Masakazu Morita (森田 成一, Morita Masakazu; born October 21, 1972) is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and singer. He previously worked for Aoni Production. He is also the host of the radio show Bleach B-Station. He voiced Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Maeda Keiji in Sengoku Basara, Marco the Phoenix in One Piece, Tidus in Final Fantasy X, Whis in Dragon Ball Super, Auel Neider in Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny, Pegasus Seiya in Saint Seiya – Hades Chapter, Pod in Pokémon, Tenjuro Banno in Kamen Rider Drive, Ryō Yūki in Eden of the East, Li Xin in Kingdom, Thoma in Genshin Impact, and Lechter Arundel in The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series. He won the "Best Rookie Actor" at the first Seiyu Awards. He is also the official Japanese dubbing voice of Zac Efron.
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Career
Morita attended Kyoka Junior and Senior High School. When in high school, he joined the brass band club and was in charge of conducting the marching band, which led him to discover the joy of entertainment. He worked as an actor at NHK Promotion, studied under film director Yukio Fukamachi, and appeared in films, stage plays, and dramas. His motion capture for the role of Zell Dincht in the 1999 PlayStation game Final Fantasy VIII was his debut as an actor.
He voiced Tidus in Final Fantasy X. While originally only in charge of motion capturing for a role, after over one hundred people auditioned and no voice actor was chosen, Morita was finally called in for an audition and was hired. When he was chosen to play the role, he thought that he could handle it because he only had to do a voice. However, in reality, he was shocked when he heard his own voice on the recording and his motionless performance. When Morita met Hideo Ishikawa, Kazuya Nakai, and Hiroshi Kamiya, he came to respect the fun of voice acting and their attitude toward their work, and decided that he wanted to work in the same industry as them and join the same agency. On September 1, 2003, after working as a freelancer, he moved to Aoni Production, his first voice acting agency.
Morita voiced Ichigo Kurosaki in the anime series Bleach. He said that Ichigo was one of his favorite characters he ever played alongside Tidus, and in 2005 he was chosen to replace Tōru Furuya as the voice of the main character Pegasus Seiya in Saint Seiya: Hades. Morita was said to have shed tears of joy when he was chosen at the audition. He voiced Ryūji Takane, the main character in Ring ni Kakero 1, and was thus selected twice to play the lead in works written by Masami Kurumada.
In 2007, he won the Best Rookie Actor award at the 1st Seiyu Awards. In 2008, he returned to the stage as a guest performer in a performance by the K-Show theater company organized by Kentarō Itō, and in October 2009, he played his first leading role and first performance as a chairman.
In 2012, Morita made his debut as a singer with RING BONES. In 2013, he confessed on his Twitter page that he was in a critical situation at one point, between life and death due to anaphylactic shock. He said he had "almost died three times" due to anaphylactic shock, myocardial infarction, and side effects. However, thanks to the efforts of doctors, he recovered.
Filmography
Anime series
The Prince of Tennis (2001–2005), Tashiro
Sonic X (2003), Chris Thorndyke (Adult)
Interlude (2003), Unnamed protagonist
Di Gi Charat Nyo! (2003), Omocha Yasushi
One Piece (2003, 2009–2010, 2019), Marco
Aqua Kids (2004), Juno
Diamond Daydreams (2004), Yuu
Beck (2004–2005), Masaru Hyōdō
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny (2004–2005), Auel Neider
Onmyō Taisenki (2004–2005), Yakumo Yoshikawa
Ring ni Kakero (2004–2011), Ryuji Takane
Bleach (2004–2012), Ichigo Kurosaki, Hollow Ichigo
Major (2004), Toshiya Sato
Case Closed (2005, 2007, 2020), Ryosuke Fukuma (Ep. 419–420), Naosuke Kurosawa (Ep. 478), Fusaya Oide (Ep. 990-991)
La Corda d'Oro (2006), Hihara Kazuki
Marginal Prince (2006), Alfred Visconti
Baccano! (2007), Claire Stanfield
Sengoku Basara: Samurai Kings (2009), Maeda Keiji
Eden of the East (2009), Ryō Yūki
Bakuman (2010–2011), Kazuya Hiramaru
Original video animation
Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter (2002–2008;OVA), Pegasus Seiya
Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan (2005), Yamazaki
Dragon Ball: Yo! Son Goku and His Friends Return!! (2008), Tarble
Kite Liberator (2008), Rin Gaga
Bungo Stray Dogs: Walk Alone (2017), Shōsaku Katsura
Anime films
Bleach: Memories of Nobody (2006), Ichigo Kurosaki
Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion (2007), Ichigo Kurosaki
Bleach: Fade to Black (2008), Ichigo Kurosaki
Eden of the East: The King of Eden (2009), Ryō Yūki
Eden of the East: Paradise Lost (2010), Ryō Yūki
Bleach: Hell Verse (2010), Ichigo Kurosaki
Sengoku Basara: The Last Party (2011), Maeda Keiji
Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning (2012), Barnaby Brooks Jr.
