Kawakami provided voices for young boys, girls and comical characters. The best-known genre of her roles are tomboyish characters (Soifon, Utena Tenjou). With such a powerful voice, she was often affiliated in paranormal and yuri-themed anime. She also made her name voicing the heroine in the Harukanaru Toki no Naka de series, based from the Neoromance game with the same title produced by Koei in 2000.
Illness and death
In August 2008, Kawakami had ovarian cancer,[3] which required surgery. During a three-year battle with cancer, most of her ongoing roles were replaced by other voice actresses, although Kawakami managed to do some voice work until her retirement in early 2010.[4] She died on June 9, 2011. Her death was met with an outpouring of grief.[5]Kumiko Watanabe, a particular voice actress and a close friend of hers prior to her passing whom worked alongside Kawakami for works such as the Klonoa video game series and Sgt. Frog anime, responded on her web diary with condolences just two days after her death.[6]
Filmography
This filmography contains a list that has not been properly sorted. Specifically, it does not follow the Manual of Style for lists of works (often, though not always, due to being in reverse-chronological order). See MOS:LISTSORT for more information. Please improve this filmography if you can.(August 2015)
^Doi, Hitoshi. "Kawakami Tomoko". Seiyuu Database. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
^"川上とも子". excite.co.jp (in Japanese). 9 March 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
^声優の川上とも子さんが卵巣がんで死去 『ヒカルの碁』主人公役 [Voice actress Tomoko Kawakami passes away from ovarian cancer, known for the lead role in Hikaru no Go]. Oricon Style (in Japanese). Tokyo, Japan: Oricon. June 10, 2011. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
^Masutō, Tatsuya (March 5, 2009). 佐藤順一総監督 ロング・インタビュー [Long Interview with Junichi Sato, the General Director]. Kinema Junpo (in Japanese). 1528 (March 2009). Tokyo, Japan: Kinema-Junpo: 140.
