Pokemon's influence has reached far and wide over the years, and the character of Professor Oak has been there from the beginning, appearing in nearly every season of the anime and a multitude of games. Sadly, Unshō Ishizuka, the man who helped bring Professor Oak to life, has now passed away.
According to Unshō Ishizuka's talent management agency, the prolific voice actor passed away after a fight with esophageal cancer. Ishizuka had been receiving medical treatment, but esophageal cancer is notorious for being aggressive and difficult to detect. Sadly, doctors weren't able to cure the legendary voice. The details of his fight are unclear, but it seems it didn't stop Ishizuka from doing what he did best. Ishizuka was still working through this year, providing his voice talent for a variety of roles in 2018.
Ishizuka began his voice acting career way back in 1984, appearing in not just video games, but also anime and movie dubs. He made his first appearance as Pokemon's Professor Oak - Dr. Okido in Japan - in 1997, revisiting the role whenever the games or anime called for it. Considering that the Pokemon series and games were dubbed into English with the help of voice actor Stuart Zagnit, many English-speaking players may have never heard the Japanese voice of Professor Oak. Even so, there's a good chance that they've heard his voice before in some of his other work.
Ishizuka's voice was utilized to bring a wide variety of characters to life. His voice bridged the gap between games and anime, with his characters often appearing in both. Gamers may recognize Ishizuka's work as Heihachi of Tekken, Mr. Satan of Dragonball Xenoverse, Jet Black of the Cowboy Bebop series and game, and of course, Old Joseph Joestar from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. With so many roles under the voice actor's belt, Ishizuka's voice has reached myriads of people in both the anime and gaming communities, leaving an indelible mark on the industry.
The ongoing series that Ishizuka lent his talent to for so many years will have to find new voice actors to take over the roles, but nothing will erase Ishizuka's contributions to the field and the memories that gamers and anime fans have of characters he helped to bring to life.
Source: Aoni Production