Lucky Star: Izumi Konata (Seiyuu, Hirano Aya)

It’s one thing to have a cute cosplayer portrayer the anime character, but how about a cute seiyuu (voice actress) who looks like the cute character?

This is Hirano Aya, the seiyuu behind Lucky Star’s Izumi Konata. I’m not entirely sure about the story behind this picture, but you can’t deny her smile looks like Konata’s.

Aya is a voice actress and a J-pop singer in Japan. She has had many roles in TV commercials, visual novels, and of course, several anime series. Hello Kitty fans will also recognize her as the voice behind Emily in the 2007 animation film, Hello Kitty: Apple Forest and the Parallel Town. Aya is also the voice behind Suzumiya Haruhi, whom Konata cosplays as in the series.

All in all, I’d say Aya is pretty famous in the Otaku (anime fans) circle. In Lucky Star, she even made an appearance in the anime itself, shown in the icon on the left. I think the real Aya is a lot cuter though.

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