Osamu Tezuka's great-grandfather, studying western medicine to become a doctor.

A story set in the mid-1800's about a young doctor who has been trained in Western-style medicine and a young samurai who is trying to live up to the old traditions of his class and culture. The story is actually based upon real people - the doctor, Ryo-an, was Tezuka's great grandfather. 
During the Second Year of Ansei (1855) in Edo's Koishigawa are two young men, Manjiro Ibutani and Ryoan Tezuka. Ibutani is a low-ranking samurai who is a gifted swordsman and has a straightforward and strong sense of justice. Tezuka has a more carefree attitude. He has an eye for the ladies, but he is passionate about becoming a doctor. The two opposite characters come of age during the backdrop of the turbulent end of the Tokugawa Period (1600-1868 CE). 
(Source: AnimeNfo)

__Height:__ 176cm (5'9)

A Japanese actor, voice actor, singer and narrator from Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture. He graduated from Tohoku Gakuin University's economics school and is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment.

He was the manager of the Tagajou Senior High School basketball team before he made a name for himself. His voice acting debut was the OVA [Megazone 23](https://anilist.co/anime/1935/) as the motorcycle-riding [Shinji Nakagawa](https://anilist.co/character/56633/), while his television debut was the anime [Bosco Adventure](https://anilist.co/anime/3460/) as the cowardly Otter. His break-out role, however, was in the anime [Ranma ½](https://anilist.co/anime/210/), in which he played the dual role of [Hibiki Ryoga](https://anilist.co/character/2369/) and the [Jusenkyo Guide](https://anilist.co/character/58321/). In 1991, Yamadera joined forces with [Toshihiko Seki](https://anilist.co/staff/95129/) and [Noriko Hidaka](https://anilist.co/staff/95181/) to form the acting unit Banana Fritters, which disbanded in 1995. In October 1997, Yamadera became a host on the TV Tokyo children's variety show Oha Suta. In March 2016, after almost two decades, he announced his retirement from it.

Yamadera's also known for his versatile range, as shown in the video game Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony where he voiced all five Monokuma Kubs, including Monophanie (female). According to the Danganronpa V3 official blog, Yamadera is the first person who came to mind as "the same person voicing multiple characters at the same time". No one has as much "multiple characters" experience as him. He was able to take the individual quirks of each of the Monokuma Kubs and make all of them unique.

Other notable examples of multiple voice acting include the Kingdom Hearts series where he voiced Donald Duck, Genie (Aladdin), Sebastian (The Little Mermaid), Beast (Beauty and the Beast), Mushu (Mulan), Jaq (Cinderella) and Stitch (Lilo and Stitch), and the [Japan Animator Expo](https://anilist.co/anime/20947/) series of 35 short films where Yamadera and [Megumi Hayashibara](https://anilist.co/staff/95014/) voiced all characters.

Yamadera was married to fellow voice actresses [Mika Kanai](https://anilist.co/staff/95029/) from 1993 to 2006, and to [Rie Tanaka](https://anilist.co/staff/95060/) from 2012 to 2018. On June 14, 2021, his marriage to singer and idol Robin Shoko Okada was announced.

__Trivia:__
- His nickname is Yama-chan.
- The official dub-over voice for Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey and Disney's Donald Duck.
- He didn't consider to do voice acting at first and was more interested in being either a live-action actor or a salesman.
- He is known as "the man with the seven-colored voice".
- In 2011 and 2017, TV Asahi conducted a poll among Japanese voice actors and actresses on "who they thought was really the most amazing person in their profession". Yamadera ranked first both times.

Edo, 1855, in the Hill of the Three Hundred district: Japan's isolationist foreign policy has been lifted, and the era of the Bakumatsu has begun. The samurai Ibuya Manjiro, 26 years old, has just begun his career as low-ranking retainer to the minor daimyo Lord Matsudaira. Tezuka Ryoan, 29, a disciple of Dutch medicine, has just been accepted as a student at Teki Academy in Osaka. Each has a temper to go with his talent, and in a time of brewing upheaval the two are not slow to find trouble, which brings them together in spite of their mutual dislike. Tezuka is called in one night to sew up Ibuya after an illicit duel; a few weeks later, Ibuya finds himself the only thing standing between Tezuka and a gang of swordsmen sent by the head of medicine for the Shogunate.
 
Note: Won the Shogakukan Manga Award for general manga in 1984.

Ryouan Tezuka