Hanakawa grew up watching anime and always admired voice actors and idols. Due to her lack of self-esteem, she skipped school often and watched anime at home with her father. She moved out to Tokyo alone in 2016 to attend college, but also had a secret aspiration to become an idol. She became a member of the idol group 22/7, where she portrayed the character Nicole Saito. However due to poor health, she graduated from the group early in 2019, but still continued to pursue voice acting as well as an on-camera career.

After a two-year hiatus, she joined LIBERA and returned to the entertainment industry under a new stage name Yui Asakura. The following year, she auditioned for the role of Sakura Igarashi in Kamen Rider Revice, but was deemed too mature for the role of a high-school student. She received the callback and was cast in Aguilera, a role that was adjusted to tailor-fit Asakura due to her age not being known at the time of her audition.