Danganronpa Actress and Singer Sayaka Kanda Has Died

Japanese actress and singer Sayaka Kanda, who played Junko Enoshima in the Danganronpa stage plays and voiced Kaede Akamatsu in Danganronpa V3, has died. She was 35 years old. [Thanks, Yahoo News.]

The hospital confirmed Kanda’s death on December 18, 2021, after a police investigation located the actress’ body. According to Hokkaido police, concerned acquaintances of Kanda reported that she was missing on the 18th. Kanda was reportedly staying in a 22nd-floor hotel room in Hokkaido prefecture. After searching the surrounding area, police located Kanda’s body in the hotel’s 14th-floor outdoor area. Police have ruled out foul play, and are currently investigating the matter as a suicide.

Sayaka Kanda was born on October 1, 1986, to Japanese singer Seiko Matsuda and actor Masaki Kanda. The actress was a major fan of the Danganronpa series, playing Junko Enoshima in the Danganronpa 1, 2, and 3 stage plays from 2014 to 2018. Additionally, Kanda also played Mukuro Ikusaba in the same stage play series. Later, Kanda voiced Kaede Akamatsu in Danganronpa V3.

Kanda also performed the opening theme for Atelier Ryza, “Rainbow Summer”. In addition to her career as an on-stage actor and singer-songwriter, Kanda also voiced characters in a variety of anime and movies. Notably, she provided the voice of Anna in the Japanese dub of Disney’s Frozen in 2013. She also voiced Yuna in Sword Art Online Movie: Ordinal Scale, as well as Mana Nagase in Idoly Pride.