Names to Know in Anime

This page is part of the "Names to Know" project.

Anime, as a medium,^[1] 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.

Directors and Producers

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 Crayon 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 Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise 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 (alo ne!), 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/×××HOLiC.
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 Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise (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 20th 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 Colors|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.

Seiyuu

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:

Recent^[when?] seiyuu

Seiyuu that are beginning to rise in popularity in recent years (though this is subjective):

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:

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

Zach Aguilar
Hannah Alcorn (based in Houston until 2016)
Chris Jai Alex
Jon Allen
Mark Allen Jr.
Jennifer Alyx (largely left voice acting in 2012 to focus as a writer, but slowly making a return since 2015)
Laura Bailey (based in Dallas until around 2007; mostly does union work, moreso in video games and western animation than in anime)
Ryan Bartley
Tom Bauer
Brian Beacock
Christopher Bevins (based in Texas until 2017)
Jamison Boaz
Reba Buhr
Beau Billingslea (Works mostly on union dubs, though occasionally still does non-union work)
J.B Blanc (mostly does union work moreso in video games and western animation, but still does non-union work on occasion)
Steve Blum (does Union-only work in anime)
Johnny Yong Bosch (occasionally works with Funimation; does both union and non-union dubs)
Edward Bosco
Gina Bowes (mostly does union work, though occasionally still does non-union work)
Kira Buckland (has done some work in Dallas)
Griffin Burns
Christine Marie Cabanos (has done some work in Dallas and in Houston)
Richard Cansino
Jalen Cassell (has done work in Dallas)
Chris Cason (based in Dallas until 2013; divides his time between LA and Dallas)
Alex Cazares
Ray Chase (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Sean Chiplock (has done work in Dallas)
Greg Chun (has done some work in Dallas)
Allegra Clark (works in both union and non-union dubs)
David W. Collins (former LucasArts voice director/sound designer)
Kevin M. Connolly (based in Dallas until 2012)
Sara Cravens
Khoi Dao
Skyler Davenport (Based in Dallas until 2017; divides her time between LA and Dallas)
Robbie Daymond (has performed in both union and non-union dubs)
John DeMita
Mari Devon
Benjamin Diskin (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Lucien Dodge (based in New York until 2011. Did some work in Dallas)
Marc Diraison (worked in New York until 2013)
D.C. Douglas (was once involved in a Hajime no Ippo special before he stopped doing dub work in the early 2000s, but has been slowly making his return to anime since 2014)
Jake Eberle
Richard Epcar (has done some work in Dallas; does both union and non-union dubs)
Doug Erholtz
Dorothy Elias Fahn
Jonathan Fahn (slowly making his return to anime since 2018.)
Melissa Fahn (seems to mostly do union work, but still does some non-union work on occasion)
Tom Fahn
Erin Fitzgerald (worked in Vancouver, Canada until early 2000s. She also has done some voice work in Dallas)
Sandy Fox
Crispin Freeman (worked in New York until 2002; does Union-only work in anime)
Katelyn Gault
Jessica Gee
Grant George
Barbara Goodson
Darrel Guilbeau
Todd Haberkorn (based in Dallas until 2011; divides his time between LA and Dallas and has done some work in NY; works in both union and non-union dubs)
Chris Hackney
Erika Harlacher
Kyle Hebert (based in Dallas until 2005; still works with Funimation occasionally; does both union and non-union dubs)
Marieve Herington (based in Toronto, Canada until 2008; does both union and non-union dubs)
Kate Higgins (mostly does union work, but still does non-union work occasionally)
Bridget Hoffman (does Union-only work in anime)
Megan Hollingshead (based in New York until 2004; seems to mostly do union work, but still does some non-union work on occasion)
Xanthe Huynh
Taliesin Jaffe (occasionally works for Funimation)
Carrie Keranen (worked in New York until 2010. Did some voice work in Dallas)
Erik Kimerer
Brianna Knickerbocker
William Frederick Knight
Steve Kramer
Lauren Landa (Frequent regular of Funimation since 2014)
Lex Lang (seems to mostly do union work, but still does some non-union work on occasion)
Cassandra Lee (aka Cassandra Morris; worked in New York until late 2000s. Did some voice work in Dallas)
Mela Lee (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Wendee Lee (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Cherami Leigh (based in Dallas until 2012; divides her time between LA and Dallas)
Ben Lepley
Rachael Lillis (worked in New York until 2013)
