Names to Know in Anime

Anime, as a medium, has not only been around for a few decades, but it was quite self-contained for much of that period. It therefore has a select number of people who were extremely influential in its development. It is useful to know these people, as their personal style has formed the foundations of many Japanese Visual Arts Tropes found in this wiki.

Not to be confused with Essential Anime: that's about programs.

Those who are most famous for anime on TV and in OAV

 * Osamu Tezuka -- manga no kami-sama, responsible for anime and manga as we know them today.
 * Osamu Dezaki—First to use the Pastel-Chalked Freeze-Frame. Directed Rose of Versailles, Ashita no Joe, the AIR and Clannad movies, the 90's anime version of Black Jack, Oniisama e... and Mighty Orbots.
 * Leiji Matsumoto—Known for his distinctive art style, the single continuity where most of his works are set, and the unique Anachronism Stew which features, among others, literal trains in SPACE.
 * Yoshiyuki "Kill 'Em All" Tomino—Worked from the beginning on storyboards for Tetsuwan Atom. Highly influential in creating the Real Robot genre with his series Mobile Suit Gundam, and its many sequels and Spin Offs. One of the foremost popularizers of Kill'Em All in anime; so much so, many online communities have made it his official nickname.
 * Hideaki Anno—Co-founder for Studio Gainax; directed Gunbuster, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Kare Kano, and, perhaps most famously, Neon Genesis Evangelion; friend and protege of Hayao Miyazaki
 * Shinichi Watanabe—aka "Nabeshin", director of Excel Saga and Puni Puni Poemi, among others; known for taking the Gag Series anime in a gonzo direction.
 * Shinichiro Watanabe—Co-director of Macross Plus. Directed influential series Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Skilled at mixing multiple genres. Often confused for the above.
 * A special case is "Hajime Yatate"—actually a pseudonym for the Sunrise animation staff, often credited as an "original creator" in series like Mobile Suit Gundam, Outlaw Star, or Keroro Gunsou. "Izumi Todo" (Futari wa Pretty Cure) or "Saburo Yatsude" (Super Sentai, Metal Heroes, many Super Robot series) serves the same purpose for Toei.
 * Akiyuki Shinbo—Director of Moon Phase, Pani Poni Dash!, Hidamari Sketch, the second Mahou Sensei Negima anime, and the smash hit Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Tends to include innumerable Shout Outs to just about everything, as well as some non-standard direction. Whether this guy is a genius of anime or a pedophile who found a safer way out in it is the subject of many jokes and arguments.
 * Toshio Maeda—Writer of Urotsukidouji and as such one of the founders of the tentacle rape subgenre of Hentai.
 * Junichi Sato—A director who mainly works in fairytale-influenced Shoujo series, and director of some of the best Magical Girl series out there. His credits include the first two seasons of Sailor Moon (which he continued to write for and direct episodes of afterwards), Prétear, Princess Tutu, Aria, and Kaleido Star.
 * Chiaki Konaka—Writer of series that range between supernatural horror (Devilman Lady, Hellsing, Narutaru, Ghost Hound) and sci-fi thriller (The Big O, Serial Experiments Lain, Texhnolyze). Best known, however, for his major role on Digimon Tamers.
 * Masaaki Yuasa—Animation Director on Noiseman Sound Insect and some of the best episodes of Shin Chan, and the director of Mind Game, Kemonozume, Kaiba and a short in Genius Party. All of his work is known for having excellent, inventive animation, and having very unusual subject matter.
 * Mitsuteru Yokoyama—Manga/anime writer best known for Tetsujin 28/Gigantor and Giant Robo. Also wrote Kamen no Ninja Akakage and Sally the Witch.
 * Kunihiko Ikuhara—Anime director best known for Revolutionary Girl Utena and his work on Sailor Moon.
 * Koichi Mashimo—Anime director best known for Noir, .hack//SIGN, and Madlax. Founder of studio Bee Train.
 * Kazuya Tsurumaki—Anime director best known for FLCL; protege of Hideaki Anno
 * Hiroyuki Yamaga—Co-founder of Studio Gainax and director of Wings of Honneamise Royal Space Force and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi.
 * Toshio Okada—Co-founder of Studio Gainax and director of Otaku no Video
 * Hiroyuki Imaishi—Animator and director whose work includes Dead Leaves, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and Panty and Stocking With Garterbelt. Known for his colorful, surreal, ultra-stylized visuals, hyper-kinetic animation style, and wacky sense of humor.
 * Yoshinori Kanada—Considered by many to have been the best Japanese key animator outside of Telecom Animation Film, and was highly influential on many animators, especially the aforementioned Hiroyuki Imaishi. He worked on many, many shows in his time, including Akira and Various Ghibli projects, certain stand-out episodes of various 70s mecha series (including Daitarn3, Gaiking and Zambot3, the wonderfully animated climax in the otherwise not particularly visually noteworthy Harmagedon, an outstanding sequence in the Galaxy Express 999 movie and the virtually plotless yet visually exciting and criminally underrated 80s OVA Birth, for which he was the animation director.
 * Shoji Kawamori—The director of the whole canonical Macross series as well as the mechanical designer for Cowboy Bebop.
 * Gen Urobuchi—Scenarist and screenwriter, very famous for his Darker and Edgier works, formerly working with Nitroplus on such Visual Novel projects as Saya no Uta. His favorite tropes include Break the Cutie, Crapsack World, Through the Eyes of Madness, and Downer Ending (or if you feel lucky, Bittersweet Ending). Made famous after his work on Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Also infamous as a Trolling Creator.
 * Shinji Aramaki - Better known for his mechanical design work, Aramaki-san directed Genesis Surviver Gaiarth and Appleseed, and both wrote and directed MADOX-01.

Primarily known for working in films

 * Hayao Miyazaki—Co-founder of Studio Ghibli, and the biggest name in modern anime. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away are among his films.
 * Isao Takahata—Co-founder of Studio Ghibli and famed anime film director. His work, Grave of the Fireflies, is considered by some to be one of the greatest anime films ever made.
 * Katsuhiro Otomo—Mainly a manga creator, but he directed the movie adaptation of his most famous work, Akira, which was considered the breakthrough title for anime in the West.
 * Makoto Shinkai—Director and animator. Produced Voices of a Distant Star (alone!), The Place Promised in Our Early Days, and 5 Centimeters Per Second. His works are well known for their gratuitous Scenery Porn, and Voices was produced almost entirely as a solo project by Makoto, showcasing the power that modern computer animation gave to artists.
 * Mamoru Oshii—Writer and director, known for his surreal, aesthetically breathtaking, intellectual style, and occasionally his offbeat humor. Signature works include Angel's Egg, Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer (along with several memorable episodes from the series), the Patlabor series and movies, and the two Ghost in The Shell movies.
 * Satoshi Kon—Director of Tokyo Godfathers, Paprika, Perfect Blue, Millennium Actress, and the TV series Paranoia Agent. Died from pancreatic cancer in 2010.
 * Yoshiaki Kawajiri—One of the best directors of dark, gritty, flashy and sexy action movies, best known for Wicked City, Ninja Scroll and Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust, as well as classic Cyberpunk OAVs such as Cyber City Oedo 808 and Goku: Midnight Eye. Also worked in the X 1999 TV series.

Studios
See the main article at Category:Anime Studios.

Manga-ka
The following manga writers, while not always directly involved in anime, have provided the basis for a large number of essential anime:
 * Akira Toriyama—Writer of the famous Dragon Ball series, as well as Dr. Slump. Renowned video-game visual designer (Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest series have both benefited from his input).
 * Arina Tanemura—Primarily works on shojo manga. Wrote Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Full Moon o Sagashite, and Time Stranger Kyoko.
 * CLAMP—A team of Shojo and Shonen manga authors who have provided some of the genre's defining works; among them, Cardcaptor Sakura, Magic Knight Rayearth, X and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle/xxxHolic.
 * Eiichiro Oda—Creator of the long-running shounen series, One Piece, which is currently the number one best selling manga in Japan (and, after Osamu Akimoto's Kochikame, is the oldest manga running in Shonen Jump, for 14 years). Jokingly referred to as the Jesus of shonen manga, with Akira Toriyama being God. Known for his wacky and imaginative character designs and use of clever plot twists.
 * Go Nagai—Innovator in several manga/anime genres. Wrote Mazinger Z, which popularized the Humongous Mecha genre, along with Cutey Honey, Getter Robo, and Devilman. Known for breaching taboos in writing and art.
 * Keiko Takemiya—The creator of Kaze to Ki no Uta and Toward the Terra. She is one of the members of the Year 24 Group, a group of female mangaka that helped revolutionize shoujo manga and one of the pioneers of the Boys Love Genre.
 * Ken Akamatsu—Creator of A.I. Love You, Love Hina, and Mahou Sensei Negima.
 * Kenichi Sonoda—Writer of Gunsmith Cats and Cannon God Exaxxion; also the character designer on several influential productions, including Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, and Wings of Honneamise Royal Space Force (Studio Gainax's first major project).
 * Kiyohiko Azuma—Creator of Azumanga Daioh and Yotsuba&!.
 * Koge-Donbo—Famous for her ultra-cute style and one of the first popular "Moe" manga-ka. Series she has written include Di Gi Charat, Kamichama Karin and Pita-Ten.
 * Kosuke Fujishima—the original creator of Ah! My Goddess and You're Under Arrest, who has been lead character designer on the Tales (series) for over a decade.
 * Kozue Amano—Creator of the Aqua and Aria manga series.
 * Masami Kurumada—Creator of Saint Seiya as well as a number of other titles.
 * Masashi Kishimoto—Creator of the extremely popular series Naruto.
 * Mitsuru Adachi—Creator of Touch, H2, Cross Game and many other sports manga, he is one of the most well-known Shonen authors in Japan. His works have sold over 200 million copies and he actually owns his own baseball team.
 * Mohiro Kitoh: Creator of such inspiring works as Bokurano and Narutaru.
 * Monkey Punch—Creator of widely acclaimed and adapted manga series Lupin III.
 * Moto Hagio—The creator of the work The Heart of Thomas and They Were Eleven. She is also a member of the Year 24 Group and along with Keiko Takemiya, is a pioneer of the Boys Love Genre.
 * Naoki Urasawa—Creator of Monster, Pluto, and Twentieth Century Boys. His work is known for its suspense and critical acclaim. He also released a rock album.
 * Naoko Takeuchi—Creator of Sailor Moon as well as ex-girlfriend to Kosuke Fujishima and wife to Yoshihiro Togashi.
 * Nobuhiro Watsuki—The mangaka behind the hit series Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin, and a failed (but still pretty cool) attempt at a western, Gun Blaze West. Is currently hard at work on Embalming. Known for his love of late nineteenth/early twentieth century fashion and architectural styles.
 * Riyoko Ikeda—Creator of Rose of Versailles and Oniisama e.... She is also one of the members of the Year 24 Group.
 * Rumiko Takahashi—Creator of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, and Inuyasha, among others. One of the most published authors on the entire planet (literally hundreds of million of volumes sold) and one of the richest women in Japan because of it. Sometimes referred to by American otaku as "The Goddess".
 * Satoko Kiyuduki—Increasingly popular illustrator and character designer who works entirely by herself, without the help of any assistants. Creator of GA Geijutsuka Art Design Class and Shoulder a Coffin Kuro, but best known for her work on the Dept. Heaven game series. All of her manga are Yonkoma.
 * Satoru Akahori -- Light Novelist and manga writer; created or co-created Saber Marionette J, Sorcerer Hunters, Sakura Taisen, Maze Megaburst Space, M0use, the Lamune & 40 series, Mon Colle Knights, Akahori Gedou Hour Rabuge, and many other series.
 * Shirow Masamune—Creator of Ghost in The Shell, Dominion Tank Police, Appleseed, and Black Magic M-66.
 * Shotaro Ishinomori—Protege of Osamu Tezuka, and an instrumental figure in the henshin (transforming) superhero genre. Created Cyborg 009, the first superhero team in Japan, as well as Kamen Rider. He also kickstarted the Super Sentai genre by writing Himitsu Sentai Goranger for TV (which later got a manga sequel).
 * Tatsuo Yoshida—Anime pioneer who created Mach Go Go Go, better known as Speed Racer in the English-speaking world. Later, with his brothers, he founded the anime studio Tatsunoko Productions.
 * Tite Kubo: Creator of the popular long running series Bleach. Also highly regarded as a Troll in the fandom.
 * Yoshihiro Togashi—Author of Yu Yu Hakusho and Hunter X Hunter. Married to Naoko Takeuchi and a Real Life case of the Incurable Cough of Death, which tends to cause Schedule Slip for him.
 * Yoshitoshi ABe—Creator of Haibane Renmei, but mostly known for his artwork and character design for Serial Experiments Lain.
 * Yuu Watase—Creator of Fushigi Yuugi and Ayashi no Ceres, among others.
 * Mamoru Nagano—Best known for his work in the field of Humongous Mecha. Worked with Real Robot king Yoshiyuki Tomino as a mechanical designer on three occasions, first on his debut work Heavy Metal L-Gaim & then later on Zeta Gundam, where he was responsible for some of the most visually distinctive mobile suits in the show & perhaps in all of Gundam. The two also teamed up once more over a decade later when Nagano provided mecha designs for Brain Powerd. Creator the long-running manga series The Five Star Stories, a Spiritual Successor to L-Gaim, the first story-arc of which was made into an anime film. Married to seiyuu Maria Kawamura, who has worked both L-Gaim & Z Gundam and is probably best known as the voice of Asuka's crazy mom.

Musicians and Composers
The following music performers and composers have made their name in anime history:
 * Choro Club: A musical trio with an acoustic, slightly Latin-American sound, mostly known for their work for Aria and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou.
 * Eri Kawai: Contributed many songs for anime productions as well as video games, both as a composer and a singer. Some of her more well known works include music for Aria, Sketchbook [[full color'S]] and Utawarerumono.
 * Ive Sound: A joint venture of various producers and performers, contributing opening and ending themes to many anime series. Best known for KOTOKO.
 * Isao Sasaki: This deep-voiced singer has done more Humongous Mecha theme songs then you can shake a stick at. However, he has also done non-mecha themes too (such as Galaxy Express 999) - and not only he's still active, but he's still kept his powerful voice despite his age (listen to "Midnight Dekaranger" for proof). Also acts, played Joe the Condor in Gatchaman and did several live action roles, guesting in shows such as Kamen Rider and Juspion. Is the voice of Superman in the first 4 Superman films. No, really.
 * JAM Project: This rock band consists of some of the most popular singers in anime. Their stock in trade is Hot-Blooded songs for Humongous Mecha shows and games, including Super Robot Wars.
 * Joe Hisaishi: Composer for nearly all of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. Known for using full orchestra to set the moods of the films. Big fan of American music producer Quincy Jones.
 * Jun Maeda: Composer and partial performer most of the music for the games of Key Visual Arts and their derivative works.
 * Mitsuko Horie: Has been doing theme songs since she was 12 years old. She has often done themes for shojo (and otherwise "soft") anime, but has also done a few themes for shonen anime as well. She as even done theme songs for live action (non-Tokusatsu) TV dramas, such as a duet with Sasaki for Himitsu Sentai Goranger (although she has also done tokusatsu as well)! Also had a live action acting role in the Stealth Parody tokusatsu Uchuu Tetsujin Kyodaine.
 * savage Genius: A two-person band contributing many anime theme songs and being highly successful in the charts with them.
 * Yuki Kajiura: Composer known for her work in Noir, MADLAX, the .hack series and the Hime meta-series. Her work tends to include Ominous Latin Chanting and One Woman Wailing. Also known by her musical projects in which she is/was involved, such as See-Saw, her Fiction Junction collaborations (with people as Yuuka Nanri, Kaori Oda, Keiko Kubota, between others), and more recently, Kalafina.
 * Yoko Kanno: Composer for many highly rated series including the heavily music-inspired Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain, and Darker than Black.
 * May'n: Singing voice of Sheryl Nome with around twenty songs to that name alone. She also did the well-received theme song to Shangri-La.
 * Tenmon: Makoto Shinkai's friend, ex-colleague at Nihon Falcom and frequent collaborator in every project he's been involved. Very fond of classical instruments (especially violin and piano) and poignant music, and the combination of said elements has become his mesmerizing signature style.
 * Toshihiko Sahashi: Very prolific composer with a long list of contributions to anime-series, games and drama CDs.
 * Masato Shimon: Active during the heyday of Humongous Mecha anime, Masato Shimon is probably best known for being the king of Hero Songs, singing many tokusatsu themes as well as Gatchaman's theme song. He is the singer of the infamous Jet Jaguar song. After 1993, claimed to hate humanity and vanished until 1998, when he sang Seiju Sentai Gingaman's OP and ED. Fluent in English. A Real Life invoker of I Have Many Names, as he has gone through many Stage Names when performing, probably most famously Akira Tani and Kouichi Fuji. Had a Funny Afro.
 * Ichirou Mizuki (aka Aniki). Probably best known for Mazinger Z 's songs. Has acted in Jikuu Senshi Spielban, Choujin Barom 1, and Gaoranger.
 * Koorogi 73 usually were backing singers on things such as Denshi Sentai Denjiman or Voltes V's theme songs, but sometimes took lead on things like Akuma-kun's OP. Also did a number of Villain Songs.
 * Masatake Ookura, leading member of Koorogi '73 who also did some things on his own such as a cover of Ai wo Torimodose from Fist Of the North Star, the ending of Daimos, and several insert songs in Kinnikuman.
 * Columbia Yurikago Kai (Columbia Cradle Club), a children's choir who sang backups to Gatchaman and 70's Super Robot anime theme songs such as Great Mazinger, Raideen as well as several Toku shows like Kamen Rider and live-action children's shows.
 * Michiaki Watanabe. Composer for the 70s entries in the Mazinger Z franchise, and eventually became a tokusatsu composer primarily, though he still dabbled in anime like Machine Robo Revenge Of Chronos and Video Senshi Laserion. Still composing music for Super Sentai to this day.
 * Akira Kushida, aka Kussy. Known for his soul music in addition to his anime works. Actually sang onstage with The Temptations. Best known for singing Kinnikuman's themes.
 * Yukio Yamagata, a voice actor and anime singer best known for Ginga Reppu Baxinger, Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger and Makyou Densetsu Acrobunch's opening songs.
 * MIQ, a gal known for singing Hot-Blooded giant robot themes for things like Aura Battler Dunbine and Heavy Metal L-Gaim. Speaks fluent English.
 * Takayuki Miyauchi, known for his extremely authoritative midrange to deep voice. Debuted in 1983 with Brocken Jr.'s theme(Red Rain Of Berlin, with Koorogi '73) in Kinnikuman. Also did several sentai songs, Kamen Rider Black RX's theme and Ginga: Nagareboshi Gin 's theme.
 * Taku Iwasaki, known for his work on the Rurouni Kenshin OVA's, Read or Die, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
 * Shiro Sagisu, composer for several Studio Gainax projects including Neon Genesis Evangelion, His and Her Circumstances and Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, as well as Bleach, Kimagure Orange Road and a couple of non-Pillows background tunes in FLCL.
 * Kenji Kawai, a composer whose body of work includes Ranma ½, Vampire Princess Miyu, Fate/stay night, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and every Mamoru Oshii film.

Major Figures
The following seiyuu (voice actors) are either extremely significant presences in anime, or have had a major influence in the history and development of the medium:
 * Ai Maeda
 * Ai Orikasa
 * Akemi Okamura
 * Akiko Hiramatsu
 * Akiko Kimura
 * Akiko Yajima
 * Akira Ishida
 * Akira Kamiya
 * Akio Nojima
 * Akio Ohtsuka
 * Asako Dodo
 * Atsuko Enomoto
 * Atsuko Tanaka
 * Atsuko Yuya
 * Aya Hisakawa
 * Ayako Kawasumi
 * Banjo Ginga
 * Bin Shimada
 * Chafurin
 * Chieko Higuchi
 * Chieko Honda
 * Chiemi Chiba
 * Chiharu Tezuka
 * Chikao Ohtsuka
 * Chika Sakamoto
 * Chinami Nishimura
 * Chisa Yokoyama
 * Chiyoko Kawashima
 * Daiki Nakamura
 * Daisuke Namikawa
 * Daisuke Sakaguchi
 * Emi Shinohara
 * Eiji Takemoto
 * Eriko Hara
 * Eri Miyajima
 * Etsuko Kozakura
 * Fujiko Takimoto
 * Fumihiko Tachiki
 * Fumi Hirano
 * Goro Naya
 * Haruhi Terada
 * Haruna Ikezawa
 * Hekiru Shiina
 * Hidekatsu Shibata
 * Hideo Ishikawa
 * Hideyuki Hori
 * Hideyuki Tanaka
 * Hikaru Midorikawa
 * Hiroaki Hirata
 * Hiroki Tochi
 * Hiroko Emori
 * Hiroko Kasahara
 * Hiroko Konishi
 * Hiromi Tsuru
 * Hiroshi Ito
 * Hiroshi Tsuchida
 * Hiroya Ishimaru
 * Hiro Yuki
 * Hisao Egawa
 * Hisako Kyoda
 * Hochu Otsuka
 * Houko Kuwashima
 * Hozumi Gouda
 * Iemasa Kayumi
 * Ikue Ohtani
 * Isshin Chiba
 * Jin Yamanoi
 * Joji Nakata
 * Jouji Yanami
 * Junichi Kanemaru
 * Junko Iwao
 * Junko Minagawa
 * Junko Noda
 * Jurota Kosugi
 * Kae Araki
 * Kaori Aso
 * Kappei Yamaguchi
 * Katsuji Mori
 * Katsumi Suzuki
 * Katsuyuki Konishi
 * Kaya Matsutani
 * Kazue Ikura
 * Kazuhiko Inoue
 * Kazuki Yao
 * Kazuko Sugiyama
 * Kazuya Ichijou
 * Kazuya Nakai
 * Keaton Yamada
 * Keiichi Nanba
 * Keiichi Noda
 * Keiji Fujiwara
 * Keiko Han
 * Keiko Toda
 * Keiko Yokozawa
 * Kenichi Ogata
 * Kenichi Ono
 * Kenji Utsumi
 * Kenjiro Tsuda
 * Ken Narita
 * Kentaro Ito
 * Kenyuu Horiuchi
 * Kikuko Inoue
 * Kiyoshi Kobayashi
 * Kiyoyuki Yanada
 * Kiyomi Asai
 * Koichi Hashimoto
 * Koichi Tochika
 * Koichi Yamadera
 * Konami Yoshida
 * Kosuke Toriumi
 * Kotono Mitsuishi
 * Kouji Ishii
 * Kouji Tsujitani
 * Kozo Shioya
 * Kozue Yoshizumi
 * Kujira
 * Kumiko Nishihara
 * Kumiko Watanabe
 * Kunihiko Yasui
 * Kyoko Hikami
 * Maaya Sakamoto
 * Makio Inoue
 * Mami Kingetsu
 * Mami Koyama
 * Maria Kawamura
 * Mariko Kouda
 * Masako Nozawa
 * Masaya Onosaka
 * Masaki Terasoma
 * Masashi Ebara
 * Masashi Hirose
 * Masami Kikuchi
 * Masako Katsuki
 * Masayo Kurata
 * Maya Okamoto
 * Mayumi Asano
 * Mayumi Iizuka
 * Mayumi Tanaka
 * Megumi Hayashibara
 * Megumi Matsumoto
 * Megumi Ogata
 * Michie Tomizawa
 * Michiyo Yanagisawa
 * Michiko Neya
 * Minami Hokuto
 * Minami Kuribayashi
 * Minami Takayama
 * Minori Matsushima
 * Mina Tominaga
 * Mika Doi
 * Mika Kanai
 * Miki Nagasawa
 * Miki Ito
 * Misa Watanabe
 * Mitsuaki Madono
 * Mitsuo Iwata
 * Mitsuru Miyamoto
 * Miyoko Aso
 * Motoko Kumai
 * Mugihito
 * Nami Miyahara
 * Naoko Matsui
 * Naoko Takano
 * Naoko Watanabe
 * Naoya Uchida
 * Naozumi Takahashi
 * Narumi Hidaka
 * Natsumi Yanase
 * Nobuo Tobita
 * Nobutoshi Canna
 * Nobuyuki Hiyama
 * Noriko Hidaka
 * Noriko Ohara
 * Norio Wakamoto
 * Nozomu Sasaki
 * Omi Minami
 * Rei Igarashi
 * Reiko Takagi
 * Rei Sakuma
 * Rica Matsumoto
 * Rihoko Yoshida
 * Rika Fukami
 * Rikako Aikawa
 * Rikiya Koyama
 * Rio Natsuki
 * Rokuro Naya
 * Romi Park
 * Rumi Shishido
 * Ryotaro Okiayu
 * Ryo Horikawa
 * Ryusei Nakao
 * Ryuzou Ishino
 * Ryuzaburo Ohtomo
 * Sachiko Sugawara
 * Saeko Shimazu
 * Sakiko Tamagawa
 * Sakura Tange
 * Satomi Koorogi
 * Satsuki Yukino
 * Sawa Ishige
 * Seizo Kato
 * Sumi Shimamoto
 * Shigeru Chiba
 * Shigeru Nakahara
 * Shinichiro Miki
 * Shinobu Adachi
 * Shinji Kawada
 * Shino Kakinuma
 * Show Hayami
 * Showtaro Morikubo
 * Shozo Iizuka
 * Shuichi Ikeda
 * Susumu Chiba
 * Taeko Kawata
 * Taiki Matsuno
 * Taiten Kusunoki
 * Takako Honda
 * Takashi Nagasako
 * Takaya Hashi
 * Takaya Kuroda
 * Takayuki Sugo
 * Takehito Koyasu
 * Takeshi Kusao
 * Takumi Yamazaki
 * Tetsu Inada
 * Tetsu Shiratori
 * Tetsuya Iwanaga
 * Tessho Genda
 * Tohru Furusawa
 * Tohru Furuya
 * Toru Ohira
 * Tohru Ookawa
 * Tomoe Hanba
 * Tomokazu Seki
 * Tomoko Ishimura
 * Tomomichi Nishimura
 * Tomo Sakurai
 * Tomoyuki Dan
 * Toshiko Fujita
 * Toshio Furukawa
 * Toshihiko Seki
 * Toshiyuki Morikawa
 * Tustin Gilmer Macafee
 * Tsutomu Kashiwakura
 * Unsho Ishizuka
 * Urara Takano
 * Wakana Yamazaki
 * Wataru Takagi
 * Yasuhiro Takato
 * Yasunori Masutani
 * Yasunori Matsumoto
 * Yoko Asada
 * Yoko Honna
 * Yoko Ogai
 * Yoko Soumi
 * Yoku Shioya
 * Yoshiko Sakakibara
 * Yoshino Takamori
 * Yoshito Yasuhara
 * Yosuke Akimoto
 * Yui Horie
 * Yui Sakakibara
 * Yuji Kishi
 * Yuji Mitsuya
 * Yuji Ueda
 * Yuka Imai
 * Yukana
 * Yuki Masuda
 * Yukitoshi Hori
 * Yuko Kobayashi
 * Yuko Minaguchi
 * Yuko Miyamura
 * Yuko Mizutani
 * Yuko Nagashima
 * Yuko Sasaki
 * Yumi Kakazu
 * Yumiko Kobayashi
 * Yumi Takada
 * Yumi Touma
 * Yuri Amano
 * Yuriko Fuchizaki
 * Yuriko Yamaguchi
 * Yuriko Yamamoto
 * Yuri Shiratori
 * Yusaku Yara
 * Yuu Asakawa
 * Yuu Mizushima
 * Yuu Sugimoto
 * Yuuto Kazama

