Subaru Samuel Bartsch (スバル・サミュエル・バーチュ, Subaru Samyueru Bāchu; born June 29, 1990), known professionally as Subaru Kimura (木村 昴, Kimura Subaru), is a German–Japanese voice actor, actor, television personality, MC, rapper, and narrator affiliated with Atomic Monkey.
His most well known roles as a voice actor are Takeshi "Gian" Gōda in Doraemon, Aoi Tōdō in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Franky in One Piece.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Kimura was born on June 29, 1990 in Leipzig, Germany to a German opera singer father and a Japanese baroque music soloist and vocalist mother, with his grandmother giving him the name Subaru after the song "Subaru" by singer-songwriter Shinji Tanimura. Because of their occupations in the music industry, his parents were strict when it came to classical music as he started learning how to play the violin at the age of five, but this pressure ultimately backfired as it made Kimura dislike classical music.
He spent his early childhood in Germany before moving back to Japan at the age of seven. At the time, he couldn't speak Japanese, but after entering a local public elementary school, he learned the language communicating with teachers and classmates. Ever since he was a child, he had been a bit of a class clown, always eager to entertain friends, especially the girls. On the other hand, his mother had reportedly described him at the time as a "gentle, easy-to-raise child".
Since his childhood home was devoid of television and manga, he rarely watched anime growing up and possessed no interest in voice acting.
Career
He joined the Gekidan Nihon Jido, located near his house. He took the entry audition simply because it looked interesting after seeing a newspaper advertisement, and his mother also gave her permission, thinking he might have fun while learning Japanese. After he joined the company, while learning many disciplines like traditional Japanese dance, tap dance, and instruments, he became deeply passionate about acting lessons. Performing in the company's showcases eventually inspired him to become a musical actor. Although he aspired to be an opera singer around this time, he abandoned the dream, as he felt unable to surpass his parents and wished to take a different path, partly as an act of rebellion.
In 2002, he began his career as a tap dancer in the musical Annie. In elementary school, he appeared as a child who resembled Kenji Haga in the impersonation program Mimakin on Nippon TV. He later made several appearances on the Nippon TV program Monomane Battle under the stage name "Mini Mini Kenji Haga".
In 2005, he made his debut as a voice actor in the role of main character Takeshi Gōda, known famously by his nickname "Gian", in the TV Asahi television anime series Doraemon, taking over the role from Kazuya Tatekabe. He was only a second-year junior high school student when he heard about the all-new Doraemon cast and the upcoming auditions, so after consulting with the manager of the children's theater company he belonged to at the time, decided to audition. He only auditioned for the memory of it, expecting to fail, but was shocked to find out that he passed the initial voice-tape screening, making it to the second round in an actual dubbing booth. As for why he chose the role of Gian, even though he was just auditioning for the experience, he was intimidated by the role of Doraemon thinking it was "just too big a name" and since Shizuka, Nobita, and Suneo were all too different from his own personality to connect with, he decided, "It has to be Gian."
At the time, he knew little about anime or voice actors and didn't even realize at the time that his former co-star on Oha Suta, Kōichi Yamadera, was primarily a voice actor. The reason he auditioned at the time was to gain popularity in his class, as knowing about Doraemon itself, and thinking that saying "I auditioned for Doraemon" would turn him into a topic of conversation like a hero, he took the audition with the desire to liven up his class.
Since he had only ever auditioned for child-actor roles before, he assumed the production would be the same, expecting to see nothing but other children, but when he arrived at the studio for the second round, he found it packed with adult professional voice actors, including Wataru Takagi, who would voice the Teacher. Feeling out of place, he thought to himself, "Oh no, I've gotten myself into something crazy..."
Current activity
In 2019, Kimura received the Singing Award as a part of Hypnosis Mic at the 13th Seiyu Awards. Since the following year in October 2020, he has served as the main MC for the TV Tokyo program Oha Suta.
In 2021, he ranked 5th in the Voice Actor category at the 8th Yahoo! Search Awards, and in 2023, ranked 3rd place in the same category at the 10th Yahoo! Search Awards.
In December 2024, it was revealed at Jump Festa '25 that Kimura would officially take over and succeed Kazuki Yao in the role of Franky in the One Piece television anime series. Kimura having previously voiced a younger Buggy in the series, Yao personally helped choose him as his successor. His first performance as the character was in episode 1,123, which aired on April 5th the following year.
In 2025, he received the Influencer Award at the 19th Seiyu Awards.