Erica Lindbeck (works in both union and non-union dubs; has done some work in Dallas)
David Lodge (seems to mostly do union work nowadays, but still does some non-union work on occasion)
Yuri Lowenthal (seems to mostly do union work, though occasionally still does non-union work)
Julie Maddalena
Dave Mallow
Austin Lee Matthews
Mona Marshall (seems to mostly do union work nowadays, but does some non-union work on occasion)
Faye Mata
Erica Mendez (has done some work in Dallas)
D.W. McCann
Kyle McCarley (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Michael McConnohie
Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (has done some work in Dallas; seems to mostly do union work nowadays, but does some non-union work on occasion)
Danielle McRae
Matthew Mercer (has shown up in some Funimation titles since 2014; seems to mostly do union work nowadays more so in video games, western animation and Critical Role than anime, but still does some non-union work on occasion for reprisals)
Vic Mignogna (based in Texas until around 2007; still works with Funimation in Dallas often, Houston on occasion, and has done some work in New York)
Amanda Céline Miller
Marianne Miller
Kayli Mills
Max Mittelman (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Xander Mobus
Casey Mongillo (based in New York until around 2016/2017)
Chris Niosi (aka Kirbopher; based in New York until 2014; has done some work in Dallas)
Liam O'Brien (worked in New York until around 2003/2004; seems to mostly do union work nowadays)
Colleen O'Shaughnessey (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Joe Ochman
Tony Oliver
Brina Palencia (based in Dallas until 2016; divides time between LA and Dallas; does both union and non-union dubs)
Bryce Papenbrook (Frequent regular of Funimation since 2014; does both union and non-union dubs)
Chris Patton (based in Houston until around 2017; still divides his time between Houston often, and some work with Funimation in Dallas on occasion.)
Paul St. Peter
Tara Platt (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Laura Post (has done some work in Dallas)
Jamieson Price
Derek Stephen Prince (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Ben Pronsky (based in Houston until late 2000s)
Douglas Rye
Sam Riegel (worked in New York until around 2004/2005; seems to mostly do union work nowadays moreso as a voice director in western animation and video games than anime, but still does some non-union work on occasion)
Cindy Robinson (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Rachel Robinson (worked in LA until early 2012/2013, and in Dallas until 2017; currently divides her time between LA and Dallas)
Bill Rogers (based in New York until around 2015; divides his time between LA and New York)
Nicolas Roye
Michelle Ruff (has done some work with Dallas; does both union and non-union dubs)
Philece Sampler
Tara Sands (aka Tara Jayne; worked in New York until 2004)
Sean Schemmel (based in Dallas until 2003 and in New York until 2013; still does work with Funimation particularly for the Dragon Ball Z franchise)
Patrick Seitz (frequent regular of Funimation; has performed in both union and non-union dubs)
Stephanie Sheh (occasionally works with Funimation; does both union and non-union dubs)
Brianne Siddall
Keith Silverstein (works in both union and non-union dubs)
Michael Sinterniklaas (Based in North Carolina until early 90's, and New York until around 2006/2007; has done some work for Funimation)
Christopher Corey Smith (has performed in some Funimation titles; seems to mostly do union work, but still does some non-union work on occasion)
John Snyder
Michael Sorich
Spike Spencer (based in Houston until around 2005/2006)
Laura Stahl
Steve Staley
Skip Stellrecht
Doug Stone
Karen Strassman (has performed in both union and non-union dubs; has done some work in Dallas)
Kim Strauss
Kaiji Tang (has done some work in Dallas)
Julie Ann Taylor (does both union and non-union dubs)
Veronica Taylor (worked in New York until around 2014/2015)
Chris Tergliafera
Joe J. Thomas
Bobby Thong
Kirk Thornton (has performed in both union and non-union dubs)
Josh Tomar
Kimlinh Tran (was once involved in some anime such as Keiko Sano in K-ON! before she stopped doing dub work in the early 2010s, but has been slowly making her return to anime since 2019/2020)
Abby Trott
Cristina Valenzuela (aka Cristina Vee; has done some work in New York and Dallas; has performed in both union and non-union dubs)
Brad Venable (based in Dallas until around 2016/2017)
David Vincent (has performed in some Funimation titles)
Kari Wahlgren (does Union-only work in anime)
Ezra Weisz
Mark Whitten
Cedric Williams
Imari Williams
Sarah Williams
Travis Willingham (worked in Texas until 2008 and occasionally flew back to do a few roles for Funimation; nowadays mostly does union work, more in western animation and video games than in anime)
Mick Wingert (has performed in both union and non-union dubs)
Wally Wingert
Dave Wittenberg (does Union-only work in anime)
Dan Woren
Joe Zieja

