Ai Kayano

is a Japanese voice actress. She was represented by the Pro-Fit talent agency until 2014. She has been represented by Office Osawa since 2015. She played leading roles in several anime series, including Meiko "Menma" Honma in Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Inori Yuzuriha in Guilty Crown, Alice Zuberg in Sword Art Online: Alicization, Utaha Kasumigaoka in Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend, Mashiro Shiina in The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, Saori Takebe in Girls und Panzer, Shiro in No Game No Life, Darkness in KonoSuba, and Mamako Oosuki in Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?. She has also performed opening, ending and insert theme songs for each series. Biography Kayano wanted to work in a job that would involve "healing people", leading to initially take up a course at a vocational school. She worked in the beauty industry and became interested in acting, after watching Aria. While attending school, Kayano continued working in the industry and paid for her tuition. Kayano began working at Pro-Fit in 2010, starring in the original video animation Princess Resurrection. She also voiced a number of background roles in the anime series A Certain Magical Index II, playing Itsuwa. She voiced Meiko "Menma" Honma in Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day. Kayano, Haruka Tomatsu and Saori Hayami performed the series' ending theme "Secret Base – Kimi ga Kureta Mono (10 years after Ver.)", a cover of a song originally sung by the band Zone. For her role as Menma, she received the Best Newcomer Award at the 6th Seiyu Awards in 2012. Kayano played the role of Inori Yuzuriha in Guilty Crown. In 2012, she played Mayaka Ibara in Hyouka; Kayano and co-star Satomi Satō performed the series' ending themes and . She also played the roles of Mashiro Shiina in The Pet Girl of Sakurasou, and Saori Takebe in Girls und Panzer. She played several roles in 2013, including the roles of Ai Fuyuumi in Oreshura, and Chisaki Hiradaira in Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea.