Tomoko Kawakami (川上 とも子, Kawakami Tomoko; April 25, 1970 – June 9, 2011) was a Japanese voice actress. She was also known by her pen-name Tomozou (とも蔵), and her Christian name Cecilia (セシリア, Seshiria). Having graduated from the Toho Gakuen College of Drama and Music, she was a member of Production Baobab.
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Career
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 Shindo), Sgt. Frog (Fuyuki Hinata), Ape Escape (Natsumi),Yukiko Kawasaki (Dear Boys), Sugar (A Little Snow Fairy Sugar), Aria (Athena Glory), and Miu Fūrinji (Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple).
Kawakami provided voices 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 yuri-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 2000.
Illness and death
In August 2008, Kawakami was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, which required surgery. During her battle with cancer over the next three years, replacement voice actresses stepped into most of her ongoing roles, although Kawakami managed to do some voice work until her retirement in early 2010. She died on June 9, 2011. Her death was met with an outpouring of grief. Kumiko Watanabe, a fellow voice actress and particularly close friend of hers who worked alongside Kawakami in series such as Klonoa and Sgt. Frog, responded on her web diary with condolences just two days after Kawakami's death. Her mother Shizuko thanked all her fans for their condolences in an online letter on 29 June 2011.
Filmography
Anime series
Air - Misuzu Kamio
Amaenaideyo!! - Sumi Ikuina
A Little Snow Fairy Sugar - Sugar
Angelic Layer - Madoka Fujisaki
Aria - Athena Glory
Ashita no Nadja - Stefan (in episode 31)
Battle Athletes Victory - Chris Christopher
Best Student Council - Cyndi Manabe
Betterman - Sēme
Bleach - Soifon (Episode 24 - 205)
Cardcaptor Sakura - Rika Sasaki
Chrono Crusade - Rosette Christopher
Clannad - Girl from the Illusionary World
Crush Gear Turbo - Yamano Kimomo
Cyborg 009 - Cynthia
Darker than BLACK - Amber
Dear Boys - Yukiko Kawasaki
Descendants of Darkness - Kazusa Otonashi
Detective School Q - Kazuma Narusawa
Di Gi Charat Nyo! - Chibi Akari, Kareida-san
Doki Doki School Hours - Akane Kobayashi
Elfen Lied - Mariko
Anime films
The Doraemons: The Great Operation of Springing Insects (1998) - Momo
Revolutionary Girl Utena: The Adolescence of Utena (1999) - Utena Tenjō
Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time (2001) - Hari
Lupin III: Alcatraz Connection (2001) - Monica
Air (2005) - Misuzu Kamio
Bleach: Memories of Nobody (2006) - Soifon
Keroro Gunso the Super Movie (2006) - Fuyuki Hinata
Bleach: The DiamondDust Rebellion (2007) - Soifon
Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 2: The Deep Sea Princess (2007) - Fuyuki Hinata
Keroro Gunso the Super Movie 3: Keroro vs. Keroro Great Sky Duel (2008) - Fuyuki Hinata
Video games
Air - Misuzu Kamio
Ape Escape - Natsumi, Charu
Bleach: Blade Battlers 2 - Soifon
Bleach: Heat The Soul 3 - Soifon
Bleach: Heat the Soul 4 - Soifon
Bleach: Shattered Blade - Soifon
Bomberman Generation - Bomberman
Brave Story: New Traveler - Yuno
Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice - Charlone Claudius
Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil - Lolo
Klonoa Beach Volleyball - Lolo
Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series - Lolo
Magical Drop F - Judgment
Never 7: The End of Infinity - Yuka Kawashima
Radiant Silvergun - Reana
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal - Sasha (Japanese dub)
SD Gundam G Generation - Rachel Ransom
Sengoku Basara - Itsuki
Shoujo Kakumei Utena: Itsuka Kakumei Sareru Monogatari - Utena Tenjō
Skies of Arcadia - Aika
Sonic Wings Assault - Mao Mao
Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Fushigisou (Ivysaur)
Dubbing roles
Blue Crush – Anne Marie Chadwick (Kate Bosworth)
Gumby – Goo (Gloria Clokey)
Hearts in Atlantis – Carol Gerber (Mika Boorem)
Heat – Lauren Gustafson (Natalie Portman)
Jumanji – Judy Shepherd (Kirsten Dunst)
The Secret World of Alex Mack - Alex Mack (Larisa Oleynik)
Original video animation
Amon: The Apocalypse of Devilman -Yumi
Tokio Private Police -Noriko Ibuki
Successors
Houko Kuwashima - Sgt. Frog as Fuyuki Hinata, Bleach as Soifon
Sayuri Yahagi - Nodame Cantabile as Puririn - Season 2 (Kawakami returned in Season 3)
Kumi Sakuma - Nodame Cantabile as Elise - Season 2 (Kawakami returned in Season 3)
Yuki Kaida - A Foreign Love Affair as Kaoru Omi
Satsuki Yukino - Pokémon Diamond and Pearl as Dawn's Buneary (Hikari's Mimirol), Pokedex, Momoan, additional characters
Shiho Kawaragi - Desperate Housewives as Kayla Huntington - Season 4
Akiko Kimura - Battle Spirits as Mama
Yumi Kakazu - Tales of VS, Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 as Nanaly Fletch
Omi Minami - Elemental Gerard as Ashea
Yuki Matsuoka - Heroes Fantasia as Mileru
Saki Fujita - Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card as Rika Sasaki
Rie Kugimiya - Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple as Miu
Miyuki Sawashiro - Sengoku Basara as Itsuki
Ai Nonaka - Anpanman as Candle-Man
Yuka Imai - Demonbane PS2 game, Super Robot Wars UX as Claudius
Aimi Tanaka - The King of Fighters All Star as May Lee Jinju