Person: Kawakami Tomoko

Kawakami Tomoko (real name: 川上 倫子) was born April 25, 1970 in Tokyo, Japan. She was a voice actress (seiyuu). Having graduated from the Toho Gakuen School of Music, Kawakami worked for Production Baobab at the time of her death.

Kawakami made her debut in 1995 as Chiriko in Fushigi Yuugi. Two years later, she landed her first major role as Tenjou Utena in Shoujo Kakumei Utena. Aside from Chiriko and Utena, some of her more famous roles were as Kamio Misuzu (Air), Soi Fon (Bleach), Rosette Christopher (Chrno Crusade), Shindou Hikaru (Hikaru no Go) and Hinata Fuyuki (Keroro Gunsou).

Kawakami was a versatile seiyuu, capable of providing the voice for a wide range of characters, from young boys (Shindou Hikaru, Hinata Fuyuki, Chiriko), to cute girls (Sugar, Kamio Misuzu, Kurata Sayuri), to more comical characters (Mori Ai, Pirika) and to her widely recognized tomboyish characters (Soi Fon, Tenjou Utena). It's also worth mentioning that she also starred in a number of video games.

In August 2008, Kawakami was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, requiring surgery. She took a 20 month sick leave, during which some of her ongoing roles got replaced by other seiyuu, such as Soi Fon (Bleach). She decided to keep working on other roles, such as Hinata Fuyuki (Keroro Gunsou), Amber (Darker than Black: Ryuusei no Gemini) and Elise (Nodame Cantabile: Finale).

She died at age of 41 at 16:45 on Thursday, June 9, 2011 while being under medical care, having battled cancer for years.