Canada

Texas

Primarily works in Dallas/Ft. Worth:

Felecia Angelle
Bryn Apprill
Tia Ballard (has done work in Houston and Los Angeles)
Dawn M. Bennett
Justin Briner
Kate Bristol
John Burgmeier
Clifford Chapin
Leah Clark (has done work in New York)
Colleen Clinkenbeard
Justin Cook
Amber Lee Connors
Cynthia Cranz
Aaron Dismuke
Jason Douglas (worked in Houston until 2010; briefly does some voice work in Houston from time to time)
Kara Edwards
R Bruce Elliott
Ricco Fajardo
Morgan Garrett
Caitlin Glass (has done work in Los Angeles and New York)
Natalie Hoover (based in LA until 2015; divides her time between Dallas and Los Angeles)
Chuck Huber
Jerry Jewell
Marissa Lenti
Jason Liebrecht
Lydia Mackay
Jamie Marchi (has done work in Houston)
Bryan Massey
Elizabeth Maxwell (has done work in Los Angeles)
Robert McCollum
Joel McDonald (has done work in Los Angeles)
Mike McFarland (has done work in Los Angeles)
Trina Nishimura
Wendy Powell
Whitney Rodgers
Michelle Rojas
Christopher Sabat (has done work in Los Angeles)
Lindsay Seidel
Ian Sinclair (has done work in Los Angeles)
Micah Solusod
Sonny Strait
J. Michael Tatum (has done work in Los Angeles and New York)
Austin Tindle
Alexis Tipton (has done work in Los Angeles)
Jeannie Tirado
Eric Vale (has done work in Los Angeles)
Alison Viktorin
Maxey Whitehead
Sarah Wiedenheft
Kent Williams
Linda Young
Stephanie Young

Primarily works in Houston:

Chris Ayres (occasionally works with Funimation)
Clint Bickham (does ADR script writing with Funimation)
Shelley Calene-Black (does some work with Funimation)
Jessica Calvello (worked in Texas until 2002 and in New York until 2013; does some work with Funimation)
Jessica Boone (briefly did some voice work even after moving to the Czech Republic)
Rozanne Curtis
Kira Vincent-Davis (did some work with Funimation)
Shannon Emerick
Maggie Flecknoe
Caitlynn French
Scott Gibbs
Tiffany Grant (does some work with Funimation)
Kara Greenberg
Hilary Haag (did some work with Funimation for a short time)
Corey Hartzog
Jay Hickman
Allison Keith
George Manley
Kelly Manison
Cynthia Martinez
Andy McAvin
Margaret McDonald
Emily Neves (does some work with Funimation)
Nancy Novotny
Molly Searcy
Blake Shepard (does some work with Funimation)
Genevieve Simmons
Juliet Simmons
Allison Sumrall

Works in both Ft. Worth/Dallas and Houston:

Greg Ayres
Luci Christian
Josh Grelle (has done work in Los Angeles)
Brittney Karbowski (has done work in Los Angeles)
Andrew Love
David Matranga (has done work in Los Angeles)
Carli Mosier
Monica Rial (has done work in Los Angeles)
Jad Saxton (has done work in Los Angeles)
John Swasey
David Wald
Brett Weaver

