The Daily Sports newspaper reported on Friday that voice actor Kinryuu Arimoto passed away due to esophageal cancer on February 1. He was 77.
Arimoto was born in Tottori prefecture on February 11, 1941, and he attended Waseda University. According to Daily Sports, Arimoto's relatives told the newspaper he had been suffering from esophageal cancer for a year. His close relatives held funeral services for him. A farewell event will be held at a later date.
Arimoto is perhaps best known for his role as Edward Newgate/Whitebeard in the One Piece franchise. He also had roles in anime such as Psycho-Pass (Tomomi Masaoka), Fullmetal Alchemist (Priest Cornello), Baccano! (Szilard Quates), Kite (Akai), Elfen Lied (Chief Kakuzawa), Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor (Richard Guyot), Inazuma Eleven (Seig? Hibiki), Space Brothers (Eddie Jay), Initial D: Final Stage (Ken Kogashiwa), Chivalry of a Failed Knight (Ry?ma Kurogane), Chihayafuru (Hajime Wataya), Street Fighter Alpha: Generations (Goutetsu), Future Card Buddyfight Triple D (Azi Dahaka), Macross Zero (Raizou Nakajima), Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (Patrick Zala), and Moonlight Mile (Steve O'Brien), among many others.
