Megumi Hayashibara

Prolific Japanese voice actress and recording artist Megumi Hayashibara was born March 30, 1967 in Tokyo. While studying to become a nurse, she answered an advertisement to audition as a voice actor. She started to book small parts, and though she eventually earned certification as a nurse, she was already so successful in her voice career that she never worked in that field. She had been working steadily since the mid-1980s when, in 1995, she landed the part she would arguably become most associated with, Rei Ayanami in the popular anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. She would repeat the part in numerous sequel movies made from the series. She would also become well-known as the voice of Musashi (Jessie) in several Pokémon projects. As her acting career continued, she established herself as a recording artist, often singing songs that appeared in the anime shows in which she was cast as an actress. From 1994-2004 she released a string of seven consecutive top 10 albums including 1995’s Enfleurage, 1996’s Bertemu, and 1999’s Fuwari. During this time she also charted 13 top 10 singles including 1997’s “Don’t Be Discouraged”, 1998’s “A House Cat”, and 2002’s Northern Lights”. She continued to score major roles, hit singles and successful albums throughout the first two decades of the 21^st century, and the ongoing success of Neon Genesis Evangelion was cemented when Evangelion: Finally, a 2021 compilation of songs she performed from the original series and one of the movie sequels, proved to be an international success.