Music (231)
Hip hop fusion enka singer, Jero will be launching his first official American tour at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on March 28, 2010. Jero, Jerome White, Jr., has become a huge hit in Japan as one of the first African American ekna singer winning him the Best New Artist Award at the 50th Japan Record Awards in 2008. He has also appeared at the 59th and 60th NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen, Japan's most watched national New Year's Eve concert show. Jero will also make another appearance on March 31, 2010 in Los Angeles.
More information including ticketing can be found here and here.
In an interesting twist, DWANGO has announced that the largest anime themed concert, Animelo Summer Live will be going overseas to Shanghai China in late November. The yearly event held at the Saitama Super Arena will still be held on August 28 and 29 titled Animelo Summer Live 2010 -evolution-. May'n, Nana Mizuki, Halko Momoi, and JAM Project have all been announced to return. Kirsten Dunst's Akihabara Music Video Released
Written by Theodore Mak
Last year in August, shoppers of Japan's otaku shopping district, Akihabara, reported that actress Kirsten Dunst, probably best recognized for her role as Mary Jane in recent Spiderman films, was spotted wearing a magical girl sailor outfit. It was later revealed that she was working on a music video titled Akihabara Majokko Princess with director McG who worked on 2009's Terminator Salvation. Almost half a year later, the video has finally been released online. The four minute video portraits various locations in Japan and Dunst's apparent love for the otaku culture, "...I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so."
Update: Got reports from some users the video is missing from the original site. Included the video inside. Let us know if it stops working.
LM.C Performing at FanimeCon 2010, California
Written by Theodore Mak
FanimeCon, California's second largest anime convention, has announced on Sunday that "New Century Electro Rock" LM.C will be performing at MusicFest this year. The duo composing of maya on vocals, and Aiji on guitar, has done theme song performances for the anime titles Katekyo Hitman Reborn! and for Red Garden. FanimeCon 2010 will be hosted at the San Jose Convention Center from May 28th to the 30th. 
Bringing her international acclaim with Kill Bill Vol. 1, Chiaki Kuriyama is once again making her debut as a singer with her single, Ryusei No Namida. The song was chosen as the theme song for Bandai's latest Gundam project, Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn. Kuriyama had earlier attended a screening of there series with director Kazuhiro Furuhashi and writer Harutoshi Fukui at The Grand Cinema in Hong Kong on February 6, 2010.
Sony Music has also announced that the single will be making a future American release soon, so stay tuned.
Like the previous post in an effort to promote the coming release of the Animelo Summer Live 2009 DVD and Blu-ray release, here's teaser shots of our main m.o.v.e photo folder. We have also included some of the images full sized that were previously approved for publication by their management and record label. Enjoy!
Since the Blu-ray and DVD version of Animelo Summer Live 2009 is releasing soon, we've decided to hype it up by posting teaser screenshots of our picture folder of the event starting with Nana Mizuki. Unfortunately, we cannot release the full sized images; however, if there are any other artists who performed at the event you would like to see, let us know in the comments.
While they won't be appearing for a live, members of X Japan will make a public U.S. appearance together on January 9th, 2009 in Hollywood. The band will be filming four music videos that day, closing down Hollywood Boulevard in the process. Fans can sign up for more information through J Rock Nation. Since this will be one night only event, be sure to sign up and not miss this historic band's first American appearance!
Update: Added press release.
Musical group Chatmonchy will be performing in the US at the 2010 South by Southwest Conferences and Festivals (SXSW). The group, consisting of Eriko Hashimoto on guitar and vocal, Akiko Fukuoka on bass, and Kumiko Takahashi on drums. has been a huge hit in Japan, and have even performed at the prestigious Nippon Budokan concert hall. More information inside.
For those of you who couldn't be in Japan for Animelo Summer Live (Ani-Sama) 2009, DWANGO has announced they will be releasing the DVD and Blu-ray versions on February 24, 2010. We had previously provided coverage for the event including photos which can be found More...
In an effort to clear out the backlogging of articles before the new year, here's one of the first. Pop Korean star BoA made a visit on stage at the San Francisco Pride Parade on Sunday June 28, 2009. Appearing at a rather odd event, that didn't stop thousands of BoA fans from showing up in droves with cameras and camecorders.
For the anime fans, they may vaguely remember BoA for her song Every Heart (Minna no Kimochi) used as the third ending for Inyasha the anime.
Regardless of some of the problems, the performance starting almost an hour late and a cameraman in front of the stage blocking the audience’s view, it was definitely a welcomed wait for fans. Short video clip as well as photos from the front of the stage inside.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of Japan's most watched New Year's Eve show, Kohaku Uta Gassen. A musical show hosted by Japanese broadcasting company NHK, the performers are separated into two teams, red for the females, and white for the males. This year, Nana Mizuki, probably most famous for her voice acting role in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha as Fate Testarossa, will join the red team in her first appearance on the show. Mizuki had also appeared earlier this year at the largest anime themed concert, Animelo Summer Live 2009. Other notable performers include Ayaka, Kumi Koda, Mika Nakashima, and Ayumi Hamasaki. We'll be sending a representative to cover the event, more on that later, look forward to it! Full list of performers located inside.
Renown Japanese pop superstar Utada Hikaru has just announced her "In The Flesh 2010" Tour, which will hit eight US cities and London, UK. During the tour, she will visit both the House of Blues on Sunset in Los Angeles and The Fillmore in San Francisco. Considering Utada Hikaru's immense popularity and recent work with anime like Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, American and European fans will be in for a real treat. Tour dates and tickets are available at the official website here.
Renown Japanese rock band Dir en grey is currently on their All Visible Things Tour 2009. The tour will feature two shows in South America, one each in Brazil and Chile, and ten more shows in the United States across five states. Within these ten shows, three will be in California; Dir en grey will headline the House of Blues on Sunset Strip, West Hollywood on November 20th and 22nd, then will head The Fillmore in San Francisco for the final show of this tour. Information and tickets available here.