Aya Uchida was born on July 23, 1986 in Outa City, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. Her common voice actress nickname is "Ucchi". She voices Kotori Minami, one of the main characters in Love Live!.
Her tagline 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.
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 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon 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. [1]
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.[2]
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[]
Aya Uchida describes herself as a reserved and timid person. As a child, she used to imagine various things or play make-believe, have conversations with herself and make things, and claims that she is still pretty much the same person as she was. She also likes working, so she didn't feel menial jobs were tough at all back during the early stages of her career.
She loves eating and has no food she dislikes in particular. Her favorite snacks include rice crackers, potato chips and rusk, generally food with crispy and crunchy textures. She can hold her liquor well, and her favorite drinks are beer and red wine.
Her hobbies include making paper-cranes, accessories and sweets such as Gateau Chocolate, Decoration Roll Cakes, and Apple Pies. She also collects bath goods and likes reading books as well as making things in general. Her special skills include hair arrangement, and for events involving Love Live!, she normally has her hair resemble that of Kotori's.
Her qualifications include a regular driver's license.
In an interview, she claims she is not very good at making friends but she is close to Murakawa Rie whom she co-starred with in Vividred Operation. She often finds herself cast as characters that are "The Number One Idiot" so she believes that she may be a good fit for those characters.[3]
She often binges on food and alcoholic drinks, such as beer, to relieve stress. [4]
Other Roles[]
Some of Aya's other roles include:
- Kaban, Mirai and Lucky Beast in Kemono Friends
- Komaru Naegi in Danganronpa
- Hina Yayoi in Waccha PriMagi!
- Kaede Furutani in YuruYuri
- Arin Kannazuki in Trinity Seven
- Andira in Granblue Fantasy
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 [5] |
|---|
| 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 A word for the readers |
| Dengeki G's Magazine Interview Before Final Live[6] |
|---|
| 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! |
| Dengeki G's Magazine Arigatou Project (Part 3)[7] |
|---|
 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! To all the members of the Love Live! Club! ( ・８ ・) |
Etymology[]
- The name Aya means "color" (彩).
- Aya's surname Uchida means "inside, within" (内) (uchi) and "field, rice paddy" (田) (ta/da).
Trivia[]
- On November 10, 2014, she was appointed as a "tourism special envoy" for the entire Gunma Prefecture.
- She thinks performing as part of Love Live! is one of the most difficult things she has had to do as a voice actress, as she did not expect dancing to be part of her career. She is a lot more confident in her dancing capabilities after all the difficult and tiring practice.
- Her most enjoyable part of being a seiyuu (Voice Actor) is reading fan-mail, which really cheers her up.
- She appears to be close friends with Emi Nitta and Aina Kusuda; probably because they are all voice actresses who had their first major debut in the voice acting industry with Love Live!.
- Songs she sings well on the karaoke: Hohoemi no Bakudan (微笑みの爆弾) from Yuu☆Yuu☆Hakusho.[8]
- During live concerts, she is often caught on camera drinking water while the rest are talking. Whenever this was pointed out jokingly, she would reply that the water was delicious.
- This is even possibly referenced during a scene in Love Live! The School Idol Movie, where at the start of dinner in a New York restaurant, Kotori is the only one with a cup that's almost empty while everyone else's was still full.
- Because of this, there was even a show that features her drinking water.[9]
- She met Aika Kobayashi while working on Freezing as the voice actress for Ticy Phenyl. Aikyan was making her singing debut as the performer of the ending theme, Kimi wa Mamoritai, and Ucchi and Izumi Kitta (the voice of Cleo Brand in the same series) also gave Aikyan her first radio interview and remarked that she seemed like an idol; coincidentally, Yoshiko has the same image color (gray) as Kotori.[10]
Gallery[]
- Please refer to this voice actress' Image Gallery.
References[]
- ↑ JA Wikipedia
- ↑ Sankei News: Uchida Aya, who had her big break with the anime "Love Live". Physical labor even while being a voice actress.
- ↑ "The Wheel of Seiyuu #1: 50 questions for Uchida Aya" my story, your beats!. August 17, 2014
- ↑ μ's Fan Meeting Tour 2015 Session 1 at Nakano Sun Plaza. May 30, 2015
- ↑ Dengeki G's Magazine November 2010 issue
- ↑ Dengeki G's Magazine April 2016 issue
- ↑ Dengeki G's Magazine May 2016 issue
- ↑ |clubDAM Interview
- ↑ video list of the show 内田彩のもっとお水ください！
- ↑ Aikyan's 2011 interview with Ucchi and Izumin (English subtitles) YouTube