Shoko Nakagawa note , is a tarento, actress, voice actress, illustrator, singer, and massive otaku, born in Tokyo on May 5, 1985. While she was originally known in Japan as the daughter of the late actor and pop singer Katsuhiko Nakagawa, Shokotan, as she's known to fans, has made a name for herself with her quirkiness and her absolute love of manga, anime, toku, video games, and big blockbuster movies.
Nakagawa first began her career in 2001, but her initial fame began with her hosting of Pokémon Sunday (which she still remains on) and hit her big break in music after she was chosen to sing the opening theme of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann "Sorairo Days" in 2007, which was her first single to reach the top of the charts. She is an avid blogger, and for a time had the most popular blog on the Ameblo blogging service, with over 100 million hits in April 2006 and well over 1 billion hits 2 years later.
Her otaku status has no bounds, with particular reverence to Bruce Lee, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and Super Sentai, among many others. While she was originally represented by Jackie Chan's talent agency in Japan, she thought he wasn't a nice man because he was sometimes the villain in Bruce Lee movies. Aside from getting to interview Hirohiko Araki and get him to draw what he perceived to be a possible child between herself and Jotaro Kujo, she once did a JoJo pose on stage during one of her concerts and managed to break her tailbone. She had reportedly auditioned to be the Pink Ranger in multiple Super Sentai series due to her love of Yuri / Time Pink in Mirai Sentai Timeranger, and it was her admiration of Yuri's actress Mika Katsumura which actually inspired her to start acting rather than her late father. She even thinks Shigeki Hosokawa of Kamen Rider Hibiki (among other shows) fame is the ideal man.
On top of her acting, she is a talented illustrator with her own Pixiv profile
, which sometimes delves into the grotesque. And she has her own YouTube channel mainly for gaming right here.
She announced she had gotten married on April 28, 2023. Her husband is not affiliated with the entertainment industry.
In November of that same year, Nakagawa legally changed her name to be the same as her stage name.
Notable Roles
- Host of Pokémon Sunday
- Alena in the Dragon Quest series starting with Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and The Blight Below as well as the 30th anniversary stage show◊, Dragon Quest Live Spectacle Tour
- Anne Weying (Michelle Williams) in the Japanese dub of Venom (2018)
- Various roles in Pokémon movies
- Allegra in Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai
- Infi in Pokémon: Giratina and the Sky Warrior
- Spiky-Eared Pichu in Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life
- Peg in Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions
- Luisa & Luis in Pokémon: The Movie Black/White
- Keldeo in Pokémon: Kyurem vs. The Sword of Justice
- Sylveon in Eevee & Friends
- Millis Steel in Pokémon: Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction
- Meray in Pokémon: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages
- Raleigh in Pokémon: Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel
- Nurse Joy in Pokémon: I Choose You!
- Riku in Pokémon: The Power of Us
- Oracle Fish in Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', and Dragon Ball Super
- Rapunzel in Tangled, Tangled: The Series, Sofia the First and Ralph Breaks the Internet (dubbing over Mandy Moore)
- Saori Kido, the Goddess Athena in Saint Seiya Omega (also did a duet version of the franchise's iconic opening "Pegasus Fantasy" with the song's original singer, Nobuo Yamada, as the first opening)
- Diana in Sailor Moon Crystal (replacing Kumiko Nishihara)
- Suzuna Taki in Eyeshield 21
- Goldilocks in Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (dubbing over Florence Pugh)
