Shadow's Japanese voice actor in Sonic 3 is just as perfect as Keanu Reeves – he's the voice of Sephiroth in multiple Final Fantasy games
Nov. 21, 2024Toshiyuki Morikawa steps into Shadow’s shoes after his Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth work earlier this year
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Shadow’s Japanese voice actor inSonic 3has been unveiled – and he’s a Keanu Reeves-style perfect fit for the black-and-red hedgehog.
As revealed on theSonic movie franchise’s official Japanese Twitter account, Toshiyuki Morikawa is providing the voice for Shadow’s Japanese dub in Sonic 3, which is called Sonic x Shadow: TOKYO MISSION in the country.
You may not know his name, but you may know his dulcet tones – he’s played everything from Sephiroth in Final Fantasy to Dante in Devil May Cry, as well as dozens more roles across games, anime, and movies. Curiously, he’s also the official Japanese dub artist for Tom Cruise, among a handful of other A-list Hollywood stars.
From the One Winged Angel to the Ultimate Life Form is quite a CV, then, but it speaks to finding the right voice to match Shadow.
Over in the west, director Jeff Fowler has alreadypraised the “research"put in by Reeves for his work as Shadow.
“He really wanted to create a very fan faithful version of the character. He did research. In our first meeting, he very clearly had gone and done his homework, which was awesome,” Fowler said during an appearance onSonic Revolution’s Shadow Revolution online stream.
Fowler continued, “I can’t say enough wonderful things about Keanu and what he brought to the character and the experience of making this movie. I think people are going to really, really love his version of Shadow.”
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Sonic 3’s English language cast includes a returning Ben Schwartz as Sonic, Idris Elba as Knuckles, Colleen O’Shaughnessey as Tails, Jim Carrey in the dual role of Ivo Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald, and James Marsden as Tom.
Despite the stacked cast, that hasn’t stopped people trying to guess which mystery characters from the Sonic universe will make their bow in the threequel, which hits cinemas on December 20. Early theory work includesthe possibility of Metal Sonic filling in this suspicious empty spacein a new Sonic 3 image and the chance of Amy Rose turning up in the post-credits – because of a clue hiding in a pink sweater, of all things.
I’m the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you’ll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.
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