Erika Harlacher

Erika Harlacher
Born 1990/1991 (age 25–26)[1]
Residence Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater Cal Poly Pomona
Occupation Voice actress
Years active 2011–present
Notable credit(s) Toradora!
as Ami Kawashima
Yuki Yuna is a Hero
as Mimori Togo
Aldnoah.Zero
as Asseylum Vers Allusia
The Seven Deadly Sins
as Elizabeth Liones
Hunter x Hunter
as Kurapika
Home town Camarillo, California, U.S.
Website www.erikaharlacher.com

Erika Harlacher is an American voice actress based in the Los Angeles area who has provided voices for English dubbed Japanese anime shows and video games. Some of her major roles in anime include: Ami Kawashima in Toradora!, Mimori Togo in Yuki Yuna is a Hero, Asseylum Vers Allusia in Aldnoah.Zero, Elizabeth Liones in The Seven Deadly Sins and Kurapika in Hunter x Hunter. In video games, she provides the voice of Kyoko Kirigiri in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Sadira in Killer Instinct.

Biography

Harlacher grew up in Camarillo, California, and started acting in school plays.[2][3] When she was around 9–10 years old, she was inspired by an interview by Christy Carlson Romano who voiced Kim Possible, in which Romano said that with voice acting, you could go to work in your pajamas. Harlacher's mother responded that it was not a real job, and suggested she pursue acting only as a hobby.[4][5] Her first exposure to anime was through Dragonball Z and Pokemon shows, which she considered more like cartoons, and that she really got into manga and anime in school when Fruits Basket was being published in English.[1] At La Reina High School, she was active in the Speech and Mock Trial team,[2] which was noted statewide and even attended a national event.[6][7] She also competed on the school's diving team.[3][8][9]

After graduating high school in 2008,[10] she attended Cal Poly Pomona where she intended to major in graphic design.[4][11] During her freshman year, she looked up some online forums regarding voice-over and attended Anime Expo, where she learned about and attended a Adventures in Voice Acting workshop conducted by Tony Oliver.[2] On Oliver's suggestion that she was pretty good at it, she changed her major to theatre,[1][12] and continued to take voice acting lessons and workshops while studying at school. She also did a production internship at Bang Zoom! Entertainment where she got to sit in on some of the recording sessions.[4] Her first voice acting project was on K-On! where she voiced some incidental characters.[2][13] Her first big voice-over role was for Battleship, based on the movie of the same name, where she got to voice a main character among many veteran voice actors.[13] Video game reviewers, however, panned the game for having any actors from the film voicing in the game, and lack in the existing acting which was relegated to mostly radio chatter and mission updates.[14][15][16] At one point in college, she had some health issues that led her to take an absence from school and acting, so she pursued production work, which her parents thought would make for a more practical career; she later dropped it as she was encouraged by Oliver to pursue acting and to finish school. It was then when she landed the lead role as Ayesha in the video game Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk.[4] She described Ayesha as a bit airheaded and ditsy but relatable and resembles her personality at times.[17] Video game reviewer Sean Madson of Diehardgamefan found the dub to be of decent qualify, but said Ayesha "sounded a bit too obnoxious with her airheadedness."[18] Matt Sainsbury of Digitally Downloaded thought the dub was reasonable but disliked their American accents as not suiting the Japanese personality of the game.[19] Vince Ingenito of IGN wrote that "both the writing and voice acting fail to lend any weight to her plight. Ayesha seems about as upset over her missing sister as I might be over a glass of spilled milk, making it really hard to care about the outcome of her quest."[20] Harlacher also voiced Sadira, a spider-themed woman and new character to the Killer Instinct series.[21]

In 2014, she voiced as Kyoko Kirigiri in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc. She described Kyoko as the most calm among the wacky characters and always on top of things.[5] Video game reviewers thought the voice acting was okay.,[22][23] but some were annoyed by the lack of full voice acting and the frequent use of random outbursts of phrases as an alternative.[24] She voiced Blood Leopard in Accel World, who was similar to Kyoko in showing little emotion. In Sword Art Online she voiced Sasha, whom she describes as being like a teacher/nun lady who is in charge of the kids who are lost in the game.[5][13] In the second series, she voiced another character named Siune; both series were broadcast on the Toonami block on Adult Swim. She also began attending anime conventions as a guest panelist.[5][25] In voicing Dunya in the Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic series, Erlacher found her character to be not your average princess, and that she was fun because she was unpredictable.[2] Her biggest role that year was Ami Kawashima in the romantic comedy Toradora!, a classmate who harbors a mean and bratty personality behind a cheerful perfect-looking facade of a model.[26] As it was one of NIS America's first dub productions,[27] Harlacher said took a long time to call back from the audition, and that it also took more time than other studios in producing the show.[17][28] She describes Ami's character as trying to act like she knows what she's doing but does not really have it together, and also she cannot cook.[17] LB Bryant of Japanator said that Toradora dub release was a "must obtain" item and that "Ami Kawashima equals best girl."[27] Travis Bruno of Capsule Computers said the English dub cast did impressively well and those who only listen to the Japanese tracks would be missing out.[29] She also voices Mako's mother, Sukuyo Mankanshoku in Kill la Kill, which later ran on Adult Swim's Toonami block in 2015.[4] She describes the series as crazy, the family as ridiculous, and that her character was very sweet and giving everyone food.[1]

In 2015 she voiced Mimori Togo in Yuki Yuna is a Hero, one of the main heroines who are called to save their world by interacting in an alternate dimension where they have super powers. She describes Togo as going through a lot of emotional stuff, which helped her expand her acting range.[17] Anime News Network reviewer Theron Martin said that the cast was "appropriately chosen for their roles in a vocal quality sense and handle the acting capably."[30] She voices main character Princess Asseylum Vers Allusia in Aldnoah.Zero as well as Elizabeth in The Seven Deadly Sins, both of which had English dub premieres on Netflix. She attended Sac-Anime in Sacramento, California; the panel she was on was regarded as one of the highlights of the convention.[31] Manga Entertainment listed Harlacher among their top 5 English voice actresses.[32] In 2016, she landed the voice role of main character Kurapika in the Viz Media English dub of the 2011 anime adaptation of Hunter x Hunter, which premiered on the Toonami block in April.[33][34]

Personal life

Harlacher lives in North Hollywood in the Los Angeles area.[35][36] In 2014, she started a Let's Play video channel on YouTube, where she plays through various games, some of which she has starred in, and others just for fun.[17][37][38] She has a sister two years younger.[39] She also owns two dogs.[40]

Filmography

Anime

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s).[35]
2011–13 K-On! Keiko Iida, Additional voices First major voice acting roles [2][41]
2011 Squid Girl Customer, Kozue Tanabe [42]
2013–14 Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan: Demon Capital Wakana Nura, Natsumi Torii, Reira [21][41]
2013–14 Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne Haruka Uehara, Shoko Igarashi [43]
2013–16 Sword Art Online series Sasha
Siune 		1st series
2nd series 		[5][17]
[44][45]
2013–14 Accel World Blood Leopard, Michiru Mita [5]
2014–15 Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic series Dunya Also Kingdom [2]
2014 Toradora! Ami Kawashima Also OVA [17][26][46][47]
2014–15 Kill la Kill Sukuyo Mankanshoku Also OVA [48][49]
2015 Yuki Yuna is a Hero Mimori Togo [11][17][30][50]
2015–16 Aldnoah.Zero Asseylum Vers Allusia [17][51][52][53]
2015 The Seven Deadly Sins Elizabeth Liones [54][55]
2016 Love Live! Erena Todo [56][57]
2016 Your Lie in April Emi Igawa [58]
2016 Hunter × Hunter Kurapika 2011 series [33][34]

