Ever since voice actress Hiromi Tsuru sadly passed away last Fall, Dragon Ball fans and anime fans in general have wondered who would take over Bulma's role. Finally, on February 15th, the mystery was revealed in a tweet by the official Dragon Ball account:

---"We have a report on Bulma's role in the Dragon Ball series. In the 128th episode of Dragon Ball Super scheduled to air on February 18th, Bulma will be voiced by Hiromi Tsuru who performed (the episode's part) before she passed away. It has been decided that (Tsuru's) successor voicing Bulma from now on will be Aya Hisakawa."

Although Aya Hisakawa has yet to make her debut playing Bulma in an official Dragon Ball series, fans were elated to discover a sneak preview in the form of a commercial which began airing on February 20th. In a collaboration between Dragon Ball Z and chemical and cosmetics manufacturer Kao Corporation, a range of well-known bathroom and toilet cleaners are getting a makeover with the likenesses of Goku, Vegeta and Frieza.

Story: Vegeta confidently declares he has no more enemies but Bulma reminds him that dirt is the enemy in the house and she asks him to clean the bathroom. Angered by the sight of mildew, Vegeta unleashes Final Flash, blasting a hole through their house and probably destroying a few buildings as well. Bulma, visibly upset with her husband's excessive response to the problem, explains that Kao brand cleaners will do a much better job.

Aya Hisakawa's debut performance as Bulma had many fans singing her praises. Here are some of the comments on Twitter:

---"Hisakawa's voice is exactly like that of Hiromi Tsuru!"

---"This is the new voice? I'm so surprised because it sounds so perfect!"

---"She has adapted her voice to sound just like Tsuru's. As a Dragon Ball fan, I couldn't be happier!"

Even Toshio Furukawa, who voices Piccolo, lauded her debut performance:

---"So Tsuru-chan's successor is Aya Hisakawa for Bulma's role. Hmm, I think she's a perfect match and Tsuru-chan would have approved."

As it turns out, Aya Hisakawa, an accomplished voice actress who is perhaps most famous for her role as Sailor Mercury in Sailor Moon, is not a novice to the Dragon Ball anime series. She played the orphan girl Chiko in the filler Episode 16 of Dragon Ball Z back in 1989 when she was 21.

Although she won't make an appearance in Dragon Ball Super, episode 128 being Bulma's final appearance in the series, at least fans can rest assured that Dragon Ball's most famous heroine is in good hands with Aya Hisakawa as they await her true debut in a future Dragon Ball series.