Anna Akana

Anna Kay Napualani Akana (born August 18, 1989)[2] is an American filmmaker, actress, comedian, musician, and YouTuber.

Akana’s father was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, including during her childhood.[3] Her family moved every few years to a new state or country.[4] In a 2020 interview, she said that she loved Sailor Moon, Inuyasha and Ranma ½, expressing her surprise that her dad would make them watch Tenchi Muyo! with him because of its “perverted” nature.[5] She further stated that she loved shows like The Powerpuff Girls, animation in general, and anime, the latter especially because she spent “four years growing up in Japan”.

On Valentine’s Day 2007, Akana’s 13-year-old younger sister, Kristina, died by suicide.[6] Several months after her sister’s death, Akana watched Margaret Cho perform on a Comedy Central special and laughed for the first time since the suicide. She began to see laughter as a means of trying to move on with her life and decided to seriously pursue comedy.[7] Akana has been vocal about her sister’s suicide and is a strong advocate for suicide prevention. In 2013, Akana uploaded a YouTube video, “please don’t kill yourself”, in which she explains how it felt for her to have a family member die by suicide.[8] In that same year, she released a book Surviving Suicide which contains her journal entries from the two years after her sister’s death.[9]

In October 2018, she came out as bisexual.[10]

Akana first started performing comedy at age 19 but switched to YouTube video performances in 2011 after experiencing panic attacks and anxiety before going on stage.[7] She later resumed performing stand-up onstage.