is a Japanese voice actress, narrator and singer who is currently affiliated with 81 Produce. She is also the main vocalist of Two-Mix and ES CONNEXION when it was active. Her uncle was former New Japan Pro-Wrestling managing director Hisashi Shinma.

Takayama is best known for her roles in Detective Conan as Conan Edogawa, Kiki's Delivery Service as both Kiki and Ursula, Ranma ½ as Nabiki Tendo, Moomin as Moomin, Yaiba as Yaiba Kurogane, Shaman King as Hao Asakura, Nintama Rantarō as Rantarō Inadera, Danganronpa series as Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamukura, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as Envy, and Honkai Impact 3rd as Fu Hua.

Career

From an early age, Takayama studied ballet, Japanese dance, and vocal music. When she was a child, her sense of justice was so strong that it was written on her report card. She wanted to become a police officer, which she thought she was suited for, and she thought that ventriloquism would be necessary for being a traffic safety guider, so she joined Himawari Theatre Group in 1978 when she was in junior high school, and stayed there for four years. In reality, however, Takayama's parents wanted her to enter the entertainment industry, and she felt as if she was being forced to follow the rails laid out for her, and the ventriloquism was just a reason for her to study acting, not something she came up with. When she was in high school, she won a radio disc jockey contest and thought about becoming a DJ because of her love of radio and fascination with free banter and voice work.

After graduating from Adachi Nishi High School in Tokyo, not knowing how to become a DJ, Takayama enrolled in the theater department of Nihon Kogakuin College to continue her acting career, but she became worried about her future and dropped out to stop acting altogether. At one point, she was working at an office, but when a caller praised her voice, she decided to become a voice actor at the age of 22. In 1985, she joined the voice acting division of Sun House Music, but after that, she met a manager who asked her if she wanted to work as a voice actress, and she joined 81 Produce, where she was told that if she didn't make any progress in two of her three years as a rookie, she should give up. She decided to try to bear fruit in one year.

Initially, Takayama auditioned for the role of the heroine, but even though she tried to read the lines in a cute way, she was told by different sound directors to "be more like a girl." After failing three times in a row, she consulted with her manager and decided to audition for the role of a boy, thinking that heroine might not be suitable for her. She made her debut in 1987 as a female student in Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon. After that, she started getting boy roles and got her first starring role as Youichi Ajiyoshi in Mister Ajikko the third time around.

In 1989, she was chosen to play both Kiki and Ursula in the animated film Kiki's Delivery Service, and the film was a hit. She tried to refuse the role because it was decided at short notice and she was too new to take responsibility, but Hayao Miyazaki told her not to worry because he would take responsibility. Despite this, there was a time when the only regular role she played was Nabiki Tendo in the Ranma ½ series, which depressed her, but she pulled herself together and started working part-time in her neighborhood. In the 1990s, she began to play the main and major characters in many works, mainly boys, such as Moomin (as Moomin), Magical Taruruto-kun (as Honmaru Edojō), and Yaiba (as Yaiba), and her popularity became firmly established. In particular, her leading roles as Rantarō Inadera in Nintama Rantarō and Conan Edogawa in Detective Conan have lasted for more than 20 years since they were first broadcast in 1993 and 1996, respectively, and Takayama's voice has become recognized by a wide range of generations. In 2005, she was chosen to play Suneo's mom in the renewed Doraemon anime, in 2007 she voiced Kitarō in the fifth series of GeGeGe no Kitarō, and in 2010 she voiced Taiki Kudō in Digimon Fusion.

Takayama is also active in music as ES CONNEXION, Two-Mix, Miru Takayama with TWO-MIX, and M★TWO-MinaMiru-, a unit with her cousin Miru Takayama. She has sung the theme songs of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, and has also composed music. In the 81st episode of Detective Conan (broadcast on November 17, 1997), she appeared as a character with Shiina Nagano as TWO-MIX themselves, and also sang the opening theme song for the anime. In addition, in 2005, she brought in Joe Rinoie to work on the theme song for the anime Engage Planet Kiss Dum in 2007 as the unit II MIX⊿DELTA.

