{"rewrite":{"id":"r_541648f1eded2d17dc6b6554","clusterId":"c_cb163e200656dec0208ef7ac","slug":"hiroshi-tsuchida-voice-of-damnatio-kira-dies-at-54","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"Hiroshi Tsuchida, Voice Of Damnatio Kira, Dies At 54","summary":"Talent agency 81 Produce announced Tuesday that screen and voice actor Hiroshi Tsuchida died on October 11 due to heart failure. He was 54. Born in Tokyo on February 8, 1972, Tsuchida played Ninja Blue/Saizo in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger and voiced the AI unit HANE2 in Ultraman Decker. His anime credits include Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt's J.J. Sexton, The Witch from Mercury - Prologue's Nadim Samaya, and Black Clover's Damnatio Kira in its latest episode.","whyItMatters":"Tsuchida worked through the final week of his life: Damnatio Kira appeared in Black Clover's 173rd episode on Saturday, and King Lionel in The Seven Knights of the Marronnier Kingdom, which premiered October 3.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eA private funeral service was held with only close relatives in attendance, in accordance with the family\u0026#39;s wishes. The announcement came from 81 Produce, the agency that represented him.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTsuchida\u0026#39;s tokusatsu work included Ninja Sentai Kakuranger as Ninja Blue/Saizo and Ultraman Decker as the AI unit HANE2. In anime he voiced Koichiro Iketani in the Initial D: Legend film series, Hyui in the Fist of the North Star: Legend of Yuria OAV, and Susumu Yamazaki in Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and later films through the Star Blazers: Be Forever Yamato - Rebel 3199 series.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe also dubbed foreign films, voicing Lightning McQueen in the Japanese release of Cars and Cade Yeager in Transformers: Age of Extinction and Transformers: The Last Knight.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Hiroshi Tsuchida voiced Damnatio Kira in Black Clover's latest episode, so the role now has a performance tradition rather than a single actor.","twitterPost":"Hiroshi Tsuchida's Damnatio Kira in Black Clover's latest episode leaves the role with a defined voice, not an open slot.","threadsPost":"Hiroshi Tsuchida voiced Damnatio Kira in Black Clover's latest episode, which means the character now arrives with a specific vocal identity attached. Recasting Damnatio means matching a performance the audience has already heard, not inventing one.","newsletterBlurb":"81 Produce announced that actor Hiroshi Tsuchida died on October 11 due to heart failure at 54. Tsuchida played Ninja Blue/Saizo in Ninja Sentai Kakuranger and voiced roles across Gundam Thunderbolt, The Witch from Mercury - Prologue, Space Battleship Yamato 2199, and Black Clover, where Damnatio Kira appeared in the 173rd episode that aired Saturday. A private funeral was held with close relatives only.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Anime News Network\",\"url\":\"https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-10-20/screen-voice-actor-hiroshi-tsuchida-dies-at-54/.243009\",\"title\":\"Screen, Voice Actor Hiroshi Tsuchida Dies at 54\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4395,"outputTokens":752,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1792489930,"createdAt":"2026-10-20T09:47:22.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-10-20T09:51:06.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-20T09:51:06.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_cb163e200656dec0208ef7ac","canonicalTitle":"News\nScreen, Voice Actor Hiroshi Tsuchida Dies at 54","representativeArticleId":"a_4c80d14cdea26eff94aba17a","sourceCount":2,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[\"81 Produce\"],\"people\":[\"Hiroshi Tsuchida\"],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"anime\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-10-20T07:38:27.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-10-20T11:00:17.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-10-20T11:04:40.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Anime News Network","url":"https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2026-10-20/screen-voice-actor-hiroshi-tsuchida-dies-at-54/.243009","title":"News\nScreen, Voice Actor Hiroshi Tsuchida Dies at 54"},{"source":"OtakuKart Anime","url":"https://otakukart.com/attack-on-titans-grisha-yeager-voice-actor-hiroshi-tsuchida-dies-at-54/","title":"Attack on Titan’s Grisha Yeager Voice Actor Hiroshi Tsuchida Dies at 54"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":["81 Produce"],"people":["Hiroshi Tsuchida"],"type":"news","domain":"anime","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":null}