The Nurse Who Would Be Kitty - Megumi Hayashibara

In this special behind-the-scenes look at creator Rumiko Takahashi's Ranma 1/2 TV, OVA, film and manga series, Jeff Okamoto and Julie Davis profile one of Japan's most successful (certainly, one of its most well-known) voice-actors, Megumi Hayashibara.

Who is Megumi Hayashibara? Is she the bosomy gender-bending martial artist (the distaff side anyway) of Ranma 1/2? The plusly proportioned cyclops "Pai" in creator Yuzo Takada's 3x3 Eyes? The dead-cat-brain-in-the-body-of-a-well-developed-Japanese schoolgirl "Nuku-Nuku" in another Takada creation, All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl? The somewhat deflated pulchritude of creator Masakazu Katsura's anime-fan-dream-come-true OVA series, Video Girl Ai? The prepubescent magical want-wielding flower princess Minky Momo? The tragic young boy hero "Nero," lead of the morosely uplifting Dog of Flanders? Or the (gender-less) big-hearted hero of children everywhere, Hello Kitty? ^[1]

The answer is: All of the above.

Born in Tokyo on March 30, 1967, Megumi Hayashibara is strong-headed Aries whose love for animation (especially "magical girl" shows such as Little Which Sally and Secret of Akko-Chan) made her a big fan since earliest childhood. Initially convinced that the animated characters really existed, Hayashibara looked forward to the day when Sally and Akko would transfer to her school and was shocked to learn that grown-up women were providing the sound of her playmates' dubbed-in voices.

Hayashibara eventually got over the shock and let her childhood dreams inspire her to join a select group of eighteen girls chosen from some 600 young hopefuls for the opportunity to receive voice-training at "Arts Vision," a Tokyo-based agency which handles its own share of "sweet young thing"-type vocal luminaries such as Kotono Mitushi ("Sailor Moon" in Pretty Solider Sailor Moon), Maria Kawamura ("Quess" in Char's Counterattack, "Chum Fau" in Aura Battler Dunbine, "Lachesis" in Five Star Stories; otherwise known as Mrs. Mamoru in "FSS" Nagano) and Miki Ito ("A-ko" in Project A-ko, "Cyborg 18" in Dragon Ball Z). Of those eighteen Hayashibara estimates that no more than two still work as voice-actors today.

Hayashibara says that the first year of training at Arts Vision emphasized the "physical aspect," getting the body in shape for its task. The second year moved on to the kind of "image traning" all actors need but voice-actors need even more; i.e., how to think "cold" or "hot," and how to express the "feel" in the voice. Hayashibara completed her training with confidence for the future, but before she could truly follow her star she had to contend with parental opposition.

"My parents were against my being in the entertainment industry," Hayashibara says. "They were afraid it wasn't a very secure vocation." Bowing to their pressure, the would-be voice-actor began to pursue a career in nursing. Hayashibara says he would probably be a practicing nurse today if it weren't for a certain incident at the time she went to the nursing academy to submit her application.

"I'd always wanted to be a voice-actor," she says, "but the straw that broke the camel's back was really the time when I went to the nursing school... The receptionist was so arrogant. I was frustrated and decided to stop by a bookstore on the way home, just for a change of pace. And then I happened to spot an article about this voice-acting school which was recruiting students... Who knows? If that receptionist had been a nicer person, I might never have become a voice-actor!"

Hayashibara's training as a nurse has served her in good stead, as there have been several times when her license has saved the lives of her fans. Once, at a publicity event for the Ranma 1/2 television series, Hayashibara was called in to help when a fan suddenly collapsed and there was no other nurse or doctor to be found.



"I took his pulse amidst the screaming fans," Hayashibara recalls.

In a related anecdote, Hayashibara remembers being awakened at 3:00 a.m. while she was out of town for another publicity event because a fan was experiencing respiratory problems. "We were high in the mountains and it would have taken forty minutes for an ambulance to get there, so I stood by and calmed (the fan) down," she says.

After three years of nursing school and six months working as a registered nurse, Hayashibara was finally convinced by her friends that she should quit nursing and return to her childhood dream of becoming a full-time actor.

"I was still going to voice acting school while I was working as a nurse and I was starting to get actual work," Hayashibara says. Her first official role was an uncredited off-screen voice in the first television episode of the animated Maison Ikkoku in 1985; her first screen credit came later in the same show when she was cast as "Yosuke Nanao," younger brother of the Yusaku Godai-infatuated Kozue Nanao.

Hayashibara describes the recording process for animation as starting with the recording of the vocal tracks, followed by the addition of background music, or BGM, with sound and "foley" effects- creaking doors, footsteps, traffic, telephones explosions- added in last. The recording schedule for a voice-actor, Hayashibara says, is often frantic.

