Karen Iwata

Karen Iwata (岩田 華怜, Iwata Karen, born May 13, 1998, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture) is an actress and former member of the Japanese idol girl group AKB48 under Team A.^[2]

Karen Iwata 岩田 華怜
Karen Iwata in 2016
Background information
Born	(1998-05-13) May 13, 1998 (age 25)^[1] Sendai, Miyagi, Japan
Origin	Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan
Genres	J-pop
Occupation(s)	Japanese idol singer voice actress actress
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	2011–present

Biography

Iwata was born on May 13, 1998, in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Her mother is Miwa Sugawara, who works as a TV personality in Sendai. As a child, Iwata and her mother appeared in local information programs together, and musicals. She auditioned for AKB48, but the Tōhoku earthquake struck just before the final screening and she was affected by the disaster, so she considered withdrawing from the audition. However, the auditions were postponed, so Iwata continued to participate and was selected to join the group as a 12th kenkyusei (trainee) in April 2011.^[3][4]

In December 2011, Iwata auditioned for a role in the TV animated series AKB0048 and was selected to play the main character, Nagisa Motomiya.^[5] As part of the anime project, she sang with eight other AKB48 members in the subunit No Name on the show's theme songs.^[6][7] In March 2012, during the Saitama Super Arena concert, Iwata was one of the trainee members who were promoted to full AKB48 members in the new Team 4. She also participated on her first A-side, on the AKB48 single Manatsu no Sounds Good!.^[8] In July 2012, Iwata was selected to host a TV program on NHK as part of a series to support the areas affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which included Sendai. She mentioned that she had lived in a shelter for a while before auditioning for AKB48.^[4] On August 24, 2012, AKB48 had a major restructuring, in which Team 4 was dissolved, and Iwata was moved to Team A.^[9][10] On January 5, 2016, Iwata announced she would be leaving the group.^[11] AKB48 held her graduation events for Iwata in March 2016.^[12]

Just before graduating from AKB48, she moved to the Japanese major talent agency Horipro.^[12] She has appeared in numerous stage productions, musicals, films and TV dramas, as well as appearing in concerts organised by Horipro, performing songs and dances from her AKB48 days. In June 2021, she appeared in a concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 12th generation of AKB48, her first appearance in five years at an AKB48 theatre.^[13] She is currently playing the role of Delphi Diggory in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in Tokyo from June 2022.^[14]

Discography

Singles

With AKB48

A sides

• "Manatsu no Sounds Good!"^[8][15]

B sides

• "Kaze wa Fuiteiru"
  • "Tsubomitachi" – Team 4+Kenkyūsei
• "Give Me Five!"
  • "New Ship" – Special Girls A
• "Gingham Check"
  • "Ano Hi no Fūrin" – Waiting Girls
• "Uza"
  • "Tsugi no Season" – Under Girls
  • "Kodoku na Hoshizora" – Team A
• "So Long!"
  • "Ruby" – Team A
• "Sayonara Crawl"
  • "Bara no Kajitsu" – Under Girls
  • "Ikiru Koto" – Team A
• "Heart Electric"
  • "Kaisoku to Doutai Shiryoku" – Under Girls
  • "Kiss made Countdown" – Team A
• "Mae shika Mukanee"
  • "Konjo" – Talking Chimpanzees
• "Labrador Retriever"
  • "Kimi wa Kimagure" – Team A
• "Kokoro no Placard"
  • "Sailor Zombie" – Milk Planet
• "Kibōteki Refrain"
  • "Juujun na Slave" – Team A
  • "Utaitai" – Katareagumi (Cattleya Group)
• "Kuchibiru ni Be My Baby"
  • "Yasashii Place" – Team A
• "Kimi wa Melody"
  • "M.T. ni Sasagu" – Team A

With Hana wa Saku Project

Title	Release date	Chart position	Notes
		Oricon Weekly Singles Chart
"Hana wa Saku" (花は咲く)	May 23, 2012	17	Single by Hana wa Saku Project Participated in the main single and "Hana wa Saku Iwata Karen ver."

With No Name

• "Kibō ni Tsuite" (August 1, 2012)
• "Kono Namida o Kimi ni Sasagu" (April 10, 2013)

With Wake Up, Girls! Project

Title	Release date	Chart position	Notes
		Oricon Weekly Singles Chart
"Wake Up, Best!3"	March 28, 2018	27	as Megumi Yoshikawa, member of I-1 club Participated in "knock out".

Appearances

TV dramas

• Majisuka Gakuen 2 (Final episode, July 1, 2011, TV Tokyo), as Rena
• Majisuka Gakuen 3 (Episode 8, September 7, 2012, TV Tokyo)
• Sailor Zombie (2014, TV Tokyo), as Milk Planet, Karen
• Majisuka Gakuen 4 (First episode, January 19, 2015, Nippon TV), as Masamune
• Majisuka Gakuen 5 (Episode Nine, October 6, 2015, Hulu), as Anison

Films

• Solomon's Perjury (2015), as Saori Kawara^[16]
• The Magnificent Nine (2016), as Kayo^[17]
• Saki Achiga-hen episode of Side-A (2018), as Seiko Matano^[18]
• The Last Passenger (2023), as Mizuki^[19]
• Eternal New Mornings (2023), as Shoko Miyamoto^[20]

