Departures of note

Naoki Bandō was a Japanese voice actor from Hokkaido who worked in anime, video games, and dubbing for more than four decades. He voiced Jinmendog and Robonyan in the Yo-kai Watch anime and games, and Vargas Dyson in Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, along with roles in Naruto, Crayon Shin-chan, Berserk, and numerous other series. After training at the Seinenza acting school, he began voice work in the late 1980s and landed his first regular role as Guard Star in The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird in 1991. He also dubbed Western films and dramas, providing Japanese voices for actors including Jeremy Piven and George Takei's Hikaru Sulu in the Star Trek films. In 2011 he founded the voice acting school Shaberutech to train younger performers. He died on September 28, 2026, at age 68.