Filmography
TV drama
Tanken Bakumon (2012), Narrator
Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger (2016), Bowlingam (ep. 19–20)
Uchu Sentai Kyuranger (2017), Seiza Blaster Voice, Ragio Voice (ep. 11–12), Dark Blaster (ep. 26, 28, 31)
Mashin Sentai Kiramager (2020), Bomb Jamen (ep. 25-26)
GARUGAKU. ~Girls Garden~ (2021), Subanii
We Are Medical Interns (2021), Takeshi Yamashita (ep. 2, 4, 6–7)
Kamen Rider Revice (2021), Vice / Kamen Rider Vice, Himself (30 – 31)
The 13 Lords of the Shogun (2022), Prince Mochihito
What Will You Do, Ieyasu? (2023), Watanabe Moritsuna
Maybe Koi ga Kikoeru (2023), Yuto Fukamachi
Feature films
Okashiratsuki (2023), Katsuragi
Honeko Akabane's Bodyguards (2024), Iwao Ōmurai
Black Showman (2025), Kodai Kashiwagi
Television animation
2005
Doraemon (2005–present), Takeshi "Gian" Gōda
2011
Penguindrum, Kanba Takakura, Penguin 1
2012
Kuroko's Basketball, Papa Mbaye Siki
Code:Breaker, Heike Masaomi
2013
Gundam Build Fighters, Alan Adams
2014
The Kindaichi Case Files R, Daisuke Kujiraki
Psycho-Pass 2, Ogino
Ping Pong: The Animation, Manabu Sakuma
Black Bullet, Takuto Yasuwaki
2015
Assassination Classroom, Ryōma Terasaka
Dance with Devils, Mage Nanashiro
2016
Sekkō Boys, Jiro Sandajima, Agrippa, Dionysos
Bubuki Buranki, Sōya Arabashiri
Assassination Classroom 2nd Season, Ryōma Terasaka
Kagewani -II-, Jōji Honma
91 Days, Strega Galassia
Haikyū!! Karasuno High School vs Shiratorizawa Academy, Satori Tendō
Original net animation (ONA)
Monster Strike (2016), Sanjo Takii
Koro-sensei Q! (2016), Ryoma Terasaka
Gundam Build Fighters: Battlogue (2017), Allan Adams
The Heike Story (2021)
The Way of the Househusband (2021), Gōda
Super Crooks (2021), Sammy Diesel
Record of Ragnarok II (2023), Raiden Tameemon
Gamera Rebirth (2023), Brody
Onimusha (2023), Goro-Maru
Disney Twisted-Wonderland the Animation (2025), Sam
Theatrical animation
Doraemon: Nobita's Dinosaur 2006 (2006), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Furusato Japan (2007), Gonji Abe
Doraemon: Nobita's New Great Adventure into the Underworld (2007), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: Nobita and the Green Giant Legend (2008), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: The Record of Nobita's Spaceblazer (2009), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: Nobita's Great Battle of the Mermaid King (2010), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: Nobita and the New Steel Troops—Winged Angels (2011), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: Nobita and the Island of Miracles—Animal Adventure (2012), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: Nobita's Secret Gadget Museum (2013), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: New Nobita's Great Demon—Peko and the Exploration Party of Five (2014), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Stand by Me Doraemon (2014), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Psycho-Pass: The Movie (2015), Sem
Doraemon: Nobita's Space Heroes (2015), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon: Nobita and the Birth of Japan 2016 (2016), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Doraemon the Movie 2017: Great Adventure in the Antarctic Kachi Kochi (2017), Takeshi "Gian" Goda
Video games
The World Ends with You (2007), Bito Daisukenojo
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (2012), Bito Daisukenojo
Granblue Fantasy (2015), J.J., Takeshi "Gian" Goda
IDOLiSH7 (2017), Inumaru Touma
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (2017), Aced, Bito Daisukenojo
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux (2017), Zeus
WarioWare Gold (2018), 18-Volt, Mr. Sparkles
Kingdom Hearts III (2019), Aced
Zoids Wild: Blast Unleashed (2019), Gyoza
Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019), Balthus
The King of Fighters for Girls (2019), Ryo Sakazaki
Hypnosis Mic -Alternative Rap Battle- (2020), Yamada Ichiro
Disney Twisted-Wonderland (2020), Sam
Final Fantasy VII Remake (2020), Kotch
Helios Rising Heroes (2020), Asch Albright
Soulcalibur VI (2020), Hwang Seong-gyeong
DC Super Hero Girls: Teen Power (2021), Hal Jordan
NEO: The World Ends With You (2021), Bito Daisukenojo
Music/drama CD
Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle (2017), Ichiro Yamada (MC B.B.)
Commercials
The Way of the Househusband (2020), Goda
Dubbing
Taron Egerton
Testament of Youth, Edward Brittain
Kingsman: The Secret Service, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Gary "Eggsy" Unwin
Robin Hood, Robin Hood
Rocketman, Elton John
Tetris, Henk Rogers
Winston Duke
Black Panther, M'Baku
Avengers: Infinity War, M'Baku
Avengers: Endgame, M'Baku
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, M'Baku
The Fall Guy, Dan Tucker
The 100, Lincoln (Ricky Whittle)
Bad Boys for Life, Dorn (Alexander Ludwig)
Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Dorn (Alexander Ludwig)
Bad News Bears, Mike Engelberg
Bullet Train, The Wolf (Benito A. Martínez Ocasio)
CJ7, Storm Dragon
Cats, Plato and Socrates (Les Twins)
Cinderella, Town Crier (Doc Brown)
Dallas, Tommy Sutter (Callard Harris)
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan, Major Harry Smith (Travis Fimmel)