In 2011, Takayama won the Synergy Award at the 5th Seiyu Awards. On January 9, 2017, she was picked 7th in the TV Asahi 3-hour special that voted 200 popular voice actors.

Takayama was married to manga artist Gosho Aoyama on May 5, 2005 but they divorced on December 10, 2007. However, their relationship as "the author of the original story of Detective Conan and the lead voice actress" has continued to be good, and they are not estranged even now. Takayama has been keeping Aoyama's cat, Kite, which was given to her at the time of marriage, and she reports on Kite's good health on her blog.

During the opening speech of Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence an earthquake of magnitude 4 struck the stage. Takayama made a quick decision and said in Conan's voice, "Calm down, earthquakes! Don't worry, Conan is here." to calm the children.

Filmography

Television animation

{| class="wikitable" div style="float:left; width:50%"

|-

! 1987

|

  • Mister Ajikko as Yōichi Ajiyoshi

|-

! 1988

|

  • Little Lord Fauntleroy as Roy
  • Oishinbo as Terue Yumemi

|-

! 1989

|

  • Dash! Yonkuro as Aoi Hyūga
  • Ranma ½ as Nabiki Tendo
  • City Hunter 3 as Mei Asaoka

|-

! 1990

|

  • Magical Taruruto-kun as Honmaru Edojō
  • Tanoshii Moomin Ikka as Moomin

|-

! 1991

|

  • Anime Himitsu no Hanazono as Colin Craven and Patty
  • Holly the Ghost as Kaori

|-

! 1992

|

  • Cooking Papa as Makoto Araiwa, Miyuki Araiwa
  • Hime-chan's Ribbon as Shintarō Kobayashi, Ichiko Kamikura

|-

! 1993

|

  • Kenyu Densetsu Yaiba as Yaiba Kurogane

<!-- NEED SOURCE

  • Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon R as Emerald

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  • Nintama Rantarō as Rantarō Inadera

|-

! 1994

|

  • Magic Knight Rayearth as Ascot
  • YuYu Hakusho as Mukuro

|-

! 1996 - Ongoing

|

  • Detective Conan as Conan Edogawa, Shinichi Kudo (Childhood), Minami Takayama (Herself, episode 81 and 82), Aoko Nakamori (episode 219, OVA 4) & Goro

|-

! 1996

|

  • The Vision of Escaflowne as Dilandau Albatou, Celena Schezar, Chid Freid

|-

! 1998

|

  • Gasaraki as Rin Ataka

|-

! 1999

|

  • Jibaku-kun as Silver (young)
  • Pocket Monsters as Hiroshi
  • Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko as Yohko Yamamoto

|-

! 2000

|

  • Android Kikaider as Chigusa Sakamoto
  • Descendants of Darkness as Hijiri Minase
  • Shinzo as Mushra, Mushrambo
  • One Piece as Hamu

|-

! 2001

|

  • Cyborg 009 as Artemis
  • Project ARMS as Kei Kuruma
  • Shaman King as Hao Asakura
  • The SoulTaker as Mio Date
  • Touch as Alice
  • Kirby: Right Back at Ya! as Knuckle Joe

|-

! 2002

|

  • Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex as Kuroha
  • Monkey Typhoon as Mion
  • Pocket Monsters: Episode Gold & Silver as Hiroshi
  • Case Closed as Aoko Nakamori

|-

! 2003

|

  • Astro Boy as Shin'ichi
  • Origami Warriors as Setsuna Inami
  • Pocket Monsters Side Stories as Hiroshi

|-

! 2004

|

  • Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C. 2nd GIG as Chai
  • Kyo Kara Maoh! as Anissina von Karbelnikoff
  • Maria-sama ga Miteru as Former Rosa Gigantea
  • Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger as Assassinian Jingi (episode 41)

