Last week saw the anime community stunned by the sudden news that longtime Dragon Ball seiyu Hiromi Tsuru had passed away. The outpouring of sorrow and disbelief from Japan's professional anime community was all over social media. Many fans were wondering if last Saturday's episode would include any special message for Tsuru and her fans but Dragon Ball Super Episode 116 came and went with seemingly no acknowledgement of Tsuru's passing. At least it appeared that way to fans who watched the ep on Crunchyroll and Funimation. It seems the version of Episode 116 that aired in Japan had a special message after all, as seen below.
The translation of that reads:
Hiromi Tsuru, who voiced the Dragon Ball character Bulma for many years, has passed away.
From children to adults, Tsuru gave many people courage and happiness, and from the bottom of our hearts, we pray that she may rest in peace.
Bulma's last on screen appearance in Super was to wish the Universe 7 fighters luck as they went off to compete in the Omni King's Tournament of Power. Tsuru's last lines were, "Everyone, do your best! I’m counting on you all." Whether that will be Bulma's final appearance is anyone's guess, however it's also a mystery as to what happens in Super following the Tournament of Power arc. Some fans think the show will just continue on, while others believe theree will be a new title for the show as Toei and Akira Toriyama may look to take the show past the events depicted in the final episode of Dragon Ball Z (which started with a time skip and featured an adult Goku meeting Uub, the reincarnated version of evil Buu, and flying off to train him).