Kouji Wada, whose voice has influenced the childhood of many by singing the theme songs for many Digimon anime, has passed away at the age of 42 on 3 April after a long battle with cancer in his upper pharynx.

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He discovered that he had a malignant tumor in his upper pharynx and a lymph node on his neck back in 2003. It was treated properly, but his cancer came back, and he was forced to put his career on hold in 2011. He later came back in 2013, and fittingly ended his career with his final single, which is a re-recording of Butter-Fly for the Digimon Adventure tri. anime, the very song which made him famous.

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A private memorial service will be held for the singer’s family and friends, while his agency, Solid Vox, will be holding a memorial event for fans later this month called the  “Wada Kouji Owakare no Kai” or the Kouji Wada Farewell Event. No exact date for this memorial service for fans has been announced as of writing.

Aside from his career-defining Butter-fly song, the talented singer was also responsible for the theme songs for Digimon Adventure 02, Digimon Tamers, Digimon Frontier, Digimon: Data Squad, and Digimon Xros Wars. He also performed the theme song the OP theme song of the Japanese version of Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

We send our condolences to the family of Kouji Wada. May he rest in peace.

Source: Yahoo! Japan