Aya Hirano

Acting career

In 1998, Hirano joined the Tokyo Child Theatrical Group division of the Space Craft Group [ja] company.^[7][8] 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.^[9][10] In 2002, when she was 15, she voiced co-lead character Lumiere in Kiddy Grade.^[11]

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 and heroine of the anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.^[12] The series' public success boosted her popularity and career in Japan. Hirano soon became one of the first voice actors who crossed over into mainstream media, as well as one of the first well-known idol voice actors.^[13] This success was followed by her voicing Reira Serizawa in Nana and Misa Amane in Death Note.^[14] At the first Seiyu Awards, she won "Best Newcomer (female)", for her role as Haruhi Suzumiya;^[12] 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").^[12][15] 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.^[16]

Hirano performed at the Animelo Summer Live concerts between 2006 and 2008,^[17][18] as well as the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisō concert on March 18, 2007.^[19] She was a guest at Anime Expo 2007, along with other cast members from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Minori Chihara and Yūko Gotō.^[20] In 2007, she continued to enjoy great success in her career, landing the role of Konata Izumi in the anime version of Lucky Star.^[14] 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".^[21]

In April 2011, Hirano announced 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.^[22] 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.^[23] On August 21, Hirano moved to the voice acting agency Grick.^[24] Days later, on August 27, she posted a message on her Twitter account, confirming that she had resumed new voice acting roles in anime.^[25]

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.^[26][27][28]

Music career

Hirano's music career began as part of the band SpringS, which was active from 2002 to 2003.^[29] She then released two character image songs in 2005: "Kimi Kara Onegai My Saint" (キミからお願い★my saint), which was used as an ending theme to the original video animation Itsudatte My Santa!,^[30] and "Futari no Imi" (二人の意味), which was an image song for her character Mamori Anezaki in the anime series Eyeshield 21.^[31]

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.^[32][33] Her next single was "Bōken Desho Desho?" (冒険でしょでしょ?, It's an Adventure, Right Right?), which was released on April 26, 2006; the title track is used as the opening theme of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.^[34] The CD sold out in Japan the very day it was released.^[35] This was followed by the release of an image song single for her character Haruhi Suzumiya on July 5, 2006, which contained the songs "Parallel Days" (パラレル Days) and "SOS nara Daijōbu" (SOS ならだいじょーぶ).^[36] Her third single "Ashita no Prism" (明日のプリズム) was released on September 6, 2006.^[37]

Hirano released her fourth single "Love Gun" on October 10, 2007.^[38] This was followed by her fifth single "Neophilia" which was released on November 7, 2007,^[39] and her sixth single "MonStAR" which was released on December 5, 2007.^[40]

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.^[41] This was followed by the release of her first solo album Riot Girl on July 16, 2008.^[42] She then released the song "Namida" (涙 NAMIDA ナミダ) on October 8, 2008, which was used as the ending theme to the anime series Hyakko.^[43]

Hirano released her eighth single "Set me free / Sing a song!" on April 29, 2009.^[44] 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.^[45] Her second album Speed Star (スピード☆スター) was released on November 18, 2009.^[46] Her tenth single "Hysteric Barbie" was released on June 23, 2010.^[47] To promote the single, she created a Twitter account which was originally intended to be only used for one day;^[48] however, she would continue to use the account after the promotion had ended.^{[49][non-primary source needed]}

In May 2011, Hirano released a compilation album titled Aya Museum.^[50] 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.^[51] On August 2, 2011, Japanese magazine Bubka confirmed that she was dismissed by Lantis due to her sleeping with several band members.^[52] She then returned to music in 2012 and was signed to the record label Universal Sigma.^[53] Her first release on the label was the mini album Fragments on May 23, 2012.^[54] This was followed by the song "Zutto Kitto" (ずっと きっと) which was released on August 15, 2012;^[55] the title track is used as the ending theme to the anime film Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess.^[56]

In 2013, Hirano released two singles: "TOxxxIC" which was released on February 20,^[57] and "Promise" which was released on October 9; "Promise" was used as an insert song in the documentary film Kitakitsune Monogatari: Ashita e.^[58] She released her fourth album Vivid on February 19, 2014.^[59][60]

In 2018, Hirano performed the song "Pride", which was used as a character song to the mobile game Granblue Fantasy.^[61]

On April 24, 2020, Hirano posted a video of herself dancing and teaching the choreography of "Hare Hare Yukai" on her social media accounts to motivate others during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, sparking the hashtag "#HareHareYukaiAtHomeWithAllYourMight" (#お家で全力ハレ晴レユカイ).^[62] This created a trend of cover dances of "Hare Hare Yukai" posted to the hashtag, participants of which included Tomokazu Sugita (the voice actor of Kyon)^[62] and Minoru Shiraishi (the voice actor of Taniguchi).^[63] This led "Hare Hare Yukai" to chart at no. 6 on the Billboard Japan Hot Animation in the same week.^[64]

On May 10, 2025, she released "Evolutions", a single under the Lantis label.^[65][66]

Anime

Live-action television series

Drama CDs

Film

Theatre

Dubbing roles

Hirano has had dubbing roles in localized versions of a number of foreign television series and films.

Video games

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

Character albums and singles

Video albums