Popular voice actor Subaru Kimura, known for his recent role as Franky in the ONE PIECE anime, and for voicing Gian in Doraemon, Aoi Todo in Jujutsu Kaisen, and Hanamichi Sakuragi in The First Slam Dunk, has made a significant mark in the voice acting world. A German-Japanese mixed-race talent, Kimura started his career as a child actor.
Just the other day (January 24), Kimura appeared on Nippon TV's special 10 million yen prize episode of "Quiz! Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" And guess what? He absolutely crushed it, becoming the first person in the show's history to ace it *twice*! He successfully snagged the 10 million yen prize, marking him as the 30th contestant ever to answer every question correctly.
This special episode, themed "Answer All Questions, Win 10 Million Yen," brought in some serious heavy hitters, including Shinichi Hatori, Yukari Nishio, quiz show legend Takushi Izawa (who had previously aced the show), and comedian Toshiaki Kasuga. But even with that lineup, none of them managed to conquer the challenge.
Then came the main event: Subaru Kimura. Not only is he a prolific voice actor, but he also hosts children's programs and narrates "Tensai Terebi-kun MAX," making him a huge hit with kids. He actually aced the show once before, back in March last year, winning 3 million yen. Heading into this 10 million yen special, he declared, "I absolutely have to live up to the kids' expectations!"
He breezed through the first nine questions, using various lifelines to get them all right. Even with the option to walk away with 1 million yen, Kimura didn't hesitate, declaring, "Let's go for it!"
The final question was a notoriously tricky ranking challenge: "Rank the following six cities and regions by their straight-line distance from Tokyo, from farthest to closest: A: Sydney, B: Easter Island, C: Rome, D: New York, E: Singapore, F: North Pole." One wrong move, and it was game over.
Kimura admitted he wasn't entirely sure about Easter Island's distance but figured it had to be the farthest. Then, drawing on his travel experience to New York and Rome, he meticulously laid out his answer: Easter Island as the farthest, followed by New York and Rome; Sydney came in fourth, with the North Pole and Singapore taking fifth and sixth, respectively. And just like that, his answer was spot-on! Kimura successfully claimed the 10 million yen prize!
While many netizens congratulated him on his record-breaking feat of acing the show twice, others couldn't resist a few jokes: "Well, Gian *is* roughly a fifth grader." "Kimura's been voicing Gian for over 20 years, after all, LOL." "This Gian is way too smart!"
Since 2020, "Quiz! Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" has seen 30 contestants achieve a perfect score, including Subaru Kimura. Other notable victors include Gento Kono, Snow Man's Ryohei Abe, Funassyi from Funky Monkey Babys, and Maasa Takahashi.
Subaru Kimura, however, stands alone as the first contestant to ace the show *twice*. It just goes to show that his talents extend far beyond voice acting; he's a quiz show whiz too! Talk about impressive!