Monica Rial | |
|---|---|
 Rial in 2023 | |
| Born | Monica Jean Rial (1975-10-05)October 5, 1975 (age 49) |
| Alma mater | University of Houston[1] |
| Occupation(s) | Voice actress, ADR script writer |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Agent | Mary Collins Agency |
| Relatives | Natalie Rial (sister)[2] Miguel Rial (brother) |
| Website | themonicarial |
Monica Jean Rial (born October 5, 1975)[3] is an American voice actress andADR script writer affiliated withFunimation/Crunchyroll,ADV Films/Sentai Filmworks andToei Animation USA. She provides voices for English language versions of Japaneseanime films and television series.
Monica Rial was born inHouston, Texas. Her father is fromPontevedra, 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 showsDoraemon andDragon Ball Z, often imitating the various characters.[4][5] Rial studied ballet, tap, and jazz, but transitioned to musical theater when she was 12.[6] She studied acting through high school as well as college at theUniversity of Houston.[1][5] In an interview with Otaku News, Rial mentioned voice actor inspirations fromThe Simpsons,Family Guy andBeavis and Butt-head.[6]
Rial's first voice-over role was somewalla in the 1999 dub ofMartian 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.[6] She would later land main character roles as Miharu inGasaraki, Natsume inGenerator Gawl, and Hello Kitty inHello Kitty's Animation Theater,[7][8] the last of which was one of ADV's best-selling DVDs.[9] In 2001, she voiced Izumi in the baseball animePrincess Nine and in 2002, she got to voice Hyatt inExcel Saga, which she listed among her absolute favorites.[7]
In 2003, Rial voiced best friend characterKyoko Tokiwa inFull Metal Panic!, and got to reprise her forFull Metal Panic? Fumoffu andFull Metal Panic: The Second Raid. In the same year, Rial voiced Kirika Yumura, the quiet assassin partner inNoir. Rial said that Kirika was challenging because she had very few words but had to convey a lot of emotions.[7] 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 inNajica Blitz Tactics where she also got to do a DVD commentary along with fellow actressKira Vincent-Davis. The commentaries have become popular as she receives feedback from fans about them at anime conventions.[8]
In 2004, Rial started voice-over work with the anime dubbing company Funimation (currently known asCrunchyroll LLC) in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. During that year, she voicedAmy in the long-running detective anime seriesCase Closed, andLyra (and Dante) in the fantasy drama seriesFullmetal Alchemist. Both of these shows were featured on Cartoon Network. She also voiced co-lead character Lumiere inKiddy Grade.[10] Meanwhile, with ADV, she voicedNyamo-sensei in the school comedyAzumanga Daioh. She had also taken over some character roles as Momiji inBlue Seed and Maya inNeon 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 inEvangelion.[11] In 2005, she voiced the serious lead character Jo in a team of mercenary girls in the cyberpunk science fiction seriesBurst Angel.[12]
Rial continued to land leading roles in anime shows. In 2006, she voiced the title character inNanaka 6/17, about a 17-year-old girl who, through an accident, has amnesia and regresses to her 6-year-old self. InSpeed Grapher she voiced female protagonistKagura Tennōzu, and in the ADV Films remake ofMacross, she voicedMisa Hayase.[9] In 2007, she voicedSakura in the English anime adaptation of Clamp'sTsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle; Maria inWitchblade.[13] She went on to replaceTiffany Vollmer as the voice ofBulma Briefs in theDragon Ball franchise in 2009 beginning withDragon Ball Z Kai and other media from that point on.[14]
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Rial voiced more leads in 2012 withShiro inDeadman Wonderland which also broadcast onAdult Swim, Stocking in the raunchy comedyPanty & Stocking with Garterbelt. In 2013, she voiced the heroine character Haruko Amaya in the harem comedyMaken-ki! and Iori Nagase in the school anime seriesKokoro Connect. With regards to her lead role of Michiko Malandro inMichiko & Hatchin, which was released on DVD in 2013 and was broadcast onAdult Swim 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.[4]
In addition to voice acting, Rial has been steadily involved in ADR script writing, with work in the English dubs forD.N. Angel,Madlax, andGatchaman. 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".[9] At later anime conventions, Rial has mentioned that ADR script writing has kept her quite occupied, especially withSimulDubs, which are shows that are locally dubbed soon after the original broadcast. She has also written columns forNewtype's USA edition.[15] In January 2018, Rial has announced that she is taking time off of script adaptation.[16]
Rial has a younger brother, Miguel, and a younger sister,Natalie, who is also an actress. Both siblings have voiced in anime dubs.[17][2]
As of April 2019, Rial was engaged to Dallas-based realtor Ron Toye.[18] For a brief period in the 1990s, Rial was in a relationship withIllich Guardiola.[19]
In 2019, Rial alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by fellow voice actorVic Mignogna in 2007.[20] On April 19, 2019, Mignogna filed a lawsuit against Rial, her fiancé, Ron Toye, as well as Funimation andJamie Marchi for tortious interference, civil conspiracy, and defamation in regards to Rial's allegations.[21] On July 19, 2019, Rial, Toye and Marchi all filedanti-SLAPP motions for Mignogna to dismiss his lawsuit.[22] On October 4, 2019, the case was dismissed, and all the charges against Funimation, Marchi, Rial and Toye were dropped.[23] In February 2022, Rial and Marchi began a podcast about the case.[24]
Media related toMonica Rial at Wikimedia Commons
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