The List

8 Most In Demand English Voice Actresses of 2014

This week we're counting down the most in demand voice actresses in English dubs for the year. I sat down with ANN's Encyclopedia, went through every new North American release that included English dubs, and tallied the roles to get a comprehensive list of who starred in what, and overall which actresses got the most major roles this year.

Japan published a similar breakdown for its voice actresses, crowning Miyuki Sawashiro as #1 with 20 roles and Kana Hanazawa as #2 with 19. Unlike Japan though, roles were much more evenly distributed. The #1 spot holder had 11 lead roles this year, followed by ties for second place and fifth place.

Shout out to Jason for sending in this awesome idea!

5. Carli Mosier: Like a lot of the entries this week, Mosier returned in AKB0048 Next Stage as Mimori Kishida and as Laura Stuart in A Certain Magical Index II. She's also voicing Rin Tohsaka in Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya as opposed to Mela Lee, who voices the same character in Aniplex's dubs. She joined the cast of Infinite Stratos 2 as the series' main antagonist, Squall Meusel, this year and also appeared in Jormungand, Mayo Chiki!, and Rozen Maiden – Zurückspulen.

5. Caitlynn French: Caitlynn French is relatively new; in fact, if you look over her list of roles, the total number is pretty small when compared to everyone else on the list. But French was popular with Sentai Filmworks this year and the company cast her in a good number of their releases. French starred as Suzuko Kanzaki in AKB0048 Next Stage, Maeda Inuchiyo in The Ambition of Oda Nobuna, Miyu Edelfelt in the magical girl spinoff Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya, the lead gravedigger Ai in Sunday Without God, and Kanna Makino in Tamako Market. French is an actress to keep an eye on, as the huge influx of roles for her this year could mean we'll be hearing a lot more of her as her career continues.

5. Allison Sumrall: Sumerall's major voice work tends to be few and far between, usually filling in for background roles. This year saw an increase with seven roles, placing her in a tie for fifth place with Carli Mosier, Caitlynn French, and Luci Christian. Sumrall returned in AKB0048 next stage as Tomomi Itano and Appleseed XIII: Tartaros & Ouranos as Athena. She starred in Maria Holic as Honoka Tsusuri, Mayo Chiki as the bespectacled catgirl Nakuru Narumi, Merun in Problem children are coming from another world aren't they?, and as Hana Astin in Sunday Without God.

4. Luci Christian: Luci Christian was first cast in a notable role about 10 years ago when she made an appearance in ADV's release of Neo Ranga. She might be best known now as the voice of Nami in One Piece, a role she returned to in this year's One Piece Film Z. She also starred as Shinku in Rozen Maiden – Zurückspulen, replacing Mela Lee from previous seasons. She's also voicing the polite spirit medium Minori in Log Horizon, Harigane Onigase in Medaka Box Abnormal, and the cute ghost Dee Ensy Stratmitos in Sunday Without God.

3. Stephanie Sheh: Stephanie Sheh had a busy year, managing to land one of most iconic roles in anime - Sailor Moon - in Viz's re-release of the anime series; she's also starring as the cute-but-deadly Nui Harime in Kill la Kill. She returned as female ninja Hinata in Viz Media's Naruto Shippūden: Blood Prison movie and the Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals anime series. Sheh also lent her voice to the calm love interest Shizuka Hoshijiro in the CG-animated Knights of Sidonia.

2. Monica Rial: Monica Rial is currently the most prolific English voice actress, having over 350 roles in her career. Tying for second place, she shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. Her work includes reprisals of her roles in AKB0048 next stage, Appleseed XIII: Tartaros & Ouranos, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, Infinite Stratos 2, and A Certain Magical Index II. She voiced the psychic Maria in the dystopian fantasy From The New World and the blonde crossdresser Mariya Shidou in Sentai Filmworks' Maria Holic.

2. Brittney Karbowski: Karbowski got her first lead anime role in 2005 at the age of 18 when she starred in ADV's Gilgamesh release as Fuko. This year she tied with seasoned regular Monica Rial for second place with nine English lead roles. She reprised her roles as Last Order in A Certain Magical Index II and Orine Aida in AKB0048 next stage. She landed the lead role in the guns-turned-girls comedy Upotte!, the trusty student president Hinata in Haganai NEXT, the easy-going CIA agent Schokolade in Jormangund, and animal whisperer You Kasukabe in Problem children are coming from another world, aren't they?

1. Emily Neves: Emily Neves is relatively new compared to some of the entries below her, having starred in less than 100 roles since she debuted. However, Neves is on the rise both in front of the mic and behind the scenes. The actress is starring as the titular character in The Ambition of Oda Nobuna, and was also cast as Hitomi in Appleseed XIII: Tartaros & Ouranos, Shika in Short Peace's Gambo, Arashiko Yuno in MM! and Tomoko's best friend Yu in Watamote, a dub she also directed.

The new poll: Which cat Pokemon is the best? Vote based on your opinion of "best," whether its their fighting moves or all-around cool/cute appearance.

The old poll: Last week we asked how many anime series you bought this year. Here's the results!

1. 0 - 24.0%
2. 3-5 series - 18.8%
3. 1-2 series - 18.6%
4. 6-9 series - 13.1%
5. 20+ - 10.9%
6. 10-15 series - 10.2%
7. 16-20 series - 4.4%

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When she isn't compiling lists of tropes, topics, and characters, Lynzee works as Associate Editor for Anime News Network, blogs about women and LBGT topics in anime and manga on her blog Engendered Dilemma, and posts pictures of her son on Twitter @ANN_Lynzee.