Hiromi Tsuru, voice of multiple
anime icons, leaves behind incredible body of work,
startling prescient statement in her final spoken dialogue.
On the evening of November 16, at roughly 7:30, traffic camera footage from Tokyo’s downtown Shuto Expressway revealed a car stopped against the center divider with its hazard lights blinking. When the Metropolitan Traffic Police arrived on the scene, they found no skid marks behind the parked car, leading them to believe that it had slowed gradually before coasting gently to where it had stopped.
In the driver’s seat, with her seat belt still fastened, they found the body of
anime voice actress Hiromi Tsuru, best known for her roles as
Dragon Ball’s Bulma and
Anpanman’s Dokin-chan. The 57-year-old Tsuru was rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead by medical staff upon arrival.
▼ Hiromi Tsuru
View image on Twitter
はゆ@プレ企画中詳しくはホーム @HayuMomose
え!?ドラゴンボールのブルマ・アンパンマンのドキンちゃんの声優さん亡くなった!?
鶴ひろみさんが!?え!?
10:10 PM - Nov 16, 2017
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Tsuru had no visible external injuries, nor were there any signs of a traffic collision at the section of the southbound expressway near the Nihonbashi neighborhood, where her car was stopped. In light of that, the authorities believe it’s likely her death was illness-related, though an investigation is still ongoing.
[Update: Aoni Production, the talent agency Tsuru was affiliated with, has released a statement giving aortic dissection as the cause of death.]
▼ Memorial fan artwork, such as this illustration of Bulma holding Dokin-cham, has already started appearing on Japanese social media.
View image on Twitter
あちゃ @achama_369
描かずにはいられなかった。
鶴ひろみさん、娘とともに大好きな声優さんでした。
心よりご冥福をお祈り致します。
1:18 AM - Nov 17, 2017
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Tsuru rose to fame in the 1980s voicing such iconic anime characters as
Ranma 1/2’sUkyo and
Kimagure Orange Road’s mysteriously alluring high school beauty Madoka. Her vocal talents continued to be in demand through the 1990s, when she performed the lead roles in both
Ghost Sweeper Mikami and
Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, as well as recurring character Merly in sci-fi Western
Trigun. Like many voice actresses, she also branched out into video game work as the anime and game industries began to increasingly overlap at the turn of the millennium, with roles in
Metal Gear Solid and titles as recent as
Bravely Second and
Yakuza 0.
▼ Ukyo, Bulma, and Dokin-chan
View image on Twitter
低浮上マンノンコ @ton_soku1
鶴ひろみさんといえば、この3人でした。ご冥福をお祈り致します。
12:49 AM - Nov 17, 2017
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As mentioned above, Tsuru was the voice of
Dragon Ball’s Bulma and
Anpanman’sDokin-chan. Though she began those roles in 1986 and 1988 respectively, both franchise’s anime TV versions are still ongoing, meaning that Tsuru’s body of work continues right up until her sudden and unexpected passing. One fan-in-mourning even tacked down
her last spoken lines as Bulma, spoken as the series’ team of heroes departs for a martial arts tournament.
クレイドール107号富嶽百景怪談旅 @1990Tanbarin
力の大会へ行く悟空、ベジータたちを見送るブルマ鶴ひろみさん最後の声
1:05 AM - Nov 17, 2017 ·
Kyoto City Fushimi Ward, Kyoto
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“Everyone, do your best!…I’m counting on you.”
There’s a startling air of finality to her final words as a voice actress, and while it seems a given that
Dragon Ball and
Anpanman will recast her characters, for many fans their true voices will always be Hiromi Tsuru.
Sources: Jin, Sankei News, Huffington Post Japan, Anime News Network, Hachima Kiko, Oricon News
Featured image: Twitter/@achama_369
Follow Casey on Twitter where, as someone who’S life was honestly changed by Ranma 1/2 and Kimagure Orange Road, he’s going to miss Hiromi Tsuru.