Recent seiyuu
Seiyuu that are beginning to rise in popularity in recent years (though this is subjective):
 * Ai Kayano
 * Ai Nonaka
 * Ai Shimizu
 * Akemi Kanda
 * Akeno Watanabe
 * Aki Toyosaki
 * Ami Koshimizu
 * Aoi Yuuki
 * Arisa Ogasawara
 * Asami Asakura
 * Asami Imai
 * Asami Sanada
 * Asami Shimoda
 * Asuka Tanii
 * Atsushi Abe
 * Aya Endo
 * Aya Hirano
 * Ayahi Takagaki
 * Ayaka Saitou
 * Ayana Taketatsu
 * Ayumi Fujimura
 * Ayumi Tsunematsu
 * Chiaki Omigawa
 * Chiaki Takahashi
 * Chie Nakamura
 * Chihiro Suzuki
 * Chiwa Saitou
 * Daisuke Hirakawa
 * Daisuke Kishio
 * Daisuke Ono
 * Emiri Katou
 * Eri Kitamura
 * Eri Sendai
 * Eriko Nakamura
 * Fumie Mizusawa
 * Fumiko Orikasa
 * Fuyuka Ooura
 * Go Inoue
 * Halko Momoi
 * Hana Takeda
 * Haruka Tomatsu
 * Harumi Sakurai
 * Hidenobu Kiuchi
 * Hiro Shimono
 * Hirofumi Nojima
 * Hiroki Takahashi
 * Hiroki Yasumoto
 * Hiroko Emori
 * Hiromi Hirata
 * Hiromi Konno
 * Hiroshi Kamiya
 * Hiroshi Shimozaki
 * Hiroyuki Yoshino
 * Hisako Kanemoto
 * Hisayo Mochizuki
 * Hitomi Nabatame
 * Iori Nomizu
 * Jun Fukuyama
 * Junichi Suwabe
 * Junji Majima
 * Junko Takeuchi
 * Kanako Mitsuhashi
 * Kanako Sakai
 * Kana Asumi
 * Kana Hanazawa
 * Kana Ueda
 * Kanae Ito
 * Kaori Fukuhara
 * Kaori Mizuhashi
 * Kaori Nazuka
 * Kaori Shimizu
 * Kaoru Mizuhara
 * Kazusa Murai
 * Keikou Sakai
 * Kei Shindou
 * Kenichi Suzumura
 * Kenji Akabane
 * Kenji Hamada
 * Kenji Nojima
 * Kenji Nomura
 * KENN
 * Kenta Miyake
 * Kissho Taniyama
 * Koji Yusa
 * Kouki Miyata
 * Kouki Uchiyama
 * Kumi Sakuma
 * Mai Aizawa
 * Mai Goto
 * Mai Kadowaki
 * Mai Nakahara
 * Makiko Ohmoto
 * Mamiko Noto
 * Mamoru Miyano
 * Maria Yamamoto
 * Marina Inoue
 * Mariya Ise
 * Masakazu Morita
 * Masaya Matsukaze
 * Masami Iwasaki
 * Masumi Asano
 * Megumi Nakajima
 * Mayumi Yamaguchi
 * Megumi Takamoto
 * Megumi Toyoguchi
 * Mie Sonozaki
 * Mika Kikuchi
 * Mikako Takahashi
 * Minako Kotobuki
 * Minori Chihara
 * Minoru Shiraishi
 * Misato Fukuen
 * Mitsuhiro Ichiki
 * Mitsuki Saiga
 * Miyu Irino
 * Miyu Matsuki
 * Miyuki Sawashiro
 * Momoko Saito
 * Motoki Takagi
 * Nana Mizuki
 * Nao Takamori
 * Nao Touyama
 * Naomi Shindo
 * Naomi Wakabayashi
 * Natsuko Kuwatani
 * Nobuhiko Okamoto
 * Noriaki Sugiyama
 * Noriko Shitaya
 * Reiko Kiuchi
 * Rie Kugimiya
 * Rie Tanaka
 * Rika Morinaga
 * Rina Hidaka
 * Rina Sato
 * Risa Hayamizu
 * Risa Mizuno
 * Ryo Hirohashi
 * Ryohei Kimura
 * Ryoka Yuzuki
 * Ryoko Shintani
 * Ryoko Shiraishi
 * Saeko Chiba
 * Saki Fujita
 * Saki Nakajima
 * Sakura Nogawa
 * Saori Goto
 * Satomi Akesaka
 * Satomi Sato
 * Satoshi Hino
 * Sawa Ishige
 * Sayaka Aoki
 * Sayaka Ohara
 * Sayuri Yahagi
 * Sanae Kobayashi
 * Saori Hayami
 * Satomi Arai
 * Seiko Yoshida
 * Shigenori Yamazaki
 * Shiho Kawaragi
 * Shizuka Hasegawa
 * Shizuka Ito
 * Soichiro Hoshi
 * Takahiro Mizushima
 * Takahiro Sakurai
 * Takashi Kondo
 * Takayuki Kondo
 * Takuma Terashima
 * Takuya Eguchi
 * Tatsuhisa Suzuki
 * Tetsuya Kakihara
 * Tomokazu Sugita
 * Tomoko Kaneda
 * Toshiyuki Kusuda
 * Toshiyuki Toyonaga
 * Tsubasa Yonaga
 * Yasuyuki Kase
 * Yoji Ueda
 * Yoko Hikasa
 * Yoshihisa Kawahara
 * Yui Makino
 * Yuka Iguchi
 * Yuka Inokuchi
 * Yuka Nanri
 * Yukari Fukui
 * Yukari Tamura
 * Yuki Matsuoka
 * Yuki Kaida
 * Yuko Kaida
 * Yuko Sato
 * Yuko Sanpei
 * Yuko Goto
 * Yumi Hara
 * Yuu Kobayashi
 * Yu Shimamura
 * Yuuichi Nakamura
 * Yuuka Nanri
 * Yuuki Kaji
 * Yurika Ochiai

