Line #95 Creator/MegumiHayashibara


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6	[[quoteright:301:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/megumihayashibara02.jpg]]
7	[[caption-width-right:301:Possibly the hardest-working woman in {{anime}}.]]
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9	A [[JapanesePopMusic pop/rock performer]] of substantial fame and talent with an international following, nurse wannabe, Megumi Hayashibara (born March 30, 1967) is probably best known for the hundreds of anime and video gaming roles she's portrayed; reading her resume is like reading a history of the best in Japanese animation.
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11	Born in Tokyo, Hayashibara was part of the wave of voice actors, particularly actresses, such as Creator/HekiruShiina and Creator/MarikoKouda, that were marketed to celebrity status during TheNineties due to the large amounts of money provided by recording companies, and the more multi-media approach to stardom developed at that time.
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13	Megumi double-majored in voice acting and nursing as she debuted into the voice-acting business, and earned her nursing qualification upon medical school graduation, but decided to stay on voice-acting as her career and never got the chance to work in a hospital-based setting.
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15	Debuted as a kindergartener from ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'', she received her first official gig and StarMakingRole as Himiko Shinobibe of ''[[Anime/MashinHeroWataruSeries Mashin Hero Wataru]]''; which led to her stardom as girl-form Ranma of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' shortly after.
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17	As of current, she stands as one of the most legendary of Japanese voice actresses in the business due to her extreme talent and resume. Just by naming ''any'' of the roles listed below alone would be a career-making milestone for a voice actress, but as a WomanOfAThousandVoices, Hayashibara has the talent and skill to win that kind of part again and again. She is such a major figure in the anime industry, that the character of Megumi Reinard in ''Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico'' was actually based on her; partly as parody and partly as tribute. She is arguably one of the few voice actresses who isn't [[PigeonholedVoiceActor set in a role]]. Her huge number of voice credits have invited comparison to Creator/MelBlanc, Creator/JuneForay, and Creator/FrankWelker in American Animation.
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19	Whenever she takes part in an anime project, she would frequently take on the case to perform its [[AnimeThemeSong theme song]], most notably for the ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' series, ''Anime/SaberMarionetteJ'', and ''Manga/ShamanKing''. She was also noted to take part in "voice actress idol groups," such as [=DoCo=] for promoting ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Her accomplishment in breaking into mainstream [[JapanesePopMusic J-pop]] as a voice actress paved the successful singing careers for the generation of voice actresses after her, namely Creator/NanaMizuki, Creator/YukariTamura, and Creator/YuiHorie.
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21	She's also known to dub American animations, most notably as Batgirl/Barbara Gordon in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Diddy Kong in the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' TV series, Crysta in ''WesternAnimation/FernGully'' and Little Sneezer from ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''.
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23	She authored (but didn't draw) a biographic manga about her experiences as a voice actress, titled ''Megumi-Toon''.
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25	As she slowed down her pace [[HappilyMarried to focus on her family]], she would continue to take on her [[LongRunners long running roles]] for steady income, and own her own personal management agency to take cases only when a project request her for a role. Megumi married someone three years younger than her when they first met in 1998 at Woodpark Office.
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27	She can speak English aside from Japanese. When she visited the Anime America convention in 1995, she made a speech entirely in English because she's convinced that the translation done for her in the 1993 AA convention did not reflect her thoughts.
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29	Outside anime, she's best-known as the official Japanese voice of Creator/{{Sanrio}}'s Hello Kitty beginning in 1990. On November 1, 2023, Megumi announced on her blog [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-11-01/megumi-hayashibara-steps-down-as-voice-of-hello-kitty-after-33-years/.204004 that she's stepping down from voicing the character]] after 33 years. The news broke the exact day [[MilestoneCelebration Sanrio launched the 50th Anniversary celebration for Hello Kitty.]]
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32	!!Just to name a ''few'' of the characters she's voiced, she has been:
33	* ''Every'' female voice in the 2015 Anime Expo.
