Tomo Sakurai
Tomo Sakurai (櫻井 智, Sakurai Tomo, born Tomoe Hatta (八田 友江, Hatta Tomoe), September 10, 1971 in Ichikawa, Chiba) is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. Sakurai was a member of I'm Enterprise, but later became freelance up until her retirement. She previously announced her retirement on September 1, 2016, but on June 1, 2019, she announced that she would return to the entertainment industry.
Tomo Sakurai 櫻井 智 | |
---|---|
Born | 八田 友江 (Hatta Tomoe) September 10, 1971 Ichikawa, Chiba, Japan |
Other names | Akira-chan |
Occupation | |
Years active | 1993–2016 2019–present |
Legacy
Debut
At the age of 14, Sakurai debuted as a sub-member for "Kiss Fairlies," a group that worked as campaign girls for the local Kijima Motorcycle Racing Team. All members were over 15 years old, aside from Tomo.
In age of "Lemon Angel"
At 17, she joined the idol pop unit, Lemon Angel, a counter project of Cream Lemon coordinated by the same company that produced "Kiss Fairlies". The project contained comic, animated, and idol pop units. The unit played themselves in Midnight Anime Lemon Angel. She released 5 albums during her time in Lemon Angel.
After Lemon Angel
Sakurai joined a new video game idol unit and released one album with this unit. After leaving, she focused her career to mainly voice acting work.
Retirement
On September 1, 2016, Sakurai announced her retirement from both her professional voice acting and singing careers on her official blog post titled "Arigato/Thank You."[1]
She explained the reason as: "I used to have a strong vocal cord that couldn't be broken and became stronger even after singing for hours. But recently, I have realized it's becoming more and more difficult for me to use my important voice as an actress. I know it's a natural thing as time goes by, but I myself can't accept the change, then I understand it's almost the time to retire."
Return
On June 1, 2019, Sakurai announced that she was returning to the entertainment industry.
Filmography
- Marin in Akazukin Chacha
- Codemaster Amzen in Chaotic
- Shayla Shayla in El Hazard[2]
- Mylene Jenius in Macross 7
- Emma Granger in Super Dimension Fortress Macross (PlayStation 2 game)
- Lena Sayers in Mai Otome
- Makimachi Misao in Rurouni Kenshin
- Kamiya Kaoru in Rurouni Kenshin (audio drama)
- Sulia Gaudeamus in Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture
- Meimi Haneoka a.k.a. Saint Tail in Saint Tail
- Chigusa Sakai in Shakugan no Shana
- Sara in Shamanic Princess
- Doll Licca in Super Doll★Licca-chan
- Mizuchi Saio in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX
- Azusa Miura in iDOLM@STER: XENOGLOSSIA
- Karin Son in Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer (OVA and game)
- Asuka Sora in The World God Only Knows
- Shirona in Pocket Monsters: Diamond and Pearl and Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! Season 2
- Hinowa in Gintama
- Yumemi in Tengai Makyō: Daiyon no Mokushiroku
Live-action
- Admission, Portia Nathan (Tina Fey)[3]
- The City of Your Final Destination, Arden Langdon (Charlotte Gainsbourg)[4]
- Dragon Blade, Parthian Queen (Lorie Pester)[5]
- The Monkey King, Chang'e (Gigi Leung)[6]
- The Taking of Tiger Mountain, Ma Qinglian (Yu Nan)[7]
Animation
- Robinson Crusoe, Kiki[8]
References
- "Macross 7/Rurouni Kenshin Voice Actress & Singer Tomo Sakurai Retires". Anime News Network. September 1, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
- The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide. Sasquatch Books. 2004. p. 541. ISBN 978-1-57061-415-6. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
- "アドミッション ‐親たちの入学試験‐". Star Channel. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
- "最終目的地 スペシャル・エディション". NBCUniversal Japan. Retrieved July 21, 2019.
- "ドラゴン・ブレイド". Sony Pictures. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- "モンキー・マジック 孫悟空誕生". Twin. Retrieved July 31, 2020.
- "タイガー・マウンテン 雪原の死闘". Twin. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "ロビンソン・クルーソー". Twin. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
External links
- Tomo Sakurai at GamePlaza-Haruka Voice Acting Database (in Japanese)
- Tomo Sakurai at Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database
- Tomo Sakurai at Anime News Network's encyclopedia