Asami Imai

Asami Imai (今井 麻美, Imai Asami, born May 16, 1977 in Shibuya, Tokyo) is a Japanese voice actor, stage actor, and singer affiliated with Early Wing. She sometimes goes under the pseuudonyms Eriko Toyama (遠山 枝里子, Toyama Eriko), Keiko Horikoshi (堀越 恵子, Horikoshi Keiko), and Natsuki Miyagawa (宮川 なつき, Miyagawa Natsuki). For fans, her nicknames include Asa-chan, Asamingos, and Mingos.

Imai spent most of her formative years in Shūnan City, having moved there at the age of 8. She graduated from Tokuyama High School and spent a gap year before being admitted to Meiji University's School of Arts and Letters. There, she majored in drama which helped her become a voice actor under Arts Vision in 1999.

Although Imai had made minor strides throughout the early part of her profession, she once thought about giving it all up in 2006. However, the idea of having to leave behind her roles for other people made her consider otherwise. She left Arts Vision for a change of pace in April 5, 2007 and went freelance for about 7 months.

Two years later, Imai made her debut as a singer under the 5pb. Inc. label and even became part of a musical duo called Artery Vein alongside Eri Kitamura. She also transferred to her current agency Early Wing on that same year in December. April 18, 2012 saw her win the award for Best Female Character Voice at the Famitsu Awards.

Imai's hobbies include forest hikes, massages, and writing new lyrics. She is a fan of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure as well as the Pokémon Slowpoke. One of her closest friends is freelance announcer Megumi Ikeda.

While Imai often voices attractive young women with calmer vocal tones, some of them have terse or aggressive personalities that allow for more creative expressions of her acting skills. A few of the characters she has performed are Tsubaki Yayoi in BlazBlue, Chihaya Kisaragi in The Idolmaster series, and Cinderella in Mary Skelter: Nightmares.

Works

 * Kurisu Makise - Steins;Gate
 * Cecilia Helmold - Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland
 * Black Heart - Hyperdimension Neptunia
 * Heidi - Atelier Elkrone: Dear for Otomate
 * Chiyome Mochizuki - Toukiden: The Age of Demons
 * Mio - Toukiden Kiwami
 * Matsu - Toukiden 2