The character of Draken will sound different the next time he appears in the Tokyo Revengers anime.
The producers of the series announced via its official website that they have decided to recast the role of Ken "Draken" Ryuguji. The character was originally portrayed by voice actor and singer Tatsuhisa Suzuki, but the show's production committee and Suzuki's talent agency have decided that the actor will no longer be part of the series' cast, as the actor has decided to take an extended hiatus from all public activities. A replacement has yet to be named, but Draken will be voiced by a new actor beginning with the series' upcoming Christmas Showdown arc.
Suzuki's hiatus was announced after the public reveal of an alleged extramarital affair between the actor and a 20-year old fan. Suzuki is married to pop star LiSA, who has performed on numerous anime soundtracks and is best known for singing Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba's original theme song, "Gurenge." Following the scandal, both Suzuki and LiSA announced a hiatus from public activities, though LiSA has since resumed performing. Suzuki has exited a number of the anime series he was cast in, including The Misfit of Demon King Academy, the Pokemon anime and the second season of Netflix's Ultraman series. Suzuki stayed on the cast of Free! Iwatobi Swim Club, and will continue to reprise the role of Makoto for that series' two finale movies. His band, OLDCODEX, which performed several of the theme songs for the series, also recently announced that they will disband following the release of the final Free! movie.
Tokyo Revengers tells the story of Takemichi Hanagaki, a twenty-something burn-out who gets a second chance to fix his mistakes and save the life of his childhood sweet heart, Hinata Tachibana, when he wakes up one day to discover that he has been transported back in time 12 years and is now in his teenage body. Using his knowledge of future events, he infiltrates the Tokyo Manji gang, which is led by the charismatic Majiro "Mikey" Sano and his second-in-command, the loyal but logical Draken.
The animated series is based on the manga by Ken Wakui and is available digitally from Kodansha. The series will be released in print by Seven Seas Entertainment in May 2022.The first season of the Tokyo Revengers anime is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.
Source: Tokyo Revengers official website