Liyuu (born 9 January 1997) is a Chinese singer, voice actress and

cosplayer Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, and ...

who is affiliated with HoriPro International and signed to Lantis. Beginning her activities as a cosplayer before 2016 under the stage name 黎狱 (, pronounced same as "Liyuu"), she made her debut as a singer in 2020 with the release of her first single "Magic Words", the title track of which was used as the opening theme of the anime television series ''

Hatena Illusion is a Japanese light novel series by Tomohiro Matsu, with illustrations by Kentaro Yabuki. A manga adaptation by Pochi Edoya was serialized online via Niconico Seