Since his debut in 1973, he became one of Japan's most well established voice actors. His early roles from the 1970s include Anthony in
Candy Candy, and later as Joe in the 1979 iteration of
Cyborg 009. In the 1980s, Inoue's work ranged from the adult-oriented
Oishinbo (The Gourmet) to the popular
Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato for the younger generation. More recently, he is known internationally for roles such as Kars in
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure,
Kakashi Hatake in
Naruto,
Eiri Yuki in
Gravitation,
Aion in
Chrono Crusade,
Hatori Sohma in
Fruits Basket, and Nyanko-sensei/Madara in
Natsume Yūjin Chō. His voice performance is often described as natural and relaxed. This wide and versatile vocal range allows Inoue to voice roles of varying personality types: hot-blooded, righteous main characters such as Joe in
Cyborg 009 and Akira Kogane in
Golion; coolly arrogant
bishōnen typified by
Eiri Yuki; the amusingly fussy yet powerful mazoku (demon), Guenter in
Kyo Kara Maoh!; seductive, manipulative villains like Aion; and bloodthirsty killers (e.g.
Kars and
Gotou). Inoue is also well known for more unusual roles such as the crossdresser Nagisa Sawa in
Haru wo Daiteita, and Shiron the Windragon in
Legendz, who spends half his time as a screeching hamster. Inoue does voices for anime, video games, drama CDs, Japanese-dubbed movies, and audio books. He has put out many LP and CD albums and has sung in various anime character albums. His most well-known songs are the ones related to the
Harukanaru Toki no Naka de Hachiyō Shō series, which he performs live on stage at the annual NeoRomance voice acting events in Japan. In recent years, Inoue has also tried his hand in backstage work such as sound directing. He has set up his own voice acting agency and school, B-Box, to teach the next generation voice talents. He is also the official dubbing voice for
Matthew Fox and
Mads Mikkelsen. Being a second-generation A-bomb survivor, he feels strongly against wars. In his autobiographical piece, "Ai ni Tsuite", (愛について About Love, from his CD album
Ai, 2003) Inoue expresses his longings for world peace and his love and respect for the ocean and Mother Earth. He was also a close friend of the late fellow voice actor
Daisuke Gori. Recently, Inoue won as "Best Supporting Actor" in the Third
Seiyu Awards for his role as Nyanko-sensei in
Natsume Yūjin Chō. ==Personal life==