Machiko Soga
Encyclopedia
was a Japan
ese voice actress
and actress.
Her mother died when she was a child; she was raised by her father. She had two brothers and a sister. One of her brothers died during the Second World War; the other is still alive. Her sister died in childbirth, and her father died of cancer in 1991.
In 1973, she went to study in Italy
for two years.
After taking jazz dance
lessons for a number of years, her first roles were mainly radio
and voice character roles. She made her debut on NHK
’s radio drama
Chorinmura to Kurumi no Ki (1961), and later gained fame as the first voice actor to portray the lovable ghost
Q-taro in Obake no Q-tarō (TBS
, 1965-1968).
However, she is best known to fans of tokusatsu
for her villainous roles in the Super Sentai
franchise such as Queen Hedrian in Denshi Sentai Denziman and Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan, as well as the evil sorceress Bandora in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, better known to audiences in English speaking countries as Rita Repulsa
in the American adaptation of Zyuranger, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
. In an odd twist, she soon found herself re-dubbing her own lines as Rita when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
was broadcasted in Japan after the show became a surprise hit in America. Her final tokusatsu role was Magiel, Queen of the Sky Saints in Mahou Sentai Magiranger
, which incidentally was her one of few and final non-villainous roles and her first female role as such since Bellbara in Go-nen San-kumi Mahō-gumi (In her memory, the producers of Power Rangers: Mystic Force
used footage of Soga as Magiel in the two-part final episode of Mystic Force, “Mystic Fate.”).
Her very final role was in the PlayStation 2
game Space Sheriff Spirits as the voice and the “face” of Ankoku Ginga Jyoou (Dark Galaxy Queen), last boss and original character of this game inspired to the 80s Metal Hero series. Soga also played the voices of Cyborg 007 in the 1968 Cyborg 009
anime series and the sidekick
Ball Boy in 1984 series Seiun Kamen Machineman
. Machiko also ran her own shop, selling jewellery, antique clothing, and tapestry among other goods.
for almost two years. On the morning of May 7, 2006, she ultimately lost that battle, and her body was found by a friend visiting her home. She was 68 years old.
Live action
TV anime
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese voice actress
Seiyu
Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...
and actress.
Life and career
Machiko had humble upbringings and was raised to be a singer, though her talents were with acting. She was “discovered” after doing a play in Tokyo Center. From that night on, her life would forever change as she met many important figures in the world of Japanese television.Her mother died when she was a child; she was raised by her father. She had two brothers and a sister. One of her brothers died during the Second World War; the other is still alive. Her sister died in childbirth, and her father died of cancer in 1991.
In 1973, she went to study in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
for two years.
After taking jazz dance
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...
lessons for a number of years, her first roles were mainly radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and voice character roles. She made her debut on NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
’s radio drama
Radio drama
Radio drama is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance, broadcast on radio or published on audio media, such as tape or CD. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine the characters and story...
Chorinmura to Kurumi no Ki (1961), and later gained fame as the first voice actor to portray the lovable ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
Q-taro in Obake no Q-tarō (TBS
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....
, 1965-1968).
However, she is best known to fans of tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
for her villainous roles in the Super Sentai
Super Sentai
The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...
franchise such as Queen Hedrian in Denshi Sentai Denziman and Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan, as well as the evil sorceress Bandora in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, better known to audiences in English speaking countries as Rita Repulsa
Rita Repulsa
Rita Repulsa is a fictional character from the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. She is based on the Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger villain Witch Bandora...
in the American adaptation of Zyuranger, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
. In an odd twist, she soon found herself re-dubbing her own lines as Rita when Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
was broadcasted in Japan after the show became a surprise hit in America. Her final tokusatsu role was Magiel, Queen of the Sky Saints in Mahou Sentai Magiranger
Mahou Sentai Magiranger
, is Toei Company's twenty-ninth production of the Super Sentai television series. The action footage was used in Power Rangers Mystic Force and both shows had scenes simultaneously shot in New Zealand...
, which incidentally was her one of few and final non-villainous roles and her first female role as such since Bellbara in Go-nen San-kumi Mahō-gumi (In her memory, the producers of Power Rangers: Mystic Force
Power Rangers: Mystic Force
Power Rangers Mystic Force is an American television series, and is part of the Power Rangers franchise. As with all Power Rangers series, the show is adapted from a series in the long-running Japanese tokusatsu franchise, Super Sentai...
used footage of Soga as Magiel in the two-part final episode of Mystic Force, “Mystic Fate.”).
