Chris Ayres, best known for his role of Frieza in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection F and Dragon Ball Super: Broli (English dub) has passed away at the age of 56.
His Spouse broke the news early this morning via her twitter page, writing, "On October 18th at 8:40pm, my world went dark. Christopher Owen Ayres passed away peacefully, held close by his mother, brother, and girlfriend....Chris loved you all. How much he loved other people filled the vast majority of our conversations. To those of you who truly loved him back, thank you. To those of you who stayed in touch, checked on him, reminded him that he was so, so much more than his job, you were the fuel of his fight. You fed the dreams of a future that kept him going longer than any normal person could go."
Ayres was an inspiration, and loved by many in the anime community not only for his role in Dragon ball Z, but also as Kei Kurono in gantz, Corset in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, Everlue in Fairytail, and many more amazing characters.
Ayres was previously diagnosed with end stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and Emphysema requiring a double lung surgery. In the Go Fund Me posted online he says " People in the medical industry commonly refer to the double lung transplant as the “Million Dollar Surgery”, and now I understand why."
Krystal Laporte closed out her tweet by writing " I know a lot of people reading this will ask "is there anything I can do?" Please be more like Chris. Please if you learned anything from him, put it in this world. It needs him. Please fill it with love and laughter, always."
We will truly miss this legend, and will forever remember the mark that he left on this world. We express our most sincere and deepest condolences to his family, friends and loved ones.