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Mermaid Melody Voice Actress Hitomi Terakado Suspends Career

Hitomi Terakado (Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch's Hanon) wrote a farewell message on her official blog last month due to her decision to suspend all of her activities in show business indefinitely. She left the message after finishing her final concert, "Last Memory."

Terakado had announced her decision to suspend her activities in August, and noted that she would also separate herself from her agency.

In her message, she wrote:

My beloved agency friends. My beloved staff. And over all else, my beloved, beloved all of you who have cheered me on. It will be painful to separate from you, but... I have grown this much with the love from you all.

Please let me spread my wings and fly away from you all.

I am hoping that someday, I can return and meet you all again as someone who has grown even more (but not horizontally).

Attending her concert were Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch cast members Asumi Nakata (voice of Lucia Nanami), Mayumi Asano (Rina Tōin), Miyako Itō (Hippo), and Miki Tsuchiya (SheShe).

Terakado worked as a voice and live-action actress, model, and singer. She entered show business when she was four years old by joining an agency, and debuted as an actress in the Gimu ENGI (Acting Out of Obligation) live-action drama in 1996 as an extra at the age of seven. She debuted as a voice actress in the anime adaptation of Pink Hanamori's Mermaid Melody: Pichi Pichi Pitch shojo manga in 2003 as the Aqua Pearl Mermaid, Hanon Hōshō when she was 14 years old. She also played the role of Angelica in Gunslinger Girl.

After announcing her retirement due to personal circumstances in 2008, she returned to show business a year later. In recent years, she has played extras in the NAKAIMO anime, as well as in Polar Bear's Café.