Tooru Furuya, a veteran voice actor, has apologized for committing adultery with a fan, hitting her, impregnating her, and forcing her to abort the baby. Furuya is 70 years old as of the time of writing while the woman is 37 years old. [Thanks, Yahoo!]
Bunshun Online was the first to break this news. Bunshun was also the company that covered the Takahiro Sakurai cheating scandal from 2022. For context, Furuya’s marriage to Satomi Majima has been public knowledge since the 1980s. According to the entire apology from Furuya, his affair with the fan went on for about four and a half years, ending only in September 2023. She was a fan of his work and he explains that her wholehearted support of his career caused him to reach out to her first.Â
The woman was a huge fan of his work as Tooru Amuro in Detective Conan. She liked the character so much that she went to watch Zero the Enforcer (the 22nd movie which pretty much revolves entirely around Amuro) 45 times. In 2020, they had an argument that got so heated he hit her. He says that this was absolutely vile behavior as both a person and an adult.
After impregnating her in 2021, he forced her to abort the child. He says this is an unforgivable act and deeply apologizes to her because he hurt her both emotionally and physically. He states that there is no way to fully apologize or make up to the fans who have supported him over the years. Furuya acknowledges that his acts may have disappointed people and might cause them to have negative feelings for his characters as well. He plans on using the rest of his life to make up for his actions and is prepared for any punishment.
Tooru Furuya has played many iconic characters since he began to voice act in 1958. His most prominent roles include:
- Amuro Ray (Mobile Suit Gundam)
- Amuro Tooru (Detective Conan)
- Kyosuke Kasuga (Kimagure Orange Road)
- Pegasus Seiya (Saint Seiya)
- Sabo (One Piece)
- Tuxedo Mask (Sailor Moon)
- Yamcha (Dragon Ball)
As a note, this is not the first time that a voice actor has had a major adultery scandal. Aside from the aforementioned Sakurai, major voice actors like Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Nobuhiko Okamoto, and Daisuke Namikawa also cheated on their partners. While Sakurai and Okamoto have bounced back, Suzuki has not. This could be due to Suzuki’s wife being LiSA, who is a popular entertainer in her own right.
It is unknown if this will affect Furuya’s professional career, but considering Furuya’s stance, he may decide to bow out of his current roles. This means that there may be a voice change on the horizon for characters like Sabo and Amuro (Detective Conan).Â
