Masao Nakasone was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He voiced Ultraman's grunts in the original Ultraman series, including the iconic "Shuwatch!" sound. His grunts are still used to this day. He also voiced the character's speaking voice in one episode.
Death
Nakasone was found dead at his own house. Police reported this to fellow voice actor Nobuo Tanaka on September 2, 1993[Note 1] at 3:00 pm because his name was written in a notebook belonging to Nakasone and because he lived nearby (although Tanaka was unaware of this). The cause of death was reported to be a cold,[1] and is theorized to have been influenced by depression, as he had divorced with his wife and separated from his family.
Nobuo Tanaka recalled about Masao Nakasone, "Although he looked intimidating, he was an extremely kind man." He also said that, one year prior to his death, Nakasone was looking to return to acting and was in contact with many production companies.[1]
Roles
Voice acting
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Ultra Q | Newspaper narrator | Episode 10 "The Underground Super Express Goes West" Uncredited |
| M1 | |||
| Ultraman | Ultraman | Grunts Speaking voice in episode 33 "The Forbidden Words" | |
| 1967 | Kaiju Booska | White Wall Devil | Episode 25 |
| 1972 | Mirrorman | Invaders | Episodes 17, 26, 33 |
Stock grunts
This section refers to Nakasone's grunts being reused per stock audio in other Ultraman Series media:
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution | Ultraman | |
| 2002 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution 2 | ||
| Zoffy | Lower-pitch | ||
| Ultraman Jack | |||
| 2004 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3 | Ultraman | |
| Zoffy | Lower-pitch | ||
| Ultraman Jack | |||
| 2005 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution Rebirth | Ultraman | |
| 2006 | Ultraman Fighting Evolution 0 | ||
| Zoffy | Lower-pitch | ||
| Ultraman Jack | |||
| 2022 | Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher | Ultraman |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Ultraman Festival 2016 Live Stage Part 1 | Ultraman | |
| Ultraman Festival 2016 Live Stage Part 2 | |||
| 2018 | Ultra Family Grand Assembly 2018 |
Other Roles
- 8 Man
- Princess Knight
- Tiger Mask - Antonio Inoki
Trivia
- According to Hajime Tsuburaya, Masao Nakasone was meant to be the voice actor for Ultraman (both of speaking voice and grunts) but due to his absence at that time for unknown reasons, he was unable to do so. Therefore, Hisashi Kondo took the role as Ultraman's speaking voice. However, Ultraman's grunts are still made by Masao.
- However, Masao did the role as Ultraman's real speaking voice and grunts was the fight with Alien Mefilas in the 33rd episode.
- According to Toshihiro Iijima, one of the directors of Ultraman, after they had Ultraman's design, they chose Masao Nakasone to do some grunts for him. After completing the voice, they mixed a bunch of those together and got "Shuwatch". However, in reality, Ultraman actually shouted "Shwa" in many first episodes instead but later they added "ch" sound at the end to make a clear "Shuwatch".
Nakasone as portrayed by Kanichi Kurita in an Ultraman docudrama
- Nakasone is similar to Ultraman Taro's original voice actor Saburo Shinoda in that they only voiced their respective Ultras once and their grunts are still often used.
References