Johnny Yong Bosch

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Johnny Yong Bosch

Johnny Yong Bosch at Power Morphicon 2007
Birth name John Jay Bosch
Alias John Bosch
Born January 6, 1976 (1976-01-06) (age 32)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation(s) Actor
Voice Actor
Musician
Martial Artist
Spouse Amy Bosch
Website Eyeshine.net

Johnny Yong Bosch (born January 6, 1976) is an Asian American actor, voice actor, martial artist and musician. He is best known for portraying Adam Park in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Renton Thurston in Eureka Seven, Ichigo Kurosaki in Bleach, Vash the Stampede in Trigun, and most recently as Nero in Capcom's Devil May Cry 4, and Lelouch in Code Geass. As well as for his voice over work in numerous other anime.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Bosch was born John Jay Bosch in Kansas City, Missouri and was raised in Garland, Texas. His mother is Korean and his father is of German and Irish descent.[1]

[edit] Power Rangers

Bosch is most notably known for his role as Adam Park in the hit show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. During the second season, three of the actors who portrayed the Rangers (Austin St. John, the late Thuy Trang, and Walter Emanuel Jones) were in what is believed to have been a hold-out for more money. Instead of giving them the money they were holding out for, Saban replaced them with brand new actors. In the episode titled "The Power Transfer" (Parts 1 & 2), the three Power Rangers holding out were replaced (using old footage of the three and camera tricks so no one would realize they weren't actually in the episode). Bosch auditioned for the role of the second Black Ranger at KD Studio in July, 1994.

His most notable moment as the Black Ranger would come in the motion picture based on the TV show, called Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. The movie would go on to make over $30 million in the box office and, to this day, would be Bosch's biggest motion picture appearance. One of the most memorable lines in the film ("I'm a frog") was an ad lib on Bosch's part (legitimately disappointed that he was given powers of a frog, while others had 'cooler' powers like the ape and the wolf). In this film all the Power Rangers would gain the powers of Ninjetti, a theme that would continue on into the third season of the television show. In between the fourth and fifth season, another movie based on the TV show would be released, again having Bosch in the role of Adam. The movie, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie, had the Zeo Rangers receive new powers for the upcoming 5th season, Power Rangers: Turbo. The movie was a box office disaster, because of a limited theatrical release, and went on to make only $8 million in the US. However, the video release of the film was one of the highest selling of 1997.

For Power Rangers: Turbo, Bosch was given more time and more lines then he had in the previous seasons, revealing more of his comedic and martial arts abilities. However, a few weeks into the filming of episodes, the cast caught a newspaper article searching for new Rangers for Power Rangers: Turbo.[1] This surprised the current cast, as they were unaware of the producers' decision to write them off. The cast agreed to leave the show mid-season. All four former Zeo Rangers would make their final performances of the season in the episode "Passing the Torch" (Parts 1 & 2), where each of the Rangers named a replacement to take over for them as they go off to college. Adam would choose Carlos Vallertes (played by Roger Velasco) to take on the powers of the Green Turbo Ranger. It is rumored that Bosch didn't shave for the episode.

Bosch would make another appearance on the show in an episode of Power Rangers: In Space. In "Always a Chance", Carlos was having doubts about his ability to be a Power Ranger after accidentally nearly killing his friend, Cassie Chan (played by Patricia Ja Lee), the Pink Ranger. Adam appeared to help his old friend find his lost confidence and to hone his skills. In the middle of this, a monster appeared and Carlos was still not ready to take him on. Adam then used an old Morpher and damaged Power Coin from his Mighty Morphin Power Ranger days to become the Black Ranger once again. This was short lived as the powers were unstable, but he was able to help Carlos and hold off a monster long enough for Carlos to get his confidence back and realize he was worthy of being a Power Ranger. Since this nearly killed him, though, Adam decided not to risk morphing into the Black Ranger again.

Bosch, at this point, would make his most recent appearance in the new series of Power Rangers, Operation Overdrive, in a two part special called Once a Ranger reprising his role as Adam the Mighty Morphin Black Power Ranger.

Due to the current practice of having a particular group of Rangers only lasting for one season in the more recent shows, Bosch's run of 3 1/2 seasons, two films, and two guest appearances is not surpassed by many others who were involved with Power Rangers. He is also one of two Rangers to make appearances in six different seasons as the same character. Jason David Frank would be the other, in his role of Tommy Oliver.

[edit] Post-Power Rangers career

After Power Rangers, Bosch became very active in voice work landing numerous lead roles. He got into voice acting through a movie flaw. After filming an entire movie, described by him as a "stunt action" film, all of his audio was lost. After overdubbing his lines, the producer told him he had a good "hero" voice. They had him audition for his first voice acting role, which turned out to be Vash the Stampede in Trigun. Bosch has most recently been working as an English voice actor for various Japanese anime television series, video games, and movies. His most notable roles are as Ichigo in BLEACH, Renton in Eureka Seven, Vash in Trigun, Kaneda in Akira, Kiba in Wolf's Rain, Lelouch in Code Geass, Claus in Last Exile, Clair in Heat Guy J, Sakaki in Witch Hunter Robin, Yuji "Saku" Sakurai in Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad Guy in Tales of the Abyss for the PS2, and Nero in Devil May Cry 4 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC,and the role of Itsuki Koizumi in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Bosch is also the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of his band Eyeshine.[2] He has an active Web site with videos, spoofs, and a forum that covers his band, Power Rangers, music, anime and a wide variety of subjects. In February 2006, the band released their first album, "How About That". The band released their Full Album "RED STRIPES WHITE LIGHTS", on 4-10-08.