|-

! 2005

|

  • Black Cat as Train Heartnet (younger)
  • Digital Monster X-Evolution as Dorumon, Dorugamon, DoruGreymon, Alphamon
  • Doraemon Mrs. Honewaka

|-

! 2006

|

  • Jyu-Oh-Sei as Thor
  • Majin tantei Neuro as aya asheia
  • D.Gray-man as Anita
  • Ghost Slayers Ayashi as Kyōsai Kawanabe
  • Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple as Kisara Nanjō

|-

! 2007

|

  • Claymore as Irene
  • GeGeGe no Kitaro as Kitarō

|-

! 2008

|

  • Megumi as Megumi Yokota
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 as Kati Mannequin
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season as Kati Mannequin and Red Haro
  • Porphy no Nagai Tabi as Rebecca

|-

! 2009

|

  • GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class as Sasamoto-sensei
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood as Envy
  • Lupin III vs Detective Conan as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2010

|

  • HeartCatch PreCure! as Dark Precure
  • Digimon Xros Wars as Taiki Kudou

|-

! 2011

|

  • Pocket Monsters Best Wishes! as Luke
  • Tales of Symphonia: The United World as Mithos Yggdrasill
  • Digimon Xros Wars: Toki wo Kakeru Shounen Hunter-tachi as Taiki Kudou

|-

! 2012

|

  • Senki Zesshō Symphogear as Kanade Amō
  • Pretty Rhythm: Dear My Future as Yong Hwa

|-

! 2014

|

  • Magic Kaito 1412 as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2015

|

  • One-Punch Man as Child Emperor

|-

! 2016

|

  • Erased as Sachiko Fujinuma
  • Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School as Hajime Hinata/Izuru Kamukura

|-

! 2017

|

  • Little Witch Academia as Nelson

|-

! 2019

|

  • I'm From Japan as Hinomoto
  • One-Punch Man 2 as Child Emperor

|-

! 2021

|

  • Kiyo in Kyoto: From the Maiko House as Kenta
  • Shaman King (2021) as Hao Asakura
  • Zombie Land Saga Revenge as Light Oozora

|-

! 2022

|

  • Tomodachi Game as Manabu-kun

|-

! 2024

|

  • Ranma ½ as Nabiki Tendō

|-

! 2025

|

  • Yaiba: Samurai Legend as Yaiba Kurogane

|-

! 2026

|

  • Star Detective Precure! as Conan Edogawa (episode 18)

|}

Anime films

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! 1989

|

  • Kiki's Delivery Service as Kiki, Ursula

|-

! 1997

|

  • Detective Conan: The Time-Bombed Skyscraper as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 1998

|

  • Detective Conan: The Fourteenth Target as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 1999

|

  • Detective Conan: The Last Wizard of the Century as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2000

|

  • Detective Conan: Captured in Her Eyes as Conan Edogawa
  • Escaflowne as Dilandau Albatou

|-

! 2001

|

  • Detective Conan: Countdown to Heaven as Conan Edogawa
  • Princess Arete as Ampule

|-

! 2002

|

  • Detective Conan: The Phantom of Baker Street as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2003

|

  • Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2004

|

  • Detective Conan: Magician of the Silver Sky as Conan Edogawa
  • Konjiki no Gash Bell: 101 Banme no Mamono as Gash's Mother

|-

! 2005

|

  • Detective Conan: Strategy Above the Depths as Conan Edogawa
  • Digital Monster X-Evolution as Dorumon

|-

! 2006

|

  • Detective Conan: The Private Eyes' Requiem as Conan Edogawa
  • Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006 as Suneo's Mama

|-

! 2007

|

  • Detective Conan: Jolly Roger in the Deep Azure as Conan Edogawa
  • Highlander: The Search for Vengeance as Joe

|-

! 2008

|

  • Detective Conan: Full Score of Fear as Conan Edogawa
  • GeGeGe no Kitaro: Nippon Bakuretsu as Kitaro

|-

! 2009

|

  • Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2010

|

  • Detective Conan: The Lost Ship in the Sky as Conan Edogawa
  • Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer as Kati Mannequin

|-

! 2011

|

  • Detective Conan: Quarter of Silence as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2012

|

  • Detective Conan: The Eleventh Striker as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2013

|

  • Detective Conan: Private Eye in the Distant Sea as Conan Edogawa
  • Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie as Conan Edogawa
  • Little Witch Academia as Nelson

|-

! 2014

|

  • Detective Conan: Dimensional Sniper as Conan Edogawa
  • Expelled from Paradise as Veronica Kulikova

|-

! 2015

|

  • Detective Conan: Sunflowers of Inferno as Conan Edogawa
  • Love Live! The School Idol Movie as Female Singer

|-

! 2016

|

  • Detective Conan: The Darkest Nightmare as Conan Edogawa

|-

! 2017

|

  • Detective Conan: Crimson Love Letter as Conan Edogawa

|-

!2018

|

  • Detective Conan: Zero the Enforcer as Conan Edogawa

|-

!2019

|

  • Detective Conan: The Fist of Blue Sapphire as Conan Edogawa

|-

!2021

|

  • Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet as Conan Edogawa

|-

!2022

|

  • Lonely Castle in the Mirror as Masamune
  • Detective Conan: The Bride of Halloween as Conan Edogawa

|-

!2023

|

  • Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine as Conan Edogawa

|-

!2024

|

  • Nintama Rantarō: Invincible Master of the Dokutake Ninja as Rantarō Inadera
  • Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram as Conan Edogawa

|-

|}

OVA

{| class="wikitable" width="all

|-

! 1987

|

  • Gakuen Tokuso Hikaruon as Student

|-

! 1991

|

  • Slow Step as Minatsu Nakazato

|-

! 1994

|

  • Cosmic Fantasy as Yū

|-

! 1995

|

  • Elementalors as Saori

|-

! 1997

|

  • Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko as Yohko Yamamoto

|-

! 1998

|

  • Psychic Force as Emilio Michaelov
  • Tekken: The Motion Picture as Nina Williams,

|-

! 1989

|

  • The Simpsons as Adil Hoxha (Tress MacNeille)
  • The Land Before Time as Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon)

|-

! 1990

|

  • The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter as Atreyu (Kenny Morrison)
  • RoboCop 2 as Hob (Gabriel Damon)
  • Twin Peaks as Donna Hayward (Lara Flynn Boyle)

|-

! 1992

|

  • Back to the Future Part II as Video Game Boy #1 (Elijah Wood) (TV Asahi edition)
  • Lorenzo's Oil as Lorenzo Odone (Zack O'Malley Greenburg)

|-

! 1993

|

  • Boy Meets World as Shawn Hunter (Rider Strong)

|-

! 1994

|

  • The Good Son as Mark Evans (Elijah Wood)
  • The War as Stu (Elijah Wood)
  • Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit as Rita Watson (Lauryn Hill)

|-

! 1995

|

  • Pocahontas as Nakoma (Michelle St. John)

|-

! 1996

|

  • Flipper as Sandy Ricks (Elijah Wood)
  • The Craft as Nancy Brown (Fairuza Balk)

|-

! 1997

|

  • The Full Monty as Nathan Schofield (William Snape)

|-

! 1998

|

  • An American Tail: The Treasure of Manhattan Island as Cholena
  • Wild Things as Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards)

|-

! 2000

|

  • 200 Cigarettes as Lucy (Courtney Love)
  • Almost Famous as Penny Lane (Kate Hudson)
  • Charlie's Angels as Alex Munday (Lucy Liu)
  • Music of the Heart as Lexi (Kieran Culkin)

|-

! 2002

|

  • Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever as Agent Sever (Lucy Liu)
  • Ghost World as Enid (Thora Birch)
  • Resident Evil as Rain (Michelle Rodriguez)
  • The Scorpion King as Cassandra (Kelly Hu)

