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Anime, as a medium, has not only been around for a few decades, but it was quite self-contained for much of that period. It therefore has a select number of people who were extremely influential in its development. It is useful to know these people, as their personal style has formed the foundations of many Japanese Visual Arts Tropes found in this wiki.
Not to be confused with Essential Anime: that's about programs.
The "who's who" in anime includes the following directors and producers:
Those who are most famous for anime on TV and in OAV:
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TV and OAV
- Osamu Tezuka — Manga no kami-sama, "the God of Manga," responsible for anime and manga as we know them today.
- Osamu Dezaki — First to use the Pastel-Chalked Freeze Frame. Directed Rose of Versailles, Ashita No Joe, the Air and Clannad movies, the 90's anime version of Black Jack, Oniisama e... and Mighty Orbots.
- Leiji Matsumoto — Known for his distinctive art style, the single continuity where most of his works are set, and the unique Anachronism Stew which features, among others, literal trains in SPACE.
- Yoshiyuki "Kill 'Em All" Tomino — Worked from the beginning on storyboards for Tetsuwan Atom. Highly influential in creating the Real Robot genre with his series Mobile Suit Gundam, and its many sequels and Spin Offs. One of the foremost popularizers of Kill 'Em All in anime; so much so, many online communities have made it his official nickname.
- Hideaki Anno — Co-founder for Studio Gainax; directed Gunbuster, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kare Kano, and, perhaps most famously, Neon Genesis Evangelion; friend and protege of Hayao Miyazaki
- Shinichi Watanabe — aka "Nabeshin", director of Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi, among others; known for taking the Gag Series anime in a gonzo direction.
- Shinichiro Watanabe — Co-director of Macross Plus. Directed influential series Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Skilled at mixing multiple genres. Often confused for the above.
- A special case is "Hajime Yatate" — actually a pseudonym for the Sunrise animation staff, often credited as an "original creator" in series like Mobile Suit Gundam, Outlaw Star, or Keroro Gunsou. "Izumi Todo" (Futari wa Pretty Cure) or "Saburo Yatsude" (Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, many Super Robot series) serves the same purpose for Toei.
- Akiyuki Shinbo — Director of Moon Phase, Pani Poni Dash!, Hidamari Sketch, the second Mahou Sensei Negima! anime, and the smash hit Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Tends to include innumerable Shout Outs to just about everything, as well as some non-standard direction. Whether this guy is a genius of anime or a pedophile who found a safer way out in it is the subject of many jokes and arguments.
- Toshio Maeda — Writer of Urotsukidouji and as such one of the founders of the tentacle rape subgenre of hentai.
- Junichi Sato — A director who mainly works in fairytale-influenced shoujo series, and director of some of the best Magical Girl series out there. His credits include the first two seasons of Sailor Moon (which he continued to write for and direct episodes of afterwards), Prétear, Princess Tutu, Aria, and Kaleido Star.
- Chiaki Konaka — Writer of series that range between supernatural horror (Devilman Lady, Hellsing, Narutaru, Ghost Hound) and sci-fi thriller (The Big O, Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze). Best known, however, for his major role on Digimon Tamers.
- Masaaki Yuasa — Animation Director on Noiseman Sound Insect and some of the best episodes of Shin Chan, and the director of Mind Game, Kemonozume, Kaiba, The Tatami Galaxy and a short in Genius Party. All of his work is known for having excellent, inventive animation, and having very unusual subject matter.
- Mitsuteru Yokoyama — Manga/anime writer best known for Tetsujin 28/Gigantor and Giant Robo. Also wrote Kamen No Ninja Akakage and Sally The Witch.
- Kunihiko Ikuhara — Anime director best known for Revolutionary Girl Utena and his work on Sailor Moon.
- Koichi Mashimo — Anime director best known for Noir, .hack//SIGN, and Madlax. Founder of studio Bee Train.
- Kazuya Tsurumaki — Anime director best known for FLCL; protege of Hideaki Anno
- Hiroyuki Yamaga — Co-founder of Studio Gainax and director of Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi.
- Toshio Okada — Co-founder of Studio Gainax and director of Otaku no Video
- Hiroyuki Imaishi — Animator and director whose work includes Dead Leaves, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. Known for his colorful, surreal, ultra-stylized visuals, hyper-kinetic animation style, and wacky sense of humor.
