Danica Davidson
September 10, 2024 
There is sad news coming out of Japan as we learn of the passing of prolific voice actress Emi Shinohara. Her voice talent company 81 Produce shared the news with the public.
Emi Shinohara was the stage name for Emiko Watanabe. She had been battling an illness and receiving medical treatment. The illness, which has not been made public, ultimately did not respond to the medical treatment, and she succumbed at age 61. Not a lot of information is known.
Shinohara’s biggest role was probably Sailor Jupiter (a.k.a. Makoto Kino) in Sailor Moon. As for some other big roles, she played Naruto’s mom Kushina Uzumaki in Naruto, Kaho Mizuki in Card Captor Sakura and Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Charlotte Elbourne in Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust, and Presea in Magic Knight Rayearth. Other roles include Angel in The Big O, Xia Yu Fan in Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid, Youko Mizuno in Maria Watches Over Us, and Maria Pure Armonia in Mobile Suit Victory Gundam.
She provided theme song performances for Sailor Moon R: The Movie and Sailor Moon S. Sometimes she also did Japanese dubs for American projects, like playing Perdita in 101 Dalmatians’ Japanese dub.
With Sailor Jupiter and her many other roles, Shinohara’s voice was heard by millions of fans around the world.
Kodansha USA Publishing releases the original Sailor Moon manga by Naoko Takeuchi, and gave this description for the first volume:
Sailor Moon Plot
Usagi Tsukino is a normal girl until she meets up with Luna, a talking cat, who tells her that she is Sailor Moon. As Sailor Moon, Usagi must fight evils and enforce justice, in the name of the Moon and the mysterious Moon Princess. She meets other girls destined to be Sailor Senshi (Sailor Scouts), and together, they fight the forces of evil!
Source: ANN
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
