Otakon, Washington, D.C. August 2025
Ayana is a seiyuu and singer who has lent her voice to both video games and anime. She has released multiple singles and albums throughout her music career.
She has voiced anime characters from Sword Art Online, Frieren, Guilty Crown, Highschool of the Dead, The Quintessential Quintuplets, Bleach 1000 Year Blood War, Akiba Maid War, Kakegurui, Classroom of the Elite, Berserk, Space Dandy, and a lot more and video game characters such as Chiori in Genshin Impact and characters from Shin Megami, Emberstoria, Fantasy Life, Fate Trigger, Nikke, Arknights, World of Final Fantasy, Persona 3 and 5, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Dragon Quest Rivals, and more.
Ryuuza Media: So today we are with Ayana Taketatsu. She is a seiyuu and singer who has lent her voice to both video games and anime. And she has released 15 singles and 5 albums in her music career.
I’ve listened to your solo music, Petit Milady, and Ho-Kago Tea Time. They’re all very good. Who were your musical influences?
Ayana Taketatsu: I listened to Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, anime songs, and seiyuu character songs. I've lived my life with anime songs. I listened to a lot of anime. But my favorite artist is Oku Hanako. She's a very nice person. I sing her songs in karaoke a lot. She plays the piano in a very delicate way. Her voice is very delicate. And the lyrics are very soft and it touches my heart. I really like those lyrics. She's well known for doing the song for Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo. I also listened to voice actor character songs.
RM: When recording voices, has it become second nature for you? Or do you still find it difficult fitting into a character?
AT: I gotta say, it depends on the character. There will be characters that are much more difficult to me. But there are characters that also come to me naturally. So it really is by character.
RM: What was the most challenging role that you've performed?
AT: Actually, I think tsundere is very difficult. Tsundere is a character that has two different feelings and two different emotions in one and there’s a mix between like and hate in there and it’s difficult to get the true meaning behind what they speak because they don’t really feel how they speak. So what kind of percentage of like and hate is behind each line is difficult in terms of having the character be cute at the same time.
RM: Is the recording process different for video games than anime? What are the key differences in voice in anime and video game characters? Such as methods and equipment, and your approach.
AT: That’s a difficult question. I guess if it was in terms of approach, for a game I keep to my pace because in a game I’m oftentimes recording by myself as opposed to in an anime, there’s lots of other people recording at the same time. There’s lots of words I have to speak for a game, it’s so thick it feels like I'm carrying around an encyclopedia. I have to sit down and record, so that’s opposite of anime where I stand up and record. There was a comment about the distance to the mic and how it’s different between music and recording lines.
AT: Also I would say in terms of games, having the amount of emotion being expressed is a bit different, you can’t have them all in one package, because every game is a bit different. Visually in anime, you have more information there. In games, you are limited with visuals. In games I try to make my emotions a bit more obvious than in anime. This is a more personal view, I’m not sure if this is more widely held.
AT: It's a bit difficult to express in words, but then I kind of feel that acting on an anime seems like you're watching something in 4K as opposed to in games, maybe 1080p. It might be due to how many people are involved in an anime. There will be very precise requirements of how the emotion has to be as opposed to in games where I need to be a lot more obvious in terms of anger, sadness, all that. In games, you don't have as many people making the order. It is probably a bit more due to how many people give directions.