Yuniko Ayana
Japanese screenwriter
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Yuniko Ayana (Japanese: 綾奈 ゆにこ, Hepburn: Ayana Yuniko) is a Japanese anime screenwriter and manga author. After making her debut in The Tower of Druaga, she began serving as a script supervisor for several anime series and franchises, including Kin-iro Mosaic, Girls Beyond the Wasteland, The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War, BanG Dream!, The Idolmaster SideM, Given, D4DJ, and The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies. She also works in the yuri genre, including a 2014 essay collection Chīsai Yuri Mītsuketa and preface for the entrance at the Yuriten 2017 convention.
Biography
In 2008, while still a university student, Yuniko Ayana made her first screenwriting credit for the 2008 series The Tower of Druaga.[1] She subsequently served as script supervisor for Kin-iro Mosaic, Locodol, and Merman in My Tub.[2][3][4] She was hired to be the series composition writer for Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl by request of director Akiyuki Shinbo, who felt that the series would've been more interesting if the series composition was instead written from the perspective of a woman.[5]
Ayana was script supervisor and, alongside Ayumi Sekine, co-scenario writer for Makura no Danshi, as well as story concept creator for Flip Flappers.[6][7] In 2016, she was script supervisor for Girls Beyond the Wasteland and The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War.[8][9] She was later script supervisor for The Idolmaster SideM,[10] for which she and Yukie Sugawara won the 2018 Newtype Anime Awards Screenplay Award.[11]
Ayana was the script supervisor for all three seasons of the BanG Dream! anime (2017-2020) and the 2021 sequel movie BanG Dream! Episode of Roselia,[12][13][14][15] as well as the screenwriter for the 2022 sequel movie BanG Dream! Poppin'Dream!.[16] In 2023, she was the screenwriter and script supervisor for the spinoff BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!!;[17] she recalled in an interview with Comic Natalie that this job was challenging because she "had never written a script so realistically before".[18] She also served as script supervisor for D4DJ First Mix, another Bushiroad anime.[19] In February 2025, Ayana stated on Twitter that she had not been involved with the BanG Dream! franchise since late 2023, with her work on the series composition of BanG Dream! Ave Mujica and the scriptwriting of its first episode being her last contribution to the series.[20][21] However, she also served as the screenwriter for the twelfth episode of the series. After the episode aired, she tweeted that due to frequently receiving "rude replies from netizens," she wanted to clarify that the "creepy and convoluted" settings in Ave Mujica had nothing to do with her, yet she later clarified that she "had no intention of disparaging the work at all".[22]
Ayana later served as script supervisor for Given and Bikkurimen,[23][24] as well as the screenwriter for the former's 2020 film sequel Given.[25] She is serving as co-script supervisor (alongside Midori Gotō) for Narenare: Cheer for You! as well as script supervisor and screenwriter for The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies.[26][27]
In 2014, Kadokawa published Chīsai Yuri Mītsuketa (ちいさい百合みぃつけた), an essay collection of Ayana's Newtype column of the same name, also including yuri manga she worked on.[28] She was the writer of Shigeyoshi Takagi's manga Sore ga Sekai no Futsū ni Naru, and the two held an autograph session at the Animega store in Shinjuku Marui Annex on 28 February 2015.[29] She wrote the preface for the entrance at the Yuriten 2017 convention.[30] She also works in theatre, being the screenwriter for Butai: Sasayaku yō ni Koi wo Utau.[31]
Ayana is a member of the Writers Guild of Japan.[32]
Filmography
Animated television
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Ground Control to Psychoelectric Girl | Series composition | [33] |
| 2013–2015 | Kin-iro Mosaic | Series composition | [2][34] |
| 2014 | Locodol | Series composition | [3] |
| 2014 | Merman in My Tub | Series composition | [4] |
| 2015 | Makura no Danshi | Series composition; co-scenario writer (with Ayumi Sekine) | [6] |
| 2016 | Flip Flappers | Story concept | [7] |
| 2016 | Girls Beyond the Wasteland | Series composition | [8] |
| 2016 | The Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War | Series composition | [9] |
| 2017–2020 | BanG Dream! | Series composition | [12][13][14] |
| 2017 | The Idolmaster SideM | Series composition | [10] |
| 2018 | Lupin the 3rd Part V: Misadventures in France | Screenwriter | [35] |
| 2019 | Given | Series composition | [23] |
| 2020 | D4DJ First Mix | Series composition | [19] |
| 2023 | Bikkurimen | Series composition | [24] |
| 2023 | BanG Dream! It's MyGO!!!!! | Series composition and screenwriter | [17] |
| 2023–2024 | The Apothecary Diaries | Screenwriter (Eps 8, 13, 17, 21) | [36][better source needed] |
| 2024 | Narenare: Cheer for You! | Series composition (with Midori Gotō) | [26] |
| 2024 | The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used to Be Archenemies | Series composition and screenwriting | [27] |
| 2025 | BanG Dream! Ave Mujica | Series composition and screenwriter | [37] |
| 2025 | Li'l Miss Vampire Can't Suck Right | Series composition | [38] |
| 2025 | You and Idol Precure | Screenwriter | [39] |
| 2026 | Kaiju Girl Caramelise | Series composition | [40] |
| TBA | Ore to Yu Nii! | Series composition | [41] |
Original video animation
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Hori-san to Miyamura-kun | Series composition, screenplay | [42] |
Animated film
Stage productions
| Year | Title | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Butai: Sasayaku yō ni Koi wo Utau | [31] |