Mayumi Iizuka (飯塚 雅弓, Iizuka Mayumi, born January 3, 1977) is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and disc jockey who was born in Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with Across Entertainment and her label is Lantis. She is an instructor at the Stay Luck training school Follow-Up.[4] For her singing activities, she uses the alias Hoshi Mai (星 舞).

Mayumi Iizuka
飯塚 雅弓
Born (1977-01-03) January 3, 1977 (age 47)[1]
Tokyo, Japan[2]
Other namesHoshi Mai (星 舞)[3]
Maitan (まいたん)
Māchan (まーちゃん)
Alma materHosei University
Occupations
Years active1981–present
AgentAcross Entertainment[2]
Notable credits
Height148 cm (4 ft 10 in)[1]
Websiteberrysmile.net

Her well-known roles as a voice actress include Kasumi (Misty) in the Pokémon series, Tron Bonne in the Mega Man Legends series and Claiomh Everlasting in the Sorcerous Stabber Orphen series.[5]

Career

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In 1980, at the age of three, Iizuka joined Theater Company Wakakusa through an acquaintance of her grandfather.[1][6][7] The reason she joined the group was to learn etiquette.[6] The company was stricter about greetings and etiquette than her lessons, and she remembers crying when she was told off.[7] The following year, on January 11, 1981, she made her debut as a child actress playing the role of Tomiko in the TV drama Haru no Urara no Monogatari (TBS Television Toshiba Sunday Theater).[1] At Theater Company Wakakusa, she was taught to "keep showing people what only you can do," and even as a child, she spent her days desperately trying to achieve her dreams.[8]

In 1983, due to her father's job transfer, she moved to Taichung City, Taiwan from the first grade to the fifth grade, during which time she took a break from performing.[1][7] When she returned to Japan in 1989, she resumed her performing career with the same Theater Company Wakakusa. She had always personally wanted to return, and when she was in her fifth year back in Japan, she decided she will think about things in her own way and do her best in this world. In an interview in 2008, she said that she could not have done it alone to come this far, and she wanted to express her gratitude to her parents, grandfather, and family.[7]

When Iizuka first resumed her activities, things did not go as she had hoped, and she often failed at auditions and didn't have any luck in getting roles.[7] In fact, she was one of the last people to audition for the Wakaokusama wa Udemakuri! but she was not selected.[9] It was to her chagrin that she was finally selected to play the role of a friend, and she recalls in her blog that it was a fun experience.[9] At that time, Midori Yaegaki, the representative of the company at that time, told her that it was her own power that brought her luck, and she realized that it was no good to be weak and that she had to attract luck herself, and after she started to audition in that way, her appearances in dramas gradually increased.[7]

In 1991, she made her voice acting debut as Tsuneko Tani in the movie Only Yesterday.[1] The audition for the film was the first time she auditioned for voice acting, and at that time she had almost no experience with voice acting auditions, causing her anxiety due to not having the know-how, but she was full of desire to try it.[10][8]

In 1993, Iizuka moved to Yaegaki Office, a directly managed production company of Theater Company Wakakusa.[1] There were no senior members of her office who had debuted as voice actors, and her manager did not know what kind of scenes she would be in, so she often went to dub shows by herself. Although she lacked confidence, she went to the recording sessions with the feeling that her performances would be accepted there.[8] From the age of 19, she began working more and more on TV anime series and OVAs, and from then on, her main activity was as a voice actress, but she still appears on stage and continues to work as an actress.

In 1997, she became widely known for her role as Kasumi in Pokémon. When she was in college, she was thinking of quitting if she didn't find a job that satisfied her by the time she graduated, and that is when she came across the role of Kasumi.[7] Since then, she has expanded her activities and made her debut as a singer with the release of her album Kataomoi (Pioneer LDC) on August 27. In addition, she became the main personality for her first show "Weekly Animage: Mayumi Iizuka's It's Still Sunday!" which was aired from October 12, and started her career as a radio personality. In an interview in 2008, she commented that her world has expanded and that made her realize that there is more than one dream.[7]

In 1998, Iizuka performed her first concert, "VOICE ANIMAGE Presents Mayumi Iizuka First Concert" at Hall A, Tokyo International Forum.[11] In mid-August 2010, she attended the 2010 Shenyang 2nd Anime and Computer Game Expo in Shenyang, China, and gave a small live performance and a speech in Chinese.[12]

On February 28, 2014, she left Yaegaki Office and moved to Kenyu Office on March 1, 2014.[1] On September 1, 2017, she moved from Kenyu Office to Across Entertainment.[13]

Filmography

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Television animation

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Original video animations (OVAs)

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Theatrical animation

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Video games

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Dubbing

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Discography (as a singer)

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All of her songs were sung in the Japanese language.

