I’ve been away for the past few days, with limited access to communications so, while I saw and approved the comments about Kawakami Tomoko, I was unable to comment appropriately.
The news of her untimely death from cancer was sobering and saddening, and she shall be missed by many.
Here are a few of her Yuri roles – take a moment to watch them and think of her, as you do:
Revolutionary Girl Utena/Shoujo Kakumei Utena – Tenjou Utena
Battle Athletes /Battle Athletes Victory – Kris Kristopher
Kanon – Kurata Sayuri
Uta~Kata – Takigawa Satsuki
Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu Drama CDs – Reiko-sensei
These are, of course, just a few roles and she’s played a part in many, more series that we’ve loved.
Thank you Kawakami-san for all your hard work in this life and best of luck in the next. You are missed.
Wow…this is an old post of yours, but I was catching up with your blog after I hadn’t been reading for a while.
I didn’t really know how to react initially except to feel overwhelming sadness at the loss of a great seiyuu. However…she had been battling ovarian cancer since 2008, so a big part of me is glad to know that she’s at peace.
Shoujo Kakumei Utena is single-handedly the best anime I’ve seen to-date…and Tenjou Utena was undoubtedly a strong, complex female character that will stay with me with the rest of my life. I’m so glad you posted the article a while back about the limited edition, re-released first season of Utena going on sale. I’ll be buying the second season soon, which just came out as well. I want to support this wonderful anime as much as I can, and hope that others will follow suit and realize how much of a masterpiece it really is.
She will definitely, definitely be missed in this world…best of luck to her in the next.
This happened a long time ago, in dog years, but after wandering through your posts I felt I had to comment.
I met Kawakami-san at an event, in a small little CD shop in Yokohama, about 13 years ago. Utena was being broadcast on TV, the internet was just taking off, I was desperately trying to learn Japanese…
She was one of the nicest, most polite people I had met in the business. I didn’t really follow her career after Utena, but I will always remember when I shook hands with her and watched her smile and joke with a roomful of fans. And of course, I will always remember Utena, the character which she brought to life in all her glory.
It’s sad to hear about this sort of news, more so when it’s a protracted illness. Rest in peace, Kawakami-san.
@No Make Girl – Thank you for sharing that story with us.
I was talking with my wife last night about Detective Academy Q and was suddenly reminded that Kawakami-san was a member of that cast, as well.