Aya Hirano

 is a Japanese actress, voice actress, and singer. Beginning in the entertainment industry as a child actor performing in television commercials, she played her first voice acting role in 2001 in the anime television series "Angel Tales". She released her first single "Breakthrough" in 2006, and she released her first album "Riot Girl" in 2008. She was formerly contracted to Space Craft Produce, a branch of the Space Craft Group, before moving to the talent agency Grick in August 2011. Her label was Lantis until 2011, when she moved to Universal Sigma.
Hirano is known for her roles as Haruhi Suzumiya in the "Haruhi Suzumiya" franchise, Misa Amane in "Death Note", Konata Izumi in "Lucky Star", and Lucy Heartfilia in "Fairy Tail". She won the Voice Acting Award at the 2007 Tokyo Anime Awards for her breakthrough role as Haruhi Suzumiya, the Best Newcomer Award at the 1st Seiyu Awards in 2007, and won the Best Lead Actress award at the 2nd Seiyu Awards in 2008. Hirano also pioneered the "idol voice actor" crossover that became popular beginning in the late 2000s.
In 2011, she temporarily ceased accepting new roles to recover from a pituitary gland tumor that had been affecting her health. She resumed voice acting activities later that year. In 2016, after appearing at a stage play in Tokyo, she went to New York to study abroad for four months.
Biography.
Early life and childhood.
Hirano was born in Nagoya on October 8, 1987. She spent a few of her very early years of life in America before returning to Japan. In 1998, she joined the Tokyo Child Theatrical Group division of the company.
Acting career.
After starting her acting career, Hirano began to appear in commercials and received her first role as a voice actress at 14 years old in the 2001 anime series "Angel Tales". In 2002, when she was 15, she voiced co-lead character Lumiere in "Kiddy Grade".
After graduating from high school, Hirano began seriously pursuing her voice acting and solo singing career. Her big break came in 2006, when she was cast as the voice of Haruhi Suzumiya, the title character of the anime series "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". The series' public success has greatly enhanced her popularity and career in Japan. Hirano's portrayal of the character both in the anime and on live television made her one of the earliest examples of the "idol voice actor" trend that gained popularity in the late 2000s.
This success was followed by her voicing lead characters in anime based on popular manga; Reira Serizawa in "Nana" and Misa Amane in "Death Note". Her popularity was confirmed at the first Seiyu Awards, where she won "Best Newcomer (female)", for her role as Haruhi Suzumiya; the same role also won her a nomination as "Best Main Character (female)". At the same awards, she was also nominated for "Best Supporting Character (female)", and earned two nominations for "Best Single" (one of which was for a solo, "Bōken Desho Desho?"; the other was a group nomination for the single "Hare Hare Yukai"). She also won in the Voice Acting category at the 2007 Tokyo Anime Awards for her role as the lead character in "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". Hirano was named No. 36 in Daitan Map's "Top 50 Voice Actors of Popular Characters" in 2007.
Hirano performed at the Animelo Summer Live concerts between 2006 and 2008, as well as the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisō concert on March 18, 2007. She was a guest at Anime Expo 2007, along with other cast members from "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya", Minori Chihara and Yūko Gotō. In 2007, she continued to enjoy great success in her career, landing the role of Konata Izumi in the anime version of "Lucky Star". In 2008, at the second Seiyu Awards, she won for Best Lead Actress, and also for Best Singing along with cast members of "Lucky Star" for the series' opening theme "Motteke! Sailor Fuku".
In November 2010, Hirano posted a message on her Twitter account that she has had a pituitary gland tumor since junior high school. While not malignant, the tumor exerts pressure on certain motor functions, resulting in temporary memory loss, loss of vision and slurring of speech. She decided against elective surgery because the surgery would alter her nasal cavity and permanently modify her voice. To facilitate her care, she announced in April 2011 that she had been prohibited from taking on new voice acting roles since the previous year. She still continued voicing characters for anime that received additional seasons or extended runs. Citing a need for a new agency that was more ideal for her career wishes, she announced on August 12, 2011, that she had left Space Craft Entertainment. On August 21, Hirano moved to the voice acting agency Grick. Days later, on August 27, she posted a message on her Twitter account, confirming that she had resumed new voice acting roles in anime.
In 2016, after a stint in the musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" in Tokyo, Hirano spent four months studying English and voice in New York.
Music career.
Hirano's music career began as part of the band SpringS, which was active from 2002 to 2003. She then released two character image songs in 2005: , which was used as an ending theme to the original video animation "Itsudatte My Santa!", and , which was an image song for her character Mamori Anezaki in the anime series "Eyeshield 21".
Hirano's first solo single under the record label Lantis was "Breakthrough", which was released on March 8, 2006; the title track was used as the opening theme of the visual novel "Finalist". Her next single was , which was released on April 26, 2006; the title track is used as the opening theme of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". The CD sold out in Japan the very day it was released. This was followed by the release of an image song single for her character Haruhi Suzumiya on July 5, 2006, which contained the songs and . Her third single was released on September 6, 2006.
Hirano released her fourth single "Love Gun" on October 10, 2007. This was followed by her fifth single "Neophilia" which was released on November 7, 2007, and her sixth single "MonStAR" which was released on December 5, 2007.
Hirano released her seventh single "Unnamed World" on April 23, 2008; the title track was used as the ending theme to the anime series "Nijū Mensō no Musume". This was followed by the release of her first solo album "Riot Girl" on July 16, 2008. She then released the song on October 8, 2008, which was used as the ending theme to the anime series "Hyakko".
Hirano released her eighth single "Set me free / Sing a song!" on April 29, 2009. She then released her ninth single "Super Driver" on July 22, 2009; the title track is used as the opening theme of the second season of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya". Her second album was released on November 18, 2009. Her tenth single "Hysteric Barbie" was released on June 23, 2010. To promote the single, she created a Twitter account which was originally intended to be only used for one day; however, she would continue to use the account after the promotion had ended.
In May 2011, Hirano released a compilation album titled "Aya Museum". Later that month, she announced via Twitter that she was no longer performing music for Lantis and had discontinued her music career until further notice. On August 2, 2011, Japanese magazine "Bubka" confirmed that she was dismissed by Lantis due to a sex scandal involving her sleeping with several band members. She then returned to music in 2012 and was signed to the record label Universal Sigma. Her first release on the label was the mini album "Fragments" on May 23, 2012. This was followed by the song which was released on August 15, 2012; the title track is used as the ending theme to the anime film "".
In 2013, Hirano released two singles: "TOxxxIC" which was released on February 20, and "Promise" which was released on October 9; "Promise" was used as an insert song in the documentary film "Kitakitsune Monogatari: Ashita e". She released her fourth album "Vivid" on February 19, 2014.
Filmography.
Dubbing roles.
Hirano has had dubbing roles in localized versions of a number of foreign television series and films.
External links.
[[Category:1987 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Anime singers]]
[[Category:Japanese child actresses]]
[[Category:Japanese female pop singers]]
[[Category:Japanese idols]]
[[Category:Japanese musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:Japanese stage actresses]]
[[Category:Japanese video game actresses]]
[[Category:Japanese voice actresses]]
[[Category:Lantis (company) artists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Aichi Prefecture]]
[[Category:Universal Music Japan artists]]
[[Category:Voice actresses from Nagoya]]
[[Category:21st-century Japanese women singers]]