Yoshifumi Ushima, the Japanese singer most famous for his songs in Mobile Fighter G Gundam, died on August 7, 2022. One of his staff members broke the news on his official Twitter account. The 55-year-old singer had been suffering from chronic liver cirrhosis, and it caused an esophageal varices rupture that led to his death.
Born in September 1966, Ushima began his musical career in 1994. “Flying in the Sky,” the first opening theme for Mobile Fighter G Gundam, was his debut song. He would also sing “Trust You Forever,” the second opening song of the same mecha anime.
Yoshifumi Ushima was also known as a composer who provided compositions for numerous anime songs. Two of the most notable examples were “Butterfly Kiss,” the first opening theme of Rave Master, and “Eien no Tobira,” the theme song of Gundam: The 08th MS Team – Miller’s Report, both of which were sung by Chihiro Yonekura. Ushima also composed the character image songs for Gundam Wing‘s Heero Yuy and Trowa Barton.
As a singer of G Gundam opening themes, Yoshifumi Ushima’s songs often appear in games that feature the title. Bandai Namco will include the short-looped vocal versions of “Flying in the Sky” and “Trust You Forever” in the Premium Sound & Data Pack DLC for SD Gundam Battle Alliance. The DLC pack will be available on the PS5, PS4, Switch, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, and PC on the same day the game releases worldwide on August 25, 2022.
