Legendary voice actress Minori Matsushimapassed away frompancreatic cancer on Friday, April 8 at the age of 81. Matsushima was known for various starring and supporting anime roles spanning nearly five decades from the late 1960s onwards.
Minori Matsushima was born in Funabashi, Chiba, on August 07, 2025. Her hobbies were reading and watching movies, andher illustrious careerincluded countless anime voice acting roles, dubbing roles, theme song performances, narrations, and more.
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Matsushima’sstandout roles includedthe starring role of Candice White Ardley fromCandy Candy, the starring role of Lulu fromLittle Lulu and Her Little Friends,Dororoin the original television anime version of the work created by Tezuka Osamu,Kinnikumanprotagonist Meat-kun in various media, Chigusa Ritsuko inMaison Ikkoku, Vice-Admiral Tsuru fromOne Piece, Yumi Sayaka fromMazinger Z, and Ichimaru Hiroshi fromKaibutsu-kun.
She also voiced characters like Himekawa Ayumi fromGlass no Kamen (Glass Mask), the titular character of Akane-chan,Ogon Bat’sMarie, Yamada Sachiko from the baseball animeDokaben, Temari from the Rumiko Takahashi seriesRanma 1/2and several more.
The veteran voice actress’affiliated production house, Aoni Production, announced her passing on Tuesday, April 12. In addition to voice acting, Matsushima was also a well-known narrator and actress. Her voice acting also extended to non-anime work, as she also voiced the Japanese dub version of the character Uhurufrom the originalStar Trektelevision series, as well as Penny Robinson from the live-action TV series,Lost in Space.
The loss of Matsushima comes as another blow to the anime community following the death of veteran mangaka and the remaining half of gag manga duo Fujiko Fujio, Fujiko A. Fujio, on April 7.
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