Rie Murakawa

Rie Murakawa (村川 梨衣, Murakawa Rie, born June 1, 1990) is a Japanese voice actress, singer and radio personality from Saitama Prefecture, Japan. She is currently affiliated with Stay Luck. She is known for her roles as Hotaru Ichijō in Non Non Biyori, Escha Malier in Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky and Ram in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World.
Murakawa made her solo debut as singer on June 1, 2016, with the double A-side single "Sweet Sensation/Baby, My First Kiss", released under the Nippon Columbia record label. Her stints hosting the radio programs Etotama Radio ~ Soruraru Kure Nya! ~ and Non Non Biyori Web Radio Non Non Dayori Repeat! Nanon led her to winning the Best Funny Radio (Rookie) and Best Comfort Radio (General) awards at the 2nd Aniraji Awards in 2016. She released her first solo album in January 2017, and she released her second solo album in February 2018.
Murakawa was born in Saitama Prefecture on June 1, 1990. From an early age, she had an interest in playing games as well as magical girl anime such as Sailor Moon and Magic Knight Rayearth. During her fifth grade of elementary school, she transferred to another school, an event that years later she would later cite as a common point with her character Hotaru Ichijō in the anime series Non Non Biyori.
During her fifth grade of elementary school, Murakawa started becoming interested in voice acting after watching the anime series Hunter × Hunter, which had been recommended to her by an older cousin. She was inspired by the voice acting performance of Yuki Kaida as the character Kurapika, and she also became interested in the voice of the series' main character, Gon Freecss. After this, she attempted to find ways to audition for voice acting roles, but was stopped. However, her parents promised her that they would let her become a voice actress in the future.
During her junior high school years, Murakawa attempted to join her school's theater club as a first step towards pursuing a voice acting career, but eventually abandoned this and instead joined the school's basketball club, which she would remain part of for three years. She then decided to enroll in a high school with a thriving theater club to help develop her acting skills. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at the vocational college Human Academy in 2009. Following her graduation from Human Academy in 2011, she enrolled at the Haikyō's voice acting school, finishing her studies that same year.
After becoming a part of the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society following her graduation from their acting school, Murakawa began playing roles in anime series. Her first anime role was as the character Coco in the 80th episode of the anime series Fairy Tail. She would continue to play supporting roles until 2013, when she was cast in her first main role as Aoi Futaba in the anime series Vividred Operation. That same year, she played a role in the anime film Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rouge, which greatly pleased her as Hunter × Hunter was what originally inspired her to become a voice actress. Later that year, she was cast as Hotaru Ichijō in the anime series Non Non Biyori, and Escha Malier in the video game Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky.
In 2014, Murakawa reprised the role of Escha for the anime series adaptation of Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky. She also played the role of Megumi Natsu in Is the Order a Rabbit? and Ruri Aoi in Minarai Diva. In 2015, she was cast as the role Nyaa-tan in Etotama, and in 2016 she played the role of Ram in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World In 2017, she played the role of Constanze in Little Witch Academia, and in 2018 she played the role of Anzu in Hinamatsuri.
In 2019, she voiced Eyeone, a major villain in Star Twinkle PreCure, the 16th season of the Pretty Cure franchise. Murakawa has announced her interest in voicing a mainstream Pretty Cure.
On October 1, 2020, Murakawa transferred from Haikyō to Stay Luck.
Murakawa's music career began with the release of her first single "Sweet Sensation/Baby, My First Kiss" on June 1, 2016; the song "Sweet Sensation" was used as opening theme to the anime series Age 12: A Little Heart-Pounding. Her second single "Dokidoki no Kaze" (ドキドキの風) was released on November 2, 2016; the title track is used as the ending theme to the anime series Kiss Him, Not Me. She released her first album RiEMUSiC on January 11, 2017. This was followed by two singles that year: "Tiny Tiny"/"Mizuiro no Fantasy" (水色のFantasy) on May 17, and "Night terror" on October 11; "Tiny Tiny" was used as the opening theme to the anime series Frame Arms Girl, She released her second album RiESiNFONiA on February 28, 2018, and she released the single "Distance" on May 23, 2018; the song "Distance" was used as the opening theme to Hinamatsuri. She released the single "Hajimari no Basho" (はじまりの場所) on February 20, 2019; the title song is used as the ending theme to the anime series Forest of Piano. In the second season of Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World anime, the song "Anata no Shiranai Koto" (あなたの知らないこと) was used as the insert song in episode 23.