Video games

Year Title Role Notes Ref(s).[35]
2012 Battleship Lt. Grace Harland [13][21]
2012 PlanetSide 2 VC1 Initiate
2013 Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk Ayesha Altugle [4]
2013 Killer Instinct Sadira [21]
2014 Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Kyoko Kirigiri [5][59]
2014 Earth Defense Force 2025 Wing Diver Soldier B [5][60]
2014 Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair Kyoko Kirigiri
2014 Fairy Fencer F Harley, Marisa
2014 D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die Olivia Jones [21]
2015 Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart Ryuka [1]
2015 Omega Quintet Momoka [41]
2015 Disgaea 5: Alliance of Vengeance Additional voices [17]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Joseluis Solorzano (April 6, 2015). "Couch Potatoes – The Anime Episode with Voice Actress Erika Harlacher". Overmental (Podcast). Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Capture that VA! – 23 Erika Harlacher (Dunya)". Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic English official website. March 14, 2014. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Diver Profile – Erika Harlacher". DiveMeets.com. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tom Bauer (April 6, 2016). "Voice Acting Mastery Field Report #7 – Erika Harlacher". Voice Acting Mastery (Podcast). Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kana (March 17, 2014). "Kana's Corner – Interview with Erica Harlacher". 91.8 The Fan (Podcast). Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  6. ↑ "La Reina wins Mock Trial championship". Thousand Oaks Acorn. April 10, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  7. ↑ Johnson, Brett (May 11, 2008). "La Reina makes its case at mock trial nationals". Ventura County Star. Archived from the original on April 26, 2016. (subscription required (help)). La Reina's national team consisted of "attorneys" Amanda Mundell, Hannah Harper and Nayantara Bhushan; "witnesses" Lauren Dansey, Erika Harlacher, Kristin Miller, Piper Nunez and Julianne Brauer; and team clerk/timekeeper Paloma Spencer.
  8. ↑ Boal, Erik (May 10, 2007). "Hot Off the Press – Harlacher handles move to new division". Los Angeles Daily News. Retrieved April 26, 2016 – via The Free Library.
  9. ↑ Dorman, Stephen (March 30, 2006). "Some area divers not happy with the treatment their sport receives". The Acorn. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  10. ↑ "La Reina Today – Alumnae edition" (PDF). Fall 2013. p. 3.
  11. 1 2 Yuki Yuna is a Hero Q&A w/ the English Dub Cast. November 26, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2016 – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ "Theatre Department Performs ‘Cabaret’". Polycentric. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. February 25, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Click picture for credits.
  13. 1 2 3 4 The Epic Awesome Show (July 1, 2013). The Epic Awesome Show Interview of Erika Harlacher. Zain Bruger. Retrieved April 26, 2016 – via YouTube.
  14. ↑ "EGM Review: Battleship". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  15. ↑ Martin, Liam (April 27, 2012). "'Battleship: The Game' review (Xbox 360)". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  16. ↑ Zeth. "Battleship (Xbox 360) Review". Brutal Gamer. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  17. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Ohio Guys (November 11, 2015). Voice of the Voices – Erika Harlacher. Chrisitian Ocampo. Burbank, California. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Review: Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk (Sony PlayStation Vita)". diehardgamefan.com. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  19. ↑ Sainsbury, Matt. "Review: Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk (PS3)". digitallydownloaded.net. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  20. ↑ Ingenito, Vince (March 15, 2013). "Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk Review". IGN. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 "Erika Harlacher (BTVA)". Behind the Voice Actors. Retrieved April 25, 2016. Green check mark indicates roles that have been verified by BTVA through closing credits screenshots.
  22. ↑ Moriarty, Colin (February 20, 2014). "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Review". IGN. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  23. ↑ Vincent, Brittany. "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc review". GamesRadar. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  24. ↑ Martin, Tim (February 23, 2014). "Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  25. ↑ "AX 2014 – NIS America Anime panel". Nerd Reactor. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  26. 1 2 Solomon, Charles (August 13, 2014). "Anime Review: "Toradora! Complete Series"". Animation Scoop. Indiewire. Retrieved April 25, 2016. Rounding out the group is popular teen model Ami Kawashima (Erika Harlacher), whose squeaky clean exterior conceals a smug, manipulative personality. But even her aloof cynicism gradually crumbles when confronted with Ryuji’s kindness and sincerity.
