Akira Kawashima joins the voice cast of the anime “Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc”

Japanese entertainer Akira Kawashima is the latest addition to the upcoming Kinnikuman: The perfect origin bow Anime, and he will be lending his voice to Neptune King and Big the Budo. Kawashima is known for his work as a comedian, voice actor, television personality, and radio host. As part of the comedy duo “Kirin” with Hiroshi Tamura, he has gained popularity through stand-up performances and appearances on variety shows.

Production IG animates the new Kinnikuman Anime, which is set to premiere on July 7. You can watch the teaser trailer below.

Mamoru Miyano voices Kinnikuman, while Akira Kamiya (the original Kinnikuman) voices both Mayumi Kinniku and Prince Kamehame. The last addition before Kawashima was famous Japanese comedian Kendo Kobayashi. The impressive voice cast for Kinnikuman: The perfect origin bow now includes:

• Mamoru Miyano as Kinnikuman
• Sumire Uesaka as Meat
• Daisuke Ono as Terryman
• Katsuyuki Konishi as Robin Mask
• Yuki Kaji as Warsman
• Tomokazu Seki as Ramen Man
• Jun Kasama as Brocken Jr.
• Kensho Ono as Geronimo
• Hiroki Yasumoto as Buffalo Man
• Toshiya Miyata as Black Hole
• Tetsuya Kakihara as Stecasee King
• Hiroyuki Yoshino as Springman
• Kisho Taniyama as Mr. Khamen
• Yasuhiro Mamiya as Atlantis
• Mitsuaki Kanuka as The Mountain
• Hiroshi Kamiya as Ashuraman
• Tomokazu Sugita as Neptune Man
• Akira Kamiya as Mayumi Kinniku/Prince Kamehame
• Toshio Furukawa as Chairman
• Shinichiro Ota as announcer
• Akio Otsuka as Strong the Budo
• Chikahiro Kobayashi as Max Radial
• Kenji Nojima as Turbomen
• Nobuyuki Hiyama as Darmeshiman
• Yusuke Tomioka as Crushman
• Yoshiyasu Otaka as Marlinman
• Shoya Ishige as Peek a Boo
• Toshiyuki Morikawa as Akuma Shogun
• Tetsu Inada as Sunshine
• Yuichi Nakamura as Kinnikuman Super Phoenix
• Kendo Kobayashi as Wolfman
• Akira Kawashima as Big the Budo/Neptune King

The team includes Akira Sato as director, Makoto Fukami who is responsible for series composition, Hirotaka Marufuji as character designer and Yasuharu Takanashi who is responsible for music.

Kinnikuman is a Japanese manga series by Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada, also known as Yudetamago. It was originally published by Shuieshas Weekly Shonen Jump from 1979 to 1987, before publication resumed in 2011 in Shuiesha’s news web magazine Shu Play.

There is also a sequel, which Kinnikuman: The 2nd Generation (known as Ultimate Muscle Outside Japan, it is a manga that was serialized in Weekly Playboy between 1998 and 2004. It has also been adapted into three different television series, all of which aired in Japan on TV Tokyo and were published in North America by 4Kids Entertainment.

It is one of the best-selling manga series in Japan, having sold over 77 million copies as of 2021. The series has inspired several spin-off mangas, anime series, films, games, and merchandise. The original Kinnikuman The anime series was produced by Toei Animation and aired from 1983 to 1986, comprising a total of 137 episodes.

Source: Press release, Official website
© Yudetamago/Shueisha, Kinnikuman Production Committee