Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1292
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Shigeru Chiba represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 38 years in, and Shigeru is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Shigeru Chiba appears in 13 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Shigeru. Me & Roboco: The Movie is the clearest case: a film rated 8.7 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, screen presence. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for action, science fiction, animation. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Kozo Kaiho, Haruo Sotozaki, Akitaro Daichi and others, Shigeru Chiba helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Me & Roboco: The Movie (2025) as Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice) · My Neighbor Totoro (1988) as Additional Voices (voice) · Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025) as Jigoro Kuwajima (voice)
Career snapshot
Ranked #1292 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
13
1988–2026
Career length
38 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
8.7
Me & Roboco: The Movie
Average Nutevio score
7.0
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.7
Me & Roboco: The Movie
Most frequent director
Kozo Kaiho
1 film together
Longest collaboration
1×
With Kozo Kaiho
Most common genre
Animation
12 titles
Average runtime
1h 12m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
7.0
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
7.9 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Ghost in the Shell — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.9
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.9
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1980s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone, My Neighbor Totoro.
Most productive era
2020s
8 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1980s | 1990s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Action | 6.81 film | 7.91 film | 7.71 film | 6.26 films |
| Comedy | — | — | — | 7.73 films |
| Crime | — | — | — | 7.01 film |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Additional Voices (voice).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
8.7 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
The current state of the argument, as Shigeo Shiba (voice).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
13 of 13 films
as Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice)
Directed by Akitaro Daichi
as Jigoro Kuwajima (voice)
Directed by Haruo Sotozaki
as Additional Voices (voice)
Directed by Hayao Miyazaki
as Garbage Collector B (voice)
Directed by Mamoru Oshii
as Raditz (voice)
Directed by Tatsuya Nagamine
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
Loading credits…
The defining work
#1
Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice)
Me & Roboco: The Movie (2025)
Performance score8.8
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice) gives Shigeru Chiba a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Jigoro Kuwajima (voice)
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025)
Performance score7.8
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Jigoro Kuwajima (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Additional Voices (voice)
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Performance score7.8
My Neighbor Totoro asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Additional Voices (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Garbage Collector B (voice)
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Performance score7.7
Ghost in the Shell asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Garbage Collector B (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice)
Start here. Me & Roboco: The Movie is the clearest statement of what Shigeru Chiba does — accessible, 0 minutes, and rated 8.7 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Shigeru at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Keeps the animation register of Me & Roboco: The Movie but asks for a colder reading of it.
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Keeps the animation register of My Neighbor Totoro but asks for a colder reading of it.
Dragon Ball Super: Broly (2018)
Keeps the action register of Ghost in the Shell but asks for a colder reading of it.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle (2025)
Keeps the action register of Dragon Ball Super: Broly but asks for a colder reading of it.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Hayao Miyazaki
Director
1 film together
Notably My Neighbor Totoro
Daisuke Nishio
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragon Ball Z: Dead Zone
Mamoru Oshii
Director
1 film together
Notably Ghost in the Shell
Tatsuya Nagamine
Director
1 film together
Notably Dragon Ball Super: Broly
Ryoji Masuyama
Director
1 film together
Notably Hello WeGo!
Kenji Nagasaki
Director
1 film together
Notably My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission
Takashi Katagiri
Director
1 film together
Notably SPY x FAMILY CODE: White
Yuzuru Tachikawa
Director
1 film together
Notably Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine
Koichi Sakamoto
Director
1 film together
Notably Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. Kyoryuger
Keiichiro Saito
Director
1 film together
Notably BOCCHI THE ROCK! Recap Part 2
Akitaro Daichi
Director
1 film together
Notably Me & Roboco: The Movie
Haruo Sotozaki
Director
1 film together
Notably Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Kozo Kaiho
Director
1 film together
Notably Patlabor EZY: File 1
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Akitaro Daichi
Director
1 film together · 8.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Me & Roboco: The MovieHayao Miyazaki
Director
1 film together · 8.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Neighbor TotoroHaruo Sotozaki
Director
1 film together · 8.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity CastleMamoru Oshii
Director
1 film together · 7.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ghost in the ShellTatsuya Nagamine
Director
1 film together · 7.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dragon Ball Super: BrolyKenji Nagasaki
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' MissionKoichi Sakamoto
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. KyoryugerTakashi Katagiri
Director
1 film together · 7.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
SPY x FAMILY CODE: WhiteKeiichiro Saito
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
BOCCHI THE ROCK! Recap Part 2Yuzuru Tachikawa
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Detective Conan: Black Iron SubmarineRyoji Masuyama
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Hello WeGo!Daisuke Nishio
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dragon Ball Z: Dead ZoneKozo Kaiho
Director
1 film together · 0.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Patlabor EZY: File 1Six degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
as Jigoro Kuwajima (voice)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
My Neighbor Totoro
as Additional Voices (voice)
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Me & Roboco: The Movie
as Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice)
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission
as Shopkeeper (voice)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Me & Roboco: The Movie
as Authentic SF Action Roboco (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Shigeru Chiba has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
38 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Animation Legend
Awarded
12 catalogue titles in animation, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
My Neighbor Totoro
as Additional Voices (voice)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
as Jigoro Kuwajima (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
My Neighbor Totoro
as Additional Voices (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine
as Rum (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
as Jigoro Kuwajima (voice)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. Kyoryuger
as Narrator / Kyoryuger Equipment (Voice)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
BOCCHI THE ROCK! Recap Part 2
as Post-apocalyptic Guy (voice)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
My Neighbor Totoro
as Additional Voices (voice)
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
If you like this performer
Tom Hanks
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Bonnie Hunt
Built a career in the same territory: animation and family
Michael Caine
Built a career in the same territory: adventure and action
Rumi Hiiragi
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Miyu Irino
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Mari Natsuki
Works with the same directors — shared collaborators
Have your say
Community
Which Shigeru Chiba performance holds up best?
Our readers argue about this one. Make your case, or read the ranked debate already in progress.
Join the conversation
Reference
Continue exploring
Trending performers
Directors they work with
Collections to read next
