Hiromi Tsuru, Bulma's voice actor, has passed away.

[DB1984]

I'm still trying to figure out if something happened to her that made her become gravely ill. Was it an accidental overdose? Did she mix any medication by accident? Did she smoke? I am aware that not everyone's body responds the same way.

It just saddens me that yet another seemingly perfectly healthy human being dies anyways for no reason.

[MCDaveG]

No way... at loss of words. I remember how sad I was having lost Daisuke Gori as voice of Satan... I still miss him every time I hear the new voice actor in Super or recent games...
I am always afraid that we will lose Masako Nozawa, as I can't imagine that at all, as she is still in her prime with voice acting tough being at grand age, but we lose younger people every day
and I am still in high hopes that everyone is doing well and wish them health...

But I've never expected this. Hiromi Tsuru was always sounding the same as she did being younger and as with Goku, Vegeta, Freeza and Piccolo, she is iconic voice of Bulma for me... for almost two decades now.
Wow... I can't imagine her being replaced
She was ony of my favorite actresses portraying strong women in anime and I loved her voice, suiting a powerful woman,there are not many like her in anime industry in Japan.

I will miss her, truly.

I wouldn't describe her bulma voice as strong or powerful when I think strong female voice I think of (18 or blonde lunch), but more cute and adventurous as teenage/young adult bulma and sexy caring and motherly around the cell arc. That's not to take away from her legendary status It's just my impression of her performance.

If Nozawa passes away during Supers run I would probably stop watching and maybe just watch online reviews.

Well, I meant in comparison to the new anime damsel in distress otaku characters more promiment in new anime works, and like Kale in DB Super.
And she was a strong woman in character... damsel in distress when there was opposite brute force, but damn on top when brains and comanding were involved.
You know, that her character is strong when she tamed Vegeta )

[KBABZ]

I consider Bulma to be a strong female character, at least when she isn't being grossy sexualized in the first arc and by Roshi in general. It's entirely her doing that the story even gets started in the first place because she has the determination to A) Invent the Dragon Radar, and B) Travel the world to find them all. Outside of that, her contributions to figuring out the plan to visit Namek were incredibly important to saving her friends. And she was fiercely independent, to the point where, as MCDaveG said, she wouldn't take crap even from Vegeta, or Frieza in RoF. Even in the timeline of Future Trunks she never gave up, and invented arguably the most incredible invention in the universe, in one of the least-favourable environments to do that in.

[DragonBallKing]

No way... at loss of words. I remember how sad I was having lost Daisuke Gori as voice of Satan... I still miss him every time I hear the new voice actor in Super or recent games...
I am always afraid that we will lose Masako Nozawa, as I can't imagine that at all, as she is still in her prime with voice acting tough being at grand age, but we lose younger people every day
and I am still in high hopes that everyone is doing well and wish them health...

But I've never expected this. Hiromi Tsuru was always sounding the same as she did being younger and as with Goku, Vegeta, Freeza and Piccolo, she is iconic voice of Bulma for me... for almost two decades now.
Wow... I can't imagine her being replaced
She was ony of my favorite actresses portraying strong women in anime and I loved her voice, suiting a powerful woman,there are not many like her in anime industry in Japan.

I will miss her, truly.

I wouldn't describe her bulma voice as strong or powerful when I think strong female voice I think of (18 or blonde lunch), but more cute and adventurous as teenage/young adult bulma and sexy caring and motherly around the cell arc. That's not to take away from her legendary status It's just my impression of her performance.

If Nozawa passes away during Supers run I would probably stop watching and maybe just watch online reviews.

Well, I meant in comparison to the new anime damsel in distress otaku characters more promiment in new anime works, and like Kale in DB Super.
And she was a strong woman in character... damsel in distress when there was opposite brute force, but damn on top when brains and comanding were involved.
You know, that her character is strong when she tamed Vegeta )

I thought you were referring to Tsuru's voice and not about bulma's character in general. Because I agree bulma as a character is strong willed and spunky and not like the many orihime-esque characters such as Kale in anime nowadays.

[doomydoomydoom]

Just terrible news. I haven't kept up with any anime/manga related news for at least a couple months, and this is what I come back to. This and Nobuhiro Watsuki being arrested for child porn. BIG SIGH.

There's really nothing about Hiromi Tsuru that could be said that hasn't already been said. Awesome talent, the voice of too many beloved characters, besides Bulma the ones that come to mind are Madoka from Kimagure Orange Road, Mikami from Ghost Sweeper Mikami (which she starred on with Ryo Horikawa), Naomi from Metal Gear Solid, and Meryl from Trigun. Very sad and sudden the way she died, may she rest in peace. We've lost great talents from east to west this year.

