Megumi Hayashibara

Megumi Hayashibara (林原 めぐみ, Hayashibara Megumi^?) (born on 30 March 1967) is a Japanese voice actress, singer, radio personality, and lyricist from Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with Aksent. Her nicknames include: Megu-san, Megu-nee, Bara-san, Kakka, and Daijin. She is best known for her roles in Ranma ½, Sailor Moon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Slayers, Detective Conan, Pokémon, All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku and Shaman King. She is also a fully qualified and registered nurse.

Evangelion related works

• Voice actress of the following characters:
• Rei Ayanami
• Yui Ikari
• Pen Pen
• Mana Kirishima
• Evangelion Unit-01
• Haruka Ishii
• Izumi Taniguchi
• Ayako Matsuzawa

Singles and Albums

• Neon Genesis Evangelion Addition (1996)
• Neon Genesis Evangelion Decade (2005)
• Shuuketsu no Sono he (single) (2009)
• Tsubasa wo Kudasai (2009)
• Kyou no Hi wa Sayounara (2009)
• Shuuketsu no Sadame (single) (2010)
• Fifty~Fifty (2018)
• EVANGELION FINALLY (2020)
• Shuuketsu no Hate ni (single) (2022)
• Shuketsu no Yari/Shuketsu no Hajimari (2023)

Biography

Megumi Hayashibara was born on 30 March 1967 in Tokyo, Japan. She studied at a Catholic school, and at one point was bullied in fifth grade. She was an active club member and participated in the Badminton, Biology, Broadcasting, Drama, and English clubs. She played the role of Alice in an English language production of Alice in Wonderland. Despite qualifying as a nurse, she has never been employed in a nursing position.

On 30 March 1998, she married. On 10 January 2004, she announced on her radio show that she was pregnant with her first child. On 28 June 2004 of the same year, she gave birth to a daughter through emergency caesarian section.

A selection of other roles played by Megumi Hayashibara

• 3 x 3 Eyes as Pai
• All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku as Atsuko / Nuku Nuku
• Blue Seed as Momiji Fujimiya
• Card Captor Sakura: The Movie as Madoushi
• Cowboy Bebop as Faye Valentine
• Detective Conan as Ai Haibara
• Di Gi Charat as Piyoko / Piyokola
• Donkey Kong Country as Diddy Kong (only on the Japanese Dub)
• Fire Emblem Heroes as Freyja
• Hello Kitty as Hello Kitty
• Lost Universe as Canal Volphied
• Love Hina as Haruka Urashima
• New Danganrona v3: Killing Harmony as Shuichi Saihara
• Paprika as Paprika / Doctor Atsuko Chiba
• Pokemon as Musashi, Bulbasaur and some other Pokemons
• Ranma 1/2 as Ranma Saotome (female)
• Saber Marionette J as Lime
• Sailor Moon S Movie as Himeko Nayotake
• Sailor Moon Crystal as Sailor Galaxia
• Slayers as Lina Inverse
• Sonic Frontiers as Sage
• Tenshi Na Konamaiki as Megumi Amatsuka
• Yu Yu Hakusho as Genkai (young)

and many, many, others...

Trivia

• Prior to her seiyuu career, which began with her picking up a magazine with an advertisement for a seiyuu audition, Megumi was a certified nurse.
• Has consistently topped Animage's Seiyuu Gran Prix polls for twelve years.
• Is one of the few seiyuu who has the privilege to pick and choose specially-made voice roles.
• In addition to voice acting, as a singer Megumi also secured sales of 2.5 million singles and 1.5 million albums since 1991.
• As a radio talk show host, her two programs -- Heartfelt Station (Radio Kansai) and Tokyo Boogie Night (TBS) -- are one of the longest-running.
• She credits her lyrics under the name MEGUMI.