In 2002, Bosch appeared in Wicked Game (English: Extreme Heist) along with fellow Rangers actors Jason Narvy and Paul Schrier. The direct-to-video film is notable for its high-octane stunts (Bosch did all of his own stunts), culminating in a skydiving scene which took 57 jumps to perfect. During the film he cracked two ribs, twisted his ankle, and nearly got hit by a truck, yet he continued to film. In 2005, Bosch produced, wrote and directed a film called "Stray". The film has taken a year to edit due to his busy work schedule and is reported to be complete the summer of 2007.

In 2006, Bosch combined once again with Koichi Sakamoto to work on the film Broken Path. The film promises to provide enough action to satisfy any fan while providing a decent script. Bosch reportedly split his head during one stunt causing him to receive 5 stitches. The scene has been edited into the film. In the film he stars alongside Daniel Southworth, who was the runner-up in 1994 auditions for the part of Adam on Power Rangers. He later became a PR actor himself as Eric Myers in Power Rangers Time Force. Broken Path is due out in late 2008.

Bosch has attended numerous conventions after Power Rangers. He attended Otakon in 2003. He also attended Anime Boston, Anime Evolution, Anime Iowa, Metrocon, Youmacon, and AnimeFest and Anime Vegas in 2005. In January 2006, Bosch attended Ohayocon. In April 2006, he attended Shiokazecon. In May 2006, both he and his band attended Sogen Con (he also visited in May 2005). In June 2006, he attended Metrocon. In July 2006, he attended Anime Expo and successfully hosted Anime Expo Idol (AX Idol). In August 2006, Bosch was slated to perform with his band at Ani-Jam, but he was hospitalized due to an accident during the filming of Broken Path and couldn't make it. In October 2006, Bosch attended Oni-Con.[3] And in September of 2006, Bosch returned to Anime Vegas. After that, he attended Mikomicon at CSUN, along with his band Eyeshine, which played as one of the events. Bosch was also a guest at the Power Morphicon, the first-ever Power Rangers fan convention, in Los Angeles in June of 2007.His band, Eyeshine, also appeared. In 2007 he partnered with Carlucci Weyant to form Double Helix Entertainment, LLC. In July 2007 Bosch was an unofficial guest at Anime Expo, and appeared at the SOS Brigade Concert. Bosch and Eyeshine Appeared at Anime Vegas in September of 2007, as well as MikomiCon at CSU Northridge. In October 2007, he made his first appearance at a UK con at the London MCM Expo[4]. In November 2007, he and Eyeshine performed at Youmacon. Bosch appeared both separately and with Eyeshine at Ohayocon in the beginning of January, at Katsucon in February 2008, and atMiddle Tennessee Anime Convention on April 25–27, 2008, where he also showed a sneak peek screening of Broken Path . He was also a guest of honor at the third annual Anime St. Louis in 2008.

Bosch does the motion capturing and voice of Nero in Devil May Cry 4, making him the third actor involved with Power Rangers to have a role in the Devil May Cry franchise, following stunt actor Reuben Langdon, who performed voice and motion capture for Dante in Devil May Cry 3 (and DMC4), and Daniel Southworth, who voiced and did motion capture for Vergil, also in DMC3.

[edit] Eyeshine

Eyeshine is a four piece, "edge rock" band originating in West Hills, California. Eyeshine consists of members Bosch (vocals, guitar), Alex Orantes (bass, vocals), Maurice Salmin (drums, vocals) and Danny Lee (lead guitar). The four piece edge rock band is currently one of the most promising unsigned bands coming out of California playing shows all over the United States.

The origins of Eyeshine date back almost a decade when Bosch and Maurice Salmin began playing together in a church band. Eventually deciding to take a shot at writing and performing their own music, the band went through many incarnations before deciding on the name Eyeshine. Alex Orantes joined the band a year later, followed by Danny Lee who joined in the early months of 2007 after the release of the band's EP "How About That?" Their full length debut album "Red Stripes/White Lights" was released in the early spring of 2008.

Fun fact: Bosch got the name "Eyeshine" from an episode of the Crocodile Hunter. Steve Irwin was rescuing crocodiles in the darkness and kept repeating that he could spot them by their 'eye shine' from his lantern.

Bosch is the current host of the hit podcast "Anime TV", at http://goanimetv.com/

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Anime

[edit] Live-action roles

[edit] Video games

[edit] Movie roles

[edit] Documentaries

[edit] Other

  • Death Trance (Ryu'en (English Dub)) (Credited as Johnny Youg Bosch)
  • Host of AnimeTV video podcast
  • Host of Power Rangers Funniest Moments

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Ranger Mania
  2. ^ Eyeshine
  3. ^ Last minute guest updates. Oni-Con (2006-10-10). Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  4. ^ LONDONEXPO.COM anime village page. LONDONEXPO.COM (2007-09-10). Retrieved on 2007-10-21.

[edit] External links