Yuko Mizutani, veteran voice actress behind Digimon’s ‘Sora’, dies

Another sad news for anime lovers. Yuko Mizutani, the voice behind Sora Takenouchi in “Digimon Adventure” and Sakiko Sakura in “Chibi Maruko Chan”, passed away on Tuesday. She was 51.

Mizutani was diagnosed with breast cancer, according to Japanese site Oricon.

Mizutani made her colorful voice acting career with voicing Sarah Zabiarov in “Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam” in 1985. Since then, she lent her gifted talents to plenty of anime, movies, and video games for three decades.

Some of Mizutani’s video game voice works were Iris in “Mega Man X4” and the Japanese voice of Minnie Mouse in the “Kingdom Hearts” Series.

Mizutani, a native of Aichi, Japan, also had roles in beloved anime series such as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Detective Conan, Excel Saga, Inuyasha, Martian Successor Nadeisico, The Ranma ½ OVA’s, Puyo Puyo, and Project X Zone. She has recently voiced Ikuko Tsukino in Japanese anime series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Crystal.

Aside from dubbing original Japanese animated shows, Mizutani dubbed several American stars for Japanese releases. She was the popular voice of protagonist Buffy Summers in the Japanese release of Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Gianna Francesca Catolico