Anime

• AKB0048 (April 29, 2012 – July 22, 2012), as Nagisa Motomiya
• AKB0048 Next Stage (January 5, 2013 – March 30, 2013), as Nagisa Motomiya/Atsuko Maeda the 14th

TV variety shows

• Tosugeki! Namaiki TV (突撃!ナマイキTV) (2003 – 2010, Higashinippon Broadcasting)
• Ariyoshi AKB Kyōwakoku (有吉AKB共和国) (July 1, 2011 – 2016, TBS)
• Shūkan AKB (週刊AKB) (March 16, 2012 – 2016, TV Tokyo)
• AKBingo! (July 18, 2012 – 2016, Nippon TV)
• Ashita e 1 min "Karen no Fukkō Calendar" (August 28, 2012 – March 7, 2016, NHK General TV) — host^[4]
• Zenryoku Ōen! NHK-hai Fugure 2012: Ginban Athlete-tachi (November 11–15, 2012, NHK General TV, NHK BS1) — host

Stages

• Broadway Musical Footloose (September 15 – October 12, 2014), as Wendy Joe^[21]
• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc (June 16 – July 16, 2016), as Aoi Asahina^[22]
• Wake Up, Girls! Record of Green Leaves (Aoba no Kiroku) (January 19 – 22, 2017), as Megumi Yoshikawa^[23]
• Silent Möbius (March 29 – April 2, 2017), as Katsumi Liqueur^[24]
• CEDAR Produce vol.3 The Robbers (May 31 – June 3, 2018), as Amalia von Edelreich^[25]
• Kami no Kiba: Jinga (January 5, 2019), Guest appearance^[26]
• CEDAR Produce vol.5 Demons (January 23 – 29, 2020), as Lizaveta Nikolaevna Tushina (Liza) ^[27]
• Brighton Beach Memoirs (September 18 – October 13, 2021), as Laurie Morton^[1]
• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (June 16, 2022 – May 28, 2023), as Delphi Diggory^[14]

References

1. "PARCO PRODUCE ブライトン・ビーチ回顧録" (in Japanese). Parco. from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
2. (in Japanese). Archived from the original on April 25, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
3. "【東日本大震災１０年語り継ぐ】元ＡＫＢ・岩田華怜 仙台で被災１週間後に最終審査挑戦 避難所訪問で「お帰り」横断幕に迎えられ「ふるさとの光になる」" (in Japanese). Sports Hochi. March 7, 2021. from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
4. "AKB岩田華怜、中2でNHK冠番組 被災地支援番組ナビゲーターに決定" (in Japanese). Oricon. July 17, 2012. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
5. "アニメ「AKB0048」公開オーディションで声優選抜9名決定" (in Japanese). Natalie. December 13, 2011. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
6. "AKBまゆゆら"声優選抜"が新ユニット「NO NAME」結成！ アニメ主題歌デビュー" (in Japanese). Oricon. April 26, 2012. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
7. "TVアニメ『AKB0048』、主題歌は声優選抜メンバーのユニット"NO NAME"が担当" (in Japanese). My Navi. April 27, 2012. from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
8. (in Japanese). Oricon. March 25, 2012. Archived from the original on October 14, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
9. "Reformation of AKB48 in Tokyo Dome Concert" (in Japanese). August 24, 2012. from the original on October 31, 2012.
10. Green, Scott (August 24, 2012). "AKB48 Announces Tectonic Line-Up Shift". Crunchyroll. from the original on October 22, 2016.
11. "岩田華怜がAKB卒業を発表。泣き崩れるメンバーも" (in Japanese). Oricon Style. January 5, 2016. from the original on January 8, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2016.
12. "AKB岩田華怜が卒業「女優に向け」ホリプロ所属" (in Japanese). Nikkan Sports. March 15, 2016. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
13. "AKB48 12期生10周年特別公演に関するお知らせ" (in Japanese). AKB48. from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
14. "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child official website" (in Japanese). TBS Television and Horipro. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
15. "AKB48、過去最多36人で新曲初披露 HKT兒玉ら15人が初選抜". Oricon Style (in Japanese). March 24, 2012. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
16. AKB48岩田華怜、元bump.y宮武祭が『ソロモンの偽証』に集結！ (in Japanese). Cinematoday Inc. February 3, 2015. from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
17. AKB48岩田華怜、映画「殿、利息でござる！」で時代劇初挑戦 (in Japanese). Natalie. from the original on October 10, 2015. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
18. 咲-Saki-阿知賀編：実写版で桜田ひよりがドラマ、映画初主演 伊藤萌々香、小倉優香も出演 (in Japanese). MANTANWEB. October 4, 2017. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
19. "The Last Passenger". "The Last Passenger" Production Committee. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
20. "有り、触れた、未来". eiga.com. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
21. (in Japanese). Suisei Musical. Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
22. "Danganronpa the stage 2016 official website" (in Japanese). Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2016.
23. "メンバー全員が出演する舞台『Wake Up,Girls！ 青葉の記録』ビジュアル公開――追加キャストも発表！" (in Japanese). Famitsu.com. October 23, 2016. from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
24. "『舞台 サイレントメビウス キャスト・役名大公開！』" (in Japanese). Oddstage. from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
25. (in Japanese). confetti-web. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
26. "GIN GAN EN » 銀岩塩vol.3" (in Japanese). GINGAEN. from the original on January 20, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
27. (in Japanese). confetti-web. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2022.

External links

• Official agency profile at Horipro (in Japanese)
• Karen Iwata at IMDb