Her very final role was in the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
game Space Sheriff Spirits as the voice and the “face” of Ankoku Ginga Jyoou (Dark Galaxy Queen), last boss and original character of this game inspired to the 80s Metal Hero series. Soga also played the voices of Cyborg 007 in the 1968 Cyborg 009
Cyborg 009
is a manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was serialized in many different magazines, including Monthly Shōnen King, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Shōnen Big Comic, COM, Shōjo Comic, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Monthly Shōnen Jump and Monthly Comic Nora in Japan...
anime series and the sidekick
Sidekick
A sidekick is a close companion who is generally regarded as subordinate to the one he accompanies. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, The Lone Ranger's Tonto, The Green Hornet's Kato and Batman's Robin.-Origins:The origin of the...
Ball Boy in 1984 series Seiun Kamen Machineman
Seiun Kamen Machineman
was a Japanese tokusatsu series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by Toei. The Series aired in January 13 until September 28, 1984, telling the adventures of Nick, a.k.a Ken Takase, a college student from the Ivy planet to study the behavior of the Earthlings.-Plot:Travelling in the ship...
. Machiko also ran her own shop, selling jewellery, antique clothing, and tapestry among other goods.
Death
In early August 2005, it was revealed that she had been fighting pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
for almost two years. On the morning of May 7, 2006, she ultimately lost that battle, and her body was found by a friend visiting her home. She was 68 years old.
Live actionLive actionIn filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
and tokusatsuTokusatsuis a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
and movies
- Battle Fever JBattle Fever Jis a Japanese TV series, being the third entry of the Super Sentai series franchise. It was co-produced by Toei Company and TV Asahi and aired on TV Asahi on February 3, 1979 - January 26, 1980 with a total of 52 episodes...
- Denshi Sentai Denziman/Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan (Queen Hedrian)
- Hikari Sentai MaskmanHikari Sentai Maskmanis Toei's eleventh entry of the Super Sentai Series. It aired on TV Asahi from February 28, 1987 to February 20, 1988, with a total of 51 episodes. Its international English title as listed by Toei is simply Maskman.-Plot:...
(Laraba) - Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Witch Bandora)
- Mighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
(Rita Repulsa via Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger footage)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
- Mahou Sentai MagirangerMahou Sentai Magiranger, is Toei Company's twenty-ninth production of the Super Sentai television series. The action footage was used in Power Rangers Mystic Force and both shows had scenes simultaneously shot in New Zealand...
(Heavenly Arch Saint Magiel)- Power Rangers: Mystic ForcePower Rangers: Mystic ForcePower Rangers Mystic Force is an American television series, and is part of the Power Rangers franchise. As with all Power Rangers series, the show is adapted from a series in the long-running Japanese tokusatsu franchise, Super Sentai...
(Mystic Mother via Mahou Sentai Magiranger footage)
- Power Rangers: Mystic Force
- Uchū Keiji Gavan (Honey Manda (Double Girl disguise), ep. 21)
- Uchū Keiji Sharivan (Shinigami Beast, ep. 22)
- Jikuu Senshi SpielbanJikuu Senshi Spielbanis a Japanese tokusatsu television series, part of the Metal Hero Series created by Toei Co. Ltd. from April 7, 1986 to March 9, 1987. Spielban's action footage was used for the battle scenes in VR Troopers....
(Queen Pandora)- VR TroopersVR TroopersVR Troopers was a syndicated live action show produced by Saban from 1994 to 1996...
(Desponda via Jikuu Senshi Spielban footage)
- VR Troopers
- Kamen Rider StrongerKamen Rider Strongeris a Japanese tokusatsu television series. The fifth program to be created as part of the Kamen Rider Series, the series was broadcast on TBS and MBS from April 5, 1975 to December 27, 1975, lasting 39 episodes, and aired every Saturday at 7:00 p.m...
(voice of Doctor Kate) - West Night
- Hiroshima
- Later It Fell
- Forever
- 5-nen 3-kumi Mahō-gumi (Bellbara the Witch)
- Domuraishi-tachi
- Kugatsu no Sora (Yoshida's mother)
- Miyo-chan no Tame nara: Zen'in Shūgō!!
- Pretty Invader Milli (Steradian)
- Warrior of Love, RainbowmanRainbowmanis the name and titular superhero of the tokusatsu TV series sometimes known as . Created by Kōhan Kawauchi, this was the first superhero TV series produced by Toho Company Ltd., and was broadcast on NET from October 6, 1972 to September 18, 1973, with a total of 52 episodes...
(God Iguana) - Seiun Kamen MachinemanSeiun Kamen Machinemanwas a Japanese tokusatsu series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by Toei. The Series aired in January 13 until September 28, 1984, telling the adventures of Nick, a.k.a Ken Takase, a college student from the Ivy planet to study the behavior of the Earthlings.-Plot:Travelling in the ship...
(voice of Ballboy) - Sekai Ninja Sen JiraiyaSekai Ninja Sen Jiraiyais a Japanese television series that aired on TV Asahi and its affiliates from January 25, 1988 to January 23, 1989, lasting 50 episodes. It was the seventh installment in Toei's Metal Hero Series franchise of live-action superhero shows...
