T5W#536-Top 5 Favorite Cristina Vee Roles

From the moment I first met her during my first Otakon back in 2010, doing the Hare Hare Yuki Dance from Haruhi Suzumiya, Cristina Valenzuela, aka Cristina Vee, has been one of my all time favorite Voice Actresses.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to meet her a few times over the last fifteen years, including this past weekend at Stellar Con and I even got to show her a pic of us from Otakon 2011 and she asked me if I could send it to her.  Cristina is such a ball of energy and positivity and she brings all of that and more to all the roles she takes on and man does she have a resume from bubbly to dramatic to totally insane.  Seeing as how, as I said, I’ve gotten to meet her once more (trying to think of when I did last see her before this, my first Katsu back in 2015?  Anyway not important atm.), we’re pausing our Godzilla Month IV Top 5’s so I can share my Top 5 Favorite Cristina Vee Roles.

 
#5-Marinette Dupain-Cheng aka Lady Bug (Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir)

Admittedly I haven’t watched much of this show but what I have seen, it’s wonderful and very much in the same Magical Girl vein of Sailor Moon.  Equal parts superheroine and Magical Girl, Marinette is brave, selfless, a bit clumsy but ultimately a bad ass.  Cristina Vee’s voice breathes perfect life into this young heroine figuring out the ropes of her powers while also navigating the highs and lows of being a normal girl with big secrets.  Basically, this is Cristina Vee if she got to voice Sailor Moon herself.

 
#4-Mio Akiyama (K-ON)

This was actually the first role I ever heard Cristina voice and it helped that at Otakon 2011, she and her fellow K-ON VAs promoted the hell out of the show with a live concert.  As for Mio herself, she’s kind of the opposite of Marinette.  A stickler for the rules but a genius with a base guitar, Mio scares and startles easily, especially thanks to her prankster bestie Ritsu, but she’s always there for her friends, who in turn love pushing Mio outside of her comfort zone.  Plus, as Mio is one of the lead vocals for her band, it means Cristina gets to show off her incredible singing talents (she also gets to do more of this in the Lady Bug Movie which I believe is also a musical). 

 
#3-Rei Hino aka Sailor Mars (Sailor Moon)

When I heard that Viz was redoing all of Sailor Moon with a full English dub, I was excited to her my favorite VA was going to voice my first Anime crush.  As Rei, Cristina is commanding and as tough as they come.  Her voice embodies the spirit of the fires of Mars and gives Rei the toughness befitting her guardian planet.  But she also captures Rei’s softer side as well, particularly in her scenes with Usagi when they aren’t at each others throats.  Needless to say, it’s a kick ass role for a kick ass VA and Cristina holds the distinction of being able to voice Rei across all of Sailor Moon thanks to Viz, including the Original Series, Movies, Sailor Moon Crystal Reboot and it’s subsequent movie sequels (Eternal and Cosmos).

 
#2-Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica)

This has to be one of the most intense and dramatic roles Cristina has ever undertaken.  Homura is a Magical Girl of the most tragic kind, locked in a seemingly neverending struggle to try and fail time and time again to save her best friend from a doomed existence.  And Cristina nails every facet of Homura to a tee: the guilt, the stone cold heartedness, the grief, the desperation, all of it.  Shoot, if the Anime Awards were in play all the way back when the English Dub of Madoka Magica came out, this should have earned her an award of some kind cause wow, she runs the gauntlet of emotions and you feel every bit of it along with her.
 

#1-Darkness aka Lalatina Ford Dustiness (Konosuba)

Now I haven’t seen all of Cristina’s filmography but wow, this has to be the craziest and most fun role she’s had in her lengthy list of credits.  While she’s great as the “noble knight”, it’s Darkness’ more peculiar qualities that make this my top pick for Cristina Vee acting roles.  Without going into too much of the naughty details lets just say Darkness has a penchant for battle damage and the thrill of a fight…amongst other things.  It’s the kind of role one can have a lot of fun with and being allowed to cut loose a little.  And darnit, as much as I love the selfie I got with Cristina at Stellar Con, there’s one line I wish I could have gotten her to say instead cause when I heard Darkness utter what she says in this particular scene, I cracked up, couldn’t believe she said that line and man…it might be my favorite Cristina Vee line of all time.