Aya Uchida

Aya Uchida
AgencySchool Idol Project
Kanji	内田 彩
Romaji	Uchida Aya
Statistics
Gender	Female
Birthday	July 23, 1986
Origin	Outa City, Gunma Prefecture
Occupation	Voice Actress Singer
Blood Type	O
Height	156cm
Links
ANN Profile	Anime News Network
Twitter	Twitter
Instagram	Instagram
Blog	LINE BLOG
LINE Bot	LINE Bot
Website	Official Website Agency Profile

Aya Uchida is a Japanese voice actress and singer born on July 23, 1986 in Outa City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Her common voice actress nickname is "Ucchi". She is mainly known for her roles as Kotori Minami in μ’s, one of the main characters in Love Live! School idol project and "Kaban-chan" in Kemono Friends.

Her call-and-response during live concerts is "Kotori no oyatsu ni shicchau yo!" (, lit. Kotori is going to make you her snack!), first used during the 4th live. It appeared once again during the 5th live, where she used it for the encore video animation and also during a line-swap with Pile.

As a singer, she successfully held a solo concert at Nippon Budokan in 2016.

Background

Aya Uchida's family consists of her parents, a younger sister and herself. Their family raises a pet cat named KiKi.

As a child, she really liked Template:Wl and wished that she could be like Sailor Moon. She was also a fan of works by Ghibli and Disney, often re-watching them on videotape. After coming to know the profession of voice acting during middle school and doing some research into it, becoming a voice actress became her goal.

After graduating from high school, she entered Yoyogi Animation School, and then enrolled into JTB Entertainment Academy as part of its pioneer batch. During her time there in 2008, she made her debut as a voice actress on TV anime Oden-kun.

During the early stages of her career she supported herself with part-time jobs such as being sales staff at departmental stores, production line quality inspector at factories, and sometimes even menial labor carrying cardboard boxes. The key criteria she had in choosing her jobs were that they had to be shift-based and versatile such that she could report to her entertainment office any time she needed to.

On November 12, 2014, she made her major debut as a singer with the release of her first full album アップルミント (Appuruminto, lit. Applemint) under the Columbia label.
In June 2015, she released her first photo-book patina.
On July 22, 2015, her second album Blooming! was released under the Columbia label.
On March 31, 2016, she left JTB Entertainment and joined Across Entertainment on April 2016.

Personality & Hobbies

• Describes herself as a reserved and timid person.
• As a child, she imagined various things, played make-believe, had conversations with herself, and made things—and she claims she is still much the same today.
• Enjoys working, and during the early stages of her career, she did not find menial jobs difficult at all.

Food and Drinks Preferences

• Loves eating and has no particular food dislikes.
• Favorite snacks include rice crackers, potato chips, and rusk—prefers crispy and crunchy textures.
• Can handle alcohol well—favorite drinks are beer and red wine.

Hobbies and Skills

• Hobbies include:
  • Making paper cranes, accessories, and sweets (Gateau Chocolate, Decoration Roll Cakes, Apple Pies).
  • Collecting bath goods.
  • Reading books and creating things in general.
• Special skills:
  • Hair arrangement, particularly styling her hair like Kotori Minami’s for Love Live! events.
• Qualifications: Holds a regular driver's license.

Notable Events and Collaborations

Voice Acting and Career

• Often cast as characters labeled "The Number One Idiot," and believes she might be a good fit for such roles.
• Thinks performing in Love Live! was one of the most difficult challenges as a voice actress, as she did not expect dancing to be part of her career.
• After intense and exhausting practice, she became more confident in her dancing.
• Most enjoyable aspect of being a voice actress is reading fan mail, which always cheers her up.

Major Events and Collaborations

• November 10, 2014 – Appointed as the tourism special envoy for the entire Gunma Prefecture.
• Appears to be close friends with Emi Nitta and Aina Kusuda, likely because Love Live! was their first major voice acting debut together.
• Met Aika Kobayashi while working on Freezing as the voice actress for Ticy Phenyl.
  • Aikyan was debuting as a singer for the ending theme "Kimi wa Mamoritai", and both Uchida and Izumi Kitta (voice of Cleo Brand in Freezing) gave Aikyan her first radio interview, joking that she had an idol-like presence.
  • Coincidentally, Yoshiko's image color (gray) matches Kotori’s.

Trivia

• Often binges on food and alcoholic drinks (beer) to relieve stress.
• During live concerts, she is frequently caught on camera drinking water while the rest are talking.
  • Whenever pointed out, she jokingly replies that the water is delicious.
  • This became a running joke and was even referenced in Love Live! The School Idol Movie:
    • In a New York restaurant scene, Kotori is the only one with an almost empty cup, while the others' cups are still full.
  • Due to this, a show was created featuring her drinking water.
• Favorite karaoke songs:
  • Hohoemi no Bakudan (微笑みの爆弾) from Yu Yu Hakusho.

