Aki Toyosaki

Aki Toyosaki (豊崎 愛生) is a Japanese seiyū and singer born in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. She had her first major voice acting roles in 2007, voicing Amuro Ninagawa in Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō and Su in Shugo Chara!. She was later named as a "Best New Actress" at the 4th Seiyu Awards in 2010 for her role as Yui Hirasawa in K-On! and Kana Nakamachi in Kanamemo.

Her career as a musician began with her performance of the opening and ending themes of the anime series K-On! in April 2009. In the same month, she and three other voice actresses debuted as the musical group Sphere with their single "Future Stream". Later, K-On!'s ending theme was given Animation Kobe's "Best Song" award. She released her first solo single "love your life" in October 2009. She was awarded "Best Musical Performance" at the 4th Seiyu Awards for her performance on the K-On! mini-album Hōkago Tea Time with four other actresses.

Acting career
Toyosaki had her first major role as voice actor in 2007, providing the voice of Amuro Ninagawa, the main character of the anime series Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō. She was then featured in Minami-ke and Shugo Chara! as Yoshino and Su, respectively. In 2008, Toyosaki reprised the two roles in Minami-ke: Okawari and Shugo Chara!! Doki—.

She went on to voice Najimi Tenkūji in the 2009 series Akikan! and held the leading role in K-On!, providing the voice of protagonist Yui Hirasawa. She later took the roles of Koyoi Bessho, in First Love Limited, and Kana Nakamichi, the protagonist of Kanamemo. In Minami-ke: Okaeri, she reprised her role as Yoshino a second time.

In addition to voice acting, Toyosaki has also appeared on camera. Her first acting job was on Shikoku Broadcasting's informational variety show Saturday Naisho!! (土曜はナイショ!!) from 2003 to 2004. She, Ayahi Takagaki, Haruka Tomatsu, and Minako Kotobuki appeared twice on the Anime Song Plus (アニソンぷらす) television show as the musical group Sphere on April 20, 2009, and July 27, 2009. During its run in July 2009, Toyosaki also narrated the show. At the 2010 Seiyu Awards, she named as a "Best New Actress" at the for her role as Yui Hirasawa and Kana Makamichi.

Musical career
Toyosaki's first musical performance was with fellow voice actress Eri Kitamura on the Minami-ke Weather (みなみけ　びより) image song CD on April 23, 2008. She then performed the opening and ending themes of the 2009 anime series K-On!, "Cagayake! Girls" and "Don't say 'lazy'" respectively, with voice actresses Yōko Hikasa, Satomi Satō, and Minako Kotobuki. Both themes were released as singles on April 22, 2009. The "Cagayake! Girls" single sold about 62,000 copies during its debut week, ranking fourth on Oricon's latest weekly singles chart, while the "Don't say 'lazy' " single sold about 67,000 copies during its debut week, placing second on the chart. The opening and ending singles remained on the chart during the week of April 27 to May 3, falling to sixth and fifth, while selling an additional 19,963 and 22,094 copies. On June 23, 2009, "Don't say 'lazy'" was awarded Animation Kobe's "Best Song" award.

Toyosaki then performed the opening theme of the 2009 First Love Limited series, titled "Future Stream" with Ayahi Takagaki, Haruka Tomatsu, and Minako Kotobuki. Shortly after, the four formed the musical group Sphere (スフィア). They are affiliated with Music Ray'n, an artist management and publishing group of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The theme was released as the group's first single on April 22, 2009.

Toyosaki, Hikasa, Satō, and Kotobuki performed the insert song, a song that occurs within the episodes of the anime, "Light and Fluffy Time" for K-On!. It was released as a single on May 20, 2009. On June 17, 2009, Toyosaki released a K-On! image song single titled "Yui Hirasawa". The single ranked third on Oricon's weekly singles chart during the week of June 15 to 21, selling 31,384 copies.