- Yoshinori Kanada — Considered by many to have been the best Japanese key animator outside of Telecom Animation Film, and was highly influential on many animators, especially the aforementioned Hiroyuki Imaishi. He worked on many, many shows in his time, including Akira and Various Ghibli projects, certain stand-out episodes of various 70s mecha series (including Daitarn3, Gaiking and Zambot3, the wonderfully animated climax in the otherwise not particularly visually noteworthy Harmagedon, an outstanding sequence in the Galaxy Express 999 movie and the virtually plotless yet visually exciting and criminally underrated 80s OVA Birth, for which he was the animation director.
- Shoji Kawamori — The director of the whole canonical Macross series as well as the mechanical designer for Cowboy Bebop.
- Gen Urobuchi — Scenarist and screenwriter, very famous for his Darker and Edgier works, formerly working with Nitro Plus on such Visual Novel projects as Saya no Uta. His favorite tropes include Break the Cutie, Crapsack World, Through the Eyes of Madness, and Downer Ending (or if you feel lucky, Bittersweet Ending). Made famous after his work on Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Also infamous as a Trolling Creator.
- Izumi Todo: Creator of Ojamajo Doremi, and, more recently, the massive cash cow known as Pretty Cure. Much like Hajime Yatate, the name is actually a pseudonym for the Toei animation staff.
Primarily known for working in anime films:
Films
- Hayao Miyazaki — Co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and the biggest name in modern anime. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away are among his films.
- Isao Takahata — Co-founder of Studio Ghibli and famed anime film director. His work, Grave of the Fireflies, is considered by some to be one of the greatest anime films ever made.
- Katsuhiro Otomo — Mainly a manga creator, but he directed the movie adaptation of his most famous work, AKIRA, which was considered the breakthrough title for anime in the West.
- Makoto Shinkai — Director and animator. Produced Voices of a Distant Star (alone!), The Place Promised In Our Early Days, and 5 Centimeters per Second. His works are well known for their gratuitous Scenery Porn, and Voices was produced almost entirely as a solo project by Makoto, showcasing the power that modern computer animation gave to artists.
- Mamoru Oshii — Writer and director, known for his surreal, aesthetically breathtaking, intellectual style, and occasionally his offbeat humor. Signature works include Angel's Egg, Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (along with several memorable episodes from the series), the Patlabor series and movies, and the two Ghost in the Shell movies.
- Satoshi Kon — Director of Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and the TV series Paranoia Agent. Died from pancreatic cancer in 2010.
- Yoshiaki Kawajiri — One of the best directors of dark, gritty, flashy and sexy action movies, best known for Wicked City, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, as well as classic cyberpunk OAVs such as Cyber City Oedo 808 and Goku: Midnight Eye. Also worked in the X/1999 TV series.
Some production studios are particularly well known, especially if they have their own little quirks:
Studios
The following manga creators, while not always directly involved in anime, have provided the basis for a large number of essential anime:
Manga-ka
- Akira Toriyama — Writer of the famous Dragon Ball series, as well as Dr Slump. Renowned video-game visual designer (Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest series have both benefited from his input).
- Arina Tanemura — Primarily works on shojo manga. Wrote Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Full Moon o Sagashite, and Time Stranger Kyoko.
- CLAMP — A team of shojo and shonen manga authors who have provided some of the genre's defining works; among them, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, X and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle/Xxx Holic.
- Eiichiro Oda — Creator of the long-running shounen series, One Piece, which is currently the number one best selling manga in Japan (and, after Osamu Akimoto's Kochi Kame, is the oldest manga running in Shonen Jump, for 14 years). Jokingly referred to as the Jesus of shonen manga, with Akira Toriyama being God. Known for his wacky and imaginative character designs and use of clever plot twists.
- Go Nagai — Innovator in several manga/anime genres. Wrote Mazinger Z, which popularized the Humongous Mecha genre, along with Cutey Honey, Getter Robo, and Devilman. Known for breaching taboos in writing and art.
- Keiko Takemiya — The creator of Kaze to Ki no Uta and Toward the Terra. She is one of the members of the Year 24 Group, a group of female mangaka that helped revolutionize shoujo manga and one of the pioneers of the Yaoi Genre.
- Ken Akamatsu — Creator of A.I. Love You, Love Hina, and Mahou Sensei Negima!.
