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Shoko Nakagawa (born May 5, 1985) is a Japanese media personality, singer, actress, voice actress, illustrator, and YouTuber. Nakagawa's roles with Nintendo are largely from the Pokémon franchise.
Also known by her nickname Shokotan, and outside Nintendo, Nakagawa was the performer of the opening theme from the anime Gurren Lagann.
Biography[]
Born and raised in Tokyo metropolitan area to her father, Katsuhiko Nakagawa, actor and musician, and her mother Keiko Nakagawa, a great-granddaughter of Kazutaka Ito, who is known for introducing and promoting the salmon and trout hatchery business. Her father died of leukemia on September 17, 1994 when she was 9.[1] Nakagawa found escape from bullies by connecting with Pokémon when she was in 5th grade[2].
In the 2006 book Shokotan Manual, she wrote that her legal name was Shiyoko rather than Shoko, which she had been using for most of her life. At the time of her birth, she and her mother had to remain in the hospital, and her maternal aunt was left with registering her in the koseki. When her mother's intended name of "Shoko" was declined due to 薔 being forbidden due to Japanese law, the aunt wrote the name down in hiragana and recorded her name with a large yo rather than its smaller combining form.
She made her entertainment debut in 2001, winning the Grand Prix award at the Popolo Girl Audition and representing the Jackie Chan talent agency. Nakagawa is also known under the nickname Shokotan and is famous for her extensive use of 2ch-driven language, which is known by her fans as Shokotanese.
In 2013, she wrote an autobiographical book about her experiences as a Pokémon fan and her experiences working as on Pokémon Sunday, Pokémon Smash! and as a voice actress. It is titled Shoko Nakagawa: Pokémon Taught Me The Meaning of Life. For Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon, Nakagawa joined the staff as an animator, stating it had always been her dream to be part of the animation team.[3]
In 2019, Nakagawa performed with Sachiko Kobayashi the song Together With the Wind, which was used as the theme song to the theatrical film Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution; it is a cover of a song originally performed by Kobayashi, which was used as the theme song to the 1998 film Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back.[4]
On April 28, 2023, Nakagawa announced her marriage to a non-celebrity.[5] On May 7, 2023, Nakagawa announced she was graduating from TV Tokyo's Pokémon variety shows, her hosting duties are succeeded by Shuhei Nakano.[6] In November 2023, Nakagawa announced that she legally changed her name to be the same as her stage name.
List of credited Nintendo roles[]
Pokémon roles[]
Nakagawa had involvement with various Pokémon media. She is dubbed as the Queen of Pokémon[7] and also has voiced characters in every Pokémon the Movie since The Rise of Darkrai (except for Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened and Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution):
Non-Pokémon roles[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Eyeshield 21: MAX Devil Power | Suzuna Taki |
| 2006 | Eyeshield 21: DevilBats DevilDays | Suzuna Taki |
| 2007 | Eyeshield 21: Field Saikyou no Senshi Tachi | Suzuna Taki |
| 2017 | Dragon Quest Heroes I + II | Alena |
Musical Appearances in Nintendo[]
- Get Fired Up, Spiky-eared Pichu! (Pokémon the Series: Diamond and Pearl ED theme)
- Antenna of the Heart (Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life ED theme)
- DreamDream (Pokémon the Series: XY ED theme, also in the Pokémon Music Festival)
- Type: Wild (Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon ED theme)
- Together With the Wind (Pokémon: Mewtwo Strikes Back-Evolution ED theme, performed alongside Sachiko Kobayashi)
Other[]
- Thank You, Alola! The Journey Continues! (key animation)[8]
Gallery[]
| Main article: Shoko Nakagawa/gallery |
Trivia[]
- Her first fictional character crush was Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.[9]
- One of Nakagawa's roles, Peg, in her Japanese name, Proof, is an English translation of another spelling of the name of her Japanese voice actress, Shoko.[10]
- Note that since 2011, Nakagawa currently refers at her age like the "levels" of a video game character or Pokémon. At the time of her debut, she called herself "16 years old ○ months".
- In a blog entry posted on May 31, 2010, she spoke of Peg's love of Electric types and mentioned that, because of this, she wanted to capture a Zekrom. Zekrom was not officially confirmed to be part-Electric type until two weeks later.
- Nakagawa was responsible for being the symbol of 20 years of the Pokémon series, with the role of Nurse Joy. She grew up playing the First Pokémon generation games, which is why she represents Pokémon 20th Anniversary by voice acting an "older sister" kind of role in Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You![11]
- She is similar to Becky: both were Pokémon Sunday hosts and occasionally voiced characters on the movies. Unlike Becky, Nakagawa hosted Sunday's successors.
- With the exceptional of Eevee and Friends, all of her anime roles were only in movies. She does not appear in Pokémon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened, the film associated with the short. Nakagawa also did not appear in Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution, where she performed the film's ending theme.
- This voice actor is referred on the second Pokémon Direct, as someone who suggested early what would be the Pokémon Bank.
References[]
- ↑ Without Pokémon, We Wouldn't Have Japan's Nerd Heroine Kotaku; Date: August 8, 2013.
- ↑ She Didn't Have Friends. She Had Pokémon. Kotaku; Date: July 18, 2011.
- ↑ Shoko Nakagawa is animating the Pokémon anime. Pokemon-Matome.net; Date: September 8, 2019.
- ↑ Shoko Nakagawa and Sachiko Kobayashi performs Together with the Wind. (Anime News Network; Date: April 6, 2019)
- ↑ Shoko Nakagawa announces marriage. Anime News Network; Date: April 28, 2023.
- ↑ Shoko Nakagawa Graduates From Pokémon Variety Shows. Oricon; Date: May 7, 2023.
- ↑ The Queen of Pokémon. Kotaku; Date: June 3, 2011.
- ↑ Behind the scenes of the final episode of Pokémon the Series: Sun and Moon. TV Tokyo; Date: November 3, 2019.
- ↑ Shoko Nakagawa's 35th Birthday Post. Seiyuu; Date: May 5, 2020.
- ↑ Pokémon Movie 13 news
- ↑ Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! Interview with Director Kunihiko Yuyama Oricon; Date: July 22, 2017.
External links[]
- Shōko Nakagawa at Bulbapedia, the Pokémon wiki.
- Shoko Nakagawa at the Internet Movie Database
- Shoko Nakagawa at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia