The voice actress of the iconic Sanryo character steps down from her role.
Summary:
- Hello Kitty is one of the most recognizable characters in the world.
- Kitty’s voice actress, Megumi Hayashibara, is stepping down from this role.
- While Sanryo’s business decision to part ways with Hayashibara is regrettable, we have to respect everyone involved.
Kitty and Megumi Hayashibara
Hello Kitty (also known as Kitty White) is a kind little girl who’s five apples tall, weighs three apples, and is one of the most recognizable multimedia characters in the world. She has no visible mouth, yet can be understood by everyone, because she speaks in the universal language of love. Since her creation in 1974, there are movies, animated series, comics and video games featuring Kitty and her friends, to say nothing of countless pieces of merchandise aimed both at children and appreciators of all things pink and cute. It is no exaggeration to call her truly iconic.
And as of Kitty’s 49th official birthday this November 1st, she’s planning to switch her voice actress. This Wednesday, her voice actress Megumi Hayashibara — known for many iconic roles (Musashi/Jessie from Pokemon, Anna from Shaman King, Ayanami Rei from Evangelion, Haruko from FLCL, Lina Inverse from Slayers and Saotome Ranma from Ranma ½, among many, many, MANY others) — has announced that she will be retiring as the voice of Kitty.
Why change Kitty’s voice?
Megumi Hayashibara has been the voice of Kitty White since 1990 (that’s 33 years, for those counting!), and is THE voice of the adorable mascot for many people all over the world, which makes this decision quite regretful. And as a bit of a souring note, it appears that this change did not originate from the voice actress herself, rather having its roots in Sanryo’s future marketing strategy and a bid to broaden Kitty’s worldwide appeal as the brand approaches its 50th anniversary next year.
Of course, we can’t forget that Hello Kitty is not an anime per se — it’s a multimedia franchise created to sell cute merchandise. So while it does strike us as very odd to willingly change a voice actress as talented and hardworking as Hayashibara, we don’t doubt Hello Kitty’s sheer force of appeal and marketability (seriously, her merchandise just begs to be bought on its sheer aesthetic level). And as odd and strangely timed as this decision appears, we have to respect all the parties involved in it, and can only give our support both to Hayashibara in her future endeavors, and to Kitty’s new voice actress who has to pass the high bar set by her predecessor.
Source: ameblo.jp