Who has voiced Pikachu in the Japanese Pokémon anime since its debut?

Ikue Ōtani has voiced Pikachu in the Japanese Pokémon anime since the character’s debut.

Unlike most Pokémon anime characters, Pikachu’s voice was kept consistent across language versions rather than being newly performed by a different actor for every dub. Ōtani’s performance consists largely of Pikachu saying variations of its own name, making the character recognizable even when viewers do not understand the surrounding dialogue.

The anime originally considered allowing Pikachu to become more capable of human speech, similar to Meowth, but that plan was abandoned. The decision helped preserve Pikachu’s distinctive identity as a Pokémon whose emotional meaning is communicated through tone, expression, and repeated cries. Ōtani has also voiced Pikachu in many games and other Pokémon appearances. English-language productions have used different performers in some cases, so “Pikachu’s voice actor” can have different answers depending on the language and specific production.