info about her (copied from Wikipedia)
Tomoko Kawakami (川上 とも子, Kawakami Tomoko, born 川上 倫子, April 25, 1970 — June 9, 2011) was a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo. Having graduated from the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Kawakami was affiliated with Production Baobab at the time of her death. She was best known for her roles in Revolutionary Girl Utena (as Utena Tenjou), Hikaru no Go (as Hikaru Shindou), Sgt. Frog (as Fuyuki Hinata), Harukanaru Toki no Naka de (as Akane Motomiya) and Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple (as Miu Furinji).
Kawakami debuted in 1994 as a role of a boy in Metal Fighter Miku. Her first regular performance was in 1995 as Chiriko in Fushigi Yuugi. Two years after, she landed her first starring voice role as Utena Tenjou in Revolutionary Girl Utena. Aside from Chiriko and Utena, her famous roles are in Air (Misuzu Kamio), Bleach (Soifon), Chrono Crusade (Rosette Christopher), Hikaru no Go (Hikaru Shindou) and Sgt. Frog (Fuyuki Hinata).
A versatile voice actress, Kawakami was capable of providing voice for young boys, girls and comical characters. The best-known genre of her roles are tomboyish characters (Soifon, Utena Tenjou). With such a powerful voice, she was often affiliated in paranormal and shōjo-ai-themed anime. She also made her name voicing the heroine in the Harukanaru Toki no Naka de series, based from the Neoromance game with the same title produced by Koei in 1996.
In August 2008, Kawakami was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which required surgery. She took 20 months of sick leave. During this time, most of her ongoing roles were replaced by other voice actresses, although Kawakami was able to do some voice work during her illness. Her illness eventually led to her death on June 9, 2011 at 4:45 P.M. Kawakami was 41 years old at the time of her death.
footage:
air tv episode 1
interview of her about Utena
song: Natsukage by herself (as Misuzu) from Air
My Comments:
This was a voice actress i respected for quite awhile now ever since i first watch air. She did amazing as Misuzu. When i had found out she died i was heartbroken that a seiyu with this much talent and a powerful voice had passed away. I hope you enjoyed her voice as well as i did. May she rest in peace…
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