Combustible (2013), Matsukichi
Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods (2013), Whis
K: Missing Kings (2014), Yukari Mishakuji
Tiger & Bunny: The Rising (2014), Barnaby Brooks Jr.
Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F' (2015), Whis
Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018), Whis
Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (2022), Whis
Gekijōban Collar × Malice Deep Cover (2023), Aiji Yanagi
Live action
Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (Debo Tanabanta) (Ep. 20)
Kamen Rider Drive Dr. Tenjuro Banno/Banno Driver/Gold Drive (Ep. 33 – 46), Sigma Circular (Male Voice) (Ep. 46 – 47) (Female Voice of Ayumi Fujimura)
Video games
Final Fantasy X (2001), Tidus
Kingdom Hearts (2002), Tidus
Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), Tidus, Shuyin
Summon Night: Swordcraft Story 2 (2004), (Loki)
Sengoku Basara (2005), Maeda Keiji
Riviera: The Promised Land (2005), Ledah
Bleach: Heat the Soul (series) (2005–2010), Ichigo Kurosaki
Sengoku Basara 2 (2006), Maeda Keiji
Puyo Puyo! 15th Anniversary (2006), Schezo Wegey
Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008), Tidus
Signal (2009), (Yamato "None" Hoshoin)
Puyo Puyo 7 (2009), Schezo Wegey
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (2011), Tidus
Puyo Puyo!! 20th Anniversary (2011) (Schezo Wegey)
Sweet Fuse: At Your Side (2012) (Meoshi Kouta)
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 2 (2013), Marco
Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014), Schezo Wegey
Final Fantasy Explorers (2014), Tidus
Granblue Fantasy (2014), Meteon, Azazel
Dissidia Final Fantasy NT (2015), Tidus
Unknown date
Bleach series (Ichigo Kurosaki)
Bakumetsu Renka Shinsengumi (Kondo Hasami)
Datenshi no Amai Yuuwaku x Kaikan Phrase (Yoshihiko "Santa" Nagai)
Dragon Ball Heroes (Avatar: Saiyan (male), Berserker-type; Whis)
Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 (Tarble)
Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi as Hero Modes 'Evil Voice'
Dynasty Warriors 5 (Pang De)
Final Fantasy VIII (Zell Dincht, motion capture)
J-Stars Victory Vs (Ichigo Kurosaki, Pegasus Seiya)
Kiniro no Corda series (Hihara Kazuki)
Rewrite (Kotarou Tennouji)
Riveria: The Promised Land (Ledah)
Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers (Pegasus Seiya)
Saint Seiya Senki (Pegasus Seiya)
Sengoku Basara 2 (Maeda Keiji)
Shiratsuyu no Kai (Nakamachi Shin)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails at Sunrise (Lechter Arundel)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero (Lechter Arundel)
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd (Lechter Arundel)
Drama CD
Lupin III (2012) (Arsene Lupin)
Special A (Tadashi Karino)
Superior (Lakshri)
Di[e]ce (Naoto Kanzaki)
Dubbing
Zac Efron
The Derby Stallion (Patrick McCardle)
High School Musical (Troy Bolton)
High School Musical 2 (Troy Bolton)
High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Troy Bolton)
17 Again (Mike O'Donnell (teenage))
Charlie St. Cloud (Charlie St. Cloud)
The Paperboy (Jack Jansen)
That Awkward Moment (Jason)
Neighbors (Teddy Sanders)
We Are Your Friends (Cole Carter)
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (Teddy Sanders)
Dirty Grandpa (Jason Kelly)
Baywatch (Matt Brody)
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (Ted Bundy)
Firestarter (Andy McGee)
The Greatest Beer Run Ever (John "Chickie" Donohue)
The Edge of Seventeen (Nick Mossman (Alexander Calvert))
El Camino Christmas (Eric Roth (Luke Grimes))
The Green Hornet (Kato (Jay Chou))
In Time (Timekeeper Jaeger (Collins Pennie))