Yui Ogura -- Very Merry Happy Christmas

 

At first, when I saw the name Yui Ogura（小倉唯）and she was identified as a seiyuu, I saw her age and went "That can't be right!". I thought that she was much older. Then I realized that I mistook her for veteran voice actress Yui Horie（堀江由衣）who already has some representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" through articles such as "Poker Face".

In her mid-20s, Yui Ogura has popped up on anime that I have seen such as "Ryūō no Oshigoto!"（りゅうおうのおしごと!...The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!）, the shogi-based manga adapted for TV, and "Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san"（からかい上手の高木さん...Teasing Master Takagi-san） in a supporting role as Sanae Tsukimoto（月本サナエ）, the quietly snarky member of the junior high school trio of buddies. Ogura has even gotten her own PreCure character, Cure Etoile, in "Hugtto! PreCure"（HUGっと!プリキュア）although by that point, I had already considered myself weaned off of the magical girl franchise.

Ogura has also had her time behind the mike as a singer and even being a member of the seiyuu group StylipS. She's released 14 singles and 3 albums thus far, but last year in December, she released her sole digital download single "Very Merry Happy Christmas". With the melody by Masaki Honda（本田正樹）matching the tenor of the adjectives in the title, we get to see a very spritely Ogura celebrating her Christmas time in the video. Aoba Hinata（日南田あおば）provided the lyrics for the singer who hardly sounds anything as laconic as her character Sanae from "Takagi-san". "Very Merry Happy Christmas" got as high as No. 64 on the Billboard Japan Download Songs chart.