In the grand old US of A, there isn't much fame or fortune in voice acting for cartoons. There were a few famous people who made their living at it, doing hundreds of characters, usually several per show, but today, the best we can hope for is the random appearance of our favorite TV star's voice as a minor role. (OK, we have a few outstanding examples like Transformers: The Movie and some Disney flicks that employed real actors/actresses -- but they don't voice for a living). Anime is such a large industry that the voicing of characters has an industry of its own. Seiyuu (voice actors/actresses) in Japan are as common and well-known as movie stars (or at least TV stars) are in the US.

I've compiled some interesting tidbits about some of the stars in Nadia, Nadesico, Rurouni Kenshin, and Fushigi Yuugi. Keep in mind that most of the roles any given voice actor has done weren't listed here because you, the reader of the newsletter, wouldn't know who I was talking about (and neither would I).

Nadia: Yoshino Takamori voiced Sayaka (Yawara!) and Reika (City Hunter); she has blood type A.
Jean: Noriko Hidaka was an idol star (like many seiyuu), and then a TV reporter and a radio personality, before becoming a seiyuu. Her first role was Musica in Southern Cross, and she also played Noriko (Gunbuster), Akane (Ranma ½), Minami (Touch), and Satsuki (My Neighbor Totoro). She formed an audio entertainment group called Banana Fritters, with Kouichi Yamadera (Kaji from Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ryouga from Ranma ½) and Toshihiko Seki (Duo from Gundam Wing, Mousse from Ranma ½, Shinobu from Here is Greenwood, and Matsuda from Yawara!). Hidaka is known as a very upbeat and cheerful (genki) person. A manga artist once described her as having a personality of "200 watts of pointless encouragement". She was known as a "pretty-girl heroine" seiyuu until she took the part of Peter Pan (Japanese TV) and Jean. She was one of the most popular seiyuu in Japan for a while.
Marie: Yuko Mizutani also played Mihoshi (Tenchi Muyo!), and she dubbed for Andrea in 90210 (American TV playing in Japan with your favorite anime seiyuu doing the voices!). Her roles tend to be characters with a screw loose.
King, Hanson: Toshiharu Sakurai played Goldar (Power Rangers) and dubbed for Michaelangelo in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Grandis: Kumiko Takizawa dubbed for Jill (Baywatch).
Sanson: Kenyu Horiuchi dubbed for Charlie Sheen in Hot Shots and Steve in 90210, but what I found most interesting is that he dubbed for Chip (Kouichi Yamadera played Dale), from the classic duo of Chip 'n Dale! They made such an amusing team that the populace will never forget them.
Nemo: Akio Otsuka was the dub actor for our beloved Will Riker (Star Trek: TNG). (He does a lot of bag guys and "cool older guys". -Lillian)
Electra: Kikuko Inoue played Belldandy (Ah! My Goddess), Kasumi (Ranma ½), and Anju (Marmalade Boy).
Gargoyle: Motomu Kiyokawa. Hideaki Anno begged him to do a role in Neon Genesis Evangelion because he was so good as Gargoyle; Kiyokawa accepted on the condition that he have as few lines as possible because he didn't like voice acting very much. His character? Fuyutsuki.

Akito: Yuuji Ueda does what I was looking for when I began this article -- he voices characters in more than one of the series I was going through. He plays Sanosuke (Rurouni Kenshin) and both Amiboshi and Suboshi (Fushigi Yuugi), who will appear next semester.
Gai: Tomokazu Seki you might also have heard before, for he did Van's voice (The Vision of Escaflowne), Touji (Neon Genesis Evangelion), and Chichiri (Fushigi Yuugi).

Yahiko: Miina Tominaga is quite famous, but you're not likely to know about any of her characters, save Noa from Patlabor and Kozue from Maison Ikkoku. It's rare for her to play male roles.

Miaka: Kae Araki was best well-known for Chibi-Usa (Sailor Moon) before she took this part, and for taking over Sailor Moon herself when the regular seiyuu got appendicitis.
Yui: Yumi Touma also meows for Tama (a cute kitten we'll meet later -- he's in the opening), says suggestive things as Urd (Ah! My Goddess), casts spells as Deedlit (Record of Lodoss War), and gives plenty of people a good beating as Rin (Please Save My Earth -- you really ought to read the manga for this; it surpasses the 6 OAVs in so many, many ways).
Tamahome: Hikaru Midorikawa voiced Heero (Gundam Wing), Zelgadis (Slayers), and Michael (Marmalade Boy). Okay, here I'm leaving out some that I know and you don't... maybe if you come to Manga Club, someone can tell you more interesting tidbits!
Hotohori: Takehito Koyasu was moved by Galaxy Express 999, and he decided to become a seiyuu after seeing it. He's known for his "beautiful guy" characters, and female anime fans in Japan have been known to swoon over his best-delivered lines.
Nuriko: Chika Sakamoto also did Mei (My Neighbor Totoro) and the dub for Jennifer in Family Ties.
Chichiri: Tomokazu Seki (see above).
Narrator: Hisako Kyouda will later also speak for Taiitsu-kun in Fushigi Yuugi. She plays "everybody's grandmother" in anime, including Godai's (Maison Ikkoku).

Well, that's it for now. If you aren't satisfied for seiyuu info from this article, search around on the web; you can learn a lot about anime from a great variety of people out there! (start with www.cjas.org)