BENI, formerly known as Beni Arashiro, is an up and coming Japanese Pop and R&B singer. She's been recognized by anime audiences for her work in Eyeshield 21 for "Goal" and Kim Possible for "Call Me, Beep Me." To celebrate her new album, Lovebox, which debuted #1 on Oricon's weekly charts, BENI will heading a tour in Japan. Before doing so, she made an appearance at Anime Expo 2010 as a guest of honor and we had the honor of sitting down and having a brief chat with her.
There has been an incredible amount of buzz around Japanese indie group Dazzle Vision especially after their first American performance at Sakura-Con 2010 in Seattle, Washington. Various interviews with the band appeared online even before the group arrived on American soil, and we got a chance to sit down with them at Sakura-Con and discuss a little about their American presence with their newest album, to the next.
Independent music group, supercell has taken the Japanese otaku community by storm! In March 2009, their popularity had caught the attention of record label Sony Music Japan earning them their first commercial album titled after themselves, supercell. In July of the same year, their new single Kimi no Shiranai was chosen as the ending theme song for the hit ghost anime series, Bakemonogatari.
In tracing their history further back, the group was started by independent music composer under the alias ryo. He is probably most well known for his music videos including Black Rock Shooter, which utilizes Yamaha's voice synthesizer program, Hatsune Miku. The video has received over one million views on the popular Japanese video site, Nico Nico Douga. The song’s influence has led to an anime adaptation that is set to air on Japanese televisions in April 2010.
The group now consisting of nine main members, has been shrouded in mystery as none of the members have made public appearances. Learn a bit more about what the group’s leader and composer ryo, and vocal singer nagi had to say about themselves and their current and past works in our exclusive first English interview!
また、日本語に
May Nakabayashi, best known as May'n on stage, made her major break in 2008 as the singing voice of Sheryl Nome from Macross Frontier. May'n returned to perform at this year's Animelo Summer Live, one of the largest anime themed concert, on August 22, 2009. Unfortunately due to scheduling issues, we were unable to arrange for a full interview. We were able to get a quick photoshoot and a few questions in briefly with her.
In the world of hardcore fighting games, everyone has heard of Guilty Gear. We got a chance to sit down with Daisuke Ishiwatari, often credited as one of the creators of Guilty Gear, and Toshimichi Mori, character designer and one of the creators for BlazBlue.
We were given a brief chance to speak with Yasuhiro Nightow, creator of Trigun, and the Director of the new Trigun movie, Satoshi Nishimura before the start of Anime Expo 2009. Surprisingly, Nightow turned out to be a very funny and laid back person. Before we knew it, our interview side tracked and turned into a relaxed conversation. Regardless, we have omitted the personal comments and have only included questions and answers relating to both men's work.
Before the official start of Anime Expo 2009, we got a chance to sit down briefly with Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and Character Designer Atsushi Nishigori from the hit series Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
With only about a month away before L’Arc~en~Ciel's famed singer Hyde and Oblivion Dust's K.A.Z. perform live together in the United States as VAMPS, we got a chance to talk briefly with the band. Get to know the band a little more before seeing them in concert!
We were lucky enough to sit down with Momoi Halko and conduct an exclusive interview with her at FanimeCon 2009. Hear what the 'Queen of Akihabara' had to say about her trip to America!
Band group Jyukai probably most recognized by the anime community for their ending song Anata ga Ita Mori in Fate/Stay Night. Other anime related songs include the openings and endings for Ah! My Goddess, and the ending for Busoi Renkin. Join us for a one on one interview with the band.
We've also included a special video message left by the band for their fans.
Takehito Harada is a character designer for Nippon Ichi Software (NIS). He is probably most famous for his work on the hit Disgaea franchise on the Playstation 2. We had the brief opportunity to sit down with Harada-san in Los Angeles at Anime Expo 2008 and discuss his work.