Ryōtarō Okiayu

is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He is currently affiliated with Aoni Production.
Okiayu is the original voice actor for Alucard in four Japanese versions of Castlevania games: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (as Genya Arikado), Castlevania: Harmony of Despair, and Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls (as both personas), also reprising the role in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He also provided the Japanese voice of Trevor Belmont in the Netflix Castlevania animated series.Famitsu: "アニメ『悪魔城ドラキュラ ―キャッスルヴァニア―』予告編映像と吹き替えキャスト情報を公開【動画あり】 (July 5, 2017)
Okiayu's other famous character roles include Hisashi Mitsui in the Slam Dunk series, Yū Matsuura in Marmalade Boy, Treize Khushrenada in Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Meisuke Nueno/Nūbē in Jigoku Sensei Nūbē, Zero in the Mega Man X series (whose position is similar to Alucard) and Vamp in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.
==Biography==
Okiayu was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture in 1969. He moved to Osaka Prefecture when he was in the third grade of elementary school due to his parents' work, and lived in Nankō Port Town in Suminoe-ku, Osaka. His father had worked at a movie company for a time before Okiayu was born, and he would sometimes get anime posters and cels from his old colleagues. Because of this environment, Okiayu and his sister, who is one year older than him, loved anime and often listened to theatrical anime records and dramas together. His sister was skilled in the field of drawing, having been involved in animation for some time, but Okiayu found more enjoyment in imitating the voices of characters than in drawing and he came to feel that speaking dialogue was an interesting thing to do. In his first year of high school after entering Abeno High School, he began to think about becoming a voice actor and began to request information about training schools, but due to financial reasons, he decided to wait until after graduation and began working part-time during his high school years to save money. However, he spent the money on other things, so he ended up borrowing from his parents to attend the training school. His parents advised him to go to college, but he decided to go to the training school because he had no goals in mind. While there were almost no training schools in Osaka at the time, he auditioned and entered the Aoni Juku Osaka School. He passed an audition for Aoni Production through an in-house screening and moved to Tokyo from Osaka. He is said to have cried when he got the acceptance letter. When he first moved to Tokyo, he went to his cousin's place to find a room.
Okiayu claims that his first jobs as a voice actor were a radio commercial for a prep school and the voice of a remote-controlled robot roaming around the Expo '90 site. His first work in anime was as a Bodkin archer in Dragon Quest and his first regular role was as Franz Heinel in Future GPX Cyber Formula. His first starring role was in the OVA Dark Cat. The role of Meisuke Nueno in Jigoku Sensei Nūbē was his first leading role in a TV anime. He said that Nūbē was the culmination of his career and that he was able to put himself fully into the role and play it naturally because he was close to Meisuke's age.
Okiayu has taken over some of the roles from late Kaneto Shiozawa, Kazuyuki Sogabe, Tsuyoshi Takishita and Unshō Ishizuka. Since 2016, he has also been working as a stage actor in the theater company Hero Hero Q Company.
==Gallery==
SOTN Alucard Main Portrait.jpg|link=Alucard|Okiayu voiced Alucard in Symphony of the Night...
Arikado in DoS.jpg|link=Genya Arikado|...Genya Arikado in Dawn of Sorrow...
Trevor Belmont (animated series) - 06.jpg|link=Trevor Belmont (animated series)|...and Trevor Belmont in the Castlevania animated series.
===Personal photos===
Castlevania Trio Japanese Voice Cast.jpg|Shin-ichiro Miki (Alucard), Ayaka Shimoyamada (Sypha Belnades) and Ryōtarō Okiayu (Trevor Belmont).
Alucard and Trevor's Voice Actors.jpg|Shin-ichiro Miki (Alucard) and Ryōtarō Okiayu (Trevor Belmont).
Saint Germain, Sypha, and Trevor's Voice Actors.jpg|Eiji Hanawa (Saint Germain), Ayaka Shimoyamada (Sypha Belnades) and Ryōtarō Okiayu (Trevor Belmont).
Trevor and Isaac's Voice Actors.jpg|Ryōtarō Okiayu (Trevor Belmont) and Mitsuaki Madono (Isaac).
==Videos==
Castlevania Symphony of the Night (J) Secret Sound Test -English Translation-
==Trivia==
*Ryōtarō Okiayu is well known for voicing Alucard, a dhampir, in the Castlevania franchise. Possibly intentionally, he was selected to voice Orlok Dracule, another vampire-type character and a direct reference to Alucard, in Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, which is a spiritual successor of the Castlevania series.
==References==
==External links==
*Profile page at Aoni Production (Japanese)
*Profile page at Oricon News (Japanese)
*Anime News Network
*Behind the Voice Actors
*IMDb
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Bloodstained Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Dubbing Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Final Fantasy Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Japanese Voice-Over Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Jigoku Sensei Nube Wiki
*Ryotaro Okiayu at the Kamen Rider Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Mega Man Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Prince of Tennis Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Sailor Moon Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu at the Tekken Wiki
*Ryotaro Okiayu at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Wiki
*Ryōtarō Okiayu convention appearances at AnimeCons.com
*Seiyuu Database
*X (Japanese)
Category:Japanese Voice Actors
Category:Voice Actors
Category:Voice Actors (animated series)