Sakamoto Maaya

A graduate in Sociology from Tokyo University, Maaya Sakamoto, plays a very important role in the world of Seiyuu in Japan. She got her break when she was only 15, securing the part of Kanzaki Hitomi in the anime series Vision of Escaflowne. While her first-time voice acting wasn’t anything too note-worthy, it was her vocals on Escaflowne’s opening song, Yakusoku wa Iranai that really got her noticed.

Since then she has had a number of parts in various anime shows including voicing the part of Lunamaria Hawke in Gundam Seed Destiny and in Ouran School Host Club, Maaya voices one of the host club members Fujioka Haruhi.

Aside from anime, she has even voiced characters in the odd computer or video game (including Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball and the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts). She also does the voice of Padmé Amidala in the Japanese dub of Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III and Max in the television series Dark Angel. She also plays the role of Eponine in the Japanese production of Les Misérables, and features in Letter ~ Bring to Light with singer Ken Watanabe.

At the first Seiyuu Awards, she was nominated for "Best Main Character (female)" and "Best Single".

Sakamoto also has a flourishing musical career with her debut album, Grapefruit, being released in 1997 and, to date, she since released seven more albums, as well as a number of compilations and singles.

In December 2003, she released her fourth original album, Shounen Alice, and a DVD of a short original movie from the director of Mizu no Onna called 03†. Sakamoto occasionally writes her own lyrics but most often works with others. Frequent collaborators include Yuuho Iwasato for Japanese songs and Tim Jensen for English songs.

In 2004, Sakamoto's new fanclub Idling Stop opened. Composer Yoko Kanno worked with Sakamoto up until Yūnagi LOOP, her fifth album, which has no songs composed by Kanno. Her latest album 30 minutes night flight was released on March 21, 2007.

Sakamoto's voice has a sweet quality to it that's best demonstrated in her more light-hearted songs, but there's an underlying quality that's hard to deny.