Laura Bailey
If you’ve watched any anime, you’ve probably heard Laura Bailey. If you’ve watched a lot of anime, you’ve probably heard her multiple times and didn’t even know it. Most voice actors can be picked out from one voice to another. There’s always a distinct sound to an actor’s voice that makes you think “I know who that is. I’ve heard that voice before.” I’ve watched a number of anime, and I’ve never once done that with Laura Bailey. Her voice is so unique from one character to the next, even if she’s playing similar character styles.
She just happened into anime voice acting, which is insane because a lot of people have that as a goal and never make it. Born in 1981, from Mississippi, Laura actually went to college for acting and drama. Since breaking into the anime world, she’s done an extraordinarily long list of anime, video games, cartoons, and movies. In this post, I’m only going to point out characters that I’ve seen.
It kind of goes without saying that she does quite a few young girl characters, generally they’re high school students.
Hiromi, Moon Phase
Laguna Blue, Monster High
Kanako, Ouran Highschool Host Club
Maka Albarn, Soul Eater
Tohru Honda, Fruits Basket
Maka and Tohru are the main heroine’s of their respective anime. Of all the characters that I’ve heard her do, these two sound the most alike. Kanako is a one episode-side character, but she has a distinct voice all her own. As for Laguna Blue, she’s from an American cartoon called Monster High. This voice intrigues me the most out of her “high school student” cast. Somehow she manages an Australian accent and a very unique tone.
Jaina Proudmoore, World of Warcraft
Lust, Full Metal Alchemist
Halibel, Bleach
Anko Mitarashi, Naruto
She’s done a few young women voices too. These characters have a generally more “sexy” tone to their voices, but again, they’re all distinct and unique.
Shinnosuke, Shin Chan
kid Trunks, Dragon Ball Z
My favorite part about Laura Bailey is that she has her own official website complete with a demo voice reel. If you really want your socks blown off, take a listen on lizardbee.com. Most voice actors don’t display they’re demo reel to the public. Also, check her site for her character list. You’ll also notice that she’s been known to do multiple characters in a show or video game, because her voices are that unique.
Is this the first time you guys have seen her range? Crazy isn’t it? C’mon guys, tell me why you like Laura Bailey!
I honestly think Laura Bailey is one of the best Voice Actresses on Earth. She’s one of the few voice actresses that I actually know quite a lot about. My favourite is probably Tohru or Lust. And I honestly never recognised her as Kanako! She’s awesome!
I know, right? I saw the list of characters she did, and I had to re-watch episodes in order to draw the connections. The woman’s a vocal genius.