Matt Shipman

Matt Shipman’s Rise Through the English Dub Pipeline

Huntington, New York gave Matt Shipman his start, but the Texas and Los Angeles dubbing circuits turned him into one of the most consistently cast voices in modern English-language anime. Picking up his first professional credit in 2015 with additional voices on Holy Knight, he landed his first lead the following year as Gear in World War Blue – a compact origin story that set the pace for what followed. Within a few years, Shipman was pulling lead roles across multiple studios simultaneously, working with Funimation/Crunchyroll, Bang Zoom! Entertainment, Sentai Filmworks, OkraTron 5000, and eventually his own studio.

Dr. Stone, DARLING in the FRANXX, and the Funimation Years

Two roles cemented Shipman’s name in the consciousness of the English dub community during the late 2010s. As Hiro in DARLING in the FRANXX, he anchored an emotionally charged lead with a quiet intensity that resonated through the series’ more melodramatic swings. Then came Chrome in Dr. Stone – a role that ran across multiple seasons and proved Shipman could sustain audience investment across long-form storytelling. Chrome’s blend of hot-headed enthusiasm and growing competence gave him room to stretch, and he held the character across the original series, Stone Wars, the Ryusui special, New World, and Science Future. Alongside those, credits in Arifureta, Attack on Titan as Floch Forster, and Inasa Yoarashi in My Hero Academia stacked up, building a resume that covered both lead and high-visibility supporting territory.

SK8 the Infinity, Blue Lock, and the Studio Era

Reki Kyan in SK8 the Infinity arrived in 2021 as a crowd favorite – a skateboarding prodigy full of unguarded warmth and competitive fire, a register that suited Shipman’s natural delivery. It crossed into a different gear with Blue Lock in 2022. Rin Itoshi – cold, calculating, obsessively elite – demanded the opposite approach, and Shipman delivered a controlled, cutting performance that tracked across the series and the 2024 film BLUELOCK -Episode Nagi-. The same period brought Toma in Hell’s Paradise and Hayato Gokudera in the Katekyo Hitman REBORN! Discotek release. Outside performing, Shipman has written ADR scripts for titles including Dr. Stone, Spy x Family, New Game!!, and Ultraman Z, and has assistant-directed on Akudama Drive and Kemono Jihen. In 2018 he married fellow voice actress Brittany Lauda; together they co-founded Kocha Sound, operating as an independent dubbing studio that has expanded his footprint well beyond the performer booth. He relocated from Dallas to Los Angeles in July 2024, reflecting a career operating at full industry reach.