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Lupin III's 1st Fujiko Voice Actress Eiko Masuyama Dies at 89

posted on by Egan Loo
Masuyama also originated Cutie Honey role

masuyama-eiko
Image via Aoni Production
Aoni Production announced on Monday that voice actress Eiko Masuyama died on May 20 due to pneumonia. She was 89. Her close relatives held a private service.

Masuyama was born in Tokyo on April 22, 1936. She began her career alongside the roots of Japanese animated television with the first Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom) series. She then originated the role of Fujiko Mine in the Lupin III franchise, and continued the role until the 2010 television special Lupin III: the Last Job. She was the last surviving member of the franchise's original main cast.

Masuyama was also the first voice actress of Honey Kisaragi in the Cutie Honey franchise, and she played Mama in the Tensai Bakabon comedy series, the title role in the magical girl anime Mahōtsukai Chappy, Lady Iyo in the Ikkyu-san comedy series, and Paako in the later Perman anime.

She received a Meritorious Service Award during the 2017 Tokyo Anime Award Festival (TAAF), followed by the Merit Award from the 15th Annual Seiyū Awards in 2021.

Update: Masuyama's agency Aoni Production and other Japanese sources apparently use traditional East Asian age reckoning (as many people did before World War II) to list her age as 89, which would be 88 under modern age reckoning. Thanks, Smeagol_17.

Sources: Aoni Production, Mantan Web, Comic Natalie


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