Saeko Chiba

千葉紗子

(2007-08-26) Married on her 30th birthday
Saeko Chiba began ballet at a young age, aiming to join the Takarazuka Revue. However, after failing the entrance exam for Takarazuka Music School in her third year of middle school, she joined the Minami Aoyama Shōjo Kageki Dan (South Aoyama Female Opera Group, also known as Nanshō), a stage group for teenage girls.
After holding several lead roles during her three years with the troupe, Saeko was cast as the lead voice actress for Kotori Haruno in the Sega Dreamcast game Diamond Daydreams. Having experienced voice acting and deciding she preferred it to stage performance, Saeko chose to pursue the career full-time.
Some of her earlier roles include her seiyū debut as Tsubaki Sakura in Kare Kano, Kitsune no Akane in Angel Tales, and Elliot Chapman in Sci-fi Harry. Saeko was known for her long, straight, black hair and seemingly cold appearance, which led to her being cast in various tsundere and 'cool-girl' roles. She then cut her hair short in the spring of 2005, which oddly coincided with the increasing diversity of her roles, as Saeko herself noted in a My-HiME fandisc interview.
Saeko has also pursued a singing career with Yuki Kajiura, who wrote music for some of the Nanshō stage shows and wrote and produced almost all of her material. Her first single was Koi no Kiseki, the theme song for the PlayStation game Meguri Aishite. She has since released nine singles and two albums, along with various character song and drama CDs. She has also performed theme songs for games such as Alundra 2 and Atelier Judie.
Saeko was also part of the group tiaraway with fellow Nanshō member Yuuka Nanri. Originally recording and performing as 'Saeko Chiba & Yuuka Nanri' for Memories Off 2nd, the duo released three singles and an album before breaking up on March 6, 2005.