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Acting
Megumi Hayashibara
- Born
- Unknown
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Biography
Megumi Hayashibara is a Japanese voice actress, singer, lyricist, and radio personality, widely regarded as one of the defining anime performers of the 1990s and beyond. Born in Kita, Tokyo, on 30 March 1967, she trained as a nurse before pursuing voice acting, a path that began after she encountered an audition notice for Arts Vision. Her early professional work included small roles, but she quickly became known for a vocal range that could handle comedy, science fiction, fantasy adventure, and emotionally restrained drama.
Hayashibara's rise coincided with a period when Japanese voice actors were becoming more visible as recording artists and media personalities. She became a central figure in that shift. Her roles were not limited to one archetype: she could play energetic heroines, cool or mysterious figures, comic characters, and children. This versatility helped make her one of the most frequently cast and recognizable seiyuu of her generation.
Among her best-known roles is female Ranma Saotome in Ranma 1/2, a performance that required quick comedic shifts and helped establish her with international anime audiences. She became even more iconic as Lina Inverse in Slayers, giving the fantasy-comedy protagonist a mix of explosive confidence, comic greed, and heroic force. In Neon Genesis Evangelion, she voiced Rei Ayanami and Yui Ikari, roles that used quietness and emotional distance very differently from her louder comic work. Rei in particular became one of the most recognizable characters in anime history.
Filmography
Patlabor EZY File 2
Actor · 2026 · Not rated yet
Patlabor EZY: File 1
as Kimika Saeki (voice) · 2026 · Not rated yet
Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway
as Ai Haibara (voice) · 2026 · Not rated yet
Detective Conan: The 17-Year-Old Truth
as Ai Haibara (voice) · 2025 · Not rated yet
Detective Conan: One-Eyed Flashback
as Ai Haibara (voice) · 2025 · Not rated yet
Lazarus
Actor · 2025 · Not rated yet
Ranma1/2
Actor · 2024 · Not rated yet
Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 The Last Human
as Takashi Shimamura (voice) · 2023 · Not rated yet
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