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OtapediaHiromi Tsuru Voice Talent - Dragon Ball

Hiromi Tsuru (born March 29th, 1960 in Hokkaido, Japan, died November 16th, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan) was a Japanese actress and voice actress that was represented by and affiliated with the talent agency known as Gekidan Himawari during her career as a child actor, then Aoni Production and Toei Animation later in her career.

She is most known for voicing the character ‘Bulma’ in the Dragon Ball anime series, the young, teenage inventor of the Dragon Radar device, which could detect Dragon Balls. Bulma is the second daughter of the Capsule Corporation’s Dr. Briefs and his wife, Panchy. Asides from the main protagonist, Son Goku, Bulma is the longest-running character in the entire series and maintains an important role in the meta-series adaptations, including Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball GT, Dragon Ball Z Kai, and Dragon Ball Super due to her talents in inventing gadgets and scientific genius. She eventually becomes the wife of Vegeta, another prominent character of the series.

Start of Career

Hiromi Tsuru’s very first role was an infant, playing ‘Yukiro’ on the Japanese television series, Tokubetsu Kidô Sôsatai in 1963. In 1968, she made her debut as a child actress, playing the roles of ‘O-tae’ and ‘ Little Match Girl’ in the television series Cometo-san (also referred to by its English title, Princess Comet). She played several other smaller roles in television series and got her next popular role in the 1978 televised anime series The Story of Perrine, voicing the titular character, ‘Perrine’.

In the 1980s, Hiromi Tsuru began her voice acting career in earnest, playing roles such as ‘Mira’ in the 1982 movie Arcadia of My Youth, ‘Sachiko’ in the 1985 television series Touch, and ‘Ami’ of the television series Fist of the North Star in 1986.

She began voicing the character ‘Bulma’ in 1986. Her most notable role after Bulma was ‘Dokin-chan’ of the children’s anime series Anpanman, which she continued to voice for 29 years, beginning in 1988.

Other Roles

Other than animated television series and movies, Hiromi Tsuru played roles in video games, tokusatsu (a Japanese term that refers to live-action films or television dramas with heavy special effects), drama CDs, and even dubbing for live-action and animated films. Tsuru participated in the Japanese dubs for incredibly popular Western movies and television shows like Footloose, Full House, and Little House on the Prairie.

Her video game roles in the Dragon Ball series include all of Bulma’s appearances from 1994 to 2018, with her last entry being Dragon Ball FighterZ. Outside of Dragon Ball games, she is also known for voicing other well-known characters like Dr. Naomi Hunter from the Metal Gear Solid series and Major Mokoto Kusanagi from the 1997 Ghost in the Shell game for the PlayStation.

Tsuru also played roles in several Dragon Ball movies as well. The following list details characters that she has played in movies related to the series:

Marriage

Hiromi Tsuru was married to Keiichi Nanba, a fellow actor, voice actor, and narrator, from 1986 until their divorce in 1990. Keiichi Nanba is represented by Fujiga Office Inc.

Death

On November 19, 2017, Tsuru was found unconscious at the wheel of her vehicle in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan. She was transported to the hospital via medical emergency transportation, but was unfortunately pronounced dead due to an aortic dissection at the age of 57.

A public memorial for her was held in 2017 shortly after her passing. Several other Dragon Ball voice actors and actresses such as Mayumi Tanaka, Ryo Horikawa, and Masako Nozawa all attended to say goodbye to a long time friend and to commemorate the memory of her talents for the show. Over 400 fans attended as well, paying their respects and adorning her shrine with thousands of flowers.

Her last words as Bulma were in Episode 69 of Dragon Ball Super, where she says “We’re counting on you, everyone”. Her role as Bulma was succeeded by Aya Hisakawa in 2018.

Links

Dragon Ball Series
Dragon Ball Z Series
Dragon Ball Kai Series
Dragon Ball Super Series
Dragon Ball GT Series
Super Dragon Ball Heros
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