RIP
Unfortunately, seiyuus are also humans, some gained fame, and then died. Here's some famous seiyuus that have passed away, but have contributed a lot in the anime business:
 * Daisuke Gouri
 * Eri Kawai
 * Ginzo Matsuo
 * Hirotaka Suzuoki
 * Junpei Takiguchi
 * Kaneto Shiozawa
 * Kazuyuki Sogabe
 * Kei Tomiyama
 * Kohei Miyauchi
 * Koji Totani
 * Machiko Soga
 * Nachi Nozawa
 * Osamu Ichikawa
 * Reiko Kondo
 * Sayuri Yamauchi
 * Shiho Niiyama
 * Shun Yashiro
 * Takeshi Aono
 * Takeshi Watabe
 * Tomoko Kawakami
 * Yasuo Yamada
 * You Inoue

American Dub Voice Actors
Here's a list of noteworthy American dub voice actors. Voice actors are usually not exclusive to one studio or region—this list is separated by where they are based.

Los Angeles area: (Bang Zoom! Entertainment, New Generation Pictures, Animaze, Studiopolis)

 * Stephen Apostolina
 * Laura Bailey (based in Texas until 2008 and still does some work there)
 * Troy Baker (in Texas until 2008 and still does some work there)
 * Brian Beacock
 * Beau Billingslea
 * Steve Blum
 * Johnny Yong Bosch (occasionally worked with FUNimation)
 * Steve Bulen
 * Christine Marie Cabanos
 * Richard Cansino
 * Cam Clarke
 * Brian Donovan
 * Richard Epcar
 * Doug Erholtz
 * Dorothy Fahn
 * Melissa Fahn (Dorothy's sister-in-law)
 * Erin Fitzgerald
 * Quinton Flynn
 * Rebecca Forstadt
 * Sandy Fox
 * Crispin Freeman (worked in New York until 2001)
 * Grant George
 * Barbara Goodson
 * Kyle Hebert (occasionally worked with FUNimation)
 * Kate Higgins
 * Bridget Hoffman
 * Megan Hollingshead (worked in New York until 2006)
 * Steve Kramer
 * Lauren Landa
 * Lex Lang
 * Amanda Winn-Lee (worked in Texas until around 2000)
 * Cassandra Lee (worked in New York until late 2000s)
 * Mela Lee
 * Wendee Lee
 * Michael Lindsay
 * Yuri Lowenthal
 * Julie Maddalena
 * Mona Marshall
 * Michael McConnohie
 * Mary Elizabeth McGlynn
 * Vic Mignogna (worked in Texas until around 2008 and still works with FUNimation from time to time)
 * Lara Jill Miller
 * Edie Mirman
 * Liam O'Brien (worked in New York until around 2004)
 * Colleen O'Shaughnessey
 * Tony Oliver
 * Bryce Papenbrook
 * Tara Platt
 * Jamieson Price
 * Derek Stephen Prince
 * Sam Riegel (Worked in New York until around 2009)
 * Cindy Robinson
 * Michelle Ruff
 * Philece Sampler
 * Carrie Savage (worked in LA until around 2007 where she worked in Texas in many FUNimation titles, had recently moved back to LA)
 * Patrick Seitz (frequent regular of FUNimation)
 * Stephanie Sheh (ocassionally works with FUNimation)
 * Brianne Siddall
 * Keith Silverstein
 * Roger Craig Smith
 * Spike Spencer (Worked in Texas until the early 2000s)
 * Paul St Peter
 * Steve Staley
 * Skip Stellrecht
 * Terrence Stone
 * Karen Strassman
 * Kaiji Tang
 * Julie Ann Taylor
 * Kirk Thornton
 * Cristina Valenzuela
 * David Vincent
 * Kari Wahlgren
 * Debi Mae West
 * Travis Willingham (worked in Texas until 2008 and occasionally works with FUNimation)
 * Dave Wittenberg
 * Dan Woren

Canada (The Ocean Group, Nelvana)

 * Michael Adamthwaite
 * Emilie Claire Barlow
 * Lisa Ann Beley
 * Nicole Bouma
 * Gary Chalk
 * Ted Cole
 * Alyson Court
 * Richard Ian Cox
 * Anna Cummer
 * Trevor Devall
 * Brian Dobson
 * Michael Dobson
 * Paul Dobson
 * Brian Drummond
 * Matthew Erickson
 * Andrew Francis
 * Ron Halder
 * Saffron Henderson
 * Maryke Hendrikse
 * Matt Hill
 * Janyse Jaud
 * Andrew Kavadas
 * David Kaye
 * Gabe Khouth
 * Michael Kopsa
 * Julie Lemieux
 * Lalainia Lindbjerg
 * Scott McNeil
 * Jillian Michaels
 * Brent Miller
 * Kirby Morrow
 * Brenna O Brien
 * Nicole Oliver
 * Ron Pardo
 * Susan Roman
 * Kelly Sheridan
 * Rebecca Shoichet
 * Tabitha St Germain
 * Chantal Strand
 * Brad Swaile
 * Venus Terzo
 * Robert Tinkler
 * Lee Tockar
 * Andrew Toth
 * Samuel Vincent
 * Cathy Weseluck
 * Alex Zahara

Texas: (FUNimation, Seraphim Digital Studios (formerly ADV Studios), the now-closed Monster Island Studio)

 * Chris Ayres
 * Greg Ayres
 * Christine Auten
 * Jessica Boone (largely left voice acting after moving from Houston in 2008, but slowly making a return)
 * Luci Christian
 * Leah Clark
 * Colleen Clinkenbeard
 * Justin Cook
 * Cynthia Cranz
 * Kira Vincent-Davis
 * Aaron Dismuke
 * R Bruce Elliott
 * Caitlin Glass
 * Tiffany Grant
 * Illich Guardiola
 * Linda Young
 * Hillary Haag
 * Todd Haberkorn (now residing in Los Angeles as of 2011, time will tell if his name start popping up in many LA based anime dubs)
 * Chuck Huber
 * Jerry Jewell
 * Brittney Karbowski
 * Mike Kleinhenz
 * Mike McFarland
 * Cherami Leigh
 * Jason Liebrecht
 * Jamie Marchi
 * Cynthia Martinez
 * Bryan Massey
 * David Matranga (has done work in LA, according to his Facebook page.)
 * Robert McCollum
 * Trina Nishimura
 * Brina Palencia
 * Chris Patton (said to retire from anime voice acting in 2009 for audiobooks, but seems to come back working with Sentai Filmworks)
 * Wendy Powell
 * Monica Rial
 * Christopher Sabat
 * Micah Solusod
 * Sonny Strait
 * John Swasey
 * J Michael Tatum
 * Alexis Tipton
 * Eric Vale
 * Maxey Whitehead
 * Kent Williams

New York City: (4Kids! Entertainment, NYAV Post, Headline Studios)

 * Amy Birnbaum
 * Jessica Calvello (worked in Texas until 2000)
 * Wayne Grayson
 * Dan Green
 * Jason Griffith
 * Ted Lewis
 * Rachael Lillis
 * Lisa Ortiz
 * Mike Pollock
 * Andrew Rannells
 * Sean Schemmel (based in Texas until around 2004; still does some work there)
 * Michael Sinterniklaas (Also founded the above mentioned NYAV Post in 2000)
 * Veronica Taylor
 * Marc Thompson
 * Jimmy Zoppi

RIP
Much like their Japanese counterparts, English voice actors are only human. Some have died. Here be a list of the dearly departed.
 * Maddie Blaustein
 * Peter Fernandez
 * Michal Friedman
 * Cassandra Hodges
 * Bob Papenbrook
 * Billie Lou Watt
 * Barry Stigler

