Miyuki Ichijo, best known as Jodie Starling in the long-running Detective Conan anime series, has passed away at 76 due to multiple organ failure. Production Baobab management company posted an obituary on their website.
Miyuki Ichijo mostly took on supporting roles before playing the main role as Julie Braun from the 1979 anime series Julie the Wild Rose. In addition to Jodie Starling from the Detective Conan franchise, she was known as Tsubasa Nishikiori from Mazinger Edition Z: The Impact!, Cardo Nabo from Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, and a lot more. Detective Conan: Black Iron Submarine was the final project she worked on. Aside from lending her voice to anime characters and dubbing Western movies and series, Ichijo left a remarkable legacy as she was also the voice behind over 500 early childhood education-related recordings that were widely used in Japan.
Fellow voice actors of all ages and anime staff that Ichijo has worked with in her lifetime spoke about her career and life. Toshio Furukawa (Portgas D. Ace from the One Piece franchise) wrote that he was shocked when he heard the news on his X (formerly Twitter) account, while her co-star in Detective Conan, Kappei Yamaguchi also looked back on how he would always hear Ichijo’s bright laughter as they would record inside the studio. Golden Kamuy director Hitoshi Nanba also posted a special illustration to pay tribute to Ichijo who voiced Huci in the fourth season of Golden Kamuy.
Source: Production Baobab Official Website
Image from Tokyo Joshi Eigabu / TS Tokyo Co., Ltd.