Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto
坂本 真綾
Born (1980-03-31) March 31, 1980 (age 44)
Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan[1]
Occupations
Years active1988–present
AgentFortunerest
Spouse
​
(m. 2011)​
[2]
Children1
Musical career
Genres
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • guitar
  • piano
  • melodica
Years active1996–present
Labels
Japanese name
Kanji坂本 真綾
Hiraganaさかもと まあや
Katakanaサカモト マアヤ
Websitewww.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/
Signature

Maaya Sakamoto (坂本 真綾, Sakamoto Maaya, born March 31, 1980)[3] is a Japanese actress and singer.[4][5] She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime Little Twins, and became known as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki[6] in The Vision of Escaflowne. Other major roles in anime include Leila Malcal in Code Geass: Akito the Exiled, Jeanne d'Arc in Fate/Apocrypha, Shiki Ryōgi in The Garden of Sinners, Eto in Tokyo Ghoul, Riho Yamazaki in Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective, Moe Katsuragi in Risky Safety, Princess Tomoyo in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club, Sayaka Nakasugi in Birdy the Mighty, Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler, Shinobu Oshino in Monogatari, Lunamaria Hawke in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, Merlin in The Seven Deadly Sins, Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Arise, Quinella in season 3 of Sword Art Online, and Echidna in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.[7]

In the Japanese dubbed versions of international films, Sakamoto has voiced Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars films and series, as well as performing the dub voice for Natalie Portman in numerous films.[8]

In video games, Sakamoto voices Aigis in Persona 3, Maki Harukawa in Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Aerith Gainsborough in Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Aura and Natsume in .hack, La Mariposa in Dead or Alive, Lightning in the Final Fantasy XIII games, Ling Xiaoyu in Tekken, and Alisa Ilinichina Amiella in God Eater.

As a singer, Sakamoto has performed songs in both English and Japanese. She released her debut single "Yakusoku wa Iranai" in collaboration with Yoko Kanno under Victor Entertainment on April 24, 1996.[9] Her singles "Tune the Rainbow",[10] "Loop",[11] "Ame ga Furu",[12] and "Triangler"[13] have all reached the top 10 Oricon singles chart: "Triangler" in particular charted at number 3 and remained charting for 26 weeks. Her albums have had similar success, with Shōnen Alice[14] and Yūnagi Loop[15] both reaching the top 10 Oricon albums chart; and her album You Can't Catch Me, released on January 12, 2011, became her first release to ever reach number 1.[16] She held a concert at the Nippon Budokan on March 31, 2010, her thirtieth birthday.[17]

  1. ^ "坂本真綾「SAVED. / Be mine!」特集 坂本真綾×the band apart（原昌和＆木暮栄一）対談". Music Natalie. Archived from the original on April 28, 2021. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  2. ^ "坂本真綾と鈴村健一が結婚 - 音楽ナタリー". Retrieved August 13, 2011.
  3. ^ "Official profile" (in Japanese). Victor Artists website. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
  4. ^ "坂本真綾のプロフィール". ORICON NEWS (in Japanese). Oricon. February 25, 2011. Archived from the original on July 31, 2019. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference doi top was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Cast list @ Bandai's Escaflowne Official Website" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 3, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  7. ^ "坂本真綾 - 声優データベース". lain.gr.jp (in Japanese). Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference resume was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Oricon past rankings for Yakusoku wa Iranai" (in Japanese). Retrieved December 24, 2009.[dead link]
  10. ^ "Tune the Rainbow Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 21, 2009.[dead link]
  11. ^ "Loop Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 21, 2009.[dead link]
  12. ^ "Ame ga Furu Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 21, 2009.[dead link]
  13. ^ "Triangler Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 21, 2009.[dead link]
  14. ^ "Shōnen Alice Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 21, 2009.[dead link]
  15. ^ "Yūnagi Loop Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  16. ^ "Maaya Sakamoto earns first no.1 album on weekly chart". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
  17. ^ "CDデビュー15周年を記念して、坂本真綾の武道館ライブが決定!!" (in Japanese). Famitsu. September 11, 2009. Archived from the original on October 12, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2010. 2010年3月31日（水）、坂本真綾の誕生日当日に武道館でLIVEが開催される。