"The shortest time I've ever been given is trhee weeks from script to production," Hayashibara says. Though usually provided with a black and white animation "rough" to aid in voicing a role, tight budgets and close production schedules sometimes force actors to work with nothing to react to.

"The worst case," Hayashibara says, "is when you have to act without seeing anything at all on the screen but cueing information, that colored line (added at the bottom of the screen) that signals when you should read. In those cases, I might not have even seen what my character looks like, I won't know how many people I'm supposed to be addressing, or even who the other characters are."

Even in the face of such obstacles, Hayashibara says that it's the voice-actor's job to "make the character live, whatever it takes." She also insists that television series work, contrary to what one might think, "isn't really that bad. It takes maybe the first seven episodes or so to become accustomed to the character, but the schedule itself isn't so terrible. For example, Ranma 1/2 is recorded every Thursday from 6:30 to 11:00 p.m."

Unlike some actors, Hayashibara says that she enjoys watching the animation episodes in which her work appears. "All voice-actors usually see tis the unfinished footage," she says, "and you (as a voice-actor) really have no idea how the finished animation will look. Naturally, I'm curious. I also like to hear how it turns out with all the sound effects and music added in.

Hectic schedules aside, Hayashibara is full of enthusiasm for her chosen vocation. "Voice-acting is so versatile," she says. "I can portray all ages-that's the great thing about it! You can be anything! You can be an animal, a child, a sexy woman, a little boy. No film actor could do work like this."

But the real surprise of her professional life, Hayashibara tells s, is her singing career, something which began as part of a promotional tour for her role as "Christina Mackenzie" in Mobile Suit Gundam 0080, A War in the Pocket." In a whistle-stop tour which played five cities across Japan (Hokkaido Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyushu), Hayashibara's recording of the theme song created a whole new career for the diminutive vocalist. "Discovered" by King Records' director Otsuki Toshimichi, Hayashibara began to consider a parallel career as a singer. With four successful albums released to date, it seems her instincts were good. Of course, moonlighting as a nation-spanning radio DJ ("Tokyo Boogie Night" in the Tokyo area; "Megumi's Heartful Station" in Osaka) doesn't hurt either. ^[2]

No matter how successful she becomes as a singer, Hayashibara insists that her real career is as a voice-actor, something she wishes to pursue for a long time. "I really admire the voice-actors who continue to working far into old age," she says. "When I worked on Dog of Flanders, one of the other voices was Seizo Kato ("Megatron," Transformers, "Count Lee," Vampire Hunter D), who played the role of the father in Star of the Giants in the '60s [a long-running animated series about baseball- Ed.]. Standing next to him while performing was a real thrill."

Of her many and varied roles, Hayashibara insists that "every character is a challenge." Asked about the particular challenge of playing Ranma, the female alter-ego of a male character, Hayashibara says, "The director told me at the start," 'Ranma is a man.' So my character has to think like a man, even though she acts very, well, womanish at times."



Shy in public, Hayashibara says that her rare public appearances are enough to satisfy any urge she might feel toward becoming a live-action actor. The fact that her profession prevents her face from becoming well-known is something with which, according to Hayashibara, she is content. "Voice-actors are known for their voices, not their faces. After all, when I was young, I thought the characters were real. That should be the focus- making these characters real, not the celebrity of their voice-actors."

When asked which recent shows she likes, Hayashibara says, "I like Minky Momo. When she uses her magic, more often than not, it doesn't help matters any. It teaches children to rely on themselves, I think."

Mini-biography: Megumi Hayashibara
Born: 3/30/67
Sign: Aries
Blood Type: O
Birthplace: Tokyo
Agency: Arts Vision
Special Qualifications: Holds a regular class driver's license; is a registered nurse; has been known to DJ radio programs on which anime-themed songs are broadcast; recorded several albums including "Whatever," "Perfume," and "Shamrock."
Debut Role: Yosuke Nanao, Maison Ikkoku TV Series
Notable Roles: All-Purpose Cultural Cat Girl (Nuku Nuku), Dog of Flanders (Nero), Minky Momo (Minky Momo), Mobile Suit Gundam 0080 (Christine Mackenzie), Ranma 1/2 (female Ranma Saotome), Shurato (Range), Tekkaman Blade (Aki), 3x3 Eyes (Pai), Video Girl Ai (Ai), Wataru (Himiko).

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Footnotes

• [1] From a historical context it is worth noting that this interiew was published in late 1993, before Hayashibara had recorded what would go on to be her best known role, and one of the most iconic characters in anime as a whole, Rei Ayanami of Neon Genesis Evangelion (新世紀エヴァンゲリオン) which would debut on October 4, 1995.
• [2] More of Jeff Okamoto's interactions with Megumi Hayashibara and a discussion of her music at the time can be found at this link.

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