[Kid Buu]

Mikami from Ghost Sweeper Mikami (which she starred on with Ryo Horikawa),

And in KOR, her love interest is voiced by Toru Furuya/Yamcha.

[DB1984]

Sorry to repeat myself, but did they perform an autopsy? I'm wondering how could a seemingly perfectly healthy woman die anyways from Aortic dissection. Did she smoke? Did she have any history of illnesses? Did she overdose by accident, or mix any medication up?

I'm really stunned by her death, just like the rest of you, and I'm wondering how could this have happened.

[DragonBallKing]

Sorry to repeat myself, but did they perform an autopsy? I'm wondering how could a seemingly perfectly healthy woman die anyways from Aortic dissection. Did she smoke? Did she have any history of illnesses? Did she overdose by accident, or mix any medication up?

I'm really stunned by her death, just like the rest of you, and I'm wondering how could this have happened.

I can't find anything official but:

An aortic dissection occurs in a weakened area of the aortic wall. Chronic high blood pressure may stress the aortic tissue, making it more susceptible to tearing. You can also be born with a condition associated with a weakened and enlarged aorta, such as Marfan syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve or other rarer conditions associated with weakening of the walls of the blood vessels. Rarely, aortic dissections are caused by traumatic injury to the chest area, such as during motor vehicle accidents.

Aortic dissections are divided into two groups, depending on which part of the aorta is affected:

Type A. This more common and dangerous type involves a tear in the part of the aorta where it exits the heart or a tear in the upper aorta (ascending aorta), which may extend into the abdomen.
Type B. This involves a tear in the lower aorta only (descending aorta), which may also extend into the abdomen.

From Mayo Clinic.com

[DB1984]

Sorry to repeat myself, but did they perform an autopsy? I'm wondering how could a seemingly perfectly healthy woman die anyways from Aortic dissection. Did she smoke? Did she have any history of illnesses? Did she overdose by accident, or mix any medication up?

I'm really stunned by her death, just like the rest of you, and I'm wondering how could this have happened.

I can't find anything official but:

An aortic dissection occurs in a weakened area of the aortic wall. Chronic high blood pressure may stress the aortic tissue, making it more susceptible to tearing. You can also be born with a condition associated with a weakened and enlarged aorta, such as Marfan syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve or other rarer conditions associated with weakening of the walls of the blood vessels. Rarely, aortic dissections are caused by traumatic injury to the chest area, such as during motor vehicle accidents.

Aortic dissections are divided into two groups, depending on which part of the aorta is affected:

Type A. This more common and dangerous type involves a tear in the part of the aorta where it exits the heart or a tear in the upper aorta (ascending aorta), which may extend into the abdomen.
Type B. This involves a tear in the lower aorta only (descending aorta), which may also extend into the abdomen.

From Mayo Clinic.com

Thank you for the explanation.

[DragonBallKing]

Sorry to repeat myself, but did they perform an autopsy? I'm wondering how could a seemingly perfectly healthy woman die anyways from Aortic dissection. Did she smoke? Did she have any history of illnesses? Did she overdose by accident, or mix any medication up?

I'm really stunned by her death, just like the rest of you, and I'm wondering how could this have happened.

I can't find anything official but:

An aortic dissection occurs in a weakened area of the aortic wall. Chronic high blood pressure may stress the aortic tissue, making it more susceptible to tearing. You can also be born with a condition associated with a weakened and enlarged aorta, such as Marfan syndrome, bicuspid aortic valve or other rarer conditions associated with weakening of the walls of the blood vessels. Rarely, aortic dissections are caused by traumatic injury to the chest area, such as during motor vehicle accidents.

Aortic dissections are divided into two groups, depending on which part of the aorta is affected:

Type A. This more common and dangerous type involves a tear in the part of the aorta where it exits the heart or a tear in the upper aorta (ascending aorta), which may extend into the abdomen.
Type B. This involves a tear in the lower aorta only (descending aorta), which may also extend into the abdomen.

From Mayo Clinic.com

I know they said it wasn't a traffic accident but this makes me think.

[DB1984]

I know they said it wasn't a traffic accident but this makes me think.

Unfortunately, that could be it, too. There have been incidents where people were in car accidents, no cars were damaged, but one of the drivers died from the blunt force trauma caused by the impact of the crash, or something like that. Wouldn't the rip cage rip into the heart, causing all the blood leaking, resulting in death?

