Justin Cook

Justin Cook’s Journey from ADR Booth to Leading Man

Before landing a single speaking role, Justin Cook worked behind the glass at Funimation as an ADR engineer, learning pacing and delivery while training under Christopher Sabat. That apprenticeship paid off with his first credited part, Dende in Dragon Ball Z, and the audition trail he kept walking afterward eventually reshaped his entire career.

Yu Yu Hakusho and the Voice of Yusuke Urameshi

Casting the lead of Yu Yu Hakusho gave producers trouble until Cook stepped into the booth himself. The brash, hot-tempered Yusuke Urameshi became his signature role and the project where he first combined acting with voice direction, a dual role he would return to on later Dragon Ball productions.

Raditz, Dende and Three Decades of Dragon Ball

Cook’s Dragon Ball resume runs deep: Raditz, Cell Jr., Super Buu, Evil Buu, Devilman, and Dende, the last of whom he has voiced from the character’s teenage years into adulthood. That work spans Dragon Ball Z, Kai, Super, the newer Dragon Ball Daima series, and games including Sparking! Zero and the upcoming Doragonbôru Gekishin Sukuadora.

Red Riot and a Wider Range

As Eijiro Kirishima, known to fans as Red Riot, Cook has been part of My Hero Academia’s cast since its early seasons, carrying the role into spinoff games like My Hero Ultra Rumble. Elsewhere his credits stretch from Hatsuharu Sohma in Fruits Basket to Bellamy and Eustass Kid in One Piece, Jack the Ripper in Black Clover, and Brood in Mass Effect: Paragon Lost.

Producing and Directing Behind the Scenes

Cook has also spent years on the production side, line producing and producing hundreds of English dubs for Funimation and its successor Crunchyroll, including Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, while voice directing segments of Dragon Ball, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Fruits Basket.