Ribbit! Wait until I finish my goddamn sugar!
One of the best-known voice actors to come out of Texas, Monica Jean Rial (born October 5, 1975 in Houston, Texas) has been featured in many anime dubs. She is also remembered for doing the "What is anime?" ADV Films commercial. Also notable for her very distinctive voice, which is actually her real voice. Yes, it really is that high (though it wasn't always, but that's what being typecast for years will do to you).
She started off in Houston playing quiet girls for ADV Films, but over time expanded her range massively, with Yandere or all-around creepy girls becoming more common on her résumé. She'll even occasionally break out a husky, deep voice for Action Girl types (Jo from Burst Angel being the most famous example). Shortly before ADV's collapse, she relocated to Dallas and now does most of her work with Funimation, though she has been known to return to Houston to work for ADV's Spiritual Successor company Sentai Filmworks. In addition to being an actor, she is also an ADR writer and occasional voice director.
According to Anime News Network
, she has the most number of English VO roles in anime, with more than 730 credits. That is over 150 credits more than the second-highest English VA on the list. She is the most prolific voice actress in the business, and the second-most prolific VA overall, after Takehito Koyasu.
She is often cast alongside Luci Christian (notably in Full Metal Panic! and Azumanga Daioh), Jamie Marchi (notably in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt), Brittney Karbowski (notably in Cat Planet Cuties and Soul Eater), and Greg Ayres (notably in Kodocha, Save Me! Lollipop, Ghost Stories and were the leads of two horror anime).
Her personal website can be found here.
Monica has a younger sister, Natalie, who made her debut as a voice actress in 2013 in the anime Girls und Panzer.
Notable roles by Monica Rial:
- Adele Bafetto in Horizon in the Middle of Nowhere
- Ai in Crayon Shin-chan
- Akatsuki in KanColle
- Albertina from The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
- Alice Kisaragi in Combatants Will Be Dispatched!
- Alma from Radiant
- Ame-chan, the mascot of Amecon, one of the UK's biggest conventions. At which she is a regular guest.
- Amy Yeager (Ayumi Yoshida) in Case Closed
- AnchoR in Clockwork Planet
- Angelica in Gunslinger Girl
- Anna Nishikinomiya in Shimoneta
- Anosillius the 2nd in SSSS.GRIDMAN and SSSS.DYNɅZENON
- Aoi Futaba in Cat Planet Cuties
- Head Teacher Ariel in Is This A Zombie?
- Arisa in Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
- Asa Shigure in SHUFFLE!
- Attia Simmons in Freezing
- Aya Sugita in Kodocha
- Ayumi Youme in Best Student Council
- Belarus and Fem!Britain in Hetalia: Axis Powers
- Bienfu, Seres, and Celica Crowe in Tales of Berseria
- Bodach in Million Arthur
- Bulma in Dragon Ball Z Kai, Dragon Ball Super and the Funimation dub of Dragon Ball: Curse of the Blood Rubies
- Cameron Estefan in Cop Craft
- Chane Laforet in Baccano!
- Charlotte Scherzen in Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid
- Chika Sawada in Kageki Shoujo!!
- Chihiro Shindou in ef - a fairy tale of the two.
- Chitaru Namatame in Akuma no Riddle
- Chizuru Mochizuki in Nyan Koi!
- Daedalus in Heaven's Lost Property
- Diamond Sword Leader in Tribes Ascend
- Doll in Tenchi Muyo: War on Geminar
- Drazo in Bofuri: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.
- EASY in Drifters
- Elena Miyazawa in Wanna Be the Strongest in the World!
- Emeralda Etuva in The Devil is a Part-Timer!
- Emma Guzman in GARO: The Animation
- Enri Granitz in Fractale
- Erica Blandelli in Campione!
- Eve Tokimatsuri in Megazone 23
- Falis in Murder Princess
- Felli Loss in Chrome Shelled Regios
- Fiore in Chrono Crusade
- Fire Emblem:
- Mila in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Anna in Fire Emblem Engage (suceeding Karen Strassman)
- Fuuri Watanuki in Super Sonico: The Animation
- Gruier Serenity and Luca Kaoru in Bodacious Space Pirates
- The "Guilt Gun" (also known as the xkcd gun) and the voice of the Tediore company in Borderlands 2
- Hana Uzaki in Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!
- Haruka in RahXephon
- Haruko Amaya in Maken-ki!
- Hazuki in Moon Phase
- Hazuki Shino in Chaos;Head
- Hel in Smite
- Hello Kitty/Kitty White in Hello Kitty's Animation Theatre
- Henriette Belew in Unbreakable Machine-Doll
- Hikari Hazakura in Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher!?
- Himari Takakura and the Crystal Princess in Penguindrum
- Himemiko in Kamisama Kiss
- Hitomi Hokuto in Keijo!!!!!!!!
