Pro-Fit, seiyuu talent agency that houses popular talents Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kaito Ishikawa and Shun Horie, announced that will be closing activities in March 2022.
UPDATED as of 15/12/2021
Although originally reported that 2 different talent agencies would be established after Pro-Fit closes doors and that those would be in collaboration, it was confirmed by Dengeki Online that it was announced that, instead, both will merge, giving away to only 1 talent agency: Racoon Dog (established by Nobuhiko Okamoto).
It was announced by Pro-Fit that 39 of their current acting talents are going to move to Nobuhiko Okamoto’s talent agency Racoon Dog (ラクーンドッグ).
As of April 1, 2022, the following talents move to Racoon Dog:
- Nobuhiko Okamoto
- Taro Masuoka
- Shinya Takahashi
- Koichi Soma
- Ryo Sugisaki
- Kenichi Mine
- Kosuke Kobayashi
- Shun Horie
- Koji Seki
- Sho Kiriake
- Takuya Tsuda
- Yu Kawada
- Yohei Matsuoka
- Yoku Shioya
- Fumi Morisawa
- Nozomi Masu
- Natsumi Takamori
- Kumiko Nakane
- Sachiko Okada
- Marie Miyake
- Rie Hazuki
- Juri Nagatsuma
- Akari Kito
- Manaka Iwami
- Ikumi Hasegawa
- Ai Fairouz
- Tomoyo Takayanagi
- Yukina Shuto
- Keiko Manaka
- Misaki Oshima
- Tomomi Tanaka
- Hikaru Iida
- Misano Sakai
- Hanana Hishikawa
6 voice acting talents confirmed their move to different talent agencies. Those are the following:
- Aoi Yuki (transfer to Aoni Production on January 1, 2022)
- Shizuka Ishigami (transfer to Osawa Office on January 1, 2022)
- Haruki Ishiya (transfer to Osawa Office on January 1, 2022)
- Taito Ban (transfer to Osawa Office on January 1, 2022)
- Hiroshi Watanabe (transfer to Kenyu Office on January 5, 2022)
- Kaito Ishikawa (transfer to Stay Luck on February 1, 2022)
The other talents still at Pro-Fit – in which Kaito Ishikawa is included – still haven’t confirmed either if they move to Racoon Dog or choose to join a different talent agency. They will do so in the upcoming months, prior to the company’s closing.
Announcement made in November 2021
The announcement made by Pro Fit’s CEO Makoto Tanimura has caught everyone off guard mostly because Pro-Fit is celebrating its 18th anniversary on November 4, 2021.
Pro-Fit, popular voice actor talent agency best known for housing talents such as Nobuhiko Okamoto, Kaito Ishikawa, and Shun Horie, is closing doors in March 2022.
Nobuhiko Okamoto is going to establish a talent agency to house rookie talents currently at Pro-Fit as well as seiyuu talents that can’t find a new talent agency.
Okamoto states in his official blog that “(…) In order to protect this place (Pro-Fit) and to protect future actors, I made an offer to President Tanimura about the future. As a result, I decided to start fresh by accepting “new voice actors” and “students currently studying at Profit Training Center” (…)” he added that “(…) From now on, I would like to establish a company (…) We will take over the “Pro-Fit Training Center” that raised me and will continue to train everyone, so I hope that those who are still attending Pro Fit’s school will feel at ease.“
At the same time, some managers from Pro-Fit are going to establish a different talent agency to house other talents currently represented by Pro-Fit that choose to join them.
It is mentioned in the press release sent by Pro-Fit to the media and confirmed by Okamoto in his official blog post that both Nobuhiko Okamoto’s new talent agency and the talent agency founded by some of the current managers at Pro-Fit will work together – in a business partnership – to support all the seiyuu talents that choose to join/continue with them.
As it is, there is no news on whether Kaito Ishikawa, Shun Horie, Taito Ban, and other seiyuu talents will join any of the two agencies stemming from Pro Fit.
It is most likely that, in the upcoming weeks, there will be announcements about the talent agencies that will represent them from March 2022 onwards.
For an in-depth explanation about this sudden announcement by Pro-Fit, please refer to the official press release in Japanese (link below).
Source: Pro-Fit official Press Release / Nobuhiko Okamoto official Blog / Oricon News / Dengeki Online
Last updated on 31/01/2021 (Stay Luck announcement regarding Kaito Ishikawa’s joining their ranks)
