Aya Hirano was born on October 8, 1987 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. She is a seiyū and J-pop singer who has had major roles in several anime series, TV commercials, and some visual novels.

Aya spent some of her early years in America while she was still fairly unknown. She joined the Tokyo Child Theatrical Group division of the Space Craft Group company in 1998. She appeared in several commercials and this led to her first role as a seiyū in Tenshi no Shippo.

Aya came on the map in 2002 when she was a member of the girl band Springs. However, that only lasted until 2003. Aya graduated high school in 2004 and began to focus on her career as a seiyū and solo singer. Aya’s big break was in 2006 when she was cast as the voice of Haruhi Suzumiya, the lead character of the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The show became a huge hit in Japan and greatly increased her idol status and popularity in Japan. She had several hit singles for the series including the opening song of the show, Bōken Desho Desho? which sold out the day it debuted.

The success of her role in Haruhi led to her being cast as two leading roles in anime based on popular manga series. These were Reira in Nana and Misa in Death Note. Her huge growth of popularity in Japan led to the first Seiyū Awards, where she won Best Newcomer (female) for her role as Haruhi which also led to a nomination for Best Main Character (female). Also she was nominated for Best Supporting Character (female) as well as earning two nominations for Best Single: one for Bōken Desho Desho? and the other as a group nomination for Hare Hare Yukai.

Aya performed at the “Animelo Summer Live” concert in both 2006 and 2007. She also performed at the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou concert on March 18, 2007. She was a guest at Anime Expo 2007 in Southern California along with her fellow cast members from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Minori Chihara and Yuko Goto. Aya continues to enjoy success in her young career. She played the voice on Konata Izumi in the popular anime Lucky ☆ Star and has released several solo singles including the popular LOVE★GUN.