Genshin Impact finally revealed the seiyuu of Yelan in Version 2.7, she's voiced by the talented Aya Endo, most notably known as Sheryl in Macross Frontier.

I'm sure you already know this much, but popular seiyuu (Japanese voice actors and actresses) are akin to super stars in the anime and game fandom, and Aya Endo is another big name joining the cast of Genshin Impact.

Macross Frontier's Sheryl Joins Genshin Impact as Yelan

Most anime fans outside Japan first heard the voice of Aya Endo via Macross Frontier in 2008, where she voiced Sheryl. Macross Frontier is easily the most popular Macross series ever, and Sheryl is the character Aya Endo is most associated with. It's important to note however that Sheryl's singing voice was handled by May'n.

Overall, Aya Endo is notable for voicing strong-willed and cool-type female characters, though she also has a very wide range. Besides Sheryl, older anime fans remember her as the voice of Miyuki in Kyoto Animation's legendary Lucky Star. She can also voice young boys like Cruz in hilarious anime series Needless.

Aya Endo - Biography, Debut and Career

Aya Endo was born on February 17, 1980 in Yamagata prefecture. Her official profile lists she's 160cm tall and her blood type is O. Aya Endo debuted as a voice actor in 2002, and like nearly every other seiyuu, started by voicing background characters and side characters. I'd say it's definitely voicing Miyuki in Lucky Star in 2007 that made her stand out and truly boosted her career.

Since 2016, Aya Endo is also the current Japanese voice of Minnie Mouse, she replaced the late Yuko Mizutani (Excellen in Super Robot Wars among many other roles) who regrettably passed away in 2016. Endo also took over another Yuko Mizutani role: Iris in the Megaman X series. She voices Iris in Rockman X DiVE.

As a side note Yelan's seiyuu was name-dropped by leakers a few hours before the live stream began.

Notable and Mainstream Anime and Game Characters Voiced by Aya Endo

  • Sky Raker (Fuuko) in Accel World
  • Komugi in Hunter x Hunter (the 2011 TV series remake)
  • Elie in the Trails / Kiseki series
  • Karin in Street Fighter (since SF5)
  • Reanbell in Resonance of Fate
  • Reine in Date A Live
  • Sword Maiden in Goblin Slayer
  • Shoko Ieiri in Jujutsu Kaisen
  • Orsola in the Raildex series
  • Cattleya Baudelaire in Violet Evergarden
  • Komasan in Yokai Watch
  • Quetzalcoatl in FGO, Gilgamesh's child version in the Nasuverse
  • Senpai Red Blood Cell in Cells at Work
  • Angelique in the anime adaptations of the otome game series of the same name by Koei Tecmo
  • Annelotte in Queen's Blade Rebellion
  • Pia the mermaid in Rune Factory 3

Roles in bold are my personal favorites or series I recommend. Personally speaking, while I really appreciate Aya Endo's voice, she's not a Genshin character seller in my book. I was worried that Yelan could have been voiced by Maaya Sakamoto seeing she could fit typecast wise, but I'm guessing HoYoverse is saving Sakamoto for an Archon character. So to be honest I'm kinda relieved. I can skip Yelan with no regrets now, seeing I don't particularly like or dislike her character design. The only reason why you should pull characters in gacha games is if you wanna marry them, not because of the meta.

Either way, I'm looking forward to Yelan's appearance in-game, what her personality is like, and hearing Aya Endo voicing her.

Yelan, voiced by Aya Endo in Japanese, releases on May 31 with Version 2.7

Stay tuned as we'll soon update this story with the 2.7 trailer, where we'll get to hear Yelan for the first time ever. Her English voice actor will also be officially revealed on stream if you're curious. Update: The trailer is included below.

The Genshin Impact Version 2.7 live stream will be starting in a few minutes, be sure to check it out! Genshin Impact is available now on PS4, PS5, PC, and Mobile.