- Kenichi Sonoda — Writer of Gunsmith Cats and Cannon God E Xa X Xion; also the character designer on several influential productions, including Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, and Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (Studio Gainax's first major project).
- Kiyohiko Azuma — Creator of Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba&!.
- Koge-Donbo — Famous for her ultra-cute style and one of the first popular "moe" manga-ka. Series she has written include Di Gi Charat, Kamichama Karin and Pita-Ten.
- Kosuke Fujishima — the original creator of Ah! My Goddess and You're Under Arrest!, who has been lead character designer on the Tales Series for over a decade.
- Kozue Amano — Creator of the ''Aqua'' and ''Aria'' manga series.
- Masami Kurumada — Creator of Saint Seiya as well as a number of other titles.
- Masashi Kishimoto — Creator of the extremely popular series Naruto.
- Mitsuru Adachi — Creator of Touch, H2, Cross Game and many other sports manga, he is one of the most well-known shonen authors in Japan. His works have sold over 200 million copies and he actually owns his own baseball team.
- Mohiro Kitoh: Creator of such inspiring works as Bokurano and Naru Taru.
- Monkey Punch — Creator of widely acclaimed and adapted manga series Lupin III.
- Moto Hagio — The creator of the work The Heart Of Thomas and They Were Eleven. She is also a member of the Year 24 Group and along with Keiko Takemiya, is a pioneer of the Yaoi Genre.
- Naoki Urasawa — Creator of Monster, Pluto, and 20th Century Boys. His work is known for its suspense and critical acclaim. He also released a rock album.
- Naoko Takeuchi — Creator of Sailor Moon as well as ex-girlfriend to Kosuke Fujishima and wife to Yoshihiro Togashi.
- Nobuhiro Watsuki — The mangaka behind the hit series Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin, and a failed (but still pretty cool) attempt at a western, Gun Blaze West. Is currently hard at work on Embalming. Known for his love of late nineteenth/early twentieth century fashion and architectural styles.
- Riyoko Ikeda — Creator of Rose of Versailles and Oniisama e.... She is also one of the members of the Year 24 Group.
- Rumiko Takahashi — Creator of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, and InuYasha, among others. One of the most published authors on the entire planet (literally hundreds of million of volumes sold) and one of the richest women in Japan because of it. Sometimes referred to by American otaku as "The Goddess".
- Satoko Kiyuduki — Increasingly popular illustrator and character designer who works entirely by herself, without the help of any assistants. Creator of GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class and Shoulder A Coffin Kuro, but best known for her work on the Dept Heaven game series. All of her manga are yonkoma.
- Satoru Akahori — Light Novelist and manga writer; created or co-created Saber Marionette J, Sorcerer Hunters, Sakura Taisen, Maze Megaburst Space, M0use, the Lamune & 40 series, Mon Colle Knights, Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge, and many other series.
- Shirow Masamune — Creator of Ghost in the Shell, Dominion Tank Police, Appleseed, and Black Magic M-66.
- Shotaro Ishinomori — Protege of Osamu Tezuka, and an instrumental figure in the henshin (transforming) superhero genre. Created Cyborg 009, the first superhero team in Japan, as well as Kamen Rider. He also kickstarted the Super Sentai genre by writing Himitsu Sentai Goranger for TV (which later got a manga sequel).
- Tatsuo Yoshida — Anime pioneer who created Mach Go Go Go, better known as Speed Racer in the English-speaking world. Later, with his brothers, he founded the anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.
- Tite Kubo: Creator of the popular long running series Bleach. Also highly regarded as a Trolling Creator in the fandom.
- Yoshihiro Togashi — Author of YuYu Hakusho and Hunter × Hunter. Married to Naoko Takeuchi and infamous for taking many long breaks from writing.
- Yoshitoshi ABe — Creator of Haibane Renmei, but mostly known for his artwork and character design for Serial Experiments Lain.
- Yuu Watase — Creator of Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi No Ceres, among others.
