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Takeshi Tsuruno (つるの 剛士, Tsuruno Takeshi) is a Japanese actor and musician. Takeshi Tsuruno is also his real name, though written with the kanji 靏野 剛士. He is known for his role as Shin Asuka, the protagonist of Ultraman Dyna.

Career[]

He is known as the leader of the musical units Shuchishin and Aladdin. As a member of Shuchishin and Aladdin, he appears regularly on the variety show Quiz! Hexagon II and his band's singles have appeared high on the Oricon Charts.

In 2022, Tsuruno was appointed as the Ambassador for Ultra Heroes EXPO 2022 Summer Festival.[1]

Personal Life[]

Takeshi Tsuruno is married to his former stylist, Miki Endō (遠藤 美紀, Endō Miki) since 2003. The couple has five children: a son named Eito (詠斗), March 27, 2004 and three daughters named Uta (うた), January 6, 2006; Oto (おと), July 15, 2007; and Iro (いろ), November 6, 2009 and his youngest son was born on June 6, 2016.

He named his albums after his daughters, and after recording his first album and before the birth of his third daughter he mused naming an album after his son such that it was called Tsuruno Mugendai (つるの∞(無限大).

Takeshi's hobbies are guitar, trumpet, fishing, and cycling.

Health issues[]

He was confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 on 27 August 2020. His other family members tested negative but were placed under self-isolation.[2] As of March 2021, Takeshi has fully recovered from COVID-19.

Roles[]

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Ultraman Dyna Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna Voice (Ultraman Dyna)
1998 Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light
2000 Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey Shin Asuka
2001 Ultraman Dyna: The Return of Hanejiro Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna Voice (Ultraman Dyna)
2008 Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna
2009 Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna
2012 Ultraman Retsuden Shin Asuka Episode 38 "Ultraman Dyna! Towards Tomorrow!!"
Ultraman Saga Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna Voice (Ultraman Dyna)
2015 Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors! Ultraman Dyna Voice
2016 Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna Voice (Ultraman Dyna)

Stage[]

Year Title Role Notes
2001 Ultraman Festival 2001 Live Stage Part 1 Ultraman Dyna Voice
2021 NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Trigger STAGE 1
NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Trigger STAGE 2
2022 TDG THE LIVE: Ultraman Dyna STAGE 1
Ultraman Saga Voice
Part 1
Ultraman Dyna (Parallel Isotope) Voice
Part 2
NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Decker STAGE 2 Shin Asuka/Ultraman Dyna Stage screen (Shin Asuka)
Voice (Ultraman Dyna)
NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Decker STAGE 4
2023 NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Decker STAGE 5 Ultraman Dyna Voice

Video games[]

Year Title Role Notes
2015 CR Pachinko Ultra Battle Retsuden: Fight Zero! The Strongest Young Warrior Shin Asuka

Stock grunts[]

This section refers to Tsuruno's grunts being reused per stock audio in other Ultraman Series media:

Year Title Role Notes
1998 Ultraman Dyna Terranoid Episode 49 "Final Chapter I: A New Shadow"
2013 Ultraman Ginga Ultraman Dyna Dark Spark War
2015 Ultra Fight Victory Ultra Fusion Brace
Ultraman X Ultra Fusion Brace
Episode 14 "The Shining Sky, and the Land Beneath It"
2016 Ultraman Orb Gai's Ultra Hero Special Study
Episode 8 "The Urban Merman"
2020 Ultraman Z Ultra Medal
2021 Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga Ultra Medal
Episode 8 "The Propagating Invasion"
2022 Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Destined Crossroad
Ultraman Decker Episode 21 "The Price of Prosperity"

Video games[]

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Ultraman Fighting Evolution 3 Ultraman Dyna

Stage[]

Year Title Role Notes
2021 TDG THE LIVE: Ultraman Tiga Ultraman Dyna
2022 NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Trigger STAGE 4
NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Decker STAGE 1 Finale
NEW GENERATION THE LIVE: Ultraman Decker STAGE 3 Curtain call
2023 TDG THE LIVE: Ultraman Gaia STAGE 1 Part 2

Other Roles[]

  • High-Speed Parahero GandD - Gen Morimiya

Discography[]

Ultraman Saga
Kimi Dake o Mamoritai (Cover) (A separate cover was released earlier as an independent single)
Fierce Battle! Ultraman Takamiy
Kimi Dake o Mamoritai 2013 (Cover) (with Toshihiko Takamizawa)
Pachinko Ultra Battle Retsuden
ULTRA BURN-Dedicated to ULTRA HERO- (with Toshihiko Takamizawa)
Ultraman Orb THE ORIGIN SAGA
ULTRAMAN ORB (Opening) (with Daisuke Asakura)
Ultraman R/B The Movie: Select! The Crystal of Bond
Hikari no Kizuna (with DAIGO)
Ultra Heroes EXPO 2022 Summer Festival
NEXT NEW HERO

Gallery[]

Trivia[]

  • Takeshi Tsuruno is a fan of Ultraman 80, having watched the series in his childhood and once claiming that 80 would appear in Great Decisive Battle! The Super 8 Ultra Brothers before Hiroshi Nagano, Daigo Madoka's actor and Ultraman Tiga's voice actor at the time, corrected him.
  • The original concept behind Shin Asuka was to have him as a baseball player, but this was less focused due to Takeshi having intermediate experience as a baseball player.
  • The reason why his name "Tsuruno" was made into Hiragana was that he has difficulty writing Kanji. His real name is sometimes written as "Tsuruno". His uncle is an illustrator named Hisao Tsuruno. He professed to be a Christian with Antonio's baptismal name.
  • The reason why Takeshi entered the entertainment industry was that he enjoys television and loves being conspicuous. Takeshi was a big fan of Chiemi Hori and the Onyanko Club. One of his classmates was on television once as a child, which inspired Takeshi.
  • When Takeshi auditioned for Dyna, director Kazuya Konaka felt a strong impact from the goodness and brightness of Takeshi.
  • Takeshi is a toy collector in his real life and had mentioned being a fan of Saint Seiya and the original 1979 Mobile Suit Gundam anime. He also kept the toys but unfortunately, some of them broke after he lent it to his eldest son for him to play with. In spite of that, he had also planned for buying replacements for the aforementioned sets.
  • Given that filming props are expected to deteriorate from aging, Tsuruno mentioned that he rented a warehouse where he stores the props and memorabilia used during the filming for Ultraman Dyna to preserve them carefully, having expected to reprise his role in the future.[5]
  • He offered himself to voice the grunts for Ultraman Dyna,[6] with Yuji Machi, who did the grunts for Ultraman Tiga, mentoring him for the role.[7]
  • Tsuruno was the singer for the opening theme of Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger.
  • In 2022, Tsuruno appeared in a promotional video for Ultraman Dyna celebrating the series' release on TSUBURAYA IMAGINATION.[8]

External Links[]

References[]

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