Ai Kayano

Kayano has also contributed music to productions in which she appeared. Like many prominent Japanese voice actors, she has performed character songs, ending themes, and insert songs, often as part of ensemble casts. In Anohana, she joined Haruka Tomatsu and Saori Hayami for the ending theme cover "Secret Base - Kimi ga Kureta Mono (10 years after Ver.)," one of the songs closely associated with that series' emotional impact.

After leaving Pro-Fit, Kayano worked freelance before joining Office Osawa in 2015. She also hosted Kayanomi, a web program centered on sake and food, reflecting an entertainment career that extended beyond acting into personality-driven media. In 2012 she won a Best Newcomer Award at the 6th Seiyu Awards, confirming the industry's recognition of her rapid rise.

Kayano's career has included controversy as well as success. In 2021, a social-media post connected to a visit to Yasukuni Shrine prompted backlash in China, and some Chinese versions of games removed or replaced her voice lines. Reliable coverage describes the removals as a response to that backlash; it should not obscure the broader record of her long-running work across Japanese animation. By the mid-2020s, Kayano remained a major seiyu whose performances were central to several internationally popular anime franchises.

References:

[1] Wikipedia, "Ai Kayano" — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ai_Kayano

[2] Office Osawa, "Ai Kayano" profile — https://osawa-inc.co.jp/women/kayanoai/

[3] Anime News Network, "Ai Kayano" encyclopedia profile — https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=91009

[4] Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Database, "Kayano Ai" — http://www.usagi.org/doi/seiyuu/kayano-ai.html

[5] Seiyu Awards, 6th Seiyu Awards winners archive — https://www.seiyuawards.jp/

[6] Anime News Network, "Noitamina's C, Anohana Promotional Videos Streamed" — https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-03-10/noitamina-c-anohana-promotional-videos-streamed

[7] Anime News Network, "Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo Light Novels Get TV Anime" — https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2012-04-08/sakurasou-no-pet-na-kanojo-light-novels-get-tv-anime

[8] Anime News Network, "No Game, No Life Anime's 1st Promo Video, Cast, Staff Unveiled" — https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-12-29/no-game-no-life-anime-1st-promo-video-cast-staff-unveiled

[9] Anime News Network, "Voice Actress Ai Kayano Shares Her Love of Sake in New Web Series" — https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2016-04-27/voice-actress-ai-kayano-shares-her-love-of-sake-in-new-web-series/.101526

[10] South China Morning Post, "Japanese actress Ai Kayano sparks anger in China after Yasukuni Shrine visit" — https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3121883/japan-voice-actress-ai-kayano-sparks-anger-chinas-social-media