# Tomo Sakurai

Tomo Sakurai (櫻井 智, Sakurai Tomo, born September 10, 1971) is a Japanese actress and singer. Sakurai was a member of I'm Enterprise but later became freelance until her retirement. She previously announced her retirement on September 1, 2016, but on June 1, 2019, she announced that she would return to the entertainment industry.

## Career
### Debut

At 14, Sakurai debuted as a sub-member for "Kiss Fairlies," a group that worked as campaign girls for the local Kijima Motorcycle Racing Team. All members were over 15 years old, aside from Tomo.

### In age of "Lemon Angel"

At 17, she joined the idol-pop unit, Lemon Angel, a counter project of Cream Lemon coordinated by the same company that produced "Kiss Fairlies". The project contained comic, animated, and idol pop units. The unit played themselves in Midnight Anime Lemon Angel. She released 5 albums during her time at Lemon Angel.

### After Lemon Angel

Sakurai joined a new video game idol unit and released one album with this unit. After leaving, she focused her career mainly on voice acting work.

### Retirement

On September 1, 2016, Sakurai announced her retirement from her professional voice acting and singing careers on her official blog post titled "Arigato/Thank You."
She explained: "I used to have a strong vocal cord that couldn't be broken and became stronger even after singing for hours. But recently, I have realized it's becoming more and more difficult for me to use my important voice as an actress. I know it's a natural thing as time goes by, but I can't accept the change, then I understand it's almost time to retire."

### Return

On June 1, 2019, Sakurai announced that she was returning to the entertainment industry.

## Filmography
### Television animation

* Cream Lemon: Lemon Angel (1987), Tomo
* Akazukin Chacha (1994), Marin
* Macross 7 (1994), Mylene Jenius
* El-Hazard (1995), Shayla Shayla
* Saint Tail (1995), Meimi Haneoka/Saint Tail
* Rurouni Kenshin (1996), Makimachi Misao
* Super Doll Licca-chan (1998), Doll Licca
* Shakugan no Shana (2005), Chigusa Sakai
* My-Otome (2005), Lena Sayers
* Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX (2006), Mizuchi Saio
* Idolmaster: Xenoglossia (2007), Azusa Miura
* Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl (2007), Cynthia/Shirona
* Gintama (2009), Hinowa
* The World God Only Knows (2010), Asuka Sora
* Kuromajo-san ga Toru!! (2012), Choco's Mother
* Pocket Monsters: Best Wishes! 2 (2012), Cynthia/Shirona
* Pocket Monsters (2021), Yoshino, Cynthia/Shirona
* Grandpa and Grandma Turn Young Again (2024), Kaede

### Theatrical animation

* Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture (1994), Sulia Gaudeamus

### Original video animation

* Shamanic Princess (1996), Sara
* Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer (1996), Karin Son
* Rurouni Kenshin: New Kyoto Arc (2011), Makimachi Misao

### Video games

* Samurai Shodown III (1995), Rimururu
* Tengai Makyō: Daiyon no Mokushiroku (1997), Yumemi
* The Super Dimension Fortress Macross (2003), Emma Granger

### Audio drama

* Rurouni Kenshin, Kamiya Kaoru

### Dubbing
#### Live-action

* Admission, Portia Nathan (Tina Fey)
* The City of Your Final Destination, Arden Langdon (Charlotte Gainsbourg)
* Dragon Blade, Parthian Queen (Lorie Pester)
* The Monkey King, Chang'e (Gigi Leung)
* The Taking of Tiger Mountain, Ma Qinglian (Yu Nan)
* Third Person, Julia Weiss (Mila Kunis)
* Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon, Yin Ruiji (Angelababy)

#### Animation

* Robinson Crusoe, Kiki
* Chaotic, Codemaster Amzen
* The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, Flapjack