It’s only been a few months since voice actor Keiji Fujiwara passed away earlier in 2020. His death left a number of his continuing voice roles unfilled, but as far as Granblue Fantasy goes, at least, one space will be covered. The role of veteran soldier Eugen will be taken over by another veteran voice actor: Kazuhiro Yamaji. Yamaji announced the casting decision via Twitter:
藤原、オイゲン引き受けたぞ。 pic.twitter.com/ueBQZY8t8T
— 山路和弘 (@yama_G_108) July 20, 2020
The tweet shows the Granblue Fantasy character page for Eugen. In the lower right, the “CV” (character voice) credit reads: “Keiji Fujiwara/Kazuhiro Yamaji. Yamaji’s message in the tweet reads, “Fujiwara, I’ve accepted [the role of] Eugen.”
Born on June 4, 1954, the 66-year-old Yamaji has had a long career in acting, appearing on screen, in games, and even on stage as part of the Seinenza Theater company. He’s voiced characters like Makoto Date in the Yakuza series, Cid Highwind in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children and Kingdom Hearts, Silver Fang in One-Punch Man, Yagyu Munenori from Fate/Grand Order, and Kenny from Attack on Titan. He’s also prominent in the Japanese-language dubbing scene, often covering roles held by Hollywood actors like Jason Statham, Willem Dafoe, Russel Crowe, and Christoph Waltz
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time Kazuhiro Yamaji has been involved with Granblue Fantasy or even with the role of Eugen. Yamaji also voices the character Yngwie and voiced Eugen during the first season of the Granblue Fantasy anime adaptation.
Kazuhiro Yamaji will debut as Eugen in the latest Granblue Fantasy story update, which is live now for players who’ve caught up. The original voiceovers featuring Keiji Fujiwara will not be re-recorded with Yamaji, so players viewing older content or using the current playable versions of the character will be able to hear Fujiwara’s work.
Granblue Fantasy is available now on iOS, Android, and PC/Mac via browser.
