On her birthday, Megumi Hayashibara gives fans a reason to celebrate too.
There are a lot of anime voice actresses, but there’s only one Megumi Hayashibara. After making her debut by voicing an unseen (and upset) neighbor in Maison Ikkoku in 1986, Hayashibara has been working in the industry non-stop with no ebb in her popularity, currently enthralling viewers of Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time as the voice of Rei Ayanami. What’s more, since 1991 she’s also been providing opening and ending themes for several of the series she stars in.
Last Tuesday was Hayashibara’s birthday, and with this year marking the 30th anniversary of her professional singing debut, she decided to celebrate by announcing that she’s made her music catalog available on multiple online music subscription services. The collection includes all 14 of her albums, from Half and, Half (released in 1991) to Fifty~Fifty (2018), plus all 41 of her singles released between “Nijiiro no Sneaker” (1991) and “Imawa no Shinigami” (2017) and various best-of and compilation albums.
▼ Hayashibara’s newest song, “Denim,” from her latest compilation album Vintage Denim
The decades-spanning selection includes a number of themes from hit franchises such as Slayers, Shaman King, Blue Seed, and even Evangelion, as Hayashibara’s jazz-style “Ayanami Rei covers” of both Cruel Angel’s Thesis and Fly Me to the Moon are part of her seventh album, Bertemu.
▼ “Soul Salvation,” Hayashibara’s new theme for Shaman King, will also be available.
Hayashibara’s catalogue is available for audio streaming now on Apple Music, Spotify, Line Music, Amazon Music, AWA, KKBox, RecMusic, and d Hits, with links to individual services here.
Source: Ongaku Natalie via Hachima Kiko, Megumi Hayashibara official blog
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s still thankful to his brother for buying him Bertemu for his birthday and mailing it across the Pacific.

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