Voice Actress, Singer Sayaka Kanda Dies at 35

Voice actress and singer Sayaka Kanda, known for playing Yuna in Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale and Mana Nagase in Idoly Pride, died on Saturday. She was 35 years old.

According to news outlet Mainichi Shimbun, Kanda was found collapsed in the outer garden of the 14th floor of a Sapporo hotel at around 1:00 p.m. She was taken to the hospital unconscious and pronounced dead at 9:40 p.m. The Hokkaido Prefectural Police are investigating the incident.

Kanda was scheduled to star in the My Fair Lady musical in Sapporo on Saturday. When the staff could not reach her by 11:00 a.m., she was replaced by co-star Manato Asaka. Upon receiving a report from a concerned individual, the Hokkaido Prefectural Police from the Sapporo Central station searched the nearby accommodations and discovered her body.

Kanda was born in Setagaya, Tokyo prefecture in 1986. Her parents were J-pop singer Seiko Matsuda and actor Masaki Kanda. She began her career as a singer in 2002 with the single ever since and as an actress in 2003 with the movie Dragon Head.

She began voice acting as Nadeshiko Adenokouji in Binbougami ga! (Good Luck Girl!) and played characters including Miharu Mashiki in Konbini Kareshi (Convenience Store Boy Friends) and Anna in the Japanese dub of Frozen.

She was the vocalist of the musical duo TRUSTRICK, which formed in April 2014 and performed anime theme songs for Juuou Mujin no Fafnir (Unlimited Fafnir), Ore Monogatari!! (My Love Story!!), Shounen Maid, and Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen - Mirai-hen (Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School - Future Arc). The duo went on indefinite hiatus in November 2016 and officially disbanded in April 2019.

Kanda also performed one of the ending themes of Uchuu Senkan Yamato 2202: Ai no Senshi-tachi (Star Blazers: Space Battleship Yamato 2202) and insert songs for Sword Art Online: Ordinal Scale, Sword Art Online: Alicization, and Idoly Pride.

Kanda announced her marriage to actor and fashion model Mitsu Murata in 2017, who co-starred in the Danganronpa stage play the Summer prior. The couple divorced in 2019.

Source: Mainichi Shimbun, Sports Hochi