Aina Kusuda

Aina Kusuda was born on February 1, 1989 in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Her common voice actress nickname is "Kussun". She voices Nozomi Tojo, one of the main characters in Love Live!.

Her call-and-response during concerts begins with "Nozomi power tappuri chunyuu! Hai, pushuu!", to which the audience responds "Itadakimashita!"

Background
Her family consists of her parents, an elder sister and herself. She currently lives with her parents in Tokyo. She owns two dogs named Chip and Hime, though she often refers to the latter as Meme as well.

She wanted to be a voice actress. During middle school, she attended a talk by voice actor and felt overwhelmed, thinking that it would be impossible to become one. But after high school, she attended a stage performance by, and felt inspired to aim to be a voice actress once again. She promised herself to try her best no matter how hopeless it seemed, all the way until the present.

She worked part-time at the maid cafe "Cafe la vie en rose" in Akihabara prior to her voice acting career.

In 2010, she made her debut as a voice actress with Love Live!.

In July 2013, she formed a singing duo with Pile under the name Please&Secret.

In September 2013, her solo debut was announced but without any follow-up.

In November 2013, she released a CD with a new JTB Music Unit called Tabi College Girls, which she formed alongside 4 other members.

In January 2015, she released her first solo photobook, Kusukusu Kussun, featuring photos of her taken in Italy.

In May 2015, her solo debut was announced yet again at one of her fan-club events. It was slated for Autumn 2015, with her new song "Todoke Mirai (lit. Reach the future)".

On October 7, 2015, her first mini-album First Sweet Wave was released.

On July 31, 2016, she left JTB Entertainment and transferred to Dandelion.

Personality & Hobbies
Her hobby is watching soccer. Her favorite player is who plays for FC Schalke 04, but it is her style to watch and support all soccer players without prejudice. She also loves playing games such as Tetris and. She likes staying at home, and her happiest moments are the times when she's sleeping or watching movies. She also likes to prank people.

Her talents include dancing and kendo (1st Dan). She has been studying dance (jazz, hip-hop, tap, ballet) since she was five years old.

She owns a driver's license. She also has her own car and has gone on a road trip in 2014 with Yoshino Nanjo, Sora Tokui, Pile and Emi Nitta.

Her favorite food is ice cream and her disliked foods are bell peppers and carrots. She has a shellfish allergy and thus cannot eat crab and prawns/shrimp.

Other Data

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

Etymology

 * The name Aina means "second, Asia" (亜) (a), "clothing, garment" (衣) (i) and "apple tree" (奈) (na).
 * Aina's surname Kusuda means "camphor tree" (楠) (kusu) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).

Trivia

 * She appears to be close friends with Aya Uchida, Emi Nitta and Pile, from as early as the starting stages of the Love Live! project.
 * She's also become rather close with Yoshino Nanjo due to co-hosting the NozoEri Radio Garden. They both keep a book containing promises of things to do together, mostly consisting of food that they wish to try together. They have managed to fulfill some of them, such as opening their ear piercings together, and going for a drive towards the north until midnight.
 * She also seems to have become rather close with Riho Iida, often mentioning going out with her and Nanjou Yoshino during the NozoEri Radio Garden.
 * There is a running joke involving her dog being mistakenly called Takeshi. Bringing this topic up has always resulted in her getting mad.
 * Songs that she sing well on the karaoke: 's songs
 * She is tied with Yoshino Nanjo as the shortest member of μ's at 150 cm (4 feet 11.1 inches).
 * When Aya Uchida, Emi Nitta, and Suzuko Mimori were asked, "...if the three of you become boys for one day, what would you try doing?", all three agreed that they would like to try picking up girls. Ucchi immediately said she would like to try picking up girls like Kussun, and the other two agreed quickly.
 * Mimorin implied that Kussun would go "right away" because she is ditzy, but the broadcast listeners got the wrong idea and all three of them had to clarify that Kussun is a pure, innocent girl.
 * She moved to Just Production on January 2022, the same agency as Akina Homoto and Shu Uchida.

Gallery

 * Please refer to this voice actress' Image Gallery.