- Hiyajo Maho in Steins;Gate 0
- Homura in Senran Kagura: Ninja Flash
- Houki Shinonono in Infinite Stratos
- Hotaru Tachibana in Aoharu × Machinegun
- Hyatt in Excel♡Saga
- Index Librorum Prohibitorum in A Certain Magical Index and A Certain Scientific Railgun
- Iris Eris in The Legend of the Legendary Heroes
- Izumi Himoru in Princess Nine
- Izzy in Taboo-Tattoo
- Jo in Burst Angel
- Jubilee in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Forever (first role in a Western Animation cartoon)
- Junna Daitoku in Robotics;Notes
- Jun Shiomi in Food Wars!
- Kaede Kayano in Assassination Classroom and Koro-Sensei Quest!
- Kagari in the OVA of Ushio and Tora
- Kagura Tennouzu in Speed Grapher
- Kamado Ueshita (The Eighth) in Future Diary
- Kanan Chinami in Ultimate Otaku Teacher
- Kanami Ishizaki in Darker than Black
- Kaoru Rindo in Sakura Wars the Animation
- Karina Sakaguchi in Girls und Panzer
- Karuta Roromiya in Inu × Boku SS
- Keiji Maeda in Samurai Girls
- Kirika Yumura in Noir
- Kirin Shima in Aria the Scarlet Ammo AA
- Koki Yamoto in Ninja Slayer
- Kon/Hishamaru in Tokyo Ravens
- Konoka Konoe, Kazumi Asakura, and Satsuki Yotsuba in Negima! Magister Negi Magi
- Krul Tepes in Seraph of the End
- Kuina, Tashigi, Karue, and Charlotte Compote in One Piece
- Kurau in Kurau Phantom Memory
- Kuro in Restaurant to Another World
- Kuzuha Doumoto in Aesthetica of a Rogue Hero
- Kuzuha Togashi in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!
- Kyoko Kirisaki in Black Cat
- Kyouko Tokiwa in Full Metal Panic!
- Lalaco Godspeed in Space Patrol Luluco
- Laplace in Tales of Luminaria
- Lara González and Kozue Mihara in School Rumble
- Lirio in El Cazador de la Bruja
- Lulu Bell and Leero in D.Gray-Man
- Lumiere in Kiddy Grade
- Lyra and young Dante in Fullmetal Alchemist (2003)
- May Chang in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
- Mafuyu Hayashi in First Love Monster
- Mail and Tail in Heroic Age
- Maki in My Bride is a Mermaid
- Maria in Witchblade
- Maria Akizuki in From the New World as a fiery lesbian redhead.
- Mariya Shidou in Maria†Holic
- Mayaya in Princess Jellyfish
- Megumi Kobayashi in Welcome to the NHK
- Also the hundreds of extras – not even kidding – she plays in that show.
- Mei Misaki in Another
- Mereoleona Vermillion and Secre Swallowtail (aka Nero) in Black Clover
- Mey-Rin in Black Butler
- Michiko Malandro in Michiko & Hatchin
- Miharu in Gasaraki
- Mii Fujibakama in Date A Live
- Mina Tepes in Dance in the Vampire Bund
- Minamo "Nyamo" Kurosawa in Azumanga Daioh
- Mine Kuramae in Fruits Basket (2019 reboot)
- Mirajane Strauss in Fairy Tail
- Miria in Claymore
- Misa Hayase in Super Dimension Fortress Macross (early 2000s ADV dub)
- Misaki Ayuzawa in Maid-Sama! (the Sentai Filmworks dub)
- Misuzu Kamio in Air
- Mitsuki Nase in Beyond the Boundary
- Miya Asama in Sekirei
- Miyano in Tanaka-kun is Always Listless
- Moa in Show by Rock!!
- Momoka Nishizawa in Sgt. Frog
- Momoko Koigakubo in Ghost Stories
- Morita in Sing "Yesterday" for Me
- Ms. 'Splosion Man in Ms. 'Splosion Man
- Nagato in Azur Lane
- Nano Shinonome in Nichijou
- Natsume in Mermaid Forest (Notable that this was a Los Angeles based dub note and she was specifically offered the role while attending Anime Expo in 2005 as a guest)
- Nekomi Nabeshima in Medaka Box
- Niko Hirata in Call of the Night
- Noa in Eureka Seven AO
- Octavia in Tears to Tiara
- Okoi in Basilisk
- Otoha in Genesis of Aquarion
- Shush in Aquarion Evol
- Pheles in Shakugan no Shana
- The Puppeteer in Fire Force
- Q in [C] - The Money of Soul and Possibility Control
- Queen in GARO: Vanishing Line
- Raquel Marin in gen:LOCK.
- Renge Houshakuji in Ouran High School Host Club
- Ringo in Casshern Sins
- Ringo Akai in Ōkami-san and Her Seven Companions
- Rio Takeuchi in Spiral
- Rize Kamishiro in Tokyo Ghoul
- Rumia Tingel in Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor
- Ryoka Niwa/Rooster in Juni Taisen: Zodiac War
- Saki in Steel Angel Kurumi
- Saki Amase in Corpse Princess
- Sakura in Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Sara in Last Exile: Fam, the Silver Wing
- Sayaka "#6" Suzuki in Pani Poni Dash!
- Sayaka Maizono in Danganronpa: The Animation
- Shion Akai in Maburaho
- Shiro in Deadman Wonderland
- Shizuka in Jinki:Extend (Playing Against Type, epicly)
- Shizuka Marikawa in Highschool of the Dead
- Sienna Khan in RWBY
- Simca the Swallow in Air Gear
- Stocking Anarchy in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
- Susan and Venelana Gremory in High School D×D
- Suu in Monster Musume
- Taeko Nagafuji in Adachi and Shimamura
- Tamaki Irie in Majestic Prince
- Tamayo Kizaki in Angelic Layer
- Tanya Degurechaff in The Saga of Tanya the Evil and Isekai Quartet
- Tetsuko in Super Milk Chan (straight dub only, also appears as herself in live-action segments of the Gag Dub)
- Tomoe in TSUKIMICHI -Moonlit Fantasy-
- Tomoko Kuroki in No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular! (Recorded the role in 6 hours!)
- Tsubaki Nakatsukasa in Soul Eater
- Tsuguha in Noragami
- Tsugumi in Guilty Crown
- Tsuyu Asui in My Hero Academia
- Valentina Glinka Estes in Lord Marksman and Vanadis
- Vanessa Walsh in Trinity Blood
- Vermeil in Vermeil in Gold
- Veronica de Sade in The Case Study of Vanitas
- Vitaly Tinyanof in Hundred
- Yaya Sasame in Hanayamata
- Yona in Yona of the Dawn
- Young Nico, Pirate Female in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
- Yui Saitou/Nekohime in And You Thought There Is Never a Girl Online?
- Yukari Sendou in Rosario + Vampire
- Yuko Yoshida/Shamiko in The Demon Girl Next Door
- Yutori Takamagahara in Aria the Scarlet Ammo
- Yuu Kashima in Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun
- Yuuka Ichijou in AKB0048
- Yuzuha in Utawarerumono
- Yuzu Kichougasaki in Love Tyrant
- Zerul in Origin: Spirits of the Past
- Zesshi Zetsumei in Overlord (2012)
Monica Rial's works provide examples of:
- Cross-Dressing Voices: Literally, in the case of Mariya Shidou.
- Jerkass: She has played several, such as Izumi Himuro, Stocking Anarchy, Houki Shinonono and Mariya Shidou.
- Playing Against Type:
- She normally has a high pitched, nasally voice, so this trope comes into effect when she's voicing someone with a lower pitched voice. Notable examples include Mariya Shidou from Maria†Holic (when he's speaking in his boy voice), Jo from Burst Angel, Michiko Malandro from Michiko & Hatchin, and Mizue Shisui from Psycho-Pass.
- Her role in Burst Angel was an invoked instance of this. She originally auditioned for Amy, a Token Mini-Moe, but the director declared that part open to everyone but her, because he wanted her in a role that would test her range. Alison Viktorin would end up playing Amy anyway.
- She also voices the Hot-Blooded Lara in School Rumble, and portrays Nekomi Nabeshima of Medaka Box with something akin to a Valley Girl voice.
- Her first Western Animation role was in Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Jubilee, a Dora the Explorer parody that does amateur porn.
- Both her roles in the Rooster Teeth stable follow this trope; Sienna Khan and Raquel Marin are both leaders of a militant force (the White Fang and the Vanguard respectively) and both have lower-pitched, older voices.
- A majority of her roles are young girls, but she plays Alma in Radiant who is an old woman.
- She voices the apathetic, quiet Secre Swallowtail in Black Clover. Her other role, Meleorona, is a Hot-Blooded Large Ham who loves a good fight with a deep, gluttural voice.
- Playing with Character Type: Rial is known to voice many Token Mini-Moe characters as her main forte. However, her role as Tanya happens to fit this bill, as while she initially fits the character type physically speaking, she is a flat-out borderline psychopathic Villain Protagonist Child Soldier.note
- Shrinking Violet: Some of her earlier roles fit into this category. Think Hyatt.
- Token Mini-Moe: She is one of the few voice actresses to specialize in voicing these characters in Funimation, ADV Films, and Sentai Filmworks dubs. In fact, she originally auditioned to voice Amy, but was later recast as Jo.
- Typecasting: At the start of her career, most of the characters she voiced were either Cute Clumsy Girls, Shrinking Violets, or Token Mini-Moe due to her naturally high-pitched voice. She later branched out of these roles and more into Action Girls and Yanderes, and some of the later have roles involving her using a deeper voice. Regardless, she's still typecast in these characters from time to time.
- Vocal Evolution: Compare her earlier roles such as Haruka to her much later work such as Tanya, you notice that she went from having a deep to a high pitched natural voice partly due to being typecasted as those kinds of characters.
- Woman of a Thousand Voices: While she's known to use a naturally high-pitched voice normally for Token Mini-Moe characters, she's capable of pulling off a deeper voice when necessary. Her range has resulted in her having one of the longest résumés of any English-language voice actor outside Los Angeles.
