Toei Animation Comments on Passing of ‘Digimon’ Voice Actor Toshiko Fujita

The news hit yesterday that voice actor Toshiko Fujita was dead at 68 after battling breast cancer, and anime studio Toei Animation has since commented on her tragic passing.

You can check out Toei Animation’s statement below:

“Deepest respects to the passing of the beautiful Toshiko Fujita, voice of Taichi Yagami from Digimon Adventure and many fantastic others,” the caption reads. “We love you and will never forget you. Rest in peace.”

As we noted in our obituary for the voice actor, Toshiko Fujita is perhaps best known for providing the Japanese voice of Taichi Yagami, often the main or major supporting character in the Digimon franchise. Toei Animation produced the original Digimon Adventure series, which is where the role originated. However, she also voiced Hilda in Outlaw Star, Mamiya in Fist of the North Star, Rally Cheyenne in Silent Möbius, and more.

For those unfamiliar, Digimon as a franchise was originally conceived by Bandai, Toei Animation, and WiZ in 1997 as a way to capitalize on the virtual pet craze sparked by Tamagotchi by releasing a line of virtual pets called Digital Monsters. The anime features the titular “Digital Monsters,” monsters that live in a parallel, digital world that came from mankind’s technology. The initial anime adaptation, Digimon Adventure, focuses on a group of children known as the DigiDestined that are transported to the world of Digimon and have to fight the various evil digital beasts that roam the land. A new film series for the franchise titled Digimon Adventure tri. recently concluded.