Jefferson Utanes


Jefferson Seril Utanes was a Filipino voice actor. He had provided voices for Filipino-language versions of Japanese anime series, cartoons, films and live-action programs from overseas. He was widely recognised as the second voice of Goku in the Dragon Ball franchise, replacing Nesty Ramirez, and he was nicknamed "Goku ng Pinas".
Utanes had also voiced the titular character of Doraemon, Kogoro Mouri and Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya in Detective Conan, Professor Oak and James in Pokémon, Syaoran Li in Cardcaptor Sakura, Kouya Marino in Crush Gear Turbo, Yami Yugi in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kei Takishima in Special A, Germany and America in Hetalia: Axis Powers, Ryōta Kise in Kuroko's Basketball, Ben Tennyson, Kevin Levin, and Vilgax in Ben 10, Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants, Hisoka in Hunter × Hunter, Ryomen Sukuna in Jujutsu Kaisen, Tenya Ida in My [Hero Academia (TV series)|My Hero Academia], and Ken "Okarun" Takakura in Dandadan.

Career

In February 2024, Utanes expressed criticism on the House bill filed by then-Negros Occidental's 3rd congressional district representative Jose Francisco Benitez that bans Filipino dubbing on foreign shows and films. He asserted that the Philippine voice acting industry is responsible for translating and dubbing foreign programs and films for the mass audience so they can understand the original context.

Personal life

Utanes was married to Catherine Feliciano, and they had two sons.

Illness and death

Utanes died on December 16, 2025. He was diagnosed with stage 5 chronic kidney disease.

Filmography

Announcer