She chalks her success up to that string of events. She clashed with her agency for the first time, auditioned and won the role. At the travel destination, Ogata met “Evangelion” director Hideaki Anno for the first time, and he started to negotiate with her. The agency did not even tell her about the offer.īut then she went on a trip with the staff and cast of the anime “Sailor Moon S,” for which she was a voice actor.

When she was initially offered the Shinji role in “Evangelion,” her talent agency refused it due to her tight schedule. In 1992, she made her debut playing Kurama in the anime “Yu Yu Hakusho” and gained great popularity.

But she developed a herniated disc and ultimately abandoned that dream.īut then she was told that her deep voice would be “brilliant if she played a male character.” In her mid-20s, she became a voice actor. Ogata was born into a musical family and aimed to perform in musicals one day. “But without them, I would not be who I am now.” “I had always been at the turning points of eras, so I have gone through many trials and errors,” she said. In the book, she details being a young trailblazer in the industry, although noting that young voice actors today do not know the same barriers she once faced. A true Jill of all trades, she writes her own music and sings. Ogata voiced a diverse range of characters in animation, and works in other media as well, such as music and radio. The book launched as the franchise’s latest movie, “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time,” which proved to be a blockbuster hit in theatres, finished the “Rebuild of Evangelion” series. “A ‘14-year-old’ version of myself still lives inside me,” she said, reflecting on the character and her own life. Ogata, famous for her role playing the 14-year-old protagonist Shinji Ikari in the popular anime series “Neon Genesis Evangelion” for about 25 years, has released her first autobiography, titled “Saisei (Kari)” (Rebirth-tentative), published by Kadokawa Corp. Between her busy professional life working as a voice actress and a musician, and her behind-the-scenes personal struggles, Megumi Ogata has lived as if she has been riding three roller coasters at the same time.īut facing one hurdle after another, from finances to personal health and troubles brought on by the pandemic, the popular anime voice actor has always pulled through thanks to her hard work and perseverance.

Evangelion shinji ikari voice actor