The is a Japanese

anime song is a genre of music originating from Japanese pop music. Anime songs consist of theme, insert, and image songs for anime, manga, video game, and audio drama CD series, as well as any other song released primarily for the anime market, includ ...

music competition A music competition is a public event designed to identify and award outstanding musical ensembles, solo (music), soloists, composers, conducting, conductors, musicologists or compositions. Pop music competitions are music competitions which are h ...

, organized by

Animax , stylized as ANIMAX in all caps, is a Japanese animation satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. Launched on July 1, 1998, Animax is the first 24-hour network in the world dedicated to anime.The Anime Biz' - ...

, in association with Jupiter Telecommunications.

Outline

The annual competition is first held across a series of preliminaries in several Japanese cities, with the chosen finalists performing at a final round, which will be broadcast across Japan on

, where they will be judged by a panel of celebrity judges,

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

s and

record company "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

executives, including noted singers Ichirō Mizuki,

Mitsuko Horie is a Japanese actress, Voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer from Yamato, Kanagawa. She is known as the . Horie has voiced several characters throughout her career, such as Shadow Galactica#Sailor Galaxia, Sailor Galaxia in ''Sailor ...

and Yumi Matsuzawa. The winner of the competition will subsequently perform a theme song to an Animax

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

project as their debut and earn a professional contract with

Sony Music Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is opera ...

History

The first Animax All-Japan Anison Grand Prix was held in July 2007, with preliminaries taking place across

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...

and

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, and was attended by 1792 applicants. The winner of the competition was Shūhei Kita, who subsequently performed "Breakin' Through", the opening theme to the

series '' Persona: Trinity Soul'' as his debut, and earned a professional contract with Sony Music Japan. Kita subsequently also performed "Issei no Sei", the opening theme to the '' Natsume Yūjin-Chō'' anime series in 2008. The second competition, in 2008, was attended by 3186 applicants, with preliminaries held across Tokyo, Osaka,

Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is the list of cities in Japan, fourth-most populous city in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020, and the principal city of the Chūkyō metropolitan area, which is the List of ...

and

, with eleven chosen finalists performing at the final round, held in JCB Hall in

in September 2008, and was won by the Tokyo-based Canadian Catherine St. Onge, who will perform the theme song, produced by Shintarō Tokita of

Sukima Switch is a Japanese rock/jazz fusion duo consisting of core members , born May 9, 1978, and , born February 25, 1978, formed in 1999. Formerly with BMG Japan (bought by SMEJ in early 2009), they signed with Sony Music Japan's Ariola Japan label in ...

, to an Animax anime project, and earn a professional contract with Sony Music Japan. In the first round, she performed ''Silly-go-round'' from '' .hack//Roots'', while in the second round, she performed ''Adesso e Fortuna ~Honō to Eien~'' from '' Record of Lodoss War''. Animax subsequently broadcast the "2nd All-Japan Anison Grand Prix Special", marking its tenth anniversary, on November 16, 2008, featuring live performances by judge and noted anime singer Ichiro Mizuki, idol group

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol musical girl group named after the Akihabara area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48 has sold more records than any other female musical act in Japanese history. AK ...

and singers Akira Kushida,

Nana Kitade is a Japanese singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to being the lead singer of the rock band The Teenage Kissers, she has success as a solo artist, model, actress, and fashion designer. Kitade is particularly known for her songs appeari ...

, the previous competition's winner Shūhei Kita, and numerous others. In February 2009, it was announced that St. Onge, under her chosen moniker Himeka, would perform the theme song, produced by Tokita of Sukima Switch, to the anime adaptation of ''

Valkyria Chronicles ''Valkyria Chronicles'' is a series of military-themed tactical role-playing video games created by Ryutaro Nonaka and Shuntaro Tanaka, and developed by Sega. The series began with '' Valkyria Chronicles'', which was released for the PlayStatio ...

'' (a.k.a. ''Senjō no Valkyria: Gallian Chronicles''), which will air from April 2009, across Animax and other Japanese broadcast networks.

Event schedule

※Finals are held in Tokyo.

References

External links

Animax official website
{{Animation industry in Japan Animax Aniplex Sony Music Entertainment Japan Japanese music awards Anime awards Awards established in 2007 2007 establishments in Japan Recurring events established in 2007 Annual events in Japan

Outline

History

Event schedule

See also

References

External links