History Creator / MegumiHayashibara

Outside anime, Hayashibara is also best remembered for voicing Creator/{{Sanrio}}'s Hello Kitty from 1990 until [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-11-01/megumi-hayashibara-steps-down-as-voice-of-hello-kitty-after-33-years/.204004 she retired from the role]] on November 1, 2023, the same day [[MilestoneCelebration Sanrio launched the 50th Anniversary celebration for Hello Kitty.]]

Outside anime, she's best remembered for voicing Creator/{{Sanrio}}'s Hello Kitty from 1990 until [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-11-01/megumi-hayashibara-steps-down-as-voice-of-hello-kitty-after-33-years/.204004 she retired from the role]] on November 1, 2023, the same day [[MilestoneCelebration Sanrio launched the 50th Anniversary celebration for Hello Kitty.]]

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.

Outside anime, she's best-known as the official Japanese voice of Creator/{{Sanrio}}'s Hello Kitty beginning in 1990. On November 1, 2023, Hayashibara 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.]]

She authored (but didn't draw) a biographic manga about her experiences as a voice actress, titled ''Megumi-Toon''.

** The comedic radio-play, ''AudioPlay/EvangelionAfterTheEnd'', really shows this off: During the play, the normally stoic and quiet Rei finally gets fed up with [[{{Jerkass}} Asuka]]'s [[UsefulNotes/{{Baka}} constant pronouncing on other people's intelligence]], and goes on an absolutely livid MotorMouth rant about it.

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.

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.

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.

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.]]

* Diddy Kong in the Japanese dub of the ''WesternAnimation/DonkeyKongCountry'' cartoon.

* Momoko Sakurayama in ''Anime/{{Patlabor}}''

* Canal in ''Anime/LostUniverse''

* Franchise/HelloKitty since 1989

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, Sam Manson in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', Crysta in ''WesternAnimation/FernGully'' and Little Sneezer from ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures''.

* Ranma Saotome (female) in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''

* 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. Imagining how her grandma died, Megumi was left in tears even after her class ended, surprising her instructor, Creator/ShigeruChiba. This scene is drawn in ''Megumi-Toon''.

* EnforcedMethodActing: One of the examples of those suffering this before it was prohibited in anime. For a voice-practice of a sad voice, she's told to imagine the saddest moment in her life. Imagining how her grandma died, Megumi was left in tears even after the practice ended, surprising her instructor, Creator/ShigeruChiba. This scene is drawn in ''Megumi-Toon''.