Retired
Others, while still very much alive, have either retired or changed careers, such as:
 * Tristan Mac Avery: original English dub voice of Gendo Ikari in Neon Genesis Evangelion, retired from voice-acting after a falling-out with ADV. Now enjoying a career in writing.
 * Dameon Clarke: Started out at FUNimation as the voice of Cell and Scar, moved to Los Angeles and now only does live-action TV and a few video games. Although he recently returned to reprise his role as Cell for Dragonball Z Kai.
 * Ceyli Delgadillo: Had a brief stint working at Funimation as the voice of Goku (in the second and third movies), Dende (dubbed over by Laura Bailey on the remastered DVD releases), and the little boy that Yusuke sacrificed himself to save. Left Funimation circa 2001, and is now living in New York City.
 * Mark Gatha: English dub voice of Domon Kasshu in G Gundam, who has now become a doctor.
 * Lia Sargent: English dub voice of Chun-Li, R. Dorothy Wayneright and Milly Thompson (and ADR director for the latter two shoes), as well as providing voices and/or ADR scripts for Rurouni Kenshin, Wolf's Rain, and Planetes. Mostly retired from voice acting in 2006, but has done a few video game roles since then, such as Natsume from .hack GU and Shion in Xenosaga, as well as a couple minor anime roles, such as the redub of Ghost in the Shell 2.0 and the Dantes Inferno animated movie.
 * Andrew Rannells: He retired from voice acting to start a career on Broadway.
 * Joshua Seth: English dub voice for the likes of Tai Kamiya (Taichi Yagami), Shoubu, Hige and Tetsuo Shima, is now a Comedy Hypnotist.
 * Jason Gray Stanford: Had a good history in doing voicework in Canada during the 90's in roles such as Raditz, Joe Higashi, and Donatello. In the early 2000's he moved to California and in 2002 he became Lt. Randall Disher in the TV Series Monk and that's what he is mainly known for today.
 * Eric Stuart: retired from voice acting just after recording for the newest Slayers series, and moved from New York to Tennessee to focus on his music career and family.

Other
And others occasionally get involved in Anime voice acting even though they aren't really regulars in the industry, such as:
 * Bob Bergen, now known for being the voice of Porky Pig since Mel Blanc's death, was the voice for Lupin III in the original English dubs of the first two films, produced by Carl Macek's Streamline Pictures.
 * Genre-favorite Claudia Black of Farscape and Stargate SG-1 fame did the opening of Steel Angel Kurumi, as well as the voice of Steel Angel Michael. ADV Films got her to do the role while she was in studio recording some extra features for their DVD release of Farscape.
 * After her Stargate stint, Claudia seems to have gone into voice acting full time, with roles in God of War, Project Sylpheed, and several BioWare games, most notably Dragon Age as Morrigan.
 * Benjamin Diskin, known primarily for his American animation roles, played Kai on Blood+, as well as a couple of roles on Naruto and Bleach, one of them being Sai in Naruto Shippuden.
 * Maile Flanagan, who typically works as an on-screen actress, is best known as the voice of Naruto Uzumaki in the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden dubs.
 * David Hayter, former Guyver lead star and X-Men and Watchmen film series Screenplay writer, is known primary for his role as Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid series, but he also did plenty of anime dubs such as Tamahome in Fushigi Yugi, Bernard Wiseman in Gundam 0080, and the title role in Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro.
 * Even Samuel L. Jackson himself worked in anime, which he's a fan of, as the voice of the titular character of Afro Samurai.
 * Danielle Judovits, who also works primarily in western animation, and has very few anime roles, her most famous one being Tenten on Naruto.
 * Alessandro Juliani, a Canadian actor known for portraying Felix Gaeta on Battlestar Galactica Reimagined, also worked on Death Note as the voice of the world's greatest detective, L. (He did do voice work before such as Pit in Captain N, Prince Toma in one of the Ranma ½ movies and Gambit from X-Men Evolution and the like, but his voice work was never considered all that memorable until L came along)
 * Janice Kawaye, who does mostly American voice acting, for example Jenny in My Life as a Teenage Robot, has also worked on Bleach as the voice of Ichigo's sister Yuzu Kurosaki.
 * Tom Kenny, who's strictly a Western Animation voice actor known for being the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants and a large number of other characters, has lent his voice to anime such as Rave Master and IGPX.
 * Patricia Ja Lee, known primarily for her role as Cassie Chan in Power Rangers Turbo and In Space, played Afura Mann in El Hazard, Mika Iwakura in Serial Experiments Lain, Megumi Kurogane in Gate Keepers and most recently, Patricia Martin (Yes, we noticed) in Lucky Star. She also portrayed Haruhi Suzumiya in a series of live-action promotional videos launched by Bandai Entertainment to announce the R1 license of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Before the series' English cast was announced, it was speculated that she might be the voice of Haruhi as well (the role would instead be played by Wendee Lee). Patricia would play one of the members of ENOZ in the episode "Live Alive".
 * Hynden Walch, who normally works in American cartoon voice acting (she's best known for playing Starfire in Teen Titans) has also worked on a few anime, like Nia from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (before having to leave 2/3 of the way through due to family issues), Yutaka from Lucky Star, and Emiri Kimidori from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.
 * Wally Wingert, who also mostly does American animation voice acting, works on the Bleach dub as the gang's Sixth Ranger Renji Abarai. In addition, he was Brago from Zatch Bell and Tallest Red from Invader Zim.
 * Note that this sub-list does not include the many celebrities and Western Animation VA's that Disney has gotten to play parts in their dubs of the Studio Ghibli films.
 * Reuben Langdon, famously known as Dante in Devil May Cry, though more known in video game voicings (mostly Japanese-based that many anime fans will recognize), has once lent his voice for the animated adaptation of the game himself and had a minor role in Monster
 * Ali Hillis, AKA Dr. Liara T'soni, Lightning, is more known for video game voices, but at least she also did the anime version of Emma Frost and Karin.
 * D. C. Douglas was once involved in a Hajime no Ippo Special as Ippo Manokuchi himself, but on the other hand, like Ali Hillis above, he's more known for his video game roles such as Legion and Albert Wesker.

Latin-American Dub Voice Actors
Here's a list of noteworthy Latin-American dub voice actors. Voice actors are usually not exclusive to one studio or region, and several countries have their own studios - this list is separated by country.

Mexico (Mexico DF)

 * Eduardo Garza
 * Gerardo Reyero
 * Irwin Daayán
 * Jesús Barrero
 * Jose Gilberto Vilchis
 * María Fernanda Morales
 * Mónica Manjarrez
 * Patricia Acevedo
 * René García
 * Rossy Aguirre

RIP
Much like their Japanese and English counterparts, voice actors are only human. Some have died. Here be a list of the dearly departed.
 * Araceli De Leon