Japanese actress Machiko Soga dead at 68

Posted:
May 14, 2006

Actress Machiko Soga, best-known to Westerners as Rita Repulsa in the 1993-94 season of the live-action series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, died May 7 at her home in the Kunitachi district of western Tokyo. She was 68.

Soga often lent a humorous touch to roles as villainesses in anime and live-action series, and did anime voice acting under the name Naoko Yukita.

Police received an emergency call from an employee of an antique shop reporting that she had not come to work. Officers visited her home, in which she lived alone, to find Soga dead. Last August, it was revealed that she had been fighting pancreatic cancer for almost two years.

She gained fame in Japan as the first person to provide the voice of lovable spirit Q-taro in Obake-no Q-Taro (Ghost Q-Taro), a black and white anime series which ran on the TBS network from 1965 to 1968.

Her other voice roles included Great Briten/Cyborg 007 in Saibôgu 009 (aka Cyborg 009; Toei Animation Company, 1968) and Mrs. Fuha in Takahashi rumiko gekijou: Ningyo no mori (aka Rumic Theater: Mermaid Forest; Prime Direction/Shogakukan Production/TMS/TV Tokyo, 2003). She was also in the anime series Baten Robomaru, Kaba Totto (as Totto) and Microid S (as Mamezo), as well as the anime movie Maken Liner 0011: Henshin Seiyo! (as Liner).

Born on March 18, 1938 in Tokyo's Hachioji district, Soga was raised by her father, as her mother died when she was a child. Raised to be a singer, she was "discovered" after appearing in a play in Tokyo Center.

Soga took jazz dance lessons and studied Italian for several years. She debuted as a voice actress on government network NHK's 1961 radio drama Chorinmura to Kurumi no Ki.

She took on such villainous roles as Queen Hedrian in Denjiman and Sun Vulcan.

In Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the character of Rita Repulsa was the first villainess that the Power Rangers had to face. In the Japanese version, Soga starred as Bandora in 1992. In the American version, Soga starred as Repulsa from 1993 to 1994. Barbara Goodson dubbed her voice.

Soga strayed far from her villainess stereotype in her final TV role, that of Heavenly Great Saint Magiel in the live-action series Mahou Sentai Magiranger.

She had her own line of jewelry and clothing, which she sold via Stella, her designer fashion outlet.

Machiko Soga was predeceased by her father, who also died of cancer; a brother, who died during a war; and her sister, who died in childbirth. She is survived by another brother.