Kaoru Sakura

Kaoru Sakura, a native of Shūnan, Yamaguchi Prefecture, was born on 29 December 1990.[1][2][3] She was part of a broadcasting club with only two members while in junior high school.[4] She decided to start a voice acting career because after playing the visual novel Kamaitachi no Yoru, she thought it would be interesting if it had dialogue, which the game lacks due to being a Super Nintendo Entertainment System game.[4] She was educated at Remax Attached Training School, and her first starring role was in the 2014 American film Ask Me Anything; she later recalled that she had done the job with Yōko Honna.[4]

In 2011, Sakura began voicing Witch in the Puyo Puyo video game series. The producer of Puyo Puyo, Mizuki Hosoyamada, remarked that she mistook Sakura for Witch the first time he heard her voice, and Sakura herself listened to every other voice of Witch in order to protect the fandom's illusion toward Witch.[5] She also regularly appears on the Puyo Puyo Channel and Puyo Quest Namahōsō Niconico channels, and she often mentions that she is the same age as the Puyo Puyo series.[3]

Sakura voices Chitose Kurosaki in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, a sub-franchise in The Idolmaster franchise.[6] Since then, she has performed as a singer on several Idolmaster music releases, including the 2020 single "The Idolmaster Cinderella Starlight Master for the Next! 01: True Colors" and the 2021 single "The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Starlight Master 38: Fascinate" (which both charted at #7 in the Oricon Singles Chart).[7][8]

Sakura voices Nagi Kobotoke, the fictional keyboardist for the in-universe band Irodorimidori in Chunithm,[9] and she reprised her role in the 2022 Irodorimidori anime.[10] She also starred as Koharun in The Lost Village (2016), Chiko Sekino in Dropout Idol Fruit Tart (2020), Eru Amami in D Cide Traumerei (2021).[11][12][13]

In addition to voice acting, Sakura appears in music videos and works as a parts model.[4] Originally working in video production prior to her voice acting debut, her first job was on TV Asahi's late-night variety show SmaSTATION!! .[4] In November 2017, as part of Moe Summit 7, she was appointed as station master-for-a-day at Tokuyama Station.[2]

One of Sakura's special skills is archery,[1] having been part of an archery club in high school.[4] Another of her special skills is swimming,[1] having practiced the hobby since kindergarten.[4]