Oricon reports that Keiji Fujiwara, the voice actor of Axel/Lea in the Kingdom Hearts series, has passed away at the age of 55 on April 12th due to complications with cancer. A private funeral was held for him by his family.
Fujiwara had taken a temporary leave from voice acting in August 2016 to undergo medical treatments, but returned to work in June 2017.
He played many roles in various Square Enix projects including Reno in the Final Fantasy VII Complilation and Final Fantasy VII Remake, Ardyn Izunia in Final Fantasy XV, Ifrit in World of Final Fantasy, Garland in Mobius Final Fantasy, Ciggma Khint in Bravely Default, and Izana Kunagiri in Final Fantasy Type-0.
Fujiwara was best known for his role as Hiroshi Nohara in the anime "Crayon Shin-chan", Maes Hues in "Fullmetal Alchemist", Holand Novak in "Eureka Seven", the Japanese voice actor for Robert Dowey Jr.'s Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Leorio in the 2011 HUNTER X HUNTER anime adaption.
He founded Air Agency, a talent management company in 2006, and remained the company's representative director until his passing. His obituary can be found on the official website for his agency.