Miharu Hanai

Miharu Hanai (Japanese: 花井 美春, Hepburn: Hanai Miharu, born 8 February 1998) is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Chitose, Hokkaido, affiliated with IAM Agency.^[1] She had won folk music contests as a young child alongside her sister Aina Suzuki, before debuting as a voice actress in 2017, voicing as Sassa Kurasaki in Armed Girl's Machiavellism. Since then, she has since starred as Tomoe Murakami in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, Twin Turbo in Uma Musume Pretty Derby, Shiori Yamaga in Selection Project, Pekesura in My Isekai Life, Mel in Smile of the Arsnotoria, Reine von Silford in Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World, Urū Miyazaki in Utagoe wa Mille-Feuille, and Elena in A Journey Through Another World.

Miharu Hanai, a native of Chitose, Hokkaido, was born on 8 February 1998.^[1][2] After being unsuccessful in her dream to join the Takarazuka Revue, which she originally wanted to do because she "really likes singing and expressing herself in front of people", she decided to pursue a career in voice acting after watching the anime K-On!.^[3] She then studied acting at International Media Gakuin [ja],^[3] and after her graduated, she belonged to IAM Agency.^[4]

In February 2017, Hanai was cast as Sassa Kurasaki in Armed Girl's Machiavellism.^[5] She later played Non in Rainy Cocoa side G (2019), Lierre in Dropkick on My Devil! (2020), Twin Turbo in Uma Musume Pretty Derby (2021), and Shiori Yamaga in Selection Project (2021).^[1][6][7][8] In May 2021, she was cast as Fumio Chitose/Yellow in Hairpin Double, the thirtieth-anniversary animated short from the Okayama International Circuit.^[9] In 2022, she played Margarita Surprise in GrimGrimoire OnceMore, Pekesura in My Isekai Life, and Mel in Smile of the Arsnotoria.^[10][11][12] In 2023, she voiced Reine von Silford in Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World.^[13]

Hanai voices Tomoe Murakami in The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, a sub-franchise in The Idolmaster franchise. Since then, she has performed as a singer on several Idolmaster music releases, including the 2020 single "The Idolmaster Cinderella Starlight Master for the Next! 07: Gaze and Gaze" (which charted at #7 in the Oricon Singles Chart) and the 2021 single "The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls Starlight Master Gold Rush! 08: Evil Live" (which charted at #16 in the Oricon Singles Chart).^[14][15] She also stars as Urū Miyazaki in Utagoe wa Mille-Feuille, an a capella mixed-media project.^[16]

Although this had been rumored for a while due to their similarities,^[17] Hanai and her sister Aina Suzuki had not disclosed their familial relationship to prevent any signs of nepotism.^[18] However, on 30 November 2022, it was for the first time confirmed at the press conference announcing their roles in the upcoming anime A Journey Through Another World that they were sisters;^[18] she was also announced as the voice actor for Elena.^[19]

Hanai is a certified 5th dan folk singer and a 4th dan shamisen player.^[1] She and Suzuki began practicing folk music after being instructed by her grandfather, and they spent at least seven years in the Shōseikai circle, winning several folk song contests.^[20] Hanai in particular has won several competitions in the national, regional, and local levels, including in Esashi oiwake, Hokkai bon'uta  [ja], jinku, and kudoki  [ja].^[1]