Minori Chihara


Minori Chihara is a Japanese voice actress and singer who has had roles in several anime series. She is well known for her voice role as Yuki Nagato in The [Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya] and Leon in The iDOLM@STER, while in her musical career, she has been signed under King Records and Lantis. She was born in the city of Utsunomiya, Tochigi and was raised in Saitama. She was affiliated with the talent agency HoriPro International.

Career

;2003
  • From April to September, Chihara served as the assistant to Mariko Kōda's OBC radio program Kōda Mariko no GM, a position she gained through an audition. She won first place at the Seiyū Grand Prix Club and the right to work in the avex artist academy.
  • In October, she was chosen as one of the top 4 finalists for Pony Canyon, Inc.'s Voice Artist & Singer Audition「VSオーディション2003」 sponsorship contest, but did not win the grand prize.
;2004
  • From April to September, debuted her voice acting career as Aya Natsume in Tenjho Tenge.
  • In December, she began her blog "minorhythm" and at the same time, released her album Heroine
;2005
  • In April, she began work as a host personality for the internet radio program Oshiyaberi Yattemasu along with Masaya Onosaka and Miyu Matsuki as the Thursday group.
  • In May, she began hosting both radio programs Avex presents Chihara Minori no Makenai Radio and Avex presents Chihara Minori no Ikenai Radio.
;2006
;2007
  • On January 24, released the single "Junpaku Sanctuary", ending a two-year hiatus from her personal singing career.
  • On March 18, performed in the Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou concert.
  • In May, began the radio program in conjunction to her blog called Radio Minorhythm on Wednesdays as part of the Lantis web radio lineup.
  • On June 6, released the single "Kimi ga Kureta Anohi".
  • From June 29 to July 2, appeared at Anime Expo 2007 along with Aya Hirano and Yūko Gotō at Long Beach, California as a guest of honor.
  • On July 7, performed in the Animelo Summer Live 2007 Generation-A concert.
  • On August 16, held a press conference that was broadcast to 115 storefronts across Japan to announce three important news items: the release of her new album Contact on October 24, her tour Live opening on November 18 as part of her birthday concert, and the release of her PV collection DVD slated for December 2007.
  • On December 26, released the PV DVD Message 01. A follow-up track to the album Contact titled "Contact 13th" was bundled with the DVD as an extra CD.
;2008
  • On March 26, released the single "Melty Tale Storage".
  • On April 1, her official fanclub m.s.s. was opened.
  • On August 6, released the single "Ameagari no Hana yo Sake"
  • On August 30, performed at Animelo Summer Live 2008 – Challenge day 1, including a duet with Masami Okui.
  • On November 5, released the single "Paradise Lost"
  • On November 26, released the album Parade
  • On December 7, performed in the Dream Stage concert at the Fancy Frontier convention held in Taipei, Taiwan.
;2009
;2010
;2011
  • On February 9, released the singles "Defection" and "Key for Life"
  • On April 4, released the PV DVD Message 04
  • On July 6, released the single "Planet Patrol"
  • On August 27, performed at Animelo Summer Live 2011 rainbow day 1, including a duet with Yukari Tamura.
  • On October 19, released the single "Terminated"
;2012
  • On February 29, released the album D-Formation
  • On March 21, released the single "Celestial Diva"
  • On July 11, released the single "Zone//Alone"
  • On August 26, performed at Animelo Summer Live 2012 Infinity day 2, including a duet with Chiaki Ishikawa.
  • On October 24, released the single "Self Producer"
;2013
;2014
  • From April to June, played the role of Miku Izayoi in Date a Live II.
;2015
;2021
  • On April 3, she announced her retirement from singing.
  • On December 26, she performed her last concert Minori Chihara the Last Live 2021 Re:Contact.
;2022
  • On March 31, she announced that she has left HoriPro International.
  • On April 1, she opened the YouTube Channel Minorhythm.
;2023
  • On August 4, she performed her resume concert Chihara Minori LIVE 2023 We are stars!.
;2025
  • On March 1, her resume digital single "Message" was released.

    Personal life

In May 2020, Weekly Flash reported that Chihara was in a six-year relationship with violinist, who was married at the time. Muroya and Chihara admitted to the relationship, though Muroya claimed they ended their relationship in 2016.

Filmography

Anime (films, TV, and web)

Singles

Albums

Character singles

DVD

  • Message 01, released December 26, 2007
  • Minori Chihara 1st Live Tour 2008 Contact DVD, released June 25, 2008
  • Message 02, released February 4, 2009
  • Minori Chihara Live Tour 2009 Parade DVD, released June 24, 2009
  • Message 03, released April 10, 2010
  • Minori Chihara Live Tour 2010:Sing All Love DVD, released November 10, 2010
  • Minori Chihara Summer Camp 2 DVD, released February 23, 2011
  • Message 04, released April 4, 2012

    Book

  • Minorhythm, published March 30, 2006
  • Minori Chihara Live Tour 2009 〜Parade〜 Live Photobook, published June 24, 2009
  • Chihara Minori First photobook Crescendo, published October 23, 2009
  • Minori Chihara Live Tour 2010 〜Sing All Love〜 Live Photobook, published October 27, 2010
  • Memories, published September 6, 2011
  • MINORI CHIHARA 10th ANNIVERSARY ARTIST BOOK LOVE LETTER, published November 18, 2014
  • Minorin Collection published July 29, 2016
  • Chihara Minori photobook minoreal published March 18, 2020