Shortly after, Toyosaki, Kaoru Mizuhara, and Rie Kugimiya performed "Heart Connected to You", the opening theme of Kanamemo, which was released August 5, 2009. On June 25, 2009, she provided the narration of a television advertisement for the performance of "Blue Feather", a single by the musical group Binecks. The First Love Limited Character File Vol. 3 image album, released July 23, 2009, includes a song featuring Toyosaki. In July, the anime series Sora no Manimani debuted with the Sphere performed opening theme "Super Noisy Nova", which was released as a single on July 29, 2009. Toyosaki, Hikasa, Satomi Satō, Kotobuki, Ayana Taketatsu performed on K-On!'s Hōkago Tea Time (放課後ティータイム) mini-album released July 22, 2009. The mini-album sold over 67,000 copies to debut at the number one spot on Oricon's latest weekly album chart. It is the first album credited to fictional anime characters to do so. On October 27, 2009, Toyosaki released her first solo single "love your life". Sphere released their third single "It Raises the Wind/Brave my heart" on November 25, 2009. The group released their first album A.T.M.O.S.P.H.E.R.E on December 23, 2009.

After, the group performed the opening theme of Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaō, "REALOVE:REALIFE", which began airing in April 2010. The theme was released as a single April 21, 2010. Sphere was announced to be one of the performers on the first day of Animelo Summer Live 2010, which will be held at Saitama Super Arena on August 28, 2010. At the 2010 Seiyu Awards, Toyosaki and her collaborators were awarded "Best Musical Performance" for their performance on Hōkago Tea Time. On May 28, 2010, Toyosaki released her second solo single, titled "Looking for Me".

Filmography

 * 2003
 * Saturday Naisho!!: Herself


 * 2006
 * Red Garden: Female Student


 * 2007
 * Kenkō Zenrakei Suieibu Umishō: Amuro Ninagawa
 * Minami-ke: Yoshino
 * Shugo Chara!: Su


 * 2008
 * Bihada Ichizoku: Ai Shiratori
 * Dolly☆Variety: Sora Aoki
 * Minami-ke: Okawari: Yoshino
 * Net Ghost PiPoPa: Siren
 * Shugo Chara!! Doki—: Su


 * 2009
 * Akikan!: Najimi Tenkūji
 * Aoi Hana: Miwa Mogi
 * Asura Cryin': An Ōhara
 * First Love Limited: Koyoi Bessho
 * Kanamemo: Kana Nakamachi
 * K-On!: Yui Hirasawa
 * Minami-ke: Okaeri: Yoshino
 * The Sacred Blacksmith: Lisa
 * Spice and Wolf II: Merta
 * Toaru Kagaku no Railgun: Kazari Uiharu
 * Umi Monogatari: Anata ga Ite Kureta Koto: Oshima
 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Asmodeus


 * 2010
 * Bungaku Shōjo: Chia Takeda
 * Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaō: Kena Soga
 * Junod: Mii
 * Maid Sama!: Satsuki-tenchō
 * The Qwaser of Stigmata: Tomo Yamanobe
 * K-On!!: Yui Hirasawa
 * Ōkami-san to Shichinin no Nakama-tachi: Otohime Ryūgū

Discography
Toyosaki released nine singles:
 * "Cagayake! Girls" (2009)
 * "Don't say 'lazy'" (2009)
 * "Future Stream" (2009)
 * "Light and Fluffy Time" (ふわふわ時間) (2009)
 * "Yui Hirasawa" (2009)
 * "Super Noisy Nova" (2009)
 * "Heart Connected to You" (君へとつなぐココロ) (2009)
 * "love your life" (2009)
 * "It Raises the Wind/Brave my heart (風をあつめて/Brave my heart) (2009)
 * "Looking for Me" (ぼくを探して) (2010)

In addition, two albums have been released:


 * Hōkago Tea Time (放課後ティータイム) (2009)
 * A.T.M.O.S.P.H.E.R.E (2009)