(Yōnin Kumo Gozen) - Tōmei Dori-chan (Kikuko Shirakawa)
- TV ChampionTV ChampionTV Champion is a Japanese television variety show produced by TV Tokyo. The show challenges competitors with various talents in an array of tasks in order to crown one "King" of their ability. Episodes have focused on talents like Origami, Legos, and cooking fake food...
- Zatoichi Kenka DaikoZatoichiis a fictional character featured in one of Japan's longest running series of films and a television series set in the Edo period. The character, a blind masseur and swordmaster, was created by novelist . This originally minor character was developed for the screen by Daiei Studios and actor...
(AKA: Samaritan Zatoichi)
TV animeAnimeis the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
- Obake no Q-taroObake no Q-taro, by Fujiko Fujio, is a Japanese manga about an obake, Qtarō who lives with the Ōhara family. Qtarō, also known as Q-chan or Oba-Q, is a mischief-maker who likes to fly around scaring people and stealing food, though he is deathly afraid of dogs.The story is formulaic, usually focussed on the...
(first voice of Q-taro) - Batten Robomaru (voice of Batten Robomaru)
- Cyborg 009Cyborg 009is a manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was serialized in many different magazines, including Monthly Shōnen King, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Shōnen Big Comic, COM, Shōjo Comic, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Monthly Shōnen Jump and Monthly Comic Nora in Japan...
(1966 series) (voice of Cyborg 007: Great Britain) - Microid S (voice of Mamezō)
- Hana no PyunPyun Maru (voice of Kemeko)
- KabaTotto (voice of Totto)
Dubbing roles
- Alvin and the ChipmunksAlvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....
(voice of Theodore Seville and Vinny) - Fievel's American TailsFievel's American TailsFievel's American Tails is an American/Canadian animated television series, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio, Nelvana, and Universal Cartoon Studios. It aired for one season in 1992, and continued Fievel's adventures from the film An American Tail: Fievel Goes West...
(voice of Yasha Mousekewitz) - The Little Engine That CouldThe Little Engine That Could (film)The Little Engine that Could is a 1991 animated film directed by Dave Edwards and co-produced by Edwards and Mike Young, animated at Kalato Animation in Wales and co-financed by Universal Studios through their MCA/Universal Home Video arm and S4C, Wales' dedicated Welsh-language channel. It was...
(voice of Chip the Bird) - Mighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power RangersMighty Morphin Power Rangers is an American live-action children's television series based on the 16th installment of the Japanese Super Sentai franchise, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger. Both the show and its related merchandise saw unbridled overnight success, catapulting into pop culture in mere months...
(voice of Rita Repulsa)
Movie anime
- Cyborg 009Cyborg 009is a manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was serialized in many different magazines, including Monthly Shōnen King, Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Shōnen Big Comic, COM, Shōjo Comic, Weekly Shōnen Sunday, Monthly Shōnen Jump and Monthly Comic Nora in Japan...
(1968 movie) (voice of Cyborg 007: Great Britain) - Maken Liner 0011: Henshin Seiyo! (voice of Liner)
Games
- Tengai Makyou: Daishi no MokushirokuTengai Makyouis a widely popular series of traditional console RPGs that are available in Japan and Taiwan.Though originally intended to be only three games, it has grown to encompass a number of remakes, gaidens and genre spin-offs across a variety of platforms...
- Valkyrie ProfileValkyrie Profile: Lennethis a console role-playing game developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix for the PlayStation. It was released on December 22, 1999 in Japan and on August 29, 2000 in North America...
- Space Sheriff Spirits (voices of Dark Galaxy Queen, Honey Manda, and Mitsubachi Doubler (Double Girl))
Songs
- Obake no Q-taro (Obake no Q-taroObake no Q-taro, by Fujiko Fujio, is a Japanese manga about an obake, Qtarō who lives with the Ōhara family. Qtarō, also known as Q-chan or Oba-Q, is a mischief-maker who likes to fly around scaring people and stealing food, though he is deathly afraid of dogs.The story is formulaic, usually focussed on the...
8 songs: opening, ending and insert songs) - Batten Robomaru (Batten Robomaru 3 songs: opening and insert songs)
- Nazo no Onna B
- Majo wa Ijiwaru (5-nen 3-gumi mahogumi ending song)
- Ball Boy no uta (Seiun Kamen MachinemanSeiun Kamen Machinemanwas a Japanese tokusatsu series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by Toei. The Series aired in January 13 until September 28, 1984, telling the adventures of Nick, a.k.a Ken Takase, a college student from the Ivy planet to study the behavior of the Earthlings.-Plot:Travelling in the ship...
insert song) - Dora! Majo Bandora no theme (Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger insert song)
- Ankoku Ginga Jyoou no Blues (Space Sheriff Spirits insert song)
External links
- Soga Machiko Collection: Stella (in Japanese)