By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
It was announced Thursday Japan time on Sakurai Tomo’s official website, “Tomofull”, that the speaking voice of Macross 7‘s Mylene Jenius will retire from voice acting. As quoted from her website:
最近は自分自身について色々考える時間が沢山ありました。
昔は、喉がとても強く何時間歌っていてもこわれることはなく、更に元気になる声帯をもっていましたが、最近では、役者としての大事な声が、かなり出づらくなってきているのを実感しています。
時が流れているので、当然のことなのでしょうが、声優として演じていて私自身がそのような変化に耐えられず、そろそろ引退かなと。ずっと考えていました。
神経質すぎると思われるかもしれませんが、私自身が許せないため、引退を決めました。これは、自分自身で決めました。皆様には、このような形でのご報告になってしまったことをお許し下さい。
Tomo has been voice acting for Japanese animation and radio plays for over 3 decades. Her official website will no longer be updated as of September 1st.
Tomo has voiced such characters as Hinowa in the Gintama series, Misao Makimachi in Rurouni Kenshin, Doll Licca in Super Doll Licca-Chan, and Mylene Flare Jenius in the Macross 7 animated projects.
Tomo has also enjoyed a successful solo career as a pop idol singer. Her works can be found on several major labels including Pony Canyon, Warner Music Japan, Pioneer, and Victor. Originally part of the Lemon Angel pop idol unit, Tomo released her first solo album T-mode in 1995 followed by two live concerts Tomo ’96 Live and Tomo Natsu ’99 Summer Special Stage (recorded August 21 during her Akasaka Blitz Tokyo concert). Tomo has released 4 singles and 16 albums over the course of her career.
Source(s): Gwyn Campbell, Vintage Anime Fans Facebook group, “Tomofull” Sakurai Tomo’s official website, Buzzap, and morningberryz48 WordPress site.
By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)
In Tokyo on Saturday night (January 30th), a party was held to celebrate the birthday of Mylene Flare Jenius, the bassist and backing singer for the band Fire Bomber from Macross 7. Attending this event was none other than Mica Okudoi and Tsutomu Takayama (Hibiki Kanzaki of Super Dimensional Fortress Macross II: Lovers Again). The lucky person who took these photos (Gwyn Campbell) had a front row ticket, and I agree with one of the Macross Fans- US members when he said Mylene’s outfit is not designed to be worn by a full-grown woman. But seriously, I’m sure it wouldn’t bother the male otakus that much.