Japan’s Singing Seiyuu: What happened?

After I had the last straw with Windows Media Player, I decided to make the gradual switch over to iTunes and properly organize my music the way I want to hear it. Of course, I began with my Japanese music collection which takes up about three-fourths of my pathetic 35GB HD I have yet to upgrade. Anyway, I started with music I had not listened to in a very long while, which included my The Best Slayers collection, with most of the songs on that album sung by the great classic Japanese seiyuu of the 90s, Megumi Hayashibara. I remember dancing and singing along to “Kujikenaikara!” (Slayers ED 1) in my kitchen while washing dishes. Man…those songs took me back.

When I first was exposed to subbed anime some six years ago, Slayers and Megumi Hayashibara as Lina Inverse were my firsts. Those were the days when the main character(s) also performed Opening and Ending themes to the anime they were cast in. I really must have caught the tailend of that era because since then, I cannot recall liking a seiyuu who also sang OP, ED, or even Image songs in the anime they were cast in. The only seiyuu and singer that rings a bell is the popular Nana Mizuki. What’s sad is that I only know her by name because I had an American friend while living in Osaka who went starry-eyed whenever he saw a DVD compilation by her. Has anyone else noticed this declining phenomenon?

With that in mind, and my otaku status no longer privy to the masses, I’d like to pose these questions to whomever will lend an ear:

Are there any singing seiyuu that you remember from your anime newbie days?

Do you still enjoy their songs today?

EDIT: I meant Nana Mizuki, not Nana Kitase. Sorry about the mix up!