text: mana ashida mana ashida ( , ashida mana , born 23 june 2004 ) is a japanese child actress , and singer . ashida 's first appearance was in asahi broadcasting corporation 's abc short movie 2 , though she rose to prominence after acting in the television drama mother . she became the youngest lead star in japanese drama history when she starred in sayonara bokutachi no youchien . she was the youngest lead actress in a television serial drama by appearing in the serial drama marumo no okite in the spring of 2011 . she also appeared in japanese films such as confessions and usagi drop . ashida and her co - actor fuku suzuki sang the 2011 hit song " maru maru mori mori " , the theme song for the television drama marumo no okite . career early career ashida made her debut appearance in asahi broadcasting corporation 's abc short movie 2 . in 2009 . her first film was the live - action film adaptation of the manga hanbun no tsuki ga noboru sora in 2010 . in the same year , she starred in the film confessions , as manami . she also appeared in the film ghost : in your arms again , a japanese remake of the 1990 film ghost . for her role in this film , she became one of the winners of the " rookie of the year " award at the 34th japan academy awards . in addition to acting , ashida did voice - over roles for foreign films released in japan . she voiced agnes in the japanese version of the film despicable me , and she was the voice of the young fang deng in the japanese release of aftershock . late 2010 – early 2011 : rise to popularity ashida rose to prominence after appearing in the award - winning television drama mother , as reina , a young child abused by her mother . she won awards such as the best supporting actress at the 14th nikkan sports drama grand prix and the special award at the 4th tokyo drama awards for her role . at the age of 6 , ashida became the youngest lead actress in a japanese television drama in the special television drama - cum - movie sayonara bokutachi no youchien in 2011 . in the spring drama season , she became the youngest actress in a drama series when she starred in the television drama marumo no okite . she co - starred in this series with the then - 6 years old actor fuku suzuki . the series received a viewership rating of 23 . 9 % for its last episode , and an average rating of 15 . 48 % for its entire run . she made her singing debut with suzuki . they sang marumo no okite 's theme song , " maru – maru – mori - mori ! ( ・ ・ ・ ! ) " , under the temporary group name of kaoru to tomoki , mook ( 、 , kaoru to tomoki , tama ni ) . this song , recorded into a single , was released on 25 may 2011 by universal music and debuted third on the oricon charts , which made the duo the youngest group in history to achieve a top - 10 position on the oricon charts . the previous record was set by the group ( ) in 2006 . they also participated in the summer edition of the fns music festival , which was broadcast on 6 august 2011 on the fuji television network . on 14 august 2011 , ashida appeared in the nhk music television program music japan with suzuki , actress nozomi ohashi and actor kato . it was the first time all three appeared in the same show , in its segment entitled " mj summer holidays : children 's special " . in early 2011 , ashida appeared in several japanese films , including inu to anata no monogatari , and hankyū densha . late 2011 : solo music and variety host debut ashida co - starred with actor kenichi matsuyama in the manga adaptation usagi drop . she played the main character rin , and was widely praised for her performance . the film 's director , sabu , praised her , saying that her laughter " was always echoing throughout the set , creating a peaceful atmosphere inside the set " . the japan times reviewer mark schilling said that she " seamlessly accomplishes her evolution from forlorn waif to perky if unusually perceptive kid , while effortlessly charming everyone . " . mana ashida won the " best newcomer " award at the 54th blue ribbon awards . she was the youngest person to receive this award , beating the 1983 record set by actress tomoyo harada . in october 2011 , ashida began co - hosting the ntv variety and talk show no with the show 's long - time hosts , masami and asako ito . this made her the youngest regular host of a talk or variety show . on 15 september 2011 , it was announced that ashida would make her solo music debut with universal music . she released her first single with them in october 2011 , and her debut album in late 2011 . the album contained songs that " mama ( mana 's mother ) wants mana - chan to sing " . her official profile on universal music 's website was unveiled during the announcement . the single , a lively dance piece with a cheerful rhythm and similar to maru – maru – mori - mori ! , was entitled " nichiyōbi : gyu gyu good day ! " ( ～ gyu gyu ！ ～ ) . the single was released in japan on 26 october 2011 , and was used in a commercial for seven & i holdings co . it debuted at the 4th position on the oricon weekly charts . this made mana ashida the youngest solo artist to rank in the oricon weekly charts at 7 years and 4 months old , breaking the previous record of 13 years old set by kumiko goto in 1987 . ashida 's debut album , entitled happy smile ! , was released in japan on 23 november 2011 . it debuted at the 8th position on the oricon weekly charts , making mana ashida the youngest artist , at 7 years 5 months old , to have an album in the top 10 position . she beat the previous record of 13 years and 8 months set in 1974 by canadian singer rene . ashida and suzuki became the youngest participants on the annual kōhaku uta gassen singing competition by participating in its 62nd edition . 2012 – present ashida voiced the female lead character of annie in the japanese anime film adaptation of the magic tree house series in the first role in a 2012 film . she performed the theme song of the anime series jewelpet kira ☆ deco ! . the song , entitled " zutto zutto " , was also used in the 2012 anime film jewelpet the movie : sweets dance princess . ashida also appeared in the film , as princess mana . the song was released as a single on 16 may 2012 , and reached number 17 on the oricon weekly singles charts . ashida starred as miu kinoshita , the daughter of a single father who suffered from juvenile alzheimer 's disease , in fuji television 's summer drama series beautiful rain . she also sang its theme song , entitled " ame ni negai o " . written by singer yumi matsutoya , ame ni negai o was the first drama theme song mana performed solo . the single was released in japan on 1 august 2012 . on 27 december 2012 , she held her first solo concert at the shinagawa general citizen hall in tokyo . ashida made her hollywood debut playing the role of young mako mori in the 2013 film pacific rim . she auditioned for the role in october 2011 , when she reportedly impressed the judges with her rich expressiveness . in 2014 , ashida starred in the television series ashita , mama ga inai as post , a child abandoned at birth at a baby hatch . her performance in this television series was highly regarded , with 50 . 8 of viewers expressing high satisfaction with her performance in a survey carried out by oricon . in 2015 , she starred in rugged ! as a 10 - year - old company president in her first lead role in a nhk television drama . personal life ashida was born on 23 june 2004 in nishinomiya , hyogo prefecture . she is commonly nicknamed mana - chan , which is a combination of her given name and the japanese honorific used when addressing children ( ) . ashida revealed that she is a fan of k - pop group kara . she has said that she was " hooked on cycling a unicycle " , and she reads over 60 books per month . filmography films hanbun no tsuki ga noboru sora ( 2010 ) as mirai natsume confessions ( 2010 ) as manami ghost : in your arms again ( 2010 ) as the child ghost despicable me ( 2010 ) as the voice of agnes in the japanese version of the film inu to anata no monogatari ( 2011 ) as mana hankyū densha ( 2011 ) as ami hagiwara aftershock ( 2010 ) as the japanese voice of young fang deng in the film 's japan release . usagi drop ( 2011 ) as rin kaga magic tree house ( 2012 ) as the voice of annie . liar game : saisei ( 2012 ) as cool alice jewelpet the movie : sweets dance princess ( 2012 ) as princess mana no shiro ( 2012 ) as chidori pacific rim ( 2013 ) as mako mori in her childhood despicable me 2 ( 2013 ) as the voice of agnes in the japanese version of the film ( 2013 ) as toyo shibata in her childhood ( 2014 ) as kotoko the peanuts movie ( 2015 ) as the voice of the little red - haired girl in the japanese version of the film . television dramas abc short movie 2 : ( 2009 , abc ) ! ( 2009 , wowow ) ! ! ( 2010 , tbs , episode 3 ) mother ( 14 april – 23 june 2010 , ntv ) – reina ( tsugumi ) toilet no kamisama ( 5 january 2011 , mbs , based on kana 's song " toilet no kamisama " ) – kana ( childhood ) gō ( 2011 , nhk ) – chacha ( childhood ) , sen sayonara bokutachi no youchien ( 30 march 2011 , ntv ) – kanna yamazaki marumo no okite ( 24 april – 3 july 2011 , cx ) – kaoru sasakura no e ( 10 july 2011 , cx , episode 1 ) – kaoru sasakura ( guest ) kono sekai no ni ( 5 august 2011 , ntv ) – chizuru hojo ni atta ( 2011 summer season special ) ( 3 september 2011 , cx ) marumo no okite special ( 9 october 2011 , cx ) – kaoru sasakura ( 16 october – 18 december 2011 , tbs ) – haruka . alice in liar game ( 5 – 8 march 2012 , cx , spinoff of liar game : saisei film ) – alice . beautiful rain ( 1 july 2012 , cx ) – miu kinoshita ashita , mama ga inai ( 15 january 2014 - 12 march 2014 , ntv ) – post gin ( 10 april 2014 - 5 june 2014 , nhk ) - maho ( childhood ) hana - chan no soup ( 30 august 2014 , ntv ) - hana rugged ! ( 21 february 2015 - 28 february 2015 , nhk ) - noa fukami our house ( 17 april 2016- , cx ) - sakurako ban variety ( 1 october 2011 – 31 march 2012 , ntv ) – co - host with masami and ito asako music japan ( 14 august 2011 , nhk ) 62nd kōhaku uta gassen ( 31 december 2011 , nhk ) video games ni no kuni : no ( 2011 ) as voice of the mysterious girl ( ) . discography singles albums happy smile ! ( universal music , 23 november 2011 ) awards 2010 34th japan academy awards : rookie of the year for ghost : in your arms again 4th tokyo drama awards : special award for mother 65th the television drama academy awards : best newcomer for mother 14th nikkan sports drama grand prix : best supporting actress for mother 2011 2011 tokyo drama awards : best performance by an actress for marumo no okite and sayonara bokutachi no youchien 53rd japan record award : special award for maru maru mori mori ! 54th blue ribbon awards : best newcomer for hankyū densha and usagi drop