Naruto voice actor's heartfelt message on Emi Shinohara's passing breaks Minato x Kushina fans' hearts

Modified Sep 12, 2024 18:01 GMT

Naruto voice actor's heartfelt message on Emi Shinohara's passing breaks Minato x Kushina fans (Image via Studio Pierrot)

On September 8, 2024, Naruto voice actress Emi Shinohara passed away due to medical reasons. Her passing deeply impacted the voice acting industry and anime fans who were accustomed to her voice.

Among those impacted was Toshiyuki Morikawa, a prominent voice actor and one-half of a famous married couple in anime. Morikawa, who voiced Minato, was the husband of Kushina Uzumaki, a role portrayed by the late voice actress.

The author expressed his feelings on the loss of a colleague and stated that his role as Minato was the fondest memory of his career. His farewell letter to the female voice actress shattered the fandom's hearts, leaving them in tears.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.

Naruto: What is the farewell message from Minato's voice actor to Emi Shinohara?

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On September 11, 2024, the voice actor of Minato Namikaze, Toshiyuki Morikawa tweeted his farewell message for the late Emi Shinohara.

The voice actor claimed that his fondest memory of his career was playing the role of a married couple with Emi Shinohara in Naruto. Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki were the parents of the protagonist, who died the day they gave birth to their newborn. Morikawa referenced a scene from Naruto, which could be the final moments of Minato and Kushina as they bid farewell to their newborn.

Minato and Kushina in their last moments with their son (Image via Studio Pierrot)

Toshiyuki Morikawa thanked the late voice actor for her hard work and said he believed they would meet again.

Reaction from the fandom

Minato and Kushina saving their son (Image via Studio Pierrot)

The fandom admitted they were crying over Morikawa's farewell to the Naruto voice actress. One fan blessed every voice actor in the industry and mentioned the recent passing of many voice actors.

Another fan confirmed that the dying scene of Kushina and Minato was the scene the voice actor mentioned in the tweet, stating that it was the best scene in all media.

Lastly, one fan brought up the topic of Minato's one-shot, Naruto: The Whorl within the Spiral, and they never want to see Kushina voiced by anyone else.

"Bless every naruto VA. Honestly, every voice actor because I'm seeing alot are passing recently" a fan urged

"I’m welling up way more than I thought" another one said

"If he was talking about that scene where both minato & kushina are dying, and kushina is saying all the parenting stuff to baby naruto, and minato is all like "the same as your nagging mother" then Yeah, it's one of the best scenes in all media, not just anime" another fan said

"I HOPE SP doesn't lay a hand on MINATO one shot to be animated now , we will never ever want to see KUSHINA get voiced by someone else and this is the correct tribute for an amazing seiyyu, sometimes it's better to leave stuff untouched" another one claimed

Final thoughts

Toshiyuki Morikawa is well-known in the voice acting industry for his 'dad voice' roles, including Paul Greyrat from Jobless Reincarnation and Kurosaki Isshin from Bleach. The fact that he chose his role as Minato as the fondest memory of his career proves how affected he was after Emi Shinohara passed away.

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Edited by Rachith Rao