Naomi Shindo

Born in Kyoto, represented by Aoni Production, she has been a fixture of Japanese television animation for more than two decades. The role that made her name is Cagalli Yula Athha in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, and it is a useful introduction to what she does: a young woman with authority, played without any of the breathy cuteness the industry often defaults to at that age.

For a certain generation of viewers the signature performance is Shizuru Fujino in My-Hime, which she carried over into My-Otome as Shizuru Viola. Elsewhere she is Califa in One Piece, Ayaka Shindou across Beyond the Boundary and both of its films, Nina Stratoski in The Girl Who Leapt Through Space, Leila Barthes in Stellvia of the Universe, Michelle Aznable in the Gundam: The Origin films and Aries Turner in Macross Zero.

What holds a list this long together is register. Her voice sits low and unhurried, which is why she is cast so often as the composed adult in a cast of teenagers: officials, priestesses, teachers, and a long line of mothers, including Ami's mother in the Sailor Moon Eternal film and Miku's mother in The Way of the Househusband. It is also why she can work in stranger material without breaking it, in Kaiba, Den-noh Coil and Bokurano, all shows that would collapse instantly if the performances turned arch. She goes by the nickname "Cindy".