we know about him best, really, are his sinister tones and his mocking evil laughter. And it’s thanks to Goro Naya that that laughter will echo for eternity.

R.I.P.

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