Yukana

Yukana Nogami (野上 ゆかな, Nogami Yukana, born January 6, 1975 in Futtsu) is a Japanese voice actor and singer affiliated with Sigma Seven. She used to go by her full name before shortening it to just Yukana on April 1, 2001 for convenience. She studied law at Keio University, but ended up dropping out.

When Yukana was young, she had been expected to live a very short life due to her childhood illness. Despite being told she would not survive beyond the age of 20, the girl decided to leave her mark on the world through show business, deeming it a way for her to be judged through her own merits and failures alone. Since both her parents were partial leaders of a choir, she had been taught classical singing and piano playing around the age of 5. She also joined her junior high school's brass band club as a flutist.

During high school, Yukana enrolled at Japan Narration Actor Institute for acting lessons. At the time, her parents opposed their daughter's choice in vocation, only relenting so long as it did not affect her grades. Although the distance between her home and the institute was long, she eventually landed her first role and even signed on with Arts Vision until March 1996. She briefly went freelance and later studied in New York for a year. She returned to Japan in 2000 and immediately joined her current agency.

Yukana enjoys cooking and often gifts castmates and staff members with homemade sweets. She also specializes in Japanese cuisine. Her favorite artists include Madonna, Marie-Claire D'Ubaldo, and the Gipsy Kings. She used to play futsal in her college years. The first friend she made in the voice acting industry was Shin-ichiro Miki who happened to be her senior in both age and experience. She is also close with former co-star Haruna Ikezawa.

Known for being a versatile voice actor, Yukana can adjust her vocal pitch to sound sarcastic or innocent, sometimes even both for some of her roles. She has lent her performances to Meiling Li in Cardcaptor Sakura, Milene in Reine des Fleurs, and Crymaria Levin in Valkyria Chronicles 4.

Works

 * Eriko Kirishima - Megami Ibunroku Persona drama CDs
 * Luise Lawrencium - Atelier Elie: The Alchemist of Salburg 2
 * Lucia - Super Swing Golf Season 2
 * Four Murasame - Dynasty Warriors: Gundam series; reprise of her original role in Zeta Gundam
 * Rikka Ryosya - Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
 * Orie Vander - The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
 * Sharon Kruger - The Legend of Heroes: Akatsuki no Kiseki