generasia:Featured article for 2010 week 25

Hirano Aya

Hirano Aya (平野綾) is a Japanese pop singer and anime seiyuu, actress and singer who has had roles in several anime including the immensely popular Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱; The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi) as the title character, Suzumiya Haruhi.

In 1998, Hirano joined the Tokyo Jidougekidan acting troupe and began to appear in television commercials. She made her voice-acting debut with the anime Tenshi no Shippo three years later, but began to concentrate more on being a part of the U-15 idol group Springs.

After graduating high school in 2006 she began to work full-time as a voice actress and picked up several roles, including Suzumiya Haruhi in The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi. She performed several songs for the show, including the opening song, "Bouken Desho Desho?", whose CD single sold out on the day of release. After this role her popularity skyrocketed and she has since had roles in popular anime such as NANA and Death Note.

During April and May 2007, Hirano appeared on the covers of 2 magazines THE 声優マガジン VOICHA in which she did some cosplay and in Seiyuu Grand Prix. She also appeared for the first time on NHK’s Anime Giga TV show.

Her most recent single, "Hysteric Barbie", is her eleventh single which was released on June 23, 2010.