Goodbye ZARD!

zOMG I am sad. Who cares about Odex suing people? The voice behind ZARD, Izumi Sakai, passed away from an accident on Saturday. T_T

ZARD
ZARD (Izumi Sakai)

Singer Izumi Sakai has died after sustaining head injuries in a fall from the edge of a hospital building in Tokyo, her management agency has announced. Sakai, a member of the popular group ZARD, was 40.

Sakai fell about three meters from the slope outside Keio University Hospital in Tokyo’s Shinjuku-ku, apparently after coming back from a walk. The slope was slippery due to rain.

I blame this on global warming. ;_; I really, really love her song “Dakishimeteite” which was used as an insert song in Tokimeki Memorial 3 for PS2. Just listen to it for yourself:

[audio:dakishimeteite.mp3]

May she rest in peace… :( Her beauty voice will live on in my WinAMP playlist. T_T

[ Source: Mainichi Daily News ]

This entry was posted in Music and tagged , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

28 Responses to Goodbye ZARD!

  1. Silverwolf X says:

    OMG…. no… first ODEX now this?

    For someone 40, she’s still pretty hot, and her voice rocks.

    Japanese VAs have this touch they add to characters I find hard to notice anywhere else. Its sad a good one dies from a freak accident like this.

  2. pKjd says:

    I just came back from hearing a compilation of all their works on nico last night. So sad, but the music will forever live on…

  3. tj han says:

    I heard about it on Saturday and I even put an entire paragraph about her into my academic paper on 2ch. Didn’t bother to write a post about it though.

    BTW YOU FAIL TO MENTION WHY SHE WAS IN HOSPITAL.

    Cervival cancer…. not cool.

  4. Azu says:

    I heard it yesterday and I was just as shocked. Even though I haven’t heard much of ZARD, Izumi did made the lyrics of Dragonball GT’s OP1 by Field of View and also made her band’s own cover of it. The song was one of my first few anisons.

    Another great loss to the music scene and I offer my deep condolences for fans alike.

  5. Your music was amongst the firsts I discovered when I got interested in Japanese music.
    Your lyrics were the one that made me truly fall in love with J-pop.
    Your music was the one that made me buy all the “Meitantei Conan Best of”s and never regret it.
    Your lyrics were the one I enjoyed learning by heart and humming to myself.
    From the bottom of my heart, Thank you so much.
    Rest in peace Izumi Sakai from Zard.

    (I know I’m a total nobody, to her and here in this blog, but I had to express my comittment. Thank you for your patience.)

  6. Hao says:

    Haven’t gone online for the last five days now first thing I saw after checking my RSS feeds is this… She’s one of my favorite female musicians, RIP T_T

  7. Hinano says:

    Holy shit!! I know ZARD
    Well I never really liked her songs but
    Damn I knew who she was cause I keep up with the JPOP shit
    Damn :((((( It makes me sad when a singer I know dies at such a young age T_T

  8. panzer magier says:

    Omg…I heard about it from a friend yesterday….I thought he was kidding….RIP Izumi Sakai, you are gone, but you will never be forgotten…T.T

  9. Asuka says:

    This is quite sad. When I read the title I thought another group was disbanding, but this is a lot worse.

    But the from way the accident is worded, it sounds more like a suicide than an accident, IMHO. :S

  10. whazzup says:

    will forever remember her voice as the one which ended Slamdunk’s episodes…

  11. double says:

    Sigh, such an unfortunate incident. I really like her songs used in meitantei conan, and her voice is really great.May she rest in peace.

  12. KesenaiTsumi says:

    Damn….Haven heard her name……But all the songs you all mention I loved it too…..
    Think I should start knowing the artist for Anime songs…..

    Anyway, Rest In Peace.

  13. Akiraman says:

    Sad news indeed… Have not heard about her or the group but after this post I will go look more for her music she has a nice voice…

  14. Nathan says:

    i am so shoked by her death.
    in fact , i am waiting for her new single.and now i still can`t believe she has not in the world any more.
    her clear powerful special voice can`t be heard any more
    i can say nothing at all.
    May she rest in heaven.
    i love you forever…

  15. Yoshi says:

    Omg….Just read the news too. I grew up listening to ZARD…

  16. Koji Oe says:

    An nothing of value was lost.

    I never liked her music anyway. Maybe if it were Yukarin or B’z I’d be depressed and sad, but this is nothing to sweat over.

  17. musashiken says:

    Gasp! Although I didn’t really like her songs but I’ve never been so sad since Okazaki Ritsuko passed away a few years back….

    Well maybe I’m more depressed about Ritsuko’s death…

  18. Koji Oe says:

    What Okazaki Ritsuko died. Shit, I didn’t know that.

  19. musashiken says:

    Sigh… why do you think there’s no more Ritsuko in the theme songs for UFO Princess Valkyrie Season 3…

    “On May 5, 2004, Ritsuko Okazaki died suddenly at the age of 44 from septic shock as a result of septicemia. She was unable to speak any last words, and left her work unfinished.”

    I was devastated by that… Went to import her latest and last album…

  20. Marwin says:

    How do you die from a fall of 3 meters? That’s BAD luck.

  21. sukukia says:

    Just today I knew about her death. How foolish I am… ;(
    Feeling so sad, but keep on encouraging me that she’s no longer suffer from the sickness and happy on Heaven.
    Izumi, we will always love you. Forever.

  22. teabie says:

    i remember buying my first few anime song compilations from that pirated company SONMAY… but ZARD was the first few Jpop artistes who initiated me into anime/jpop/manga genre. it makes me feel as though an era has ended. i’m gonna lose all my memories. ;__;

    rest in peace, izumi-san.

  23. a fans of ZARD says:

    ZARD is amazing…
    She is gone but remained in my heart forever.

    Anyway, Rest In Peace.

  24. Zard_forever says:

    It has already been a year since Izumi-san’s passing away.

    I miss her songs, voice and heart. I will never forget her. Never.

  25. gOtcHi says:

    owwww!!!!!!!!!!
    i really love ZARD/ Izumi Sakai…
    i love her songs,,, especially EIEN, FOREVER YOU,and
    SHOUJO NO GORO NI MODOTTA MITAI NI…

  26. prasanga67 says:

    She is beautiful, cute, innocent, & charm….. Well talented songwriter (she wrote more than 150 songs) great singer, & group leader. She graduated from Shoin Women’s College in Atsugi city, Kanagawa. So wonderful…….everybody loved her (not only Japanese) her voice will be with us forever………….

  27. Conan says:

    翼を広げて this song is nice too
    its detective conan movie 12 ending song
    enjoy ^^

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *