But the years have passed and her ability has grown. I keep hearing good performances and then discovering she is giving them.
It happened with Miyabi in NakaImo in 2012, where she played a second-fiddle girl in love.
It happened again with the nasty rival Eno in Love Lab. It happened last fall with the tsundere sorceress Suzuka in Tokyo Ravens.
And it happened this winter with Nadeshiko, the student council vice-president who drily kept her flaky president in line in Engaged to the Unidentified. Sakura-san makes an impact over a range of characters.
Ayaneru (her nickname) is with the I"m Enterprise agency, which may be the biggest and most powerful in the business. She and another I"m Enterprise seiyuu, Yahagi Sayuri, have a long-running radio show together. To get an idea just how many well-known seiyuus are in the I"m Enterprise stable, click here. Saitou Chiwa, Tamura Yukari, Ueda Kana, Hayami Saori, Nakahara Mai, Kugimiya Rie....
This coming season, Ayaneru has four major roles: in Selector Infected Wixoss (Kurebayashi Yuzuki), in Dragonar Academy (Silvia Lautreamont), in Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? (Kokoa), and in Knights of Sidonia (Kunato Mozuku).
Wixoss starts on Thursday, and is a JC Staff horror anime directed by Satou Takuya (Steins;Gate) and written as an original by Okada Mari (True Tears, Nagi no Asukara, etc.).
Ayaneru is on a number of radio shows, and was host of the TV show Girls News for 40 weeks in 2012.
Here are some of her best-known characters, including three coming up this season:
Merry (Yumekui Merry) -- Hotaru (Hotarubi no Mori) -- Kannagi (NakaImo)
Buratei Mari (Joshiraku) -- Natsumi (Non Non Biyori) -- Nadeshiko (Engaged to the Unidentified)
Yuzuki (Selector Infected Wixoss) -- Silvia Lautreamont (Dragonar Academy) -- Kokoa (Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?)
Here's a short sample of her work as the powerful tsundere sorceress Suzuka in episode 18 of Tokyo Ravens. The video is from NicoNico and will be slow to appear, but have patience:
In radio shows and other appearances, you get the idea that Ayaneru is a fairly boisterous person. There is even something a bit masculine about her. She says she used the informal masculine first-person pronoun boku until she was in middle school, where the boys' reaction made her change -- but she only changed as far as the gender-neutral watashi, and has never gone as far as the feminine atashi.
At first Ayaneru seems a quiet girl...then she bursts out with loud laughter or an off-color joke. Here are examples from her radio show with Ohagi:
Yahagi Sayuri is hilarious, isn't she? She was the first young seiyuu I ever featured in this blog. At that time, she was 19. Now she is 27, and has adopted the role of Ayaneru's senpai (elder at school). In fact, Ayaneru's nickname for her is that word reversed: "Paisen."
Here is Ayaneru with Nakajima Megumi and Takao Yuki, publicizing Kimi no Iru Machi:
Here's an interview with top anime interviewer/publicist Washizaki Takeshi:
And here is something a bit more formal, publicizing the game Chain Chronicle:
Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry-blossoms, but that is when it is written with the kanji 桜. Ayaneru's surname is written 佐倉, kanji which could be interpreted to mean "officer's storehouse." Quite a different feeling. I don't know if this is her real name or a stage name. I've seen no indication it's a stage name, but it could be.
She is also a capable singer, with 19 CDs to her credit. Here she is singing as Rinne in Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live:
And she is one of the best seiyuu artists. Her agency even called her a "master painter." And she is indeed pretty good:
She draws on the computer, and in fact she says that in elementary school she intended to become a software engineer. That ended in grade five, but she still likes to "fool around with computers."
On the radio show, she has said that her goal for this year is to graduate from being a "zombie youth" to being a real adult and a "sweet lady." Not likely. She's an entertainer.
And part of her entertainment schtick is yuri. She is particularly effusive about how much she likes Hanazawa Kana. Read about it on Ambi'Seiyuulog. Here is her reaction to receiving a message from Kana-chan wishing her a happy 19th birthday:
Ayaneru was originally in a theatre troupe. But at a certain point, her voice teacher said her voice was so good she should become a seiyuu, instead. Perhaps her chunkiness and slightly awkward movements entered into the decision, too.
Here is a list of her major roles, basically copied from ANN. For a fuller list, check AniDB, Anime News Network or Wikipedia. AniDB also has a full list of her vocal work. I'll include here a list of some of her songs, also from ANN. The fullest info, however, is on Japanese Wikipedia.
Roles:
2010
Ookami-san & Her Seven Companions as Futaba (ep 9)
Oreimo as Electric little sister (ep 4); Maid (ep 2); Mikoto (ep 5)
2011
Dream Eater Merry as Merry Nightmare
Sacred Seven as Ayane
Hotarubi no Mori e (movie) as Hotaru
Haganai as Sora (Taka's friend; eps 3, 6, 11)
Mobile Suit Gundam AGE as Ruth Remi
2012
Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future as Ayami Ooruri
Joshiraku as Buratei Marii
NAKAIMO - My Little Sister Is Among Them! as Kannagi Miyabi
Kokoro Connect as Kiriyama Anzu (Yui's little sister)
2013
Love Live! School idol project as Ayase Arisa
Vividred Operation as Isshiki Akane
Toaru Majutsu no Index: Endymion no Kiseki (movie) as Ladylee Tangleroad
Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live as Rinne
Aiura as Yanase Mei
Love Lab as Enomoto Yuiko ("Eno")
il sole penetra le illusioni as Shinzaki Fuyuna
Eccentric Family (Uchouten Kazoku) as Kaisei
High School DxD New as Gaspard Vurati
Kimi no Iru Machi as Mishima Asuka
Non Non Biyori as Koshigaya Natsumi
Tokyo Ravens as Dairenji Suzuka
2014
Engaged to the Unidentified as Kashima Nadeshiko
Pretty Rhythm All Star Selection: Prism Show☆Best Ten (movie) as Ayami Ooruri; Rinne
Selector Infected Wixoss as Kurebayashi Yuzuki
Dragonar Academy as Silvia Lautreamont
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? as Kokoa
Knights of Sidonia as Mozuku Kunato
Music:
2011
Dream Eater Merry (ED)
2012
Pretty Rhythm Dear My Future (insert song - 10 episodes, OP3)
Joshiraku (OP)
NAKAIMO - My Little Sister Is Among Them! (ED)
2013
Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live (insert song - 7 episodes)
Love Lab (theme)
High School DxD New (ED2)
Non Non Biyori (ED)
2014
Pretty Rhythm All Star Selection: Prism Show☆Best Ten (movie) (insert song as Rinne, Sprouts)
Dragonar Academy (ED)
Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? (OP)
Links
Anime News Network
AniDB
Wikipedia
ja.Wikipedia (Japanese)
agency home page (Japanese)
Ayane*LDK radio show (Japanese)
Yahagi/Sakura radio show (Japanese)
Sakura/Tone Kentarou radio show (Japanese) (Tone-san is Akira in Bakuman)
more photos (Japanese)
even more photos (mogyutto, English)
Here is the video of her latest radio show, broadcast hours ago, teamed with Uchida Maaya (Rikka/Chuunibyou). Mayayan is another young seiyuu who keeps surprising me by being so good. She is also a former amateur gravure idol, and will appear in gravure in Young Gangan magazine #8, out on Thursday. The two star together in this season's Gochuumon wa Usagi Desu ka? Ayaneru begins the show asking Mayayan if she has an iPad. Then says she has had one (actually two) for two years. They are working out how to interact.
Link from twitter @cowboybibimbop