Ayane Sakura is a Japanese voice actress born on January 29, 1994, in Tokyo. She is known by the nickname Ayaneru. Sakura was interested in acting from a young age and enrolled in a theater school during her junior high school years, where she studied Japanese dancing, sword fighting, and voice training. She decided to pursue a career in voice acting after realizing stage acting was not the right fit for her. She attended the Japan Narration Acting Institute and joined the talent agency I'm Enterprise in 2009. She made her debut as a voice actress in 2010 in the animated film Keroro Gunso the Super Movie: Creation! Ultimate Keroro, Wonder Space-Time Island and the television series Okami-san and Her Seven Companions. In 2011, she landed her first leading role as the titular character in the anime Dream Eater Merry. A significant early role was providing the voice for the character Hotaru in the critically acclaimed animated film Hotarubi no Mori e.

Throughout the 2010s, Sakura became a prominent and prolific voice actress, taking on a wide array of roles that showcased her vocal range. She is known for her ability to portray various character types, from lively and energetic girls to cool and collected individuals, as well as young boys. Some of her most iconic and long-running roles from this period include Natsumi Koshigaya in Non Non Biyori, Cocoa Hoto in Is the Order a Rabbit?, Tsubaki Sawabe in Your Lie in April, and Iroha Isshiki in My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. In 2015, she played the heroine Nao Tomori in the original anime Charlotte, a performance that was well-received by fans. Starting in 2016, she began voicing Ochaco Uraraka in the massively popular series My Hero Academia, a role she continues to reprise in films and sequels. In 2017, she took on the role of Ran Mitake in the multimedia music project BanG Dream!. That same year, she voiced the character Diamond in Land of the Lustrous, demonstrating her ability to portray a character with a gentle and calm demeanor.

The latter half of the 2010s and early 2020s saw Sakura's career continue to flourish with leading roles in major anime series. She was cast as Yotsuba Nakano in The Quintessential Quintuplets in 2019. The following year, she voiced Hina Sato in The Day I Became a God, marking her second consecutive leading role in a Key/Visual Arts original anime after Charlotte. Her versatility is further evidenced by roles such as the cool and calculating Tomoe in Tsukimichi -Moonlit Fantasy- and the dual role of Louise and Lou in the atmospheric mystery series Shadows House. In 2021, she began voicing Gabi Braun in the final season of Attack on Titan. A significant recurring collaboration is with the production team for the Spy x Family anime, for which she was cast as Fiona Frost in 2022. In 2022, Sakura's role as Sekine in the short-form anime The Little Lies We All Tell was also noted. Her recent work includes major roles in the 2024 fantasy series Dan Da Dan as Aira Shiratori. She continues to be active in long-running franchises, reprising roles such as Mika Shimotsuki in the Psycho-Pass film Providence in 2023 and Lu Shaotang in the 2025 anime Sakamoto Days.

Ayane Sakura's talent and popularity have been recognized with several awards. At the 12th Seiyu Awards in 2018, she won the Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Personality Award for her work in radio and hosting. She has also won awards at the Anime Radio Awards, including Best Radio Grand Prize in 2017 and again in 2018, where she also won Best Female Radio Award. In addition to her anime work, Sakura has voiced countless characters in video games, including major roles such as Prinz Eugen in Azur Lane, Iori Shiromi in Blue Archive, and Yae Miko in Genshin Impact. She was affiliated with I'm Enterprise for over a decade before moving to Aoni Production in February 2022.