Seiyuu Watch #1: Hirano Aya (平野 綾)

 

Of course, I had to start with my favorite seiyuu – Aya Hirano (平野 綾 Hirano Aya).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aya Hirano is a seiyuu, a singer, and a model. She was born in October 8, 1987 (She’s only 22 years old as of today). She began her voice acting career as Momo in the popular Anime Tenshi no Shippo, but got her biggest break as the voice of Haruhi Suzumiya in the Anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

I won’t go too much into the details of her life, her work, and her career, as you can easily find these information at Wikipedia, or in her official website.

Aya as a Seiyuu

Her best voice acting performance was as Konata Izumi of Lucky Star. In this Anime, not only did she bring to life the character of Konata (who is by the way tied for first among my favorite Anime characters), but she created an identity using her voice.

Go ahead and search youtube for a song, say, “Voltes V theme song”, then add the phrase “Konata version” to your search string. You will find fans who sing the song the way Konata would. The person singing is no Aya Hirano, and you don’t see Konata singing on your screens, but once you hear that kind of voice, you know it’s her. Genius!

While Konata’s voice is extremely laidback and relaxed, Aya’s other roles display her very wide (possible the widest in the industry) voice range.

As Haruhi Suzumiya, Aya built an image of a fun-loving, “I’ll do it my way, I don’t care about anyone else” type of person who always gets what she wants, in the most literal sense of these words. Her portrayal of Haruhi, using her mature voice, and rapid but clear speech, has won her the Best Newcomer award back in 2006.

Unfortunately, in the Philippines, Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya never clicked with the Filipino audience (I don’t know why, since Lucky Star is still tied for first in my own list of favorite Anime). Another Aya Hirano-voice anime, however, was a smashing hit – Death Note.

Misa Amane, or Misa Misa, the carefree girl who is head-over-heels in love with the protagonist (or antagonist?), was voiced by Aya. Here, she used her mature voice once again to portray an independent and smart (not to mention extremely pretty) woman who was capable of thinking and making decisions on her own. Although the hype was relatively short lived due to the relatively shorter length of the anime itself (compared to other hits such as Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, and Dragonball Z).

From childish and immature, to strong and independent, Aya’s voice captures them all, and it doesn’t even stop there. She’s also done action or fighting voices (Galaxy Angel-Rune, Kiddy Grade, Fairy Tale, etc), romantic voices (Death Note, White Album, etc) and even sexy voices (Seikon no Qwaser, and many others you can search by yourself :P)

As a Seiyuu, I give Aya Hirano a 5 out of 5.

Aya as a Singer

Aya Hirano sang the opening theme song of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, entitled “Bouken Deshou Deshou”, or literally, “It’s an Adventure, right? Right?”. It was one of the best anime and opening songs I’ve heard at the time and it really stuck. In that same anime series, she also sang two insert songs, “God Knows” and “Lost my Music”, which both became popular in Japan.

Everything crumbled, however, when I heard her sing live at the Haruhi live concert. Clearly, she wasn’t used to singing in front of a mammoth crowd yet, much less sing while playing the guitar.

Later, she released her first album, Riot Girl, and as usual, her recorded voice was awesome. Her true acid test though would be her then-upcoming live concert.

I watched the entire live concert through its DVD release and was in awe at the transformation - the growth! She is now a genuine performer! She now knows how to entertain and keep the crowd involved, but most importantly, she sang the songs as well as she did during the recording sessions.

And I thought that was it, that was the best of Aya Hirano. Well, wrong again.

Her second album, Speed Star, showed her true potential, not just as a singer, but as a voice “maker”. The different songs showed her different talents and characters. For instance, “Super Driver” showed her Haruhi character, while “Oh my Honey” showed her sexy, charming, and even seductive side.

And when I got to watch the Lucky Star live concert DVD, that’s when I realized she definitely deserved another “5”. Unlike the other seiyuus in the concert, she stuck with her character and sung all songs as Konata. She even spoke as Konata. And as a pure fan of the anime, it meant a lot, and because it was so satisfying, I finished the DVD ready to watch it all over again.

Yes, as a singer, I give Aya Hirano a 5 out of 5.

Aya as a Model

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and each person has his/her own type.

My type? Aya Hirano. From head to toe, every single cell (or pixel?) is exactly the way I want it to be. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But she’s definitely the prettiest girl I’ve seen in my life, and my own girlfriend even agrees with this statement.

Definitely a 5 out of 5.

Scores:

Voice Acting: 5
Singing: 5
Physical: 5

Credits and References:

Information, Biography, Discography, etc – Wikipedia and Aya Hirano’s official website.

Pictures - Google