And it doesn't matter if any seat belts were fastened, either.

[KBABZ]

While I haven't exactly kept up with any further articles, I don't recall hearing about Hiromi being directly involved in a car accident. As I recall, she was found in her car on the side of the motorway with her hazard lights on. As per Herms' translation, "She was found with her seatbelt fastened, and there was no sign of an accident".

Now this is just me speculating, but to me it might have played out that she felt unwell whilst driving, pulled to the side of the expressway and flicked her hazard lights on. Although I have no idea if the condition would allow for that since I'm not a doctor.

[DB1984]

I just remembered something: Actor John Ritter (of Three's Company) died from the same thing as Hiromi in 2003.

[LordCrumb]

I like the Kanzenshuu title bar change in respect to Hiromi. Very nice idea.

[Super_Divine_Genki]

What could've prepared us for this?

I read about this news a few days ago, but haven't had a chance to post anything -- in general -- lately. This one hit me good (obviously not in a good way), and I think that I'm still trying to process this loss. Out of all of the main cast members of DB, Tsuru-san was probably the person that I was least concerned about going anywhere anytime soon.

So, as with all things in life, and death, we have to do best to keep positive and accept the inevitable(s). It's things like this that stop us and have us re-examining the life experience in some ways. I will always remember the energy that she imprinted onto the role of Bulma, and the way she would make subtle changes when speaking to, or about, "Son-kun" because of the special relationship that was there since the very beginning. The characters become completely genuine and believable because of the performances of very talented individuals, such as Hiromi Tsuru.

Immortalized. All past and current members of DB will forever live on as long as there's a way to keep DB/anime playing somewhere. Still, this one got me -- especially after reading some of Kanzenshuu's comments. My train of thought was lost for a bit. DB fans, I would like to think, possess a special kind of heart and soul.

Now, this is just the third "notable" person death to hit me in any way in my lifetime, and the second this year (Chris Cornell - still can't completely get passed this one). I made a harmless light joke several months back about Bulma going away for a while so that Vegeta could get an engaging story that would get him out of "stale mode". It's crazy how an insignificant half-joke from that time has me re-examining how careful I am with some of the text I'm splashing on here. There's a slight feeling of regret that I have about that now, but at the same time, I know that it wasn't ill-spirited in any way -- just something thrown in the wind and gone.

Anyway, like always, I'm going to continue to treasure DB and the cast and crew that brought these highly recognizable and charming characters to life. Tsuru-san's Bulma will always be one of the pillars of the Dragon World. Super has lost some of the unique qualities (mostly in presentation) that existed in the original run, but the performances have remained standout as always. It's like I've been saying from the beginning, I've been treating this current series as a "last hurrah" for the original cast and to try to get along with it while it's around. It's a really strange coincidence that this happened after her primary character had been absent for so many episodes. I wish the remaining cast all the best and that they get to see their roles through all the way to the end. I'm not sure what else to say.

Rest in Peace, Tsuru-san. May you have a mystical adventure down the river to that "other place". Farewell (for now).

...

(I don't want to have to type another one of these out again anytime in the next 50 years)

BTW: I thank everyone here for putting their hearts out there on this topic. This stuff isn't easy at all...


*Edit: I request that someone post an image of Bulma holding the strawberry parfait from Super Episode 22. I couldn't find any online without the watermarks. It seems fitting.

[KBABZ]

The memorial service has now been held in Tokyo: https://kotaku.com/memorial-service-for ... 1822083061

Sports Hochi reports that during the service, Goku’s voice actress Masako Nozawa said in a moving speech, “If you gather the seven Dragon Balls, any wish you want will be granted. But this time, they’re useless... I’m sorry.”

The alter in the memorial service was decorated with seven Dragon Balls as well as images of Bulma and Anpanman’s Dokin-chan, beloved characters she made famous.

Over four hundred people attended the service to say their final goodbyes and thanks.

There are a bunch of images through the link, mostly from Twitter. If you look, next to Bulma are the two and five-star balls, the ones she found before meeting Goku, as well as the iconic Four Star Ball above her.

[Lord Beerus]

“If you gather the seven Dragon Balls, any wish you want will be granted. But this time, they’re useless... I’m sorry.”

Oh, God...

[DB1984]

This is just too sad, man. Too sad.

[DragonBallFoodie]

That was a sweet and touching memorial service. Respect given where due.

[DragonBallKing]

So is it true that her last time voicing Bulma was for FighterZ?