Megumi Hayashibara

Megumi Hayashibara (Japanese: 林原めぐみ Hayashibara Megumi) is a Japanese seiyū for the Pokémon anime. Her most prominent role in the series is that of Jessie.

Biography
Hayashibara was born on March 30, 1967 in,. When she was a young girl, Hayashibara loved to watch anime, and was shocked to learn that adults provided the voices of the characters she believed were real. When she was a little older, she was one of eighteen girls out of over 600 chosen by a talent agency, Arts Vision, to undergo training to become a voice actress. Despite her two-year training with Arts Vision, Hayashibara's parents were opposed to her prospective career; bowing to their pressure, she enrolled in nursing school, and disliked it. She eventually saw a magazine article about a voice acting school that was recruiting students, and she made up her mind to quit nursing and become an actress.

Hayashibara's first anime role was that of a kindergartner heard off-screen in the first episode of, and she later was credited as providing the voice for Yosuke Nanao. She then went on to provide hundreds, if not thousands of other voices.

In addition to her voice acting career, Hayashibara is an accomplished singer, with fourteen solo albums released between 1991 and 2004. She also has hosted two radio talk and music shows, Tokyo Boogie Night (in Tokyo) and Megumi's Heartful Station (in Osaka).

On March 30, 1998, on her thirty-first birthday, Hayashibara was married to a coworker she had been seeing for five years previous. On June 28, 2004, she had her first child, a girl.

She is also the author of the book Jigglypuff's Magic Lullaby.

Pokémon roles
Aside from Jessie, Hayashibara has provided the voices of many and characters of the day. It is possible that Jessie's failed aspirations to become a nurse were based on Hayashibara's own experiences.

From episodes AG085 to AG092, Hayashibara went on maternity leave, and 平松晶子 Akiko Hiramatsu provided the voice of Jessie during this time.

Major

 * Jessie (EP002-AG084, AG093-present)
 * (EP005, AG177-present)

Minor

 * Jessebelle
 * (AG002)
 * Young Victor
 * Young Mayor of Trovitopolis
 * Flora
 * Soren
 * Berrybaker kids (Brother)
 * Mirror Jessie
 * Kindergarten student (EP053)
 * Chuck's student (EP209)
 * Various guest characters

Major

 * Ash's Pidgeotto and Pidgeot
 * Ash's Bulbasaur
 * Ash's Phanpy
 * Ash's Chimchar
 * Ash's Snivy
 * Ash's Rowlet
 * Ash's Rockruff
 * Brock's Mudkip
 * Misty's Azurill
 * May's Skitty
 * May's Eevee and Glaceon
 * Serena's Fennekin and Braixen
 * Nurse Joy's Audino
 * Bugsy's Scyther
 * Whitney's Miltank
 * Clair's Dratini and Dragonair
 * Pikachutwo
 * (M05)
 * (M05)
 * (XY069 & XY070)
 * Lusamine's Clefable
 * (Pichu Posse)
 * Lusamine's Clefable
 * (Pichu Posse)

Minor

 * Lucy's Seviper
 * (Josephine)
 * (AG015)
 * (DP190)
 * (AG115)
 * (EP133)
 * (EP125)
 * (EP179)
 * (AG009, AG052)
 * (EP195, EP199, AG058)
 * (AG109
 * (EP012, EP147)
 * (EP252, EP253, EP254, EP255, AG113)
 * (EP173)
 * (M06)
 * (M06, AG107)
 * (EP012, EP061)
 * Thief (EP062, EP246)
 * (EP043, EP075)
 * (EP137)
 * (EP069)
 * (AG001)
 * (EP227)
 * (EP225, AG073)
 * (DP104)
 * (BW078)
 * (SM079)
 * (AG015)
 * (DP190)
 * (AG115)
 * (EP133)
 * (EP125)
 * (EP179)
 * (AG009, AG052)
 * (EP195, EP199, AG058)
 * (AG109
 * (EP012, EP147)
 * (EP252, EP253, EP254, EP255, AG113)
 * (EP173)
 * (M06)
 * (M06, AG107)
 * (EP012, EP061)
 * Thief (EP062, EP246)
 * (EP043, EP075)
 * (EP137)
 * (EP069)
 * (AG001)
 * (EP227)
 * (EP225, AG073)
 * (DP104)
 * (BW078)
 * (SM079)
 * (EP195, EP199, AG058)
 * (AG109
 * (EP012, EP147)
 * (EP252, EP253, EP254, EP255, AG113)
 * (EP173)
 * (M06)
 * (M06, AG107)
 * (EP012, EP061)
 * Thief (EP062, EP246)
 * (EP043, EP075)
 * (EP137)
 * (EP069)
 * (AG001)
 * (EP227)
 * (EP225, AG073)
 * (DP104)
 * (BW078)
 * (SM079)
 * (SM079)

Other

 * Pokédex (AG001-AG132)

Musical appearances

 * Team Rocket Forever (ロケット団よ永遠)
 * Meowth's Party (ニャースのパーティ)
 * Face Forward Team Rocket! (前向きロケット団！)

Other non-Pokémon roles

 * Kyouko Yuuki ()
 * Lina Inverse ()
 * Haruka Urashima ()
 * Rei Ayanami ()
 * Ranma Saotome (girl) ()
 * Faye Valentine ()
 * /Shiho Miyano (Detective Conan/)
 * Lime ( and all related series)
 * Young Blind Boy (Healed by Majin Buu) ()
 * Genkai (young) ()
 * Ai Amano ()
 * Canal Vorfeed ()
 * Tira Misu ()
 * Ongo ()
 * Atsuko Natsume/Nuku Nuku ()
 * Pai ()
 * Piyoko ()
 * Dr. Atsuko "Paprika" Chiba ()
 * Momo ()
 * Ume ()
 * Lucy MacMillan ()
 * 1st Lt. Christina MacKenzie ()
 * Achika Masaki ()
 * Mail ()
 * Lemina Ausa ()
 * Alfred J. Kwak ()
 * in the Japanese dub of
 * Rebecca ()
 * Eri Kasugi ()
 * Eri Kasugi ()

Solo albums

 * Half and, Half (1991)
 * WHATEVER (1992)
 * Perfume (1992)
 * SHAMROCK (1993)
 * PULSE (1994)
 * SpHERE (1994)
 * Enfleurage (1995)
 * bertemu (1996)
 * Iravati (1997)
 * ふわり (Fuwari) (1999)
 * VINTAGE S (2000)
 * VINTAGE A (2000)
 * feel well (2002)
 * center color (2004)