|-

! 2003

|

  • Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle as Alex Munday (Lucy Liu)

|-

! 2005

|

  • The Fast and the Furious as Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) (TV Asahi edition)

|-

! 2006

|

  • The Queen as Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren)
  • Monster House as Dustin James (Mitchel Musso)
  • The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning as Alex (Cyia Batten)

|-

! 2007

|

  • Firehouse Dog as Shane Fahey (Josh Hutcherson)

|-

! 2014

|

  • My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as Daring Do (Chiara Zanni)
  • Chef as Percy (Emjay Anthony)

|-

! 2015

|

  • Moomins on the Riviera as Moomin
  • Exodus: Gods and Kings as Malak (Issac Andrews)
  • The Divergent Series: Insurgent as Johanna Reyes (Octavia Spencer)

|-

! 2016

|

  • The Divergent Series: Allegiant as Johanna Reyes (Octavia Spencer)

|-

! 2022

|

  • Ghostbusters: Afterlife as Podcast (Logan Kim)
  • Jurassic World Dominion as Soyona Santos (Dichen Lachman)

|-

! 2023

|

  • The Exploits of Moominpappa: Adventures of a Young Moomin as Moomintroll and young Pappa

|-

! 2024

|

  • Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire as Podcast (Logan Kim)

|-

! 2025

|

  • Jurassic World Rebirth as Nina (Philippine Velge)

|-

|}

Tokusatsu

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! 2004

|

  • Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger as Assassinian Jingi (episode 41)

|-

|}

Video games

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! 1992

|

  • Tengai Makyō II: Manjimaru as Matsuri

|-

! 1993

|

  • Tengai Makyō: Fuun Kabukiden as Matsuri

|-

! 1995

|

  • Linda Cube as Linda

|-

! 1996

|

  • PoPoLoCrois as Pietro
  • Psychic Force as Emilio Michaelov
  • Virtua Fighter 3 as Pai Chan

|-

! 1997

|

  • Linda Cube Again as Linda
  • Lego Island as Pepper Roni

|-

! 1998

|

  • Jade Cocoon as Mahbu
  • Psychic Force 2012 as Emilio Michaelov

|-

! 2000

|

  • Digimon World as Protagonist
  • Boku no Natsuyasumi as Guts

|-

! 2001

|

  • Virtua Fighter 4 as Pai Chan

|-

! 2002

|

  • .hack//Infection as Mia
  • .hack//Mutation as Mia
  • .hack//Outbreak as Mia

|-

! 2003

|

  • .hack//Quarantine as Mia
  • Mega Man X7 as Axl
  • Project X Zone as Pai Chan
  • Kid Icarus: Uprising as Pit, Black Pit
  • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as Pit and Dark Pit
  • Granblue Fantasy as Sarasa/Threo

|-

! 2015

|

  • Project X Zone 2 as Pai Chan

|-

! 2022

|

  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land as Dream Discoveries Tour announcer

|-

! 2023

|

  • Arknights as Degenbrecher

|}

Drama CD

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! 1991

|

  • Video Girl Ai as Ai Amano

|-

! 1992

|

  • Ginnoyuki Furufuru as Takashi Sakakibara

|-

! 1994

|

  • Fushigi Yūgi as Nuriko
  • Rurouni Kenshin as Myōjin Yahiko

|-

! 1997

|

  • Red River as Yuri Suzuki

|-

! 2000

|

  • M to N no Shōzō as Natsuhiko Amakusa
  • Chrono Crusade as Child Chrono

|-

! 2001

|

  • Angel Heart as Li Xiang Ying
  • Shaman King as Hao Asakura
  • W Juliet as Ito Miura

|-

! 2004

|

  • Kyo Kara Maoh! as Anissina von Karbelnikoff

|-

|}

Original net Animation

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! 2008

|

  • Megumi as Megumi Yokota

|-

|}

References

  • 81 Produce profile