Japanese voice actress, Junko Hori, who voiced Akuma-kun/Beezle in the 1981 (Unico aka The Fantastic Adventures of Unico) film, passed away on November 18, 2024 at 89. Production Baobab made the announcement on November 25.
Hori was born on February 2, 1935 in Tokyo, Japan, and longed to be an actress from an early age. She secretly joined a children’s theater group and paid for her studies with a part-time job because of her mother not approving. Not long after, she was taking several roles.
She gained popularity by playing Hattori Kanzo from Ninja Hattori-kun, Mii from Moomin, Q-tarou from Obake no Q-tarou, and many more. Hori often played energetic boy characters because of her voice, and you can certainly hear this in many of her roles, including Akuma-kun.
After Unico’s voice actress Katsue Miwa’s passing in June, we are equally sad to see Junko Hori leave us. Hori accomplished so much in her life, not only in her voice acting career but also in her stage acting career as well. During WWII, her father passed away from being exposed to the bombing of Hiroshima, and she knew she had to continue his legacy. From 1989 until her passing, she worked on a one-man (one person, five roles) play called “Asa-chan” which was adapted from Mariko Yamamoto’s original work titled Hiroshima Mothers (広島の母たち). It’s an anti-war performance telling the story of a girl who dies during the atomic bombing.
We’re grateful for her role as Akuma-kun and so many others. Rest in peace, Junko Hori!
Sources:
–【Obituary】Our Actor Ayako Hori – 株式会社 ぷろだくしょんバオバブ
– Voice Actress Junko Hori Dies at 89 – News – Anime News Network
– Ayako Hori – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia