Kotoko (stylized as KOTOKO, born January 19[a]) is a Japanese J-pop musician, singer, and songwriter from Sapporo, Hokkaido. She began her singing career in 2000, debuting as a member of the trance group I've Sound and releasing her first mini-album Sora o Tobetara that same year. She was then signed to the Rondorobe record label from 2004 to 2010, under which she released the albums Hane, Garasu no Kaze, Uzu-Maki and Epsilon no Fune. She signed to Warner Home Video in 2011, and remained with the label until 2018. She is currently signed with NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan.
Kotoko | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Ishida Kotoko |
Born | January 19[a] Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan |
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Instrument | Vocals |
Years active | 2000–present |
Labels |
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Website | kotoko |
Kotoko composes and writes lyrics (for herself as well as other singers in I've Sound) for numerous other song collections. She has contributed songs to numerous anime and video games including Please Teacher!, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Hourglass of Summer, Hayate the Combat Butler, Kannazuki no Miko,[2] Shakugan no Shana, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, To Love-Ru,[3] Accel World, Phantasy Star Online and Argevollen, among others.
Life and career
editFrom elementary school, Kotoko believed her career would be influenced by her voice and tried to involve herself in as many auditions as possible.[4] In addition to regular education, she attended courses at the music school Haura where she polished her musical talents.
Kotoko became a professional singer in 2000.[4] Her first successful audition was with I've Sound, a team of producers using the talents of various female vocalists for their productions — best recognized for their many dating sim and eroge game soundtracks.[4] She released her first album Sora o Tobetara (
Her second album, Garasu no Kaze, released in June 2005 has been praised within multiple online communities. On October 13, 2005, she released her fourth maxi single, which featured a song from her Garasu no Kaze (
Her 17th single "Light My Fire" was written by Ryo of Supercell and was used as the first opening theme to the 2011 anime series Shakugan no Shana Final.[10] She also appeared at the Animazement anime convention in 2012[11] and returned to the event in 2014.[12] She collaborated with the band Altima in performing the song "Plasmic Fire", which is used in the anime film Accel World: Infinite Burst.[13] She collaborated with Luna Haruna on the song "SxW (Soul World)"; the song is used as the theme song to the video game Accel World VS Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight.[14] In February 2018, she announced that she was returning to Geneon, now known as NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. She released an album titled Tears Cyclone in June 2018.[15]
Discography
edit- 2000: Sora o Tobetara
- 2004: Hane
- 2005: Garasu no Kaze
- 2006: Uzu-Maki
- 2009: Epsilon no Fune
- 2011: Hiraku Uchū Pocket
- 2013: Kūchū Puzzle
- 2018: Tears Cyclone: Kai
- 2019: Tears Cyclone: Sei
- 2022: Sweet Cyclone: Yay
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^ "
四 川 省 文化 厅关于同意 日本 艺人石田 琴子 等 来 川 演出 的 批复". www.sccnt.gov.cn. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved August 9, 2022. - ^ DeMott, Rick (June 30, 2006). "Geneon Releases Kannazuki No Miko, Strawberry Marshmallow, Elemental Gelade". Animation World Network. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
- ^ "To Love-Ru/Pokémon Promos, GeGeGe Film's 1st 9 Minutes Posted". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ a b c Mays, Jonathan. "Sound Decision – KOTOKO". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ "DISCOGRAPHY OTHER". Mutant Dwarf. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "
羽 -hane-". I've Sound Explorer. Retrieved April 7, 2014. - ^ "Disintegration". I've Sound Explorer. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Geneon Anime Festival at Anime Expo to Feature KOTOKO Concert". Geneon. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ "Kotoko does 'Assault Girls' theme". Tokyograph. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ ""Light My Fire" Kotoko" (in Japanese). Shakugan no Shana Production Committee. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ "N. Carolina's Animazement to Host Singer Kotoko, Manga Creator Mayu Shinjo". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ "Animazement to Host Musical Guest Kotoko". Anime News Network. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
- ^ Komatsu, Mikakazu (November 23, 2015). "VIDEO: Preview for "Accel World: Infinite Burst" Theme Song Performed by KOTOKO x ALTIMA". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
- ^ "Accel World VS Sword Art Online: Millennium Twilight Game's Promo Previews Theme Song". Anime News Network. December 21, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
- ^ "6
月 27日 KOTOKO ニューアルバム「tears cyclone -廻 -」発売 決定 !" (in Japanese). NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
External links
edit- Official website (in Japanese)
- Kotoko at Warner Home Video (in Japanese)
- Kotoko at Geneon (in Japanese)
- I've Sound official website (in Japanese)
- Anime North 2006: Kotoko Q&A