Daisuke Ono is a male Japanese seiyuu, or voice actor, who got his big break thanks to a role in a popular anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Like many seiyuu, he moonlights as a second-tier pop star, performing both original material and "character songs" related to his anime work. Born in 1978 in Kochi, Ono studied at the Nihon University College of Art, aiming to work in TV broadcasting but switching to voice acting after some criticism. His debut came in 2002, when he received small part in Full Metal Panic! He did over 30 minor roles in the next two years, but it wasn't until he voiced a main character in the romantic series Air in 2005 that he really began to make a name for himself. His stardom began in 2006, when he voiced The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, as well as a Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer mini-series (OVA), and became involved with the gaming industry, voicing a character in the Sonic the Hedgehog series of games. He had no big seiyuu projects in 2007, aside from the lead in Black Butler, but debuted as a musician, releasing some character singles and the character album Vitamin X Character CD Diamond Disc with Suzuki Tatsuhisa, as well as the original EP Hinemosu, which didn't create much fuss, charting at number 73. His 2008 singles "Amaoto" and "Manatsu no Spica" reached numbers 17 and 23, respectively; that year Ono also released two character albums (both for which he collaborated) and a number of singles, and voiced main characters in Monochrome Factor, Neo Angelique Abyss, and Shina Dark. The following year was even bigger for Ono, who voiced the male protagonist in Final Fantasy XIII and scored five lead roles in anime series, not counting two more Haruhi Suzumiya productions. He released his first full-length album, Kazahana, which charted at a respectable number 13. ~ Alexey Eremenko, Rovi