Keiji Fujiwara

(October 5, 1964 — April 12, 2020) was a Japanese voice actor. He voiced Gabriel Belmont in the Japanese version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
Aside from this, he also voiced Hiroshi Nohara in Crayon Shin-chan, Sigint and Drebin in the Metal Gear series, Reno from Final Fantasy VII and its anthology, Axel/Lea in Kingdom Hearts, and also Ardyn Izunia from Final Fantasy XV (the latter whom coincidentally had a very similar backstory to Gabriel/Dracula in the franchise).
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==Biography==
Fujiwara was born in Tokyo. He spent the majority of his childhood in Iwate Prefecture. In high school, he handled vocals in a band he formed with his friend Kotaro Furuichi, future guitarist of the rock band, The Collectors.
Around 18, he moved back to Tokyo on his own and joined the Bungakuza acting school. He spent the 1980s performing in several theater troupes while working odd jobs. Fujiwara was introduced to his first voice acting agency, Ken Production, in the early 1990s. The first TV anime in which he appeared as a regular was Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi, but his breakout role was Hiroshi Nohara in Crayon Shin-chan.
In November 2006, he left Ken Production and founded his own agency, Air Agency. Aside from talent management, the company went on to release original drama and situation CDs through its child company, Air Label, as well as produce live events. In 2010, Fujiwara made his own sound directorial debut in Kakkokawaii Sengen!
Fujiwara was a regular lecturer at the Japan Newart College since 2008.
In August 2016, Air Agency announced that he was going on hiatus in order to undergo medical treatment for a then unspecified illness. He officially resumed work in June 2017. Fujiwara died from a respiratory arrest caused by cancer on April 12, 2020.
==Gallery==
Gabriel'sLament.jpg|link=Dracula (Lords of Shadow)|Gabriel Belmont from Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
==External links==
*Behind The Voice Actors
*IMDb
*Wikipedia
Category:Deceased Staff
Category:Japanese Voice Actors
Category:Voice Actors (Lords of Shadow)