Monica Rial
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Monica Jean Rial (born October 5, 1975) is an American voice actress and ADR script writer affiliated with Funimation/Crunchyroll, ADV Films/ Sentai Filmworks and Toei Animation USA. She provides voices for English language versions of Japanese
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
films and television series.


Early life

Monica Rial was born in
Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
. Her father is from
Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...
, Galicia, Spain. When she was young, her family would often visit Spain. She would translate for her younger brother some of the European Spanish-dubbed cartoons, which included anime shows ''
Doraemon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Fujiko F. Fujio. First serialized in 1969, the manga's chapters were collected in 45 volumes published by Shogakukan from 1974 to 1996. The story revolves around an earless robotic ...
'' and '' Dragon Ball Z'', often imitating the various characters. Rial studied ballet, tap, and jazz, but transitioned to musical theater when she was 12. She studied acting through high school as well as college at the
University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...
. In an interview with Otaku News, Rial mentioned voice actor inspirations from ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...
'', ''
Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered on January 31, 1999, following Super Bowl XXXIII, with the rest of the first season airing from April 11, 1999. Th ...
'' and ''
Beavis and Butt-head ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American Adult animation, adult animated Animated sitcom, sitcom created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, Stupi ...
''.


Career

Rial's first voice-over role was some walla in the 1999 dub of '' Martian Successor Nadesico''. In an interview with Otaku News, Rial said she had to talk for two minutes straight as folks in a crowd telling the Jovians to go home. She would later land main character roles as Miharu in '' Gasaraki'', Natsume in '' Generator Gawl'', and Hello Kitty in '' Hello Kitty's Animation Theater'', the last of which was one of ADV's best-selling DVDs. In 2001, she voiced Izumi in the baseball anime '' Princess Nine'' and in 2002, she got to voice Hyatt in '' Excel Saga'', which she listed among her absolute favorites. In 2003, Rial voiced best friend character Kyoko Tokiwa in '' Full Metal Panic!'', and got to reprise her for ''Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu'' and ''Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid''. In the same year, Rial voiced Kirika Yumura, the quiet assassin partner in '' Noir''. Rial said that Kirika was challenging because she had very few words but had to convey a lot of emotions. She also noted that Kirika's personality changed over the course of the series, so she voiced her to be more emotional in later episodes which drew some criticism from fans. She also voiced Lila in '' Najica Blitz Tactics'' where she also got to do a DVD commentary along with fellow actress Kira Vincent-Davis. The commentaries have become popular as she receives feedback from fans about them at anime conventions. In 2004, Rial started voice-over work with the anime dubbing company Funimation (currently known as Crunchyroll LLC) in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. During that year, she voiced Amy in the long-running detective anime series '' Case Closed'', and Lyra (and Dante) in the fantasy drama series '' Fullmetal Alchemist''. Both of these shows were featured on Cartoon Network. She also voiced co-lead character Lumiere in '' Kiddy Grade''. Meanwhile, with ADV, she voiced Nyamo-sensei in the school comedy '' Azumanga Daioh''. She had also taken over some character roles as Momiji in '' Blue Seed'' and Maya in '' Neon Genesis Evangelion''. Rial said that it was very difficult to try to sound like the previous voice actors, especially Maya's low voice, so she tried her own approach. She also got to voice Pen-Pen the penguin in ''Evangelion''. In 2005, she voiced the serious lead character Jo in a team of mercenary girls in the cyberpunk science fiction series '' Burst Angel''. Rial continued to land leading roles in anime shows. In 2006, she voiced the title character in '' Nanaka 6/17'', about a 17-year-old girl who, through an accident, has amnesia and regresses to her 6-year-old self. In '' Speed Grapher'' she voiced female protagonist Kagura Tennōzu, and in the ADV Films remake of '' Macross'', she voiced Misa Hayase. In 2007, she voiced Sakura in the English anime adaptation of Clamp's '' Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle''; Maria in '' Witchblade''. She went on to replace Tiffany Vollmer as the voice of Bulma Briefs in the '' Dragon Ball'' franchise in 2009 beginning with '' Dragon Ball Z Kai'' and other media from that point on. Rial voiced more leads in 2012 with Shiro in '' Deadman Wonderland'' which also broadcast on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
, Stocking in the raunchy comedy '' Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt''. In 2013, she voiced the heroine character Haruko Amaya in the harem comedy '' Maken-ki!'' and Iori Nagase in the school anime series '' Kokoro Connect''. With regards to her lead role of Michiko Malandro in '' Michiko & Hatchin'', which was released on DVD in 2013 and was broadcast on
Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as dult swimand s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...
in 2015, Rial said that out of the 300 or so characters she had voiced, only two of them were Hispanic, and she liked that her character wasn't a stereotype. In addition to voice acting, Rial has been steadily involved in ADR script writing, with work in the English dubs for '' D.N. Angel'', '' Madlax'', and '' Gatchaman''. In an interview with Active Anime, Rial said she would "take the direct translation and write it into a coherent scene that matches the lip flaps". At later anime conventions, Rial has mentioned that ADR script writing has kept her quite occupied, especially with SimulDubs, which are shows that are locally dubbed soon after the original broadcast. She has also written columns for '' Newtype''s USA edition. In January 2018, Rial has announced that she is taking time off of script adaptation.


Personal life

Rial has a younger brother, Miguel, and a younger sister, Natalie, who is also an actress. Both siblings have voiced in anime dubs. As of April 2019, Rial was engaged to Dallas-based realtor Ron Toye. For a brief period in the 1990s, Rial was in a relationship with Illich Guardiola.


Legal issues

In 2019, Rial alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by fellow voice actor Vic Mignogna in 2007. On April 19, 2019, Mignogna filed a lawsuit against Rial, her fiancé, Ron Toye, as well as Funimation and Jamie Marchi for tortious interference, civil conspiracy, and defamation in regards to Rial's allegations. On July 19, 2019, Rial, Toye and Marchi all filed anti-SLAPP motions for Mignogna to dismiss his lawsuit. On October 4, 2019, the case was dismissed, and all the charges against Funimation, Marchi, Rial and Toye were dropped. In February 2022, Rial and Marchi began a podcast about the case.


Filmography


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rial, Monica Living people American people of Spanish descent 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Houston Actresses from Dallas American film actresses American television actresses American video game actresses American voice actresses American women screenwriters Hispanic and Latino American actresses Hispanic and Latino American writers University of Houston alumni American voice directors Screenwriters from Texas 1975 births