On Tuesday, July 23, 2024, the official website of 81 Produce declared that the Japanese actress and voice actress, Noriko Ohara, died at age 88. She died on Friday, July 12, 2024, while combating an illness. Ohara was famous for voicing various roles, including Nobita Nobi in Doraemon, Conan in Future Boy Conan, and Chiro the Squirrel in The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun, to name a few.
Noriko Ohara death: What happened?
Noriko Ohara’s agency, Produce 81, stated that she was suffering from an illness and eventually succumbed to it. She was in treatment for the illness, but it remained ineffective, leading to her demise on July 12. The voice actress’s family held a private funeral, but the official statement did not discuss the specifics of the mishap, including the particularities of the illness and death.
In another statement, her official X (formerly Twitter) account wrote, “We would like to thank all the fans who have shown us their warm support over the years and to the staff and cast members who have worked with us on creative projects. Thank you very much.”
The unfortunate news calls for reminiscing about Noriko Ohara’s role in the long-running anime television series Doraemon. One cannot think of Doraemon without envisioning the titular protagonist’s closest friend, Nobita Nobi, infamous for getting into trouble and calling upon Doraemon for rescue.
Ohara played the role of Nobita from the 1970s to the early 2000s, becoming an integral part of children’s lives in Japan. While her role as Nobita Nobi is prominent, her work in other television series remains largely influential. This includes all the female lead villains of the Time Bokan series, Conan in Future Boy Conan, and Peter in Heidi, Girl of the Alps.
Furthermore, she voiced Oyuki in Urusei Yatsura and Claudia LaSalle in Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Apart from her roles in television animation, Ohara worked on various theatrical animation projects and original video animation projects. Additionally, she participated in a couple of live-action projects and video games, engraving her name as one of the most important figures in the Japanese television industry.
