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During San Diego Comic-Con 2025, I got the opportunity to speak with voice actress Michelle Ruff. Michelle is a familiar voice for regular Toonami and English dub anime viewers, as she voices the likes of Rukia in Bleach, Sinon in Sword Art Online, Fujiko in Lupin the 3rd, Luna in Sailor Moon, and Yoko in Gurren Lagann, among various others.
We only had a few minutes to do this interview as Michelle was in-between autograph sessions, but we did get to discuss Michelle’s excitement for the return of Bleach to Toonami for the Thousand-Year Blood War arc, and being the voice of Rukia through all these years. We also discussed a bit about her role as Sinon in Sword Art Online roughly 10 years after she was originally cast into the role.
You can listen to the interview on either the embedded media player, and/or you can read the interview below:
Daniel: What’s up? Toonami faithful. My name is Daniel Limjoco, also known as @AnimeSavior, and today I’m hanging out with Michelle Ruff, voice of Rukia in Bleach.
Michelle: Hello, it is I, in the Flash. [Hehe.]
Daniel: So, yeah, how’s your Comic-Con going so far?
Michelle: It’s good, it’s fun. There’s a lot of people here.
Daniel: Yeah. There’s a lot. Thanks for talking with us for a bit, and Rukia…glad we got Bleach back on Toonami!
Michelle: So excited! So excited! When I heard the news that Thousand-Year Blood War is back on Toonami, and um, you know, that’s where we got our start. So here in the states, so it’s fun that we’re back at our…what do you call? What do you call it, the Mothership?
Daniel: The Absolution. [Hehe.] Yeah, we were kind of worried about whether Bleach was actually going to come back since Hulu took the premiere rights and all, but hey [in the end] you’re back [as Rukia]. You guys are back, Johnny’s back [as Ichigo], and that’s all that matters.
Michelle: Exactly, exactly.
Daniel: It’s been since 2006-ish since, Bleach got a dub, aired on [adult swim], and you got to be Rukia. How does it feel to [be a part of Bleach] for so long?
Michelle: Well, it’s amazing to me. It’s amazing to be part of a show for that long, and to get to play a character for that long. Um, it’s just, I don’t know. I feel like she’s really a part of me. It’s not a stretch for me to play her. I know, I know her very well. I know the character well.
Daniel: I think you’ve done a great job. […] Rukia’s a Lovely character.
Michelle: Well, Thank you, thank you. I appreciate that.
Daniel: What would you love to see from her, perhaps in the future?
Michelle: I’d love another Bankai, hehe. I love another Bankai moment. And I would love to see the story continue. I know there’s other light novels, and you know, we still haven’t really seen her and Renji’s story. Hopefully, please so. That would be kind of cool. You know, to develop that a little bit. But honestly, I would take anything. Anything with Rukia in it. I’ll take it.
Daniel: Since we just got back into Bleach [after a long hiatus], what do you think fans should expect with these next few episodes in the Thousand Year Blood War?
Michelle: Well, we have one more season left. Um, and honestly, I do not know because I’ve heard that, um…[Tite] Kubo is bringing new content that wasn’t in the manga to the show, so I, I don’t know. We haven’t been privy to any of that information. So, I’m not sure. I’m not sure what to expect. It’s full of surprises for all of us.
Daniel: You guys, have you read the Manga?
Michelle: I haven’t.
Daniel: Me neither, I just [mainly] follow [Bleach] on Toonami/Adult Swim.
Michelle: Yes, yes.
Daniel: Let’s talk about Sinon from SAO. It’s Been almost 10 years…been about a decade now since [Toonami aired SAO season 2, the Phantom Bullet arc and] you got to voice Sinon. Looking back how? How did, how does it feel?
Michelle: Oh, I love my Sinon, and I wish she would come back. Be good in a bigger way, but we’ll, I guess we’ll see, we’ll see. Yeah, that would be great love to have her back.
Daniel: I hear Sinon might come back [according to the light novels], hopefully in a bigger way. I guess we’ll see.
Michelle: We’ll see. Yeah, that would be great love to have her back.
Daniel: I really love her story, like how she had to overcome her PTSD [playing GGO.]
Michelle: Yeah, for sure.
Daniel: Of course, her friend turned…we’ll you know…
Michelle: All right. Well, thank you.
Daniel: Anything else you’d like to say before we head out?
Michelle: Um, well, I’ve got some new projects coming down the pipe, so just keep your ears and eyes peeled. There’s Scherazard Harvey in the Trails Saga (Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter). And some other things that I can’t talk about, of course. NDA [haha].
Daniel: Gotta love those NDAs.
Michelle: Oh yeah.
Daniel: All right. So, on behalf of the Toonami Faithful and my colleagues at Toonami Squad, thanks for talking with me, Michelle, and we’ll see you again next time.
Michelle: Okay, thank you so much. Have fun.
Daniel: Thank you.
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