[Former Idol☆Voice Talents List] 11 Young Female Voice Talents
Keiko Toda, Noriko Hidaka, and Yuriko Yamamoto were also former idols. I did not know that they were “former idols” until I looked them up because their careers as voice talents are so impressive.
SeiyuJournal has picked up a number of voice talentss from idol groups such as the Halo Pro Egg and the 48 Group who may have the potential to become such great voice talents in the future!
Sayaka Kitahara
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former Hello! Project trainees (Halo Pro Egg)
Belonging office：Ken Production
She said that she had a complex about her low voice, but after appearing on stage and in anime, she chose to use it as a weapon in her acting. Even though she is a trainee, she is a former member of Halo Pro, and her singing and performance skills are also highly regarded.
She has played the role of Mei Izumi in “THE iDOLM@STER SHINY COLORS” and Aoi Sorano in the “Inazuma Eleven GO” series.
Sawako Hata
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former SKE48
Belonging office：Mausu Promotion
Ms. Hata attended voice actor school before joining SKE48 and was originally an aspiring voice talents. It seems that she attended a voice actor training school again after graduation. After that, she joined a voice actor agency, which also includes Akio Otsuka, and became a full-fledged voice actor. She has played the role of Eve Wakamiya in the “BanG Dream!” series and Marianne von Edmund in “Fire Emblem: Flowers, Flowers, Snow and Moon.
Kotoko Sasaki
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former Nogizaka46
Belonging office：Style Cube
Ms. Sasaki belongs to Style Cube, where Natsuori Ishihara of “Magi”, the anime that triggered her confidence and interest in voice acting after graduating from Nogizaka46, belongs. She is highly regarded for her deep knowledge as an anime fan and for her performance skills, which she developed during her idol days. She played the role of King Penguin in “Kemono Friends 3” and “Love Live! Hasu no Sora Jogakuin School Idol Club”. She is a pioneer in the field of voice acting, as it is still rare for a member of the Sakamichi Group to switch to voice acting.
Marina Yamada
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former HKT48
Belonging office：Crocodile
Marina Yamada has had a love of anime and a dream of becoming a “voice talents who can sing and dance” since she was a child. She gained experience in singing and dancing through her idol activities, and after graduating from HKT48 in April 2018, she announced that same month that she would be joining the voice acting agency Crocodile. She has played the roles of Pino in “Dropkick on my Devil!” and Naius in “Seaside so no Aquakko”.
Reina Hasegawa
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former NGT48
Belonging office：Crocodile
Ms. Hasegawa began her career as a voice talents after graduating from NGT48 in 2019. She has long been known as an anime fan and had her sights set on becoming a voice actor. She has played the roles of Atre in “Dropkick on my Devil! X” and Haru Kaguraino in “Science Fell in Love, So I Tried to Prove It. r=1-sinθ (Heart)”.
Amina Sato
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former AKB48
Belonging office：Osawa Office
Ms. Sato originally worked as a child talents as well; after graduating from AKB48, she joined Osawa Office in June 2014 and began her career as a voice talents. She has played the role of Arisu Tachibana in “THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS” and other roles.
Haruka Ishida
Former AKB48
Belonging office：HORIPRO
When Ishida graduated from AKB48 in May 2016, she announced that she was “pursuing my dream of becoming a voice talents,” and after graduation she began her career as a voice talents in earnest. Her roles include playing Miu Iruma in “Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony”
Ami Maejima
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former SUPER☆GiRLS
Belonging office：Voice Kit
Her role as Aya Maruyama in “BanG Dream!” was greatly influenced by her own idol experience. The stories reflect real-life experiences, such as equipment problems at live shows and ticket sales by hand. She took a hiatus in 2022, but returned in September 2023.
Yusa Noto
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former Hello! Project trainee (Halo Pro Egg)
Belonging office：L&L Victor Entertainment
In 2012, debuted as a voice talents unit StylipS with the theme song “STUDY×STUDY” for the TV anime “High School DxD. They are not only voice actors, but also use their talents as motion actors for choreography, games, and animation!
Akika Nakatani
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former AKB48
Belonging office：Michelle Entertainment
While working as a member of AKB48, she never gave up her dream of becoming a voice talents and made her voice acting debut in 2008 as a maid in the anime “Tales of the Abyss. She is currently active mainly on stage.
Miki Yakata
Office profile page (with voice samples)
Former SKE48
Belonging office：Wonder Space
In 2017, she graduated from SKE48 and started her dream of becoming a voice talents; in 2024, she played a boy in “Wolf and Spice MERCHANT MEETS THE WISE WOLF” and other roles.
In fact, in 2018, she announced that she had undergone surgery for a total left mastectomy and lymph node removal due to breast cancer.
She is currently performing on stage in Aichi Prefecture and on the radio, and we look forward to her future voice acting activities.
Some of them belong to a voice acting agency and mainly work as voice talents, some are also motion talents, and some perform on stage. They are all using their talents and gaining acting experience in their own ways.
How to make “former idol” voice talents’ “former idol” a plus in the voice acting business
I knew Keiko Toda from the TV drama “Shomuni” and recognized her as an actor with acting ability.
It was not until much later that I learned that she was the voice talents for Anpanman and Thomas the Tank Engine.
And when I looked him up this time, I learned that he was an idol enka singer. The longer you are active as a voice actor or actor, the more people do not know that you used to be an idol.
The transition from idol to voice actor may lead to opinions such as, “Idols are taking the voice acting industry for granted by becoming voice actors,” or negative viewpoints such as, “It’s only for idol content,” since many idols are used for idol content.
In fact, I saw such articles in my research, but I believe that if you demonstrate your one-of-a-kind talent in any job, being a “former idol” will only become a positive element of your identity in the future.
However, I feel that among former idol voice actors, those who are not biased toward “cute idol-like acting” and can perform a wide range of roles have more chances to be used as voice actors outside of idol content.
Of course, acting ability is a prerequisite, but if the voice actor can play something that deviates from the prototypical image of an idol, such as a low voice despite being a former idol or too funny despite being a former idol, this gap may also attract the casting committee’s interest.
Seiyujournal would like to wholeheartedly support the success of the voice actors introduced here!
