Image via 81 ProduceJapanese talent agency 81 Produce announced on September 10 that voice actor Emi Shinohara, whose real name was Emiko Watanabe, passed away on September 8. She was 61 years old. Shinohara was undergoing treatment for an undisclosed condition.Emi Shinohara was a mainstay of voice acting in the 1990s and 2000s, debuting as Biko “B-Ko” Daitokuji in the Project A-ko anime franchise in 1986. For many, she was known as the original voice of Sailor Jupiter in the 1992 Sailor Moon anime, as well as Kaho Mizuki in Cardcaptor Sakura and its sequel series Clear Card. She is also known for voicing Kushina Uzumaki in Naruto and Eri Ochiai in Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue anime film.Born on August 8, 1963 in Fukushima prefecture, Shinohara discovered she wanted to be an actor while growing up in Nagano. Thinking that music would help her acting career, she studied at the Kunitachi College of Music in Tokyo. This is when she voiced a study group for aspiring voice actors where she was asked to audition for her first role, of which she was offered.Outside of anime, Shinohara also dubbed foreign films into Japanese, such as The Wizard of Oz, Clueless, Nikita, Home Alone and many more, as well as being the voice for the Bakuryuu Pteranodon in the Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger tokusatsu series.Shinohara married fellow tokusatsu actor Hiroshi Watari. Together they had a son, who additionally released a statement on Shinohara’s X (formerly Twitter) account. Our thoughts go out to her husband, son and the rest of her family as we thank Shinohara for being the voice a generation of anime fans grew up with.
Sources: 81 Produce, Oricon