  27. 1 2 Bryant, LB (March 12, 2014). "NIS America announces Toradora blu-ray release with English dub". Japanator. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  28. ↑ Amith, Dennis, ed. (December 6, 2015). "Interview with voice actress Erika Harlacher". J!-Ent Annual Guide 2015. Mark Orchard (J!-Ent Online). p. 409. Download guide from page reference.
  29. ↑ Bruno, Travis (August 10, 2014). "Toradora! Complete Series Premium Edition Review". Capsule Computers. Australia. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  30. 1 2 Martin, Theron (April 27, 2015). "Yuki Yuna is a Hero [Collector's Edition + CD] – Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 26, 2016. Pony Canyon called upon Bang Zoom! Entertainment for the English dub. Long-time voice actor Lex Lang mostly guides well a cast with limited experience; only in a couple of places do the performances sound even slightly stiff or awkward. All of the actresses were appropriately-chosen for their roles in a vocal quality sense and handle the acting capably. ... The dub script is also a smooth and reasonable interpretation of the original Japanese script.
  31. ↑ Snook, Jay (September 11, 2015). "'SacAnime' Had a Few Flaws but Overall Was a Blast". The Good Men Project. Retrieved April 26, 2016. But the best panel of the entire convention was Chillin’ With the Voice Actors. It has become a tradition and has been going on for many years. Jim Cummings the newest voice of Tigger and Winnie the Pooh was there and made this show one of a kind. There was also Zach Aguilar, Erika Harlacher, Erica Lindbeck and Max Mittelman who are all well known voice actors for video games and Anime. All of these actors got together to read War of the Worlds. For those who don’t know this is one of the most famous radio performances ever and in its day caused a huge amount of controversy. These people found a way to turn a tragedy into a hilarious performance that made all in attendance laugh until it hurt. Once it was over they all got a rare standing ovation and people like me wanted more. It was the must see panel this year and was a shame if you missed it.
  32. ↑ "Top Five English Voice Actresses". Manga Entertainment. March 9, 2016. Erika Harlacher is twenty-five years old and the newest voice-actress on this list. She might not have a robust catalogue of voices to pick from, but she can perform with the best of them with her roles including Kyoto Kirigiri in Danganronpa: The Animation, Sasha and Siune in Sword Art Online, Dunya in Magi: The Kingdom of Magic and Ami Kawashima in Toradora! Erika has also branched into games where she, once again, voiced Kyoto Kirigiri in Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Momoka in Omega Quintet and Ayesha Altugle in Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk. Despite having only been in a handful of shows so far, they've all happened to be successful and are fantastic shows to have on her resume. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of Erika in 2016!
  33. 1 2 "Viz Announces 2011-2014 Hunter x Hunter's English Dub Cast (Updated)". Anime News Network. March 19, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2016.
  34. 1 2 "Hunter x Hunter's English Dub Previewed in Adult Swim's Toonami Ad". Anime News Network. April 3, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  35. 1 2 3 Harlacher's resume and list of works:
  36. ↑ "Erika Harlacher". Twitter. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  37. ↑ Erika Harlacher (December 29, 2014). Welcome to withakgames!!. Retrieved April 26, 2016 – via YouTube.
  38. ↑ Humphry, Jesse (February 23, 2016). "Interview with Erika Harlacher". Geeks + Gamers. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  39. ↑ Harlacher's tweets about family:
  40. ↑ Erika Harlacher [erikaharlacher] (February 6, 2015). "Pretty sure I have the most attractive dogs ever 💕🐶 Try not to be too jealous." (Tweet). Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  41. 1 2 3 ShaddoeENT interviews:
  42. ↑ Beveridge, Chris (September 9, 2011). "Media Blasters ‘Squid Girl’ Anime Dub Cast Revealed". The Fandom Post. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  43. ↑ Loo, Egan (August 14, 2012). "Lagrange Anime's English Dub Cast Revealed". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  44. ↑ "Erica Mendez, Erika Harlacher Join Sword Art Online II English Dub Cast". Anime News Network. July 24, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  45. ↑ Beveridge, Chris (July 27, 2015). "‘Sword Art Online II’ Anime Dub Cast Gets Erica Invasion". The Fandom Post. Retrieved April 28, 2016.