Other Roles

Anime Roles

• Mai – Ai Mai Mi
• Yuria Misaki – Space Battleship Yamato 2199
• Ascoeur – Kiddy Girl-And
• Kaban, Mirai and Lucky Beast– Kemono Friends
• Shuri Komori – Komori-san wa Kotowarenai!
• Shihō Shishido – Jitsu wa Watashi wa
• Bianca – Izetta: The Last Witch
• Shizuka Hattori – Strike Witches
• Yū Aoki – Ms. Vampire Who Lives in My Neighborhood
• Arin Kannazuki – Trinity Seven
• Himawari Shinomiya – Vividred Operation
• Hotaru – Baby Princess
• Mayumi Katō – Mitsudomoe
• Kaede Furutani – Yuru Yuri
• Hatsume Aoba – Release the Spyce
• Mizuki Shihyōka – The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar
• Akiakane – Rilu Rilu Fairilu
• Himawari – Rilu Rilu Fairilu
• Ran – Rail Romanesque
• Parona – To Your Eternity
• Hina Yayoi – Waccha PriMagi!
• Rio Matsuse – Let's Make a Mug Too
• Lovrun – Punirunes
• Silk von Santana – The Aristocrat's Otherworldly Adventure
• Iona – Classroom for Heroes
• Mizuki Yamada – Under Ninja
• Nya – LEGO Ninjago
• Akaho Ino – Elf-san wa Yaserarenai
• Oku – Elf-san wa Yaserarenai
• Saha Hachisuka – Engage Kiss
• Asuka Kawato – The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses

Game Roles

• Miu Hasegawa – Girl Friend (Kari)
• Michaela Zaccardo – Kanpani☆Girls
• Andira – Granblue Fantasy
• Mirai – Kemono Friends
• Eshilia, the Mysterious Traveler – White Cat Project
• Komaru Naegi – Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls
• Io Nitta – Devil Survivor 2
• Granvania Twins – Dragon Quest Rivals
• Tsukasa Amane – Magia Record
• Mika Misaki – Magia Record
• Jiz – Megido 72
• Haruka Mukai – Raramagi
• Laidi – Robot Girls Z Online
• Eicy – Alchemy Stars
• Centaur – Azur Lane
• Quincy – Goddess of Victory: NIKKE
• Nemona – Pokémon Masters EX
• Hansel – Dead End
• Bouquet – Cyber Dimension Neptunia

Other Roles

• iMarine – iMarine Project
• Ucchi – Mahō Shoujo Magical☆Ucchi

Radio Shows

• Uchida no Inumani (Maison de I-COE → Super! A&G)
• Chain Chronicle Radio (with Hikaru Midorikawa, Asami Imai)
• Uchida-san and Asakura-san (with Azumi Asakura)
• Uchida-san no Ouchii (FM Gunma)

Video Programs

• Seiyuu to Yoru Asobi (Co-hosted with Megumi Ogata on Mondays)

Other Data

For a collection of translated interviews and videos, please refer to Translated Voice Actress Content.

Dengeki G's Magazine November 2010 - Character Interview

About Kotori This is Uchida Aya, voicing Minami Kotori. When I first saw her illustration and data, I had the impression that she has adult-looking eyes and a warm, fuzzy personality, and then recorded her monologue using that image. After seeing the completed PV, I realized that Kotori had quite a lively character. I think I'll have to portray her many faces and different charms from now on! Kotori's Appeal For the first round of popularity votes, it's tragic but Kotori-chan was the last on the list... But it's only the beginning and from here on out, I'll work hard to gradually show Kotori-chan's cuteness! From the next poll onwards, for the sake of climbing the rankings one step at a time, everyone please support Kotori-chan! A word for the readers Just newly created, this project begins from here on! Everyone, let's get hyped for Love Live! together! Someday, it'll be great if we could hold a school festival, or maybe a live concert...!!

Dengeki G's Magazine Interview Before Final Live

Q1: Please tell us what is something that can't be missing when doing a μ's concert! Kotori hair! After repeated trial and error, it's one of a kind in the world! Once I adopt this hairstyle, it turns my Minami Kotori switch on♪ Q2: Tell us what you feel about the final solo concert, as well as a message for the readers! To be honest, while writing this message now, reality hasn't really sunk in yet... But when we made our appearance at Kouhaku, I felt a lot of gratitude and wanted to thank the people who supported us until now, all the people who made it possible for us to stand on that stage. For everyone's sake, as well as my own, I want to create the "greatest live on earth!" just like Kotori said!

Dengeki G's Magazine Arigatou Project (Part 3)

Message from Uchida Aya Minami Kotori-sama There's a lot I want to tell you, Kotori... But at the same time there might actually not be a lot. After all, we've always tried so many different things together, and we made it all the way here together! I've always thought about Kotori and her feelings, and put those emotions into acting her out. My feelings definitely reached her, right...♪ Even if you tell me "it's time to set off" it doesn't really ring a bell, but please flutter your wings softly the way you always do. I'll always be watching over you...♡♡ MESSAGE FOR YOU! It was because of everyone's support that we made it here. To all the members of the Love Live! Club! ( ・８ ・) There was a time when I yearned to be a part of Dengeki G's reader-participation content. Starting from following "Sister Princess" written by Kimino Sakurako-sensei, and ending up being part of one myself made me really happy and excited at that time! (The first time I went to Animate, I bought an Aria-chan notebook! lol) At the start the casting was secret, there wasn't any notice that I would be acting as Kotori, so I felt very impatient. To think that with all the readers' support, we've managed to make it this whole way from a time when μ's didn't even have its name. ... For us girls who didn't have a name, thank you very much for believing in our potential! I want to tell my past self: "The excitement you're feeling is the real thing!"♡

Etymology

• The name Aya means "color" (彩).
• Aya's surname Uchida means "inside, within" (内) (uchi) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).