- Mamoru Nagano — Best known for his work in the field of Humongous Mecha. Worked with Real Robot king Yoshiyuki Tomino as a mechanical designer on three occasions, first on his debut work Heavy Metal L Gaim & then later on Zeta Gundam, where he was responsible for some of the most visually distinctive mobile suits in the show & perhaps in all of Gundam. The two also teamed up once more over a decade later when Nagano provided mecha designs for Brain Powerd. Creator the long-running manga series The Five Star Stories, a Spiritual Successor to L-Gaim, the first story-arc of which was made into an anime film. Married to voice actress Maria Kawamura, who has worked both L-Gaim & Z Gundam and is probably best known as the voice of Asuka's crazy mom.
Following music performers and composers have made their name in anime history:
Musicians and Composers
- Choro Club: A musical trio with an acoustic, slightly Latin-American sound, mostly known for their work for ARIA and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.
- Eri Kawai: Contributed many songs for anime productions as well as video games, both as a composer and a singer. Some of her more well known works include music for ARIA, Sketchbook ~full color'S~ and Utawarerumono.
- Ive Sound: A joint venture of various producers and performers, contributing opening and ending themes to many anime series. Best known for KOTOKO.
- Isao Sasaki: This deep-voiced singer has done more Humongous Mecha theme songs then you can shake a stick at. However, he has also done non-mecha themes too (such as Galaxy Express 999) - and not only he's still active, but he's still kept his powerful voice despite his age (listen to "Midnight Dekaranger" for proof). Also acts, played Joe the Condor in Gatchaman and did several live action roles, guesting in shows such as Kamen Rider and Juspion. Is the voice of Superman in the first 4 Superman films. No, really.
- Japanese Animation Songmakers Project - JAM Project: This rock band consists of some of the most popular singers in anime. Their stock in trade is Hot Blooded songs for Humongous Mecha shows and games as well as many, many more. Most famous for Super Robot Wars.
- Joe Hisaishi: Composer for nearly all of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. Known for using full orchestra to set the moods of the films. Big fan of American music producer Quincy Jones.
- Jun Maeda: Composer and partial performer most of the music for the games of Key Visual Arts and their derivative works.
- Mitsuko Horie: Has been doing theme songs since she was 12 years old. She has often done themes for shojo (and otherwise "soft") anime, but has also done a few themes for shonen anime as well. She as even done theme songs for live action (non-tokusatsu) TV dramas, such as a duet with Sasaki for Himitsu Sentai Goranger (although she has also done tokusatsu as well)! Also had a live action acting role in the Stealth Parody tokusatsu Uchuu Tetsujin Kyodaine.
- Savage Genius: A two-person band contributing many anime theme songs and being highly successful in the charts with them.
- Yuki Kajiura: Composer known for her work in Noir, MADLAX, the .hack series, the Hime meta-series and Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Her work tends to include Ominous Latin Chanting and One Woman Wailing. Also known by her musical projects in which she is/was involved, such as See-Saw, her Fiction Junction collaborations (with people as Yuuka Nanri, Kaori Oda, Keiko Kubota, between others), and more recently, Kalafina
- Yoko Kanno: Composer for many highly rated series including the heavily music-inspired Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, and Darker than Black.
- May'n: Singing voice of Sheryl Nome with around twenty songs to that name alone. She also did the well-received theme song to Shangri La.
- Tenmon: Makoto Shinkai's friend, ex-colleague at Falcom and frequent collaborator in every project he's been involved. Very fond of classical instruments (especially violin and piano) and poignant music, and the combination of said elements has become his mesmerizing signature style.
- Toshihiko Sahashi: Very prolific composer with a long list of contributions to anime-series, games and drama CDs.
- Masato Shimon: Active during the heyday of Humongous Mecha anime, Masato Shimon is probably best known for being the king of Hero Songs, singing many tokusatsu themes as well as Gatchaman's theme song. He is the singer of the infamous Jet Jaguar song. After 1993, claimed to hate humanity and vanished until 1998, when he sang Seiju Sentai Gingaman's OP and ED. Fluent in English. A Real Life invoker of I Have Many Names, as he has gone through many Stage Names when performing, probably most famously Akira Tani and Kouichi Fuji. Had a Funny Afro.
- Ichirou Mizuki (aka Aniki). Probably best known for Mazinger Z 's songs. Has acted in Jikuu Senshi Spielban, Choujin Barom 1, and Gaoranger.
- Koorogi 73 usually were backing singers on things such as Denshi Sentai Denjiman or Voltes V's theme songs, but sometimes took lead on things like Akuma-kun's OP. Also did a number of Villain Songs.