Singles

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  1. Accele (アクセル / Accele < Accelerator), 1997
  2. Love Letter, 1999
  3. Heart no Tsubasa 2000
  4. Caress/Place to Be, 2000
  5. My Wish, 2000
  6. Yasashi Migite (やさしい右手 / A Tender Right Hand), 2002
  7. Koi no Iro (恋の色 / Color of Love), 2002
  8. Kikaseteyo Kimi no Koe (聴かせてよ君の声 / Give Me the Sound of Your Voice), 2002
  9. Pure, 2003
  10. TRUST - Kimi to Aruku Mirai - (TRUST~君と歩く未来~ / TRUST - Future, Walking with You -), 2011 - Online download only

Albums (full-length)

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  1. Kataomoi (かたおもい / The Unrequited Love), 1997
  2. Mint to Kuchibue (ミントと口笛 / Mint and a Whistle), 1998
  3. So Loving, 1999
  4. Aeris, 2000
  5. Himawari (ひまわり / Sunflowers), 2001
  6. Niji no Saku Basho (虹の咲く場所 / A Place in the Bloom of a Rainbow), 2002
  7. Smile×Smile, 2003 - Produced by Tore Johansson
  8. Infinity, 2004
  9. Mine, 2005
  10. 10Love, 2006
  11. Crystal Days, 2007
  12. Stories, 2008
  13. Fight!!, 2009
  14. Kimi e... (君へ。。。 / To You...), 2009
  15. Ichigo. (いちご。 / Strawberry.), 2012

Mini-albums

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  1. Fly Ladybird Fly, 1998
  2. 23Degrees, 2004
  3. Purezento (プレゼント / The Present), 2005

Best-of albums

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  1. Berry Best, 2001
  2. Bestrawberry, 2005

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "BIOGRAPHY". 飯塚雅弓オフィシャルホームページ「Berry Smile」. Archived from the original on 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2015-03-12.
  2. ^ a b "飯塚雅弓|ACROSS ENTERTAINMENT". Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  3. ^ 飯塚雅弓 (2007-10-11). "星のワルツ☆". 飯塚雅弓オフィシャルブログ「★まーちゃん日和★」. Abeba. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  4. ^ "講師紹介|School". STAYLUCK. Retrieved 2016-02-04.
  5. ^ "飯塚雅弓のプロフィール". ORICON STYLE. Oricon. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
  6. ^ a b "アニソン通信 Vol.18 飯塚雅弓". アニメイトTV WEB. Animate. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2016-04-07.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "突撃インタビュー 飯塚 雅弓". エデュパ. 夏書館. Archived from the original on 2008-03-17. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  8. ^ a b c 綜合図書『声優Premium』vol.2(綜合ムック、2017年)p114-131 ISBN 9784862981820
  9. ^ a b 飯塚雅弓 (2007-03-14). "(☆。☆)!?". 飯塚雅弓オフィシャルブログ「★まーちゃん日和★」. Ameba. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  10. ^ "応援メッセージ 飯塚雅弓". 声優グランプリWEB. Shufunotomo. 17 June 2008. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  11. ^ "Biography". 飯塚雅弓 Artist. Lantis web site. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  12. ^ "日本动漫明星助阵动漫节:爱吃中国烧卖" (in Chinese). 王月宏. Archived from the original on 2011-03-11. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  13. ^ 飯塚雅弓 (2017-09-01). "2017年9月1日". 飯塚雅弓オフィシャルブログ「★まーちゃん日和★」. アメーバブログ. Retrieved 2019-08-22.
  14. ^ "『ポケモン』最終章が本日放送 ラティアスと遭遇&ピカチュウ狙うロケット団…場面カット公開" (in Japanese). Oricon. January 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
  15. ^ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Marvel-Vs-Capcom-2-New-Age-of-Heroes/Tron-Bonne/ [bare URL]
  16. ^ https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Marvel-Vs-Capcom-2-New-Age-of-Heroes/Sonson/ [bare URL]
  17. ^ "『PROJECT X ZONE(プロジェクト クロスゾーン)』登場キャラクター紹介!". s.famitsu.com (in Japanese). July 26, 2012. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "朝鮮ガンマン DVD-BOX1<シンプルBOXシリーズ>(6枚組)". Amazon. 27 May 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  19. ^ "朝鮮魔術師". Sony Pictures Japan. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
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