Shopping Guide
New artists have been announced for the large-scale, midsummer anime song event “Animelo Summer Live 2013 -Flag Nine-,” which will be held for three days from Aug. 23-25. The new artists are Earthmind, Eir Aoi, Luna Haruna, Eri Kitamura, Ayana Taketatsu, Yoko Hikasa, and Petit Milady.
This year marks the ninth time “Animelo Summer Live” will be held, and also the first time the concert will be held over three days. Advance tickets cost 8,500 yen (tax included), and all tickets cover all three days.
Let’s take an in-depth look at each of the artists announced this time.
Earthmind
Earthmind is a three-person group consisting of Erina on vocals, Ommy on guitar, and Jun Takai on bass. Their debut song, “B-Bird,” was used as the theme song to episode 4 of Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, and their third single, “Energy,” was used as the opening theme to the TV anime Vividred Operation. Their first album, Power of Mind, which includes all of their past singles, was released on June 19.
Eir Aoi
In 2011, Eir Aoi made her major debut with the song “Memoria,” which was used as the ending theme to Fate/Zero. She performed at last year’s “Animelo Summer Live” and has continued to release singles in succession, including “Aurora” (the opening theme to Mobile Suit Gundam Age) and “Innocence” (the opening theme to Sword Art Online). Earlier this year on Jan. 30, she released her first album, Blau, which debuted on the Oricon ranking at No. 4. She is a female vocalist with tremendous power who is creating quite a stir.
**Luna Haruna**
Luna Haruna was born on Oct. 11, 1991. In May of 2012, she made her major debut with the song “Sora wa Takaku Kaze wa Utau,” which became the ending theme for the second season of Fate/Zero. In November of that same year, her second single, “Overfly” (the ending theme of the Fairy Dance Arc of Sword Art Online), released. In May of this year, her third single, “Kimi ga Kureta Sekai,” released. Her newest single, “Ai wo Utae,” which will be used as the ending theme to the second season of the Monogatari series, will be released on July 24. She is also active as a model in the magazine Kera.
Eri Kitamura
Eri Kitamura is a powerhouse in the world of voice acting and has received support from a wide range of fans, including both girls and boys. She has starred in countless popular anime, and her activities are wide-ranging, including not just anime, but radio shows and events as well. She is also established as a skilled singer, with fans being fascinated by her powerful and clear singing voice. In the summer of 2012, she released her first album, Re;Story, which expressed a new “KitaEri sound” and showed her fans her role as an artist.
**Ayana Taketatsu**
In 2009, Ayana Taketatsu became a regular on TV for the first time for her role as Nakano Azusa in the anime K-On. Since then, she has been active in a wide variety of areas, such as playing heroines in many anime, being a gravure model, acting in films, holding concerts, and appearing in TV shows. With a steady career as a voice actress, she is now one of the most popular young women in the voice acting industry. She also successfully made her solo debut as a singer last April, and, as a compilation of her music over the last year, her first album, Apple Symphony, was released earlier this year on April 10. It’s an ambitious work on which she even tried writing lyrics for the first time for the album’s lead song, “Rice to Meet You”!
Yoko Hikasa
With her awe-inspiring voice, Yoko Hikasa has played the heroine in many anime. The praise she has received as a singer is also extremely high. In 2009, the three ending themes to the TV anime K-On, which she sang in the voice of Akiyama Mio, all ranked high on the Oricon weekly charts. This year, she started her solo project as a singer, debuting as a solo artist in May with the song “Utsukushiki Zankokuna Sekai.” This month, she released the single “Owaranai Uta,” and on July 17, a collaboration album called Glamorous Songs will be released.
Petit Milady
Petit Milady is a two-person unit made up of Aoi Yuki, who has played the role of the heroine in many anime, and the super popular voice actress Ayana Taketatsu. The name of the group is often shortened to PuchiMire. The group debuted in May of this year with the theme song to the TV anime Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal II, “Mirrors of Dualism/100% Cider Girl.” This female voice actress unit is currently picking up huge amounts of attention and anticipation from fans.
It’s safe to say that “Animelo Summer Live” is the greatest anime song event, and fans from all over Japan will come running to see it. There is no doubt that fans and musicians alike will be wrapped in great elation from the oneness felt at the event, and there will be no lack of popular anime songs when these announced artists take the stage and belt it out.
“Animelo Summer Live 2013 -Flag Nine-” Event Site:
http://anisama.tv/ (Japanese)
This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.
