Haruka Ayase is a prominent Japanese actress who has also taken on select voice acting roles in animated films. Born on March 24, 1985, in Hiroshima Prefecture, her real name is Aya Tademaru. She entered the entertainment industry in 2000 after winning the 25th Horipro Talent Scout Caravan, an event that also gave her the stage name Haruka Ayase. While her career is primarily defined by extensive work in live-action television dramas and films, her voice acting performances are notable for their connection to major animated productions.

Ayase's most recognized voice role is the lead character, Haruka, in the 2009 CGI animated fantasy film Oblivion Island: Haruka and the Magic Mirror. Produced to commemorate Fuji Television's 50th anniversary, the film features Ayase as a sixteen-year-old girl on a quest to recover a treasured hand mirror in a magical world of forgotten things. Her performance contributed to the film receiving a nomination for Excellent Animation of the Year at the 33rd Japan Academy Prize.

In addition to this starring role, Ayase has provided narration for documentary and drama projects. She narrated the 2010 documentary film Neko no Ongaeshi, also known as Nyanko The Movie 4. More recently, she served as the narrator for the 2025 NHK historical drama series Unbound, providing the voice for the character Narration and the spirit Kuramosuke Inari.

After a six-year hiatus from voice work, Ayase returned to lend her voice to the lead character in a major animated feature. She voices Roz, the protagonist robot, in the Japanese-language dub of the DreamWorks Animation film The Wild Robot, which was released in Japan in February 2025. For this role, she portrayed a robot who learns to experience emotions, a transformation she described as a fascinating challenge.