Kotoko (stylized as KOTOKO, born January 19) is a Japanese

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the ...

musician, singer and songwriter from

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous cit ...

Hokkaido is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The lar ...

. She began her singing career in 2000, debuting as a member of the

trance Trance is a state of semi-consciousness in which a person is not self-aware and is either altogether unresponsive to external stimuli (but nevertheless capable of pursuing and realizing an aim) or is selectively responsive in following the dir ...

group

I've Sound I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different vocalists, known as to their fa ...

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 Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

in 2011, and remained with the label until 2018. She is currently signed with

NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distribution of anime within Japan. The ...

. 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 is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

and video games including '' Please Teacher!'', ''

Maria-sama ga Miteru , often shortened to , is a Japanese light novel series written by with illustrations by Reine Hibiki. Originally written as a short story in 1997, Shueisha published 37 light novel volumes from April 1998 to April 2012. The story f ...

'', ''

Hourglass of Summer is a Japanese visual novel that was released by Princess Soft. It was brought to the U.S. by the Hirameki, Hirameki International Group. It was one of the first interactive dating games to be translated into English (although there was never an E ...

'', ''

Hayate the Combat Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenjiro Hata. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' magazine from October 2004 to April 2017. Shogakukan released 52 volumes in Japan from February 2005 to Jun ...

'', '' Kannazuki no Miko'', ''

Shakugan no Shana , also known simply as , is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi with illustrations by Noizi Ito. ASCII Media Works published 26 novels from November 2002 to November 2012 under their Dengeki Bunko imprint. The ...

'', '' BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger'', ''

To Love-Ru is a Japanese manga series written by Saki Hasemi and illustrated by Kentaro Yabuki. The manga was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine from April 2006 to August 2009, and the chapters collected into 18 ''tan ...

'', '' Accel World'', '' Phantasy Star Online'' and '' Argevollen'', among others.

Life and career

From elementary school, Kotoko believed her career would be influenced by her voice and tried to involve herself in as many auditions as possible. 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. Her first successful audition was with

, a team of producers using the talents of various female vocalists for their productions—best recognized for their many dating sim and

eroge An ''eroge'' ( or , ''erogē''; ; a portmanteau of ''erotic game'' , ''erochikku gēmu'') is a Japanese genre of erotic video game. In 1982, Japan's Koei, founded by husband-and-wife team Yoichi and Keiko Erikawa (and later known for strate ...

game soundtracks. She released her first album in 2000. Many of the tracks on this album were later re-recorded for her first I've Sound album, , which is officially considered her first album. Her first I've Sound CD appearance was on the CD "Dear Feeling" sold in Comiket 59, together with singer Aki. She then appeared on the album ''Disintegration'', a collection of various songs from I've Sound's singers. Since then, she has performed opening and ending themes for a few anime and has gained significant recognition from her two I've Sound-related album releases. 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 album, "421: A Will" and its B-side song , which is featured in her third album, '' Uzu-Maki''. Her first official performance in North America was her highly successful American concert debut at Anime Expo 2005, soon followed by the Kotoko Lax Tour. In 2009, she wrote the song "Screw" for the Mamoru Oshii live-action movie '' Assault Girls''. The song was featured as the opening theme song to the console version of video game '' Blazblue: Calamity Trigger'', and her song "Hekira no Sora e Izanaedo" was used as the opening theme for the ''BlazBlue'' sequel '' BlazBlue: Continuum Shift''. Her 17th single "

Light My Fire "Light My Fire" is a song by the American rock band the Doors. It was recorded in August 1966 and released in January 1967 on their eponymous debut album. Released as an edited single on April 24, 1967, it spent three weeks at number one on ...

" was written by Ryo of

Supercell A supercell is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a mesocyclone: a deep, persistently rotating updraft. Due to this, these storms are sometimes referred to as rotating thunderstorms. Of the four classifications of thunderstorms ( ...

and was used as the first opening theme to the 2011 anime series '' Shakugan no Shana Final''. She also appeared at the Animazement anime convention in 2012 and returned to the event in 2014. She collaborated with the band Altima in performing the song "Plasmic Fire", which is used in the anime film '' Accel World: Infinite Burst''. She collaborated with

Luna Haruna , better known by her stage name is a Japanese singer and fashion model from Tokyo. Biography Luna Haruna was interested in anime and music from a young age. In her first year of junior high school, she became obsessed with Gothic Lolita manga ...

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''. In February 2018, she announced that she was returning to Geneon, now known as

. She released an album titled ''

Tears Cyclone Tears are a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands (tear gland) found in the eyes of all land mammals. Tears are made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins that form layers on the surface of eyes. The different types of ...

'' in June 2018. On January 21, 2022, Kotoko tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

Discography

*2000: ''Sora o Tobetara'' *2004:

Hane Hane may refer to: *Hane, Marquesas Islands Hane is the largest settlement on the island of Ua Huka, in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. Hane, a notable archaeological site, has a smaller population than the capital of Vaipae'e. Geog ...

*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''

References

External links

* * at Warner Home Video * at

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distributi ...

*
Anime North 2006: Kotoko Q&A
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kotoko Anime musicians Hayate the Combat Butler I've Sound members Japanese women singers Japanese dance musicians Japanese synth-pop musicians Japanese techno musicians Living people Musicians from Sapporo NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan artists Year of birth missing (living people)