Akari Kito

Akari Kito was born on October 16, 1994 in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Her common voice actress nickname is "Akarin". She voices Kanata Konoe, one of the main characters in Love Live! Nijigasaki High School Idol Club. In October 2019, she made her debut as a solo singer under Pony Canyon.

Her call-and-response during concerts begins with her falling asleep on a shoulder nearest her. One of her fellow seiyuus will then call out "Se~no! Kanata-chan okite!" (lit. Ready? Kanata-chan, wake up!). Akarin will then "wake up" and ask the audience, "Aa! Koko wa doko?" (lit. Huh? Where am I?). The audience will reply with the current location (such as the live venue or city). She will then finish with "Naruhodo~! Kyou mo ii yume miyou ne!" (lit. I see~! Let's have a sweet dream today too!).

Her image color during concerts is light purple.

Background
She made her solo artist debut under Pony Canyon with her 1st single "Swinging Heart" on October 16, 2019, the same day as her 25th birthday. Since then, she released 3 single CDs, 1 album, and 1 mini-album as a solo artist.

She won the Best Actress Award at the Newtype Anime Awards 2019 and Best Actress in Supporting Roles at the 15th Seiyuu Awards (2021). She is mainly a voice actress but she is also a singer. Her main role was Time Bokan 2016. She had always thought she would become an illustrator, but right before graduating from high school, she was told by her parents that they could not afford to pay for her university education and that instead, she would have to apply for a scholarship. Because she was from Aichi Prefecture which is 4 hours away from Tokyo, moving to Tokyo never crossed her mind. After consideration, she decided not to waste money attending and instead decided to move to Tokyo to become a voice actress seeing as she was still young and wanted a challenge. A year or two into moving to Tokyo, her grandmother who she was extremely close to dying. That and with jobs and audition calls being scarce, she was constantly worried about her financial situation. She considers this the most painful time of her life. She told herself that if she did not make it as a voice actress, she would become an illustrator instead.

Personality & Hobbies
Her hobbies are drawing, painting, and singing. These hobbies of hers are also her skills along with Yugiri (湯切り), the process of draining hot water from noodles.

Other Roles
Some of Akari's other roles include:
 * Nezuko Kamado in Kimetsu no Yaiba
 * Barbara in Genshin Impact
 * Tsukasa Yuzaki in Tonikaku Kawaii
 * Kaho Hinata in Blend S
 * Aru Honshou in Hitoribocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu
 * Nene Yashiro in Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun
 * Momo Chiyoda in Machikado Mazoku
 * Kotoko Iwanaga in Kyokou Suiri

Health Issues
On July 29, 2022, Akari tested positive for COVID-19.

Etymology

 * The name Akari means "bright, light, clear" (明) (aka) and "village" (里) (ri).
 * Akari's surname Kito means "demon, ogre, daemon" (鬼) (ki) and "head" (頭) (to).

Trivia

 * She used to work part-time as an illustrator for a mobile app.
 * She's part of seiyuu unit Wataten☆5 along with Maria Sashide.
 * She worked with Sora Tokui in Blend S and Uma Musume: Pretty Derby.
 * She worked with Yurika Kubo in Classroom of the Elite.
 * She worked with Mimori Suzuko in SSSS.Gridman.
 * She is featured in Season 4 of the CrosSing series on the official CrosSing YouTube Channel. She sings a cover of the song Blue Velvet.
 * Akari is the sixth voice actress in the Love Live! franchise to be diagnosed with the coronavirus disease after Tomoyo Kurosawa (Tsuki Watanabe), Nako Misaki (Chisato Arashi), Moeka Koizumi (Shioriko Mifune), Miyu Kubota (Karin Asaka), and Natsumi Murakami (Ai Miyashita).