Sayuri, a Japanese pop singer responsible for a laundry list of catchy opening and closing songs, has died at 28.
Though young, Sayuri contributed to many of the best anime in her short but illustrious career. Fans of My Hero Academia will recognize her work in Season 4, where she contributed ‘About a Voyage’ for the credits.
She also performed ‘Sekai no Himitsu’ for the first season of Edens Zero, and ‘Tower of Flower’ for Lycoris Recoil. Possibly her finest hour outside of My Hero Academia, though, was ‘Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no Youna’ on mystery anime show Erased.
Her passing was announced on her official X/Twitter account, where it was revealed she’d been suffering functional dysphonia and had a previously unreported chronic condition. She died on September 20, 2024.
さユりに関するお知らせ pic.twitter.com/nmFo9YHUgJ
— 酸欠少女 さユり (@taltalasuka) September 27, 2024
Fans have been posting tributes to the young vocalist, whose songs helped elevate some beloved franchises. “That Erased ED is one of my favorite Japanese songs. It’s a regular in my playlist,” says one Redditor. “She was a gem, RIP.”
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“Heikousen is one of my favorite ending songs… Now the song will hit deeper. It already made me feel quite emotional,” a second says. “I’m shocked and genuinely deeply saddened to hear that Sayuri is no longer with us, even if her voice will echo on through her work,” a third adds.
Thanks to winning a national singing contest in 2012, Sayuri was able to leave school early in order to pursue a career as a performer. She’s released two albums of original work, the first in 2015 and the second in 2022, with the usual cavalcade of singles and music videos to boot, as a well as a remix album.
She and her husband revealed their marriage in March 2024, and Sayuri announced she was taking a break from singing in July 2024 for health reasons.