Voice Actress of Bulma in ‘Dragon Ball’ Tragically Dies at 57
By Khier Casino
“Dragon Ball” fans are mourning the loss of the voice of Bulma, Hiromi Tsuru, who was found unconscious in a car along Tokyo’s Shuto Expressway on Nov. 16 at around 7:30 p.m.
Metropolitan Traffic Police responded to the incident, but found no skid marks behind the parked vehicle, which is believed to have slowed down gradually and then stopped, SoraNews24 reported.
Police found the body of the 57-year-old anime voice actress in the driver’s seat with her seatbelt still fastened. She was rushed to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
It was later revealed that Tsuru died of an aortic dissection, a rupture in the heart that most frequently occurs in men in their 60s and 70s, according to Mayo Clinic.
Best known for her role as Bulma in “Dragon Ball,” which she began voicing in 1986, Tsuru started out in voiceover work in the 1970s with a character from “The Story of Perrine”, Comicbook.com noted. She then went on to play characters in such anime as “Ranma 1/2”, “Miyuki”, “Trigun”, and more.
Over the years working on “Dragon Ball”, Tsuru also voiced Child Piccolo Jr., Baby Trunks and Bra. But she remained as Bulma in “Dragon Ball Z” all the way through “Dragon Ball Super”, which is still in production and where her final words were, “Everyone, do your best!…I’m counting on you.”
Toei Animation, the animation company behind “Dragon Ball Super”, had this to say about the voice actress’ passing via Twitter:
Several fan art dedicated to Tsuru have already been posted on Japanese social media:
“Dragon Ball Super” airs on Crunchyroll every Saturday at 5:15 p.m. PST, while Toonami shows the English dub on Adult Swim every Saturday at 9:30 p.m.
Right Featured Image via IMDb
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