--- name: "Aki Maeda" canonical: "https://film.one/person/aki-maeda" fi1m_id: "aki-maeda" imdb_id: "nm0535329" tmdb_id: 31079 wikidata_id: "Q1093071" roles: ["Actor"] born: "11 July 1985" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-28T21:15:31.792275+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Aki Maeda ## Identity Aki Maeda - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/aki-maeda - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** aki-maeda - **IMDb ID:** nm0535329 - **TMDB ID:** 31079 - **Wikidata ID:** Q1093071 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Maeda, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1093071, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535329/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/31079 Actor. Born 11 July 1985 in Tokyo, Japan. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 11 July 1985, Tokyo, Japan - **Also known as:** 前田 亜季, 마에다 아키, Maeda Aki, 前田亚季, 前田亞季, Аки Маэда, آکی مائدا, آکی مائِدا - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aki_Maeda, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1093071, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0535329/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/31079 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Battle Royale*](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) (83) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Aki Maeda > Aki Maeda’s strength is an earnestness that lets teenage feeling matter without asking everyone else to step aside. We value it most in *Battle Royale*, where caring about one girl need not mean forgetting the others. In *Battle Royale* (2000), Aki Maeda’s Noriko Nakagawa still has room for adolescent affection when staying alive ought to occupy every thought. Maeda takes those feelings seriously, without making Noriko seem more deserving of our concern than the other teenagers. We were more upset than we expected by the crushes persisting amid the killing, because she and Tatsuya Fujiwara’s Shuya Nanahara make them feel impossible to switch off. That earnestness is the main reason we rate her here. Kinji Fukasaku is the important collaborator here, giving Maeda and Fujiwara time that a tidier action film would reserve for tactics. Their performances let him keep the teenagers’ feelings present without turning the central pair into the only people who matter. The flashbacks labour the point, a weakness in a film we otherwise recommend strongly. Maeda’s unforced presence makes some of that insistence unnecessary: we already care about Noriko, and do not need every reason for caring set out again. Her early parts included young Ayana Hirasaka in *Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris* (1999), before *Battle Royale* brought her wider attention. She returned as Noriko in *Battle Royale II: Requiem* (2003), then played Kyoko Yamada, the drummer in the girl band in *Linda Linda Linda* (2005). She performed her own drumming for the band scenes, a useful reminder of the preparation an apparently ordinary part can require. These parts fit the recurring place she has had in coming-of-age ensembles, where a character needs to belong among her peers without disappearing among them. Her career has continued through supporting film roles and increasing television work. Restraint has its limits, though: one criticism of her lead performance in *Saishuu Heiki Kanojo* (2006) was insufficient emotional intensity. We would not expect the same unforced manner to answer every script’s demands. Start with *Battle Royale*, but expect to care about its teenagers rather more than its killing-contest premise might suggest. ## Biography Aki Maeda (前田 亜季) is a Japanese actress and singer. Born on 11 July 1985 in Tokyo, she began acting as a child in 1992 and is best known for her role as Noriko Nakagawa (Girl #15) in the 2000 film *Battle Royale*, which she reprised in the 2003 sequel *Battle Royale II: Requiem*. She has appeared in other films including *Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris* (1999), *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack* (2001), *The Cat Returns* (2002, voice), and *Linda Linda Linda* (2005). Maeda graduated from Hosei University in 2008. In 2001 she received the Newcomer of the Year award from the Japan Academy Film Prize for *Battle Royale*. Her older sister is actress Ai Maeda, who is married to kabuki actor Nakamura Kankurō VI. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, themoviedb.org.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *Battle Royale* (2000), Fi1m 83, as Noriko Nakagawa (Girl #15) — [page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) ## Complete filmography (68) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *富士山大噴火 迫る“灰色の悪夢”* (2026), series, Actor - *富士山大噴火 迫る“灰色の悪夢”* (2026), series, Actor - *The Specials* (2026), Actor - *Mary of Magdalene Restaurant* (2025), series, as 杏奈 - *Deaf Voice: A Sign-Language Interpreter in Court* (2023), series, as Matsuyama Chiemi - *The Day I'm Called Papa Again* (2023), series, Actor - *Omokage* (2023), Actor - *Mokuhihan* (2022), Actor - *Home Appliance Samurai* (2022), series, as Shizue | Ito Misa - *Enzaihan* (2021), series, as Akemi Koyama - *A Madder Red* (2021), as Sachiko - *I Never Shot Anyone* (2020), as Ami Nakamichi - *Ima da kara, shinsaku drama tsukuttemimashita* (2020), series, as Chiaki Morimoto - *The Return* (2019), as Oaki - *Motherhood* (2019), as Mia Sakaguchi - *When a Tree Falls* (2019), Actor - *An Artist of the Floating World* (2019), as Ono Noriko - *Good Doctor* (2018), series, as Ichikawa Shiori - *Woman of Rumor* (2018), series, as Hiromi Hiratsuka - *Life as a Girl* (2018), series, Actor - *ドラマスペシャル 松本清張 鬼畜* (2017), Actor - *Copyface* (2016), series, as Chihiro Moriyama - *Onihei side story: The Final Chapter - The Fourth Wife* (2016), as Oritsu - *Case 17* (2016), as Narumi Suzumura - *農業女子“はらぺ娘”* (2015), Actor - *Taikomochi no tatsujin: Tadashii XX no homekata* (2015), series, Actor - *Hanasaki Mai Speaks Out* (2014), series, as Natsuko Kawashima - *Gochisousan* (2013), series, as Horinohata Sakurako - *The Last Hope* (2013), series, as 우타 토모코 - *Aokigahara* (2013), Actor - *Kasha* (2011), as Kozue Kimura - *CSI: Crime Scene Talks* (2011), series, Actor - *Shinsengumi Keppūroku* (2011), series, Actor - *Hissatsu shigotonin 2010* (2010), Actor - *Hissatsu Shigotonin 2010* (2010), Actor - *Absolute Zero* (2010), series, as Kaori Fujii - *Silver Rain* (2009), as Kikue - *Bocho Mania 09* (2009), series, Actor - *Samurai Gangsters* (2008), Actor - *Gonzo: The Legendary Detective* (2008), series, as Monami Amano - *4 Shimai Tantei Dan* (2008), series, Actor - *Romance Of Darkness* (2006), as Rikka Nikaidou - *Saikano: The Last Love Song on This Little Planet* (2006), as Chise - *Harami: White Fear* (2005), Actor - *Linda Linda Linda* (2005), as Kyoko Yamada - *Higuchi Ichiyo Monogatari* (2004), Actor - *Out of This World* (2004), as Ryoko Yoda - *Battle Royale II: Requiem* (2003), as Noriko Nakagawa - *The Armchair Detective and the Family of Flutists* (2003), Actor - *AIBOU: Tokyo Detective Duo* (2002), series, Actor - *The Cat Returns* (2002), as Yuki (voice) - *Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack* (2001), as Twin Girl - *Love of a Thousand Years - Story of Genji* (2001), Actor - *High School Girl's Friend* (2001), Actor - *Princess Comet* (2001), series, as (voice) - *Battle Royale* (2000), as Noriko Nakagawa (Girl #15) — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/film/battle-royale.md) - *The Boy Who Saw the Wind* (2000), as Maria (voice) - *モナリザの微笑* (2000), series, Actor - *P.P.O.I.* (1999), series, as Ichinose Hinaki - *Gamera 3: Revenge of Iris* (1999), as Young Ayana Hirasaka - *School Ghost Story G* (1998), Actor - *Hitoribocchi no Kimi ni* (1998), series, Actor - *Pride* (1998), as Kimie Tojo - *Shokuki* (1998), as Ayumi - *Haunted School 3* (1997), as Mayuko Fujii - *Haunted School 2* (1996), Actor - *Gamera 2: Advent of Legion* (1996), as Girl in Sendai - *白虎隊～敗れざる者たち*, series, Actor ## Gallery - ![Aki Maeda](https://film.one/media/person/97038/gallery-c9104f4b4663.jpg) Aki Maeda — Image via TMDB - ![Aki Maeda](https://film.one/media/person/97038/gallery-5b387aca008b.jpg) Aki Maeda — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/aki-maeda