  46. ↑ "NIS America Offers Toradora! Blu-rays With English Dub". Anime News Network. March 12, 2014. Retrieved March 12, 2014. Cassandra Lee Morris, Erik Scott Kimerer, Christine Marie Cabanos, Johnny Yong Bosch, Erika Harlacher star
  47. ↑ Gertwagen, Earl (July 6, 2014). "Anime Expo 2014 – NIS America". Anime News Network. Retrieved April 25, 2016. After going over their fall offerings, they rounded out their discussion with Toradora!, which is available now. Localization Manager Yoko Nishikawa came out to lead a live script reading for a couple of scenes from Toradora! with some of the voice talent for the English dub of the show. Joining the reading were Erik Scott Kimerer (Ryuji Takasu), Cassandra Lee Morris (Taiga Aisaka), Christine Marie Cabanos (minori Kushieda), and Erika Harlacher (Ami Kawashima). The session started with the scenes to be read on the big screen, followed by the voice actors reading together in-character from the script. One of the voice actors wasn't present at the panel, so an enthusiastic fan stepped in to fill the role.
  48. ↑ "Erica Mendez, Carrie Keranen Star in Kill la Kill's English Dub". Anime News Network. May 28, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
  49. ↑ Clodfelter, Tim (March 10, 2016). "Interesting characters invading Winston-Salem this weekend". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  50. ↑ "Xanthe Huynh, Erika Harlacher Star in Yuki Yuna is a Hero English Dub Cast". Anime News Network. April 4, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  51. ↑ Beveridge, Chris (June 7, 2015). "Aniplex USA Announces ‘Aldnoah.Zero’ Anime DVD/BD Release, English Cast, Trailer". The Fandom Post. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  52. ↑ AniplexUS (June 6, 2015). ALDNOAH.ZERO English Cast Special Message Video. Retrieved April 25, 2016 – via YouTube.
  53. ↑ "Aniplex USA to Release 1st Aldnoah.Zero Season on BD, DVD with Dub, Sub". Anime News Network. May 6, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2016. Aniplex of America will host an English dub premiere event at Anime Expo. The company will show the first three episodes and host a Q&A event with Mittelman (Inaho), Aguilar (Slaine), and Harlacher (Asseylum).
  54. ↑ Ferreira, Mike (November 2, 2015). "Netflix Starts Streaming The Seven Deadly Sins". Anime Herald. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  55. ↑ Maffris, Chris (November 10, 2015). "A Complete Review of The Seven Deadly Sins". Geek E Inc. I was especially impressed with Erika Harlacher voicing Elizabeth (which sounds like it was a lot harder than some would think that role was). I’m not as familiar with her work as I am with other voice actors, so it was a treat to hear someone that’s “newer” to my ears. I thought she did a phenomenal job voicing her through some of the tougher scenes that Elizabeth is involved in (crying, sad, yelling, etc.). Even though some fans might have heard her (or others I mentioned) in other dubs, they still gave this series a breath of fresh air when it came to new voices.
  56. ↑ Beveridge, Chris (February 6, 2016). "Additional ‘Love Live! School Idol Project’ Anime Dub Cast Revealed". The Fandom Post. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
  57. ↑ Smith, G.B. (February 16, 2016). "Press Audio: The One with the Muses—Love Live! Season 1 Anime English Dub Review". The Fandom Post. Retrieved April 26, 2016. I cannot really comment on the trio playing the members of rival idol group A-Rise, Cassandra Morris, Corina Boettger, and Erika Harlacher, because they collectively have too few lines from which to form much of a judgment.
  58. ↑ "Erica Lindbeck, Max Mittelman Star in Your Lie in April English Dub Cast". Anime News Network. January 15, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
  59. ↑ Halestorm, Bradly (January 20, 2014). "Review: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc". HardcoreGamer.com. Speaking of aural accolades, the English dub work is praise-worthy as well. Most of the time, dubs are pretty terrible; but here, the actors clearly were given good direction, and deliver line after line of inspired work that helps nail the game’s dire circumstantial ambiance. Lastly, it would be criminal to not shower NIS America with compliments on giving Danganronpa one of the best localization jobs the game industry has seen in years. It’s humorous and clever, but also knows when to pull back and take matters seriously. Character’s personalities really come to life even more so because of the work NISA has done here.
  60. ↑ Sandlot (February 18, 2014). Earth Defense Force 2025. D3 Publisher. Scene: Closing credits, 2:45 in, Voice Cast.

External links

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