"There, I uploaded my own picture for you. But this doesn't mean a thing, got it?!"
If you think of a
Tsundere, think of this person. Yes. Rie Kugimiya is a woman very well known for Tsundere roles, moreso if
the said character is a Loli and has a
flat chest. Fans started noticing her after she did
Alphonse Elric, but her role as
Shana is probably what made her popularity skyrocket. Like
Norio Wakamoto, although Tsundere is her forte, Rie is also capable of
voicing a lot of character types, including boys, or even
Yandere. She's also a skilled baton user, so yeah, she can really kick your butt... but probably she gets dere-dere afterwards in apology.
Unfortunately for Rie, the fact that producers LOVE
pigeonholing her as
Shana Clones (her best forte), she receives quite some
Hype Backlash amongst fans, accusing her to be unable to voice anything outside that. This, for the most part, is untrue as she is quite capable of doing non-Tsundere roles, and in fact has done quite a few. Her
Fan Nickname is
Queen of Tsundere and
TsundeRie,
which may either point on how she's pigeonholed in that role, or just how good she is in doing her job in that field. In fact,
Shana,
Louise,
Nagi, and
Taiga are collectively known as the Four Tsundere Wonders.
* Her most recent role,
Aria is the fifth candidate for Tsundere Wonder.
Hayate the Combat Butler.She is now also available here.
Her
Tsundere characters will almost certainly have a painfully adorable
Cry Cute moment in a series that she voice acts in.
Compare with
Satsuki Yukino, for a seiyuu of older/teen-aged
Tsundere.
Some of her roles include:
- Agnese Sanctis (To Aru Majutsu no Index)
- Alice Liddell (Heart No Kuni No Alice)
- Alicetia "Alice" Rain and Touka Tennouji (Nogizaka Haruka No Himitsu Purezza)
- Alisa Bannings (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha)
- Alphonse Elric and Catherine Elle Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood)
- She also does the panda Shao May in Brotherhood, meaning Rie gets to talk to herself for a few episodes.
- Aria H. Kanzaki (Hidan No Aria) — Quite possibly the Fifth Tsundere Wonder.
- Astarotte Ygvar (Lotte no Omocha!)
- Atsumi Miyagawa (Recorder and Randsell) — A non-tsundere, mature loli.
- Bakuhatsu Penguin (Kampfer fur de Liebe) — Yes, it's a Tsundere.
- Cassie Lockhart from (Freezing) — A definite Playing Against Type.
- Celebi (Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions)
- Celestine (Magna Carta 2), one of her non-Tsundere roles.
- Chika (Hidamari Sketch)
- Claire (Granado Espada)
- Cyberdoll Rena (Hand Maid May) — Given that this show predates Shana by five years, Kugimiya's tsundere typecasting is Older than They Think.
- Ein (Riviera: The Promised Land)
- Eliza Cassan (Japanese version of Deus Ex Human Revolution)
- Happy (Fairy Tail) — Ironically has a crush on the Tsundere.
- Haruka Sawamura (Ryu Ga Gotoku series)
- Hotaru Imai (Gakuen Alice)
- Ikuto Noguchi (Digimon Savers)
- Iori Minase (The Idolmaster)
- Kachirou Kato (Prince of Tennis)
- Kagura (Gintama)
- Kaoru Daichi (Ladies Versus Butlers!!)
- Koboshi Uematsu (Pita-Ten)
- Kooh (Pangya)
- Kurumi Hazuki/White Angel (Kaitou Tenshi Twin Angel)
- Latvia and Liechtenstein (Axis Powers Hetalia) — Both are as un-tsundere as you can get.
- Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière (Zero no Tsukaima)
- Marta Lualdi (Tales of Symphonia Dawn of The New World)
- Mary Godwin (Xeno Saga Game Series)
- Mayu (Nekogami Yaoyorozu Drama CD)
- Miharu Rokujou (Nabari No Ou)
- Melona and Rana (Queen's Blade)
- Mika Kujiin (Kanamemo)
- Mimi (Mnemosyne)
- Mimi Usami (Ookami-san)
- Mithra (Asura's Wrath)
- Miu Furinji (Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple) — Replacing the late Tomoko Kawakami for the new OVAs.
- Mizore Shirayuki (Rosario+Vampire) — A rare Rei Clone.
- Monica Adenauer (Yakitate!! Japan)
- Nagi Sanzenin (Hayate the Combat Butler)
- Nemu Kurotsuchi (Another Rei Clone), Karin Kurosaki, Lily (Bleach)
- Nena Trinity and Mena Carmine (Gundam 00)
- Palom & Porom (Final Fantasy IV DS)
- Phantasos (Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas)
- Precis F. Neumann (Star Ocean: Second Evolution)
- Ringo Kinoshita (Otogi Juushi Akazukin)
- Riro (G-On Riders) — a non-tsundere and downright evil loli role.
- Rise Kujikawa (Persona 4) — Actually, this role is pegged down as 'Anti-Tsundere'
- Rizel Iwaki (Rizelmine) — a sort-of-loli character, but about as far from tsundere as it gets.
- Rose (Dragon Crisis!) — Dere side up this time.
- Ruby Gloom in the Japanese dub of Ruby Gloom
- Sabato (Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan)
- Shana (Shakugan no Shana)
- Shannon (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
- Taiga Aisaka (Toradora!)
- Taiki (The Twelve Kingdoms)
- Tio (Gash Bell)
- Toramaru Utsunomiya (Inazuma Eleven) — Another Playing Against Type, as a friendly Cute Shotaro Boy.
- Touko Matsudaira (Maria-sama Ga Miteru)
- MMS-Type Santa Claus Tsugaru in Busou Shinki: Battle Rondo
- Tsukuyomi (Mahou Sensei Negima! ~Journey to the Magic World~) — An alternate Playing Against Type.
- Tsuzura (Akai Ito)
- The Unused character (Kill Me Baby)
- Yua Sakurai (Shugo Chara!): Again, goes against the type. A lot. Listen towards Secret Princess and be surprised that it's the same voice actor.
- Yuki Kataoka (Saki)
- Yukimura Sanada (gender-flipped and loli-fied) (Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls)
- Yuuhi Katagiri (Akane Iro Ni Somaru Saka)
- Yurika Hanayamada (Chocotto Sister)
Tropes associated with the Tsundere characters voiced by Rie Kugimiya
Tropes associated with Rie Kugimiya in Real Life
- Mean Character, Nice Actor: The Tsunderes she voices tend to be utter jerkasses who are very abusive. Or really Nena Trinity. The woman behind their voices is a kind-hearted, quiet bookworm.
- Older than They Look: She's about 32, yet she looks younger.
- Pettanko: Surprisingly, she's one in Real Life. Not that she's angsty about it, though.
- Playing Against Type: Anything having her voicing a non-Tsundere character falls into this nowadays (yes, including Alphonse, even though she had this role way before her typecasting).
- Pigeonholed Voice Actor: No really, she's the best example when it comes to the Japanese voice acting block.
- Relationship Voice Actor: A lot with Yui Horie, as well as some with Satoshi Hino and Sayaka Ohara.
- Woman of a Thousand Voices: Surprisingly, she's capable of a wide vocal range, ranging from non-Tsundere girls to Cute Shotaro Boys and even mature women.
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