Maaya Sakamoto (坂本真綾, Sakamoto Maaya, born March 31, 1980 in Itabashi, Tokyo) is a Japanese seiyū and singer who made her debut in 1996 as the voice of Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne. She sings songs in both Japanese and English.
She is set to voice Alphard, alongside Miyuki Sawashiro who voices the titular character in the anime Canaan. She also does the voice of Padmé Amidala in the Japanese dub of Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III. She reprised the role in the current ongoing American 3D CGI animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Her latest single Ame ga Furu was released on October 29, 2008
About
Maaya is a graduate from Toyo University (Bachelor in Sociology). Her favorite colors are pink and brown, while her hobbies are performing, reading and singing.[citation needed] Her blood type is A.
She was one half of the seiyū duo "Whoops!!", alongside Chieko Higuchi. She has been called お姉さま(Onee-sama), a respectful way of saying "older sister" by her Ouran co-host Ayaka Saitō.
Nothing much is known about her family except that her father, Yoshimi Sakamoto, is an expert in stage lighting. When she was at AnimeFest in 2005, she said that her favorite Western bands are Oasis and Maroon 5. She also has had at least one song, that appeared on the NHK program, Minna no Uta.
