Love Hina, Saber Marionette J, Ranma ½, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Cowboy Bebop, Slayers, Detective Conan, Pokémon, All Purpose Cultural Catgirl Nuku Nuku, Video Girl Ai and Shaman King—do any of these anime sound familiar to you? These popular series all have one thing in common: voice actress and singer, Megumi Hayashibara, played a role in them. Some of the best anime of the past featured her familiar and popular. When I first got into anime years ago, her music and voice would pop up everywhere. I wondered who she was and found out she had lots of great music too! That got me hooked on J-Pop and was one of the catalysts that got me into the genre.
Out of all those I mentioned above though, Slayers is my favorite. Megumi not only voiced the protagonist, Lina Inverse, but she also sang the main theme which I still enjoy to this day. I became a fan of her voice through that anime and have followed her, mainly in music, throughout the years.
Megumi was born in Tokyo, Japan and starting voicing anime characters the late 1980s. She is still taking on voices of characters as of this writing.
The music more than anything is what stuck with me. Listening to the opening songs from the various seasons of Slayers, which were all sung by Megumi as well, intrigued me to dig deeper into her catalog of songs.