Primarily works in Austin:

J. Shannon Weaver

New York City

Greg Abbey
Emily Bauer (a.k.a. Emily Jenness; worked in LA until 2003/2004)
Sam Black
J. David Brimmer
Kevin T. Collins
Shannon Conley (a.k.a. Vibe Jones)
Michael Crouch
Daniel J. Edwards
E. James Ford
Wayne Grayson
Dan Green
Jason Griffith
Graham Halstead
Melissa Hope
Laurie Hymes
Carol Jacobanis
Eva Kaminsky
Michele Knotz
Christopher Kromer
Brittany Lauda (has done work in Dallas)
Eddy Lee
Ted Lewis
Michael Liscio Jr.
Sarah Natochenny
Michele O'Medlin
Suzy Myers
Karen Neill
Michelle Newman
Lisa Ortiz (has done work in LA and Texas)
Amy Palant
Haven Paschall
Mike Pollock (has done work in LA)
Debora Rabbai
Scottie Ray
Sean Reyes
Alyson Leigh Rosenfeld
Carrie Savage (worked in LA until 2007, in Texas until 2011, and LA again until 2015; still works with Funimation occasionally)
Erica Schroeder
Ryan Shanahan
Matt Shipman
Eileen Stevens
Billy Bob Thompson
Bill Timoney
Georgette Timoney
Marc Thompson
David Wills
Pete Zarustica
Meredith Zeitlin
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.

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.
Kim Strauss: Did voice acting for various characters in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ibiki Morino in Naruto, and Sajin Komamura in Bleach (until ep. 99) hasn't done any new voice work in anime since 2009 and now works as a podcaster singer, songwriter, and comedian, although he continues to provide background voices for several commercials. He returned in 2020 voicing Mario in Cagaster of an Insect Cage.
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.

Others

And others occasionally get involved in Anime voice acting even though they aren't really regulars in the industry, such as:

Eric Bauza, a Canadian-American voice actor most known for his original animation voice work, voiced Ezekiel Stane and the titular villain of Iron Man: Rise of Technovore.
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.
Ogie Banks, best for voicing both Luke Cage and Miles Morales in Ultimate Spider-Man, Clawd Wolf in Monster High, as well as many other roles in pre-lay animation, voiced Omoi in Naruto Shippuden and Cyborg 008 in the 009 Re:Cyborg movie.
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.
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.
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.
Kelly Hu, primarily knwon known known for her work behind the microphone and on-screen, voiced Okiku in Afro Samurai.
Josh Hutcherson, an actor known for Peeta Mellark in Hunger Games film series and Josh Futturman in Future Man voiced Markl in Howl's Moving Castle and Shinjiro Hayata in Ultraman.
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 the 2004 Battlestar Galactica, 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.
Matthew Yang King
Andrew Kishino
Patricia Ja Lee, known primarily for her role as Cassie Chan in Power Rangers Turbo and In Space, played Afura Mann in El-Hazard: The Magnificent World, 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".
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
Sandy Rojas
Fred Tatasciore, who mainly does western-animation and video games, had provided the voice of Gato in Naruto (he coincidentally bares a striking resemblance to him). Later, he did the voice of the Akatsuki member Kakuzu in Naruto Shippuden, the voice of Iwa in A Letter To Momo and Shin Hayata in Ultraman. He also reprised some of his Marvel roles in anime titles, namely Beast in X-Men and Hulk in Marvel Future Avengers, and recently voiced Eddie Cassano in The Great Pretender.
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.
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.
Fryda Wolff, most well-known as Sara Ryder in Mass Effect: Andromeda and her work in video games and original animation, was Mirai Yashima and Amuro Ray in Mobile Suit Gundam Origin II: Artesia's Sorrow.

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)

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

↑ But what else could it possibly be?

[1] But what else could it possibly be?

[1]

v t e Names to Know
The groundbreaking, the influential, the seminal... but not necessarily the most famous creators in these fields.
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