http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001913491
LOOKING EAST / Maon Kurosaki bridges this world, anime world through song
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Photo by Takamasa Sakurai
6:34 am, February 18, 2015
By Takamasa Sakurai / Special to The Japan NewsRecently, I’ve been paying special attention to artist Maon Kurosaki. Last month, I went to the final concert in Tokyo of her tour that started last year. It was a very entertaining show. I was deeply impressed by her performance with a four-member band, as well as by the stage direction at the three-hour concert.
Kurosaki sings original songs as well as theme songs from anime and games.
Anime song (anison) singers are in the spotlight abroad, too, and they have a lot of competition. My last column was about an anison creator. I interviewed Kurosaki to learn more what being an anison artist is like.
“I dreamed about becoming an anime song singer for a long time,” Kurosaki said. “Now that I’ve made my dream come true, I’m proud of being an anison singer. I don’t want to change my work.”
Kurosaki was raised in a family whose members all had otaku tendencies, including her two elder sisters. When she was young, she expanded her world of fantasy by playing simulation games.
“I thought anime and games were for children, so I stayed away from them for some time because I thought I wasn’t a child anymore,” she said. “But one day, I learned about ‘Rozen Maiden’ and realized anime had evolved a lot. It got me hooked on anime. Soon after, I learned about anison singers, who link anime and music. I was moved by their work.”
“Rozen Maiden” is a science-fiction anime depicting battles between dolls. It has many fans at home and abroad.
“I’d liked R&B until that time, but when I heard Ali Project’s very creative theme songs for ‘Rozen Maiden,’ I was surprised. I didn’t know there was music like that. That’s how I started seriously listening to anison,” Kurosaki said.
Another turning point came in 2008, when she saw a performance by Minami Kuribayashi at the Animelo Summer Live in 2008. “It changed my life. It made me feel I wanted to become an anison singer like her. I was moved by anison singers’ love of anime and anime songs,” she said.
How do anison singers feel when they are singing anison at their own concerts?
“I think many people think of the anime when they listen to anison on CDs, just like they do when they’re listening to the songs while watching the anime,” Kurosaki said. “Anison isn’t just for me. Expressing the world of anime through singing is very important. When I write lyrics and sing them, I’m always hoping their appeal won’t fade even 10 years or 20 years later.”
At her concerts, however, Kurosaki wants to sing songs using her own lyrics, even though they are anison, she said.
“So when I write lyrics, I always leave a trace of my own feelings in the song so that my feelings and the character’s overlap somewhere in the song,” she said. “For example, I make the verse and the chorus focus on the anime and include words describing my own raw feelings in the song’s catchy parts.”
People who have thought about anime production involving the huge number of people probably understand how difficult this is. Once the difficulties are overcome, however, the anison begins shining to the world.
Asked what elements of anison attract her, Kurosaki said it was difficult to answer, as she found herself attached to anime without realizing it.
“In each anime, there is an invisible world filled with awe. In some moments, the characters’ feelings and thoughts are the same as my feelings. That makes this world and their world suddenly look alike,” she said. “At such times I think human beings may be fundamentally the same. I’m very moved by that thought. Anime makes me feel such possibilities — that’s one attraction of anime for me.”
Even though the characters are all Japanese in Japanese anime, their world can be found nowhere in the universe, while at the same time it’s no different from the real world. When children across the world who grow up watching animated films want to watch anime as teenagers and adults, they are naturally attracted to Japanese anime for such reasons. They are also attracted to anison, those great creations by artists who deeply love anime.
Kurosaki is often invited to anime events overseas.
“I went to Bangkok last year for the first time. The audience sang a very difficult song of mine in unison. I almost cried,” she said. “We’re connected with people in other places via Twitter or blogs. But each time I go overseas, there are many things I notice that I wouldn’t online. I want to sing overseas more.”
In addition to overwhelming her listeners with the power of her singing, Kurosaki likes to wear Lolita fashion clothing. When talking with her, I noticed many of her interests transcend borders.
(The next installment will appear Feb. 28.)
Sakurai is a content producer who uses events and seminars to engage in “pop culture diplomacy.” Follow him at
http://twitter.com/sakuraitakamasaSpeech
I think I'll go watch some cover xD
. There's just this charm about them.