Nov 17 2017

Hiromi Tsuru, voice of Bullma, passes away.

Anime and Dragon Ball fans, there is a sad day upon us. Voice actress Hiromi Tsuru has passed away. According to Japanese media, she was found unconscious in her car on Chuuoko, Tokyo’s metropolitan expressway at 7:30 pm November 16. She was taken to a city hospital where she was pronounced dead. Though the cause of death is still under investigation, Japanese metropolitan police speculate that Tsuru may have died due to illness as there are no signs of an accident. Her agency later confirms Tsuru died from aortic dissection.

Hiromi Tsuru has had an extensive career in voice acting, working on numerous anime series including Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School, Vampiyan Kids, and Yu-Gi-Oh GX. Her notable roles include Michelle in “Blue Exorcist”, Shino/Kohaku in “Samurai Champloo”, Meryl Stryfe in “Trigun” and Ukyo Kuonji in “Ranma 1/2”. But she will be best remembered as our favorite blue haired scientist, Bulma Brief. Hiromi has voiced Bulma since the original “Dragon Ball” series and continued holding the role throughout each entry in Akira Toriyama’s action saga, as well as the currently running “Dragon Ball Super.” Ironically, Bulma has not been seen in the series since Episode 96. If so, then that episode features the final lines spoken by Tsuru. She also voiced Bulma in the upcoming game “Dragon Ball FighterZ”, making this her final performance. Tsuru’s untimely passing could also make it difficult to bring Bulma back since she is the first character to be introduced in “Dragon Ball” before meeting Goku. Japanese fans of all ages also associate her with “Anpanman’s” Dokin-chan.

BrianM