- Masatake Ookura, leading member of Koorogi '73 who also did some things on his own such as a cover of Ai wo Torimodose from Fist Of the North Star, the ending of Daimos, and several insert songs in Kinnikuman.
- Columbia Yurikago Kai (Columbia Cradle Club), a children's choir who sang backups to Gatchaman and 70's Super Robot anime theme songs such as Great Mazinger, Raideen as well as several Toku shows like Kamen Rider and live-action children's shows.
- Michiaki Watanabe. Composer for the 70s entries in the Mazinger Z franchise, and eventually became a tokusatsu composer primarily, though he still dabbled in anime like Machine Robo Revenge Of Chronos and Video Senshi Laserion. Still composing music for Super Sentai to this day.
- Akira Kushida, aka Kussy. Known for his soul music in addition to his anime works. Actually sang onstage with The Temptations. Best known for singing Kinnikuman's themes.
- Yukio Yamagata, a voice actor and anime singer best known for Ginga Reppu Baxinger, Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and Makyou Densetsu Acrobunch's opening songs.
- MIQ, a gal known for singing Hot Blooded giant robot themes for things like Aura Battler Dunbine and Heavy Metal L Gaim. Speaks fluent English.
- Takayuki Miyauchi, known for his extremely authoritative midrange to deep voice. Debuted in 1983 with Brocken Jr.'s theme(Red Rain Of Berlin, with Koorogi '73) in Kinnikuman. Also did several sentai songs, Kamen Rider Black RX's theme and Ginga Nagareboshi Gin 's theme.
- Taku Iwasaki, known for his work on the Rurouni Kenshin OVA's, Read or Die, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
- Shiro Sagisu, composer for several Studio Gainax projects including Neon Genesis Evangelion, His And Her Circumstances and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, as well as Bleach, Kimagure Orange Road and a couple of non-Pillows background tunes in FLCL.
- Kenji Kawai, a composer whose body of work includes Ranma 1/2, Vampire Princess Miyu, Fate/stay night, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Gundam 00 and every Mamoru Oshii film.
Finally, the following voice actors, or seiyuu in Japanese, are either extremely significant presences in anime, or have had a major influence in the history and development of the medium:
Voice Actors
Several voice actors that are beginning to rise in popularity in recent years:
Recent voice actors
Unfortunately, voice actors are also humans. Some gained fame, and then died. Here's some famous Japanese voice actors that have passed away, but have contributed a lot in the anime business:
RIP
Here's a list of noteworthy English dub voice actors. Voice actors are usually not exclusive to one studio or region - this list is separated by where they are based.
Dub Voice Actors
Los Angeles area: (Bang Zoom! Entertainment, New Generation Pictures, Animaze, Studiopolis)
- Jennifer Alyx
- Stephen Apostolina
- Laura Bailey (based in Texas until 2008 and still does some work there)
- Troy Baker (in Texas until 2008 and still does some work there)
- Brian Beacock
- Beau Billingslea
- Steve Blum
- Johnny Yong Bosch (occasionally works with Funimation)
- Kira Buckland (has done some work in other media for Texas-based companies)
- Steve Bulen
- Christine Marie Cabanos
- Richard Cansino
- Cam Clarke
- Ben Diskin
- Lucien Dodge (Previously based in New York where he worked for Pokémon)
- Brian Donovan
- Richard Epcar
- Doug Erholtz
- Dorothy Elias Fahn
- Melissa Fahn (Dorothy's sister-in-law)
- Erin Fitzgerald (worked in Canada until early 2000s, still does work there on occasions)
- Quinton Flynn
- Rebecca Forstadt
- Sandy Fox
- Crispin Freeman (worked in New York until 2001)
- Grant George
- Barbara Goodson
- Todd Haberkorn (now residing in Los Angeles as of 2011; and as of 2012, his first major anime voice acting gig in Los Angeles has been confirmed in Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan under the alias of Todd Stone)
- Kyle Hebert (based in Texas until 2005, still does some work there)
- Kate Higgins
- Bridget Hoffman
- Megan Hollingshead (worked in New York until 2006)
- Xanthe Huynh
- Carrie Keranen (worked in New York until 2011)
- Erik Kimerer
- Steve Kramer
- Lauren Landa
- Lex Lang
- Amanda Winn Lee (worked in Texas until around 2000, largely left voice acting to take her of her son when he was diagnosed with leukemia, but slowly making a return)
- Cassandra Lee (worked in New York until late 2000s)
- Mela Lee
- Wendee Lee
- Shelby Lindley
- Michael Lindsay
- Yuri Lowenthal
- Sherry Lynn
- Julie Maddalena
- Mona Marshall
- Michael Mc Connohie
- Mary Elizabeth Mc Glynn (has also done some work in Texas)
- Matthew Mercer
- Vic Mignogna (worked in Texas until around 2008 and still works with Funimation from time to time, and has also worked on Pokemon in New York)
- Marianne Miller
- Lara Jill Miller
- Edie Mirman
- Liam O'Brien (worked in New York until around 2004)
- Colleen O Shaughnessey
- Tony Oliver
- Bryce Papenbrook
- Tara Platt
- Jamieson Price
- Derek Stephen Prince
- Eden Riegel
- Sam Riegel (Worked in New York until around 2009, still does Yu-Gi-Oh! voiceovers)
- Cindy Robinson
- Michelle Ruff (said she's getting a first role with Funimation)
- Philece Sampler
- Carrie Savage (worked in LA until around 2007 where she worked in Texas in many Funimation titles, had recently moved back to LA)
- Patrick Seitz (frequent regular of Funimation)
- Stephanie Sheh (ocassionally works with Funimation)
- Brianne Siddall
- Keith Silverstein
- Christopher Corey Smith
- Roger Craig Smith
- Spike Spencer (Worked in Texas until the early 2000s, occasionally returns to Texas to reprise old roles)
- Paul St Peter
- Steve Staley
- Skip Stellrecht
- Terrence Stone
- Karen Strassman
- Kaiji Tang
- Julie Ann Taylor
- Kirk Thornton
- Cristina Valenzuela (has also done work in New York, notably on Pokemon)
- David Vincent
- Kari Wahlgren
- Debi Mae West
- Sarah Williams
- Travis Willingham (worked in Texas until 2008 and occasionally works with Funimation)
- Dave Wittenberg
- Dan Woren
Texas: (FUNimation, Seraphim Digital Studios (formerly ADV Studios), the now-closed Monster Island Studio)
New York City: (4Kids, NYAV Post, Headline Studios)
Much like their Japanese counterparts, English voice actors are only human. Some have died. Here be a list of the dearly departed.
RIP
Others, while still very much alive, have either retired or changed careers, such as:
Retired
- Brice Armstrong: Captain Ginyu and Lord Slug from Dragon Ball Z, the narrator of Dragon Ball, Sugoro in Dragon Ball GT, Tim Marcoh from Fullmetal Alchemist, many roles in Case Closed, among others. He retired around 2009 (likely due to his age), and his continuing roles have been replaced.
- Amy Birnbaum: Voice of Max in Pokemon and Tea Gardner in Yu-Gi-Oh!. She hasn't done any voice acting since 2007.
- Petrea Burchard: Best known for voicing Ryoko in Tenchi Muyo! and Miho Miwakura in Serial Experiments Lain (along with some work in western animation, notably F.R.A.N. in the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" cartoon). She retired from voice acting around 2005, and did not reprise her role of Ryoko for the third Tenchi OVA and Tenchi Muyo GXP. She's now a writer, and occasionally appears in commercials.
- Dameon Clarke: Started out at Funimation as the voice of Cell and Scar, moved to Los Angeles and now only does live-action TV and a few video games. Although he recently returned to reprise his role as Cell for Dragon Ball Kai.
- Ceyli Delgadillo: Had a brief stint working at Funimation as the voice of Kid Goku (in the second and third movies), Dende (dubbed over by Laura Bailey on the remastered DVD releases), and the little boy that Yusuke sacrificed himself to save. Left Funimation circa 2001, and is now living in New York City.
- Mark Gatha: English dub voice of Domon Kasshu in G Gundam, who has now become a doctor.
- Lia Sargent: English dub voice of Milly Thompson (and the show's ADR director), as well as providing voices and/or ADR scripts for Rurouni Kenshin, Wolf's Rain, and Planetes. Mostly retired from voice acting in 2006, but has done a few video game roles since then, such as Natsume from Dot Hack GU and Shion in Xenosaga, as well as a couple minor anime roles, such as the redub of Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and the Dantes Inferno animated movie.
- Andrew Rannells: He retired from voice acting to start a career on Broadway and mainstream TV.
- Tristan Mac Avery: original English dub voice of Gendo Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion, retired from voice-acting after a falling-out with ADV. Now enjoying a career in writing.
- Meredith Mc Coy: Best known as the voice of Android 18 in Dragon Ball Z, Launch (both sides) in Dragon Ball, Fujiko Mine in Lupin III, Maria Ross in Fullmetal Alchemist, and others. She still does occasionally voice act, but mostly left the business around 2008. She recently reprised her role of Maria Ross in Fulllmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, but did not reprise her role of Android 18 in Dragon Ball Kai (she was asked though, but the role was instead filled by Colleen Clinkenbeard as a last minute substitute). She mostly seems to be focusing on her family and singing career.
- Tara Sands: AKA Tara Jayne (Mokuba Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Filia in Slayers, Bulbasaur, and many, many other roles in Pokemon) Left voice acting around 2006 to start a career in mainstream TV, but continues to narrate audiobooks. She was briefly voicing anime in Los Angeles towards the end of her career, but was mostly New York-based.
- Joshua Seth: English dub voice for the likes of Tai Kamiya (Taichi Yagami), Shoubu, Hige and Tetsuo Shima, is now a Comedy Hypnotist.
- Jason Gray Stanford: Had a good history in doing voicework in Canada during the '90s in roles such as Raditz, Joe Higashi, and Donatello. In the early 2000s he moved to California and in 2002 he became Lt. Randall Disher in the TV Series Monk and that's what he is mainly known for today (though it's uncertain if he would ever make a comeback since Monk has now ended, he probably wouldn't).
- Eric Stuart: retired from voice acting just after recording for the newest Slayers series, and moved from New York to Tennessee to focus on his music career and family. However, he says he would return to voice his Pokemon roles if asked, and continues to appear at anime conventions. He also continues to narrate audiobooks and recently returned for Yu Gi Oh Zexal.
- Tiffany Vollmer: Bulma from Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, and Dragon Ball GT, Betsy from Case Closed, and a few additional characters in Yu Yu Hakusho. She stopped accepting new roles around 2006, but continued to voice Bulma until she moved to New Orleans in 2010. She is now a makeup artist, filmmaker, and occasional dancer and on-camera actress.
- David Kaye: Highly prominent in anime that was dubbed in Canada such as Sesshomaru in InuYasha, Soun Tendo in Ranma ½ and Reccome in the Ocean Blue dub of Dragon Ball Z. Kaye had moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to further his voice acting career. While he is prominent in video games and western animation, he has all but retired in the field of anime, with his role as Sesshomaru being recast to Michael Daingerfield Hall in Inuyasha The Final Act.
And others occasionally get involved in Anime voice acting even though they aren't really regulars in the industry, such as:
Other
- Bob Bergen, now known for being the voice of Porky Pig since Mel Blanc's death, was the voice for Lupin III in the original English dubs of the first two films, produced by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures.
- Genre-favorite Claudia Black of Farscape and Stargate SG-1 fame did the opening of Steel Angel Kurumi, as well as the voice of Steel Angel Michael. ADV Films got her to do the role while she was in studio recording some extra features for their DVD release of Farscape.
- Kimberly J Brown, best known for playing Marnie in the first three Halloweentown movies, voiced the title character in Vampire Princess Miyu for several episodes before being replaced with Dorothy Elias Fahn.
- Maile Flanagan, who typically works as an on-screen actress, is best known as the voice of Naruto Uzumaki in the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden dubs.
- David Hayter, former Guyver lead star and X-Men and Watchmen film series Screenplay writer, is known primary for his role as Solid Snake in the Metal Gear series, but he also did plenty of anime dubs such as Tamahome in Fushigi Yugi, Bernard Wiseman in Gundam 0080, and the title role in Lupin III: The Castle Of Cagliostro.
- Even Samuel L. Jackson himself worked in anime, which he's a fan of, as the voice of the title character of Afro Samurai.
- Danielle Judovits, who also works primarily in western animation, and has very few anime roles, her most famous one being Tenten on Naruto.
- Alessandro Juliani, a Canadian actor known for portraying Felix Gaeta on Battlestar Galactica (Reimagined), also worked on Death Note as the voice of the world's greatest detective, L. (He did do voice work before such as Pit in Captain N The Game Master, Prince Toma in one of the Ranma ½ movies and Gambit from X-Men: Evolution and the like, but his voice work was never considered all that memorable until L came along)
- Janice Kawaye, who does mostly American voice acting, for example Jenny in My Life as a Teenage Robot, has also worked on Bleach as the voice of Ichigo's sister Yuzu Kurosaki.
- Tom Kenny, who's strictly a Western Animation voice actor known for being the voice of Spongebob Squarepants and a large number of other characters, has lent his voice to anime such as Rave Master, IGPX, and even a few small characters in Dragon Ball Z.
- Patricia Ja Lee, known primarily for her role as Cassie Chan in Power Rangers Turbo and In Space, played Afura Mann in El-Hazard, Mika Iwakura in Serial Experiments Lain, Megumi Kurogane in Gate Keepers and most recently, Patricia Martin (Yes, we noticed) in Lucky Star. She also portrayed Haruhi Suzumiya in a series of live-action promotional videos launched by Bandai Entertainment to announce the R1 license of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Before the series' English cast was announced, it was speculated that she might be the voice of Haruhi as well (the role would instead be played by Wendee Lee). Patricia would play one of the members of ENOZ in the episode "Live Alive".
- Hynden Walch, who normally works in American cartoon voice acting (she's best known for playing Starfire in Teen Titans) has also worked on a few anime, like Nia from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (before having to leave 2/3 of the way through due to family issues), Yutaka from Lucky Star, and Emiri Kimidori from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
- Wally Wingert, who also mostly does American animation voice acting, works on the Bleach dub as the gang's Sixth Ranger Renji Abarai. In addition, he was Brago from Zatch Bell and Tallest Red from Invader Zim.
- Note that this sub-list does not include the many celebrities and Western Animation VA's that Disney has gotten to play parts in their dubs of the Studio Ghibli films.
- Sarah Lafleur is best known for her large roles in Ugly Betty and Grey's Anatomy, but did you know she got her start voicing Sailor Uranus? She also voiced Trish in the original Devil May Cry.
- Reuben Langdon, famously known as Dante in Devil May Cry, though more known in video game voicings (mostly Japanese-based that many anime fans will recognize), has once lent his voice for the animated adaptation of the game himself and had a minor role in Monster
- Stephanie Morgenstern is now a Canadian television producer, known for being the co-creator of Flashpoint. She got her entertainment start doing voice acting, her most notable role being the original Sailor Venus.
- Terri Hawkes: On-camera actress by day, Sailor Moon by night. Other than Sailor Moon (pretty much her only anime role), she's also known for her appearances on Beverly Hills 90210 and Hello Mary Lou Prom Night II.
- Ali Hillis, AKA Dr. Liara T'soni, Lightning, is more known for video game voices, but at least she also did the anime version of Emma Frost and Karin.
- Tara Strong is usually a western-animation voice actress (and occasional on-camera actress), but voiced roles in the Studio Ghibli films, and one of her first gigs was voicing some minor roles in Sailor Moon. She also voiced young Yoh in Shaman King and Yumi Francois/Tekkaman Hiver in Tekkaman Blade 2.
- DC Douglas was once involved in a Hajime No Ippo Special as Ippo Manokuchi himself, but on the other hand, like Ali Hillis above, he's more known for his video game roles such as Legion and Albert Wesker.
- Fred Tatasciore, who mainly does western-animation and video games, had provided the voice of Gato in Naruto (he coincidentally bares a striking resemblance to him). Later, he did the voice of the Akatsuki member Kakuzu in Naruto Shippuden.
- Richard Steven Horvitz, a Western Animation voice actor with a few video games roles, best known for his roles as Zim, Billy and Orthopox-13. Horvitz had provided the voice of Kanchome in Zatch Bell... initially.
Here's a list of noteworthy Latin-American dub voice actors. Voice actors are usually not exclusive to one studio or region, and several countries have their own studios - this list is separated by country.
Mexico
Much like their Japanese and English counterparts, voice actors are only human. Some have died. Here be a list of the dearly departed.
RIP
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