Acting career In 1998, Hirano joined the Tokyo Child Theatrical Group division of the company. After starting her acting career, Hirano began to appear in
commercials and received her first role as a
voice actress at 14 years old in the 2001
anime series
Angel Tales. In 2002, when she was 15, she voiced co-lead character
Lumiere in
Kiddy Grade. After graduating from high school, Hirano began seriously pursuing her voice acting and solo singing career. Her big break came in 2006, when she was cast as the voice of
Haruhi Suzumiya, the
title character and
heroine of the anime series
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. This success was followed by her voicing
Reira Serizawa in
Nana and
Misa Amane in
Death Note. the same role also won her a nomination as "Best Main Character (female)". At the same awards, she was also nominated for "Best Supporting Character (female)", and earned two nominations for "Best Single" (one of which was for a solo, "Bōken Desho Desho?"; the other was a group nomination for the single "
Hare Hare Yukai"). She also won in the Voice Acting category at the 2007
Tokyo Anime Awards for her role as the lead character in
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Hirano performed at the
Animelo Summer Live concerts between 2006 and 2008, as well as the
Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisō concert on March 18, 2007. She was a guest at
Anime Expo 2007, along with other cast members from
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya,
Minori Chihara and
Yūko Gotō. In 2007, she continued to enjoy great success in her career, landing the role of
Konata Izumi in the anime version of
Lucky Star. In April 2011, Hirano announced that she had been prohibited from taking on new voice acting roles since the previous year. She still continued voicing characters for anime that received additional seasons or extended runs. Citing a need for a new agency that was more ideal for her career wishes, she announced on August 12, 2011, that she had left Space Craft Entertainment. On August 21, Hirano moved to the voice acting agency Grick. Days later, on August 27, she posted a message on her Twitter account, confirming that she had resumed new voice acting roles in anime. In 2016, after a stint in the musical
The Mystery of Edwin Drood in Tokyo, Hirano spent four months studying English and voice in New York.
Music career Hirano's music career began as part of the band SpringS, which was active from 2002 to 2003. She then released two character
image songs in 2005: , which was used as an ending theme to the
original video animation Itsudatte My Santa!, and , which was an image song for her character
Mamori Anezaki in the anime series
Eyeshield 21. Hirano's first solo single under the record label
Lantis was "
Breakthrough", which was released on March 8, 2006; the title track was used as the opening theme of the visual novel
Finalist. Her next single was , which was released on April 26, 2006; the title track is used as the opening theme of
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The CD sold out in Japan the very day it was released. This was followed by the release of an image song single for her character Haruhi Suzumiya on July 5, 2006, which contained the songs and . Her third single was released on September 6, 2006. Hirano released her fourth single "Love Gun" on October 10, 2007. This was followed by her fifth single "
Neophilia" which was released on November 7, 2007, and her sixth single "
MonStAR" which was released on December 5, 2007. Hirano released her seventh single "
Unnamed World" on April 23, 2008; the title track was used as the ending theme to the anime series
Nijū Mensō no Musume. This was followed by the release of her first solo album
Riot Girl on July 16, 2008. Hirano released her eighth single "Set me free / Sing a song!" on April 29, 2009. She then released her ninth single "Super Driver" on July 22, 2009; the title track is used as the opening theme of the second season of
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Her second album was released on November 18, 2009. To promote the single, she created a Twitter account which was originally intended to be only used for one day; In May 2011, Hirano released a compilation album titled
Aya Museum. On August 2, 2011, Japanese magazine
Bubka confirmed that she was dismissed by Lantis due to her sleeping with several band members. She then returned to music in 2012 and was signed to the record label
Universal Sigma. Her first release on the label was the mini album
Fragments on May 23, 2012. This was followed by the song which was released on August 15, 2012; the title track is used as the ending theme to the anime film
Fairy Tail the Movie: Phoenix Priestess. In 2013, Hirano released two singles: "TOxxxIC" which was released on February 20, and "Promise" which was released on October 9; "Promise" was used as an insert song in the documentary film
Kitakitsune Monogatari: Ashita e. She released her fourth album
Vivid on February 19, 2014. In 2018, Hirano performed the song "Pride", which was used as a character song to the mobile game
Granblue Fantasy. On April 24, 2020, Hirano posted a video of herself dancing and teaching the choreography of "
Hare Hare Yukai" on her social media accounts to motivate others during the height of the
COVID-19 pandemic, sparking the hashtag . This created a trend of
cover dances of "Hare Hare Yukai" posted to the hashtag, participants of which included
Tomokazu Sugita (the voice actor of Kyon) This led "Hare Hare Yukai" to chart at no. 6 on the
Billboard Japan Hot Animation in the same week. On May 10, 2025, she released "Evolutions", a single under the Lantis label. ==Personal life==