34	* Achika in ''[[Anime/TenchiMuyo Tenchi Muyo in Love]]''
35	* Ai in ''Manga/VideoGirlAi''
36	* Ai Haibara from ''Manga/CaseClosed''
37	* Aki Kisaragi in ''Anime/TekkamanBlade''
38	* All female voices for the ''Anime/JapanAnimatorExpo'' (at least for the shorts that contain voice work)
39	* Anna Kyouyama in ''Manga/ShamanKing''
40	* Arioch in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}''
41	* Dr. Avery Ryan (Creator/PatriciaArquette) in the Japanese dub of ''Series/CSICyber'' (replacing Creator/RicaMatsumoto)
42	* Bakabon in ''[[Manga/TensaiBakabon Heisei Tensai Bakabon]]''
43	* Blanc Neige in ''VideoGame/ShiningTears'' (though replaced by Creator/AyakoKawasumi in ''Shining Tears X Wind'')
44	* [[TheCameo Blind boy who meets Majin Buu]] in ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' ([[TheOtherDarrin Darrin'd]] by Creator/HoukoKuwashima in ''Anime/DragonBallZKai'')
45	* Canal in ''Literature/LostUniverse''
46	* Casey Becker (Creator/DrewBarrymore) in the Japanese dub of ''Film/{{Scream}}'' (And just like Barrymore, she also invoked DeadStarWalking in that dub)
47	* Christina [=MacKenzie=] in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam0080WarInThePocket Gundam 0080]]''
48	* Christine Gillum in ''Anime/ExpelledFromParadise''
49	* Chuck in the Japanese dub of ''WesternAnimation/HelpImAFish''
50	* Dana Tasker in the Japanese dub of ''Film/TrueLies''
51	* [[Franchise/DonkeyKong Diddy Kong]] in the Japanese dub of the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' cartoon.
52	* [[BigBad Due Flabellum]] in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone''
53	* Elle Ragu in ''Anime/ShadowSkill''
54	* Emi Akezawa in ''Manga/BakiTheGrappler'' (2018)
55	* Esmeralda/Satanico Pandemonium (Creator/AraCeli) in the Japanese dub of ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn3TheHangmansDaughter'' (''very'' brutally PlayingAgainstType)
56	* Falzeb in ''Anime/ZettaiMutekiRaijinOh'', ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGC'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsNEO''
57	* Faye Valentine in ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' and ''Series/CowboyBebop2021'' (Japanese dub) (Creator/DaniellaPineda)
58	* Freyja in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes''
59	* Young Genkai in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''
60	* [[EldritchAbomination Hakumen no Mono]] in ''Manga/UshioAndTora''
61	* Haruka Urashima in ''Manga/LoveHina''
62	* Franchise/HelloKitty from 1990 till 2023
63	* Himeko Nayotake in the ''Anime/SailorMoon S'' Movie
64	** Sailor Galaxia in ''Anime/SailorMoonCosmos'' (replacing Creator/MitsukoHorie)
65	* Himiko Shinobibe in the ''Anime/MashinHeroWataruSeries''
66	* Irina Luminesk in ''Literature/IrinaTheVampireCosmonaut''
67	* Kyouko Yuuki in ''Literature/SwordArtOnline''
68	* Leila in ''Literature/VampireHunterD''
69	* Lemina Ausa in ''VideoGame/LunarEternalBlue''
70	* Lime in ''Anime/SaberMarionetteJ'', ''Anime/SaberMarionetteR'', and its sequels
71	* Lina Inverse in ''Literature/{{Slayers}}''
72	* Linda [=LeBon=] (Julia Davis) in the Japanese dub of ''WesternAnimation/Sing2''
73	* Mabel Mora (Creator/SelenaGomez) in the Japanese dub of ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding''
74	* [[spoiler:Maeda's Mother]] in ''Manga/CromartieHighSchool''.
75	* Mako Mori (Creator/RinkoKikuchi) in the Japanese dub of ''Film/PacificRim''
76	* Maria Santos in ''VisualNovel/{{Yarudora}} series Vol.3: VisualNovel/{{Sampaguita}}''
77	* Mariya[[note]][[DubNameChange Maria]][[/note]] Isshiki in ''Anime/LupinIIICrisisInTokyo''
78	* Megumi Amatsuka in ''Manga/CheekyAngel''
79	* Minky Momo of Marinarsa in ''Anime/MagicalPrincessMinkyMomo'' (The 1991 sequel series, and no this isn't a case of TheOtherDarrin since [[spoiler:she later meets the 1982 Minky Momo and 1982 Momo is her cousin...kinda]])
80	* Miyokichi in ''Manga/ShouwaGenrokuRakugoShinjuu''
81	* Momoko Sakurayama in ''Franchise/{{Patlabor}}''
82	* Momiji Fujimiya in ''Manga/BlueSeed''
83	* Musashi (Jessie) in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries''
84	** Pokémon: Bulbasaur, Pidgeotto, Mudkip, Chimchar, Snivy, Fennekin, and [[Characters/PokemonGenerationVIIRowletToComfey Rowlet]], and [[Anime/PokemonHorizonsTheSeries Sprigatito]].
85	** Latias in ''Anime/PokemonHeroes''
86	* Nagisa Nagase in ''Manga/GTOTheEarlyYears''
87	* Nelly in ''Anime/RemyNobodysGirl''
88	* Nara-oh Renge and Mii in ''Manga/LegendOfHeavenlySphereShurato''
89	* Nuku-Nuku in ''Anime/AllPurposeCulturalCatGirlNukuNuku''
90	* Ongo in ''Anime/{{JungleDeIkou}}''
91	* Pai in ''Manga/SazanEyes''
92	* Paprika, AKA Dr. Atsuko Chiba, in ''Literature/{{Paprika}}''
93	* Patricia Hackman in ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4 Super Robot Wars F and F Final]]''
94	* Pino in ''Anime/MyHeroAcademiaWorldHeroesMission''
95	* [[Characters/RanmaOneHalfRanmaSaotome Ranma Saotome]] (female) in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''
96	* Raven Branwen in the Japanese dub of ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}''
97	* Rebecca in ''Manga/OnePiece''
98	** She also voiced the character Honey Queen in the second movie "Clockwork Island Adventure"
99	* Rei Ayanami, Yui Ikari, Pen-Pen, Mana Kirishima, ''and'' [[spoiler:the berserk EVA Unit 01]] in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''
100	* Rune Balot in ''Literature/MardockScramble''.
101	* Sage in ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers''
102	* Saki Yamamori in ''Anime/IdolAngelYokosoYoko''.
103	* Shantotto in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''
104	** [[OverlyLongName Andoria Kaya Tranka Fam Forchurio]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0''
105	* Shirogane/Éléonore Saiga, Francine, Angelina Saiga, the automaton Francine and the fake automaton Francine in ''Manga/KarakuriCircus''
106	* Shuuichi Saihara in ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony''
107	* Takashi Shimamura in ''Anime/GhostInTheShellSAC2045''
108	* Tira Misu in ''Manga/SorcererHunters''
109	* Todomatsu Matsuno in ''Manga/OsomatsuKun'' (1988; her first big role)
110	* Young Kimba/Leo in the 1989 remake of ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion''/''Leo the Lion''
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113	!!Megumi Hayashibara's works provide examples of:
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115	%%As with all Creator/ pages, trivia tropes about the creator specifically are to be posted here, not a Trivia/ page, as they technically are InUniverse in the case of the person's career.
116	%%However: As with all Creator/ pages, items that could go on a specific work's trivia page go there, not here.
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118	* EnforcedMethodActing: One of the examples of those suffering this before it was prohibited in performance training sessions. For a voice-practice of a sad voice, she was instructed to imagine the saddest moment in her life. Megumi recalled the death of her grandmother, and was left in tears even after her class ended, surprising her instructor, Creator/ShigeruChiba. This scene is drawn in ''Megumi-Toon''.
119	* FieryRedhead: A lot of her characters are this. There's [[{{Manga/RanmaOneHalf}} Girl Ranma]], [[{{Anime/PokemonTheSeries}} Jessie]], and [[{{Literature/Slayers}} Lina Inverse]].
120	* {{Hotblooded}}:
121	** Out of her entire resume, her {{Genki Girl}}s tend to be the most remembered not only because of [[StarMakingRole the roles that made her famous]], but also due to her own personality being outgoing and energetic to begin with.
122	** Hayashibara is known to have low tolerance for audience with bad manners, and would defend her cast mates if certain types of fans crossed the line in front of her face.
123	* PlayingAgainstType:
124	** Plays an abusive [[MyBelovedSmother smother]] in ''Anime/WolfChildren''.
125	** The quiet, [[EmotionlessGirl seemingly emotionless]] Rei in ''[[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion]]'' is pretty much the opposite of the majority of her roles.
126	* WomanOfAThousandVoices:
127	** Her voice can range from [[GenkiGirl hyperactive]] to [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless]] and sometimes even the cold, harsh one. Her HotBlooded voice is also a hearing to behold. She also has a few male roles.
128	** A very quick example of her range is when Lina Inverse is possessed by four different ghosts in the first season of ''Literature/{{Slayers}}''. Megumi runs through each ghost's vastly different personality, plus Lina herself, in rapid succession.

Context Creator / MegumiHayashibara