Hiroko Maruyama

The Staying Power of a Supporting Voice

Hiroko Maruyama was born in 1946 and her voice has survived three technological eras in Japan. She started in theater before anime became the global industry we know today. In 1979, she lent her voice to The Rose of Versailles, and from there began a chain of jobs that never stopped.

He never sought absolute stardom.

Maruyama quickly understood that nuance in supporting characters guarantees a longevity that shooting stars never enjoy. In 1981 she took part in Dr. Slump, and a year later she entered the world of Urusei Yatsura. In this business, the hard part isn't getting in but continuing to get calls once casting directors change generations.

The Frog Witch Register

In 1999 came the role that lodged itself in the ear of an entire generation. She played Majo Rika in Ojamajo Doremi and gave the character a raspy tone that bordered on grating but was magnetic all the same. She made a frog-turned witch the comic engine of a hugely successful children's series.

And the gamble paid off.

Her ability to voice old women, fantastical creatures and young children kept her busy for decades of aesthetic change. In 1984, she worked under Mamoru Oshii on Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer. But her forte was always commercial television, where recording schedules are brutal and there is no room for technical error.

Maturity in the Studio

Many voice actors of her generation retired with the arrival of digital formats. Maruyama did not. In 2020, she reprised her best-known role for the film Looking for Magical Doremi, proving her voice had barely worn down with time. She kept the same vocal energy at 74 years old as when she started in the profession.

But not all of her career was commercial animation.

She took part in the dubbing of Western classics and kept her ties to the Theater Echo theater group. In 2022 she returned to the reboot of Urusei Yatsura, closing a professional circle of four decades with the same franchise.

She remains under contract with the agency Theater Echo in Tokyo.