Kozo Shioya, the Japanese voice actor behind Majin Buu in Dragon Ball Z and the Dragon Ball video games has died aged 71. As announced by his agency Aoni Production on Wednesday and reported by Oricon, Shioya passed away on January 20 from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Shioya was the Japanese voice for all appearances of Majin Buu across the Dragon Ball anime and games, with the exception of the genie-like villain’s mini version in 2024’s Dragon Ball Daima, who was voiced by Shiho Amuro.
Fellow Dragon Ball VA Ryo Horikawa, who plays Vegeta, tweeted that he was “utterly shocked” to hear the news of Shioya’s passing, adding that “he was someone that I knew since the very beginning of my voice acting career. We would often go out drinking with everyone after recording. I have nothing but fun memories of him.”
Kozo Shioya, the Japanese Voice Actor for Majin Buu has passed away at the age of 70. Rest in Peace 🙏 pic.twitter.com/IQ4QMdNOri
— Hype (@DbsHype) January 28, 2026
Prolific voice actress Noriko Hidaka recalled working with Kozo Shioya many times, but that voicing One Piece’s Bell-Mère alongside Shioya’s Genzo was “particularly memorable.” She described the fellow actor as like “an older brother,” and that he was a reassuring presence when they were recording.
As well as voicing Majin Buu in Dragon Ball and Genzo in One Piece, Shioya voiced characters across a wide range of anime and game series. This included recurring roles in the Sengoku Basara franchise, in which he played Yoshimoto Imagawa and Xavi. He was also the Japanese language VA for characters in Mobile Suit Gundam, Bleach, Naruto, and Metal Gear Solid (playing Fatman in MGS2 and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev in MGS3).
To commemorate the legacy of Kōzō Shioya, let’s remember Majin Buu’s most emotive moment in Dragon Ball Z ❤️🩹 pic.twitter.com/unq7S1crSX
— Dragon Ball Perfect Shots (@DBPerfectShots) January 28, 2026
Very sad to hear about the passing of Kozo Shioya. When I first swapped to the Japanese version of the show well over a decade ago now, his performance as Majin Boo was one that really stuck with me. He truly made that character terrifying in ways I’d never experienced before. pic.twitter.com/M61FEw8vZK
— Ajay (@AnimeAjay) January 28, 2026
Dragon Ball recently announced two new anime series and a new game project, Age 1000. If you missed it, here’s a rundown of all the reveals made at the series 40th anniversary event, Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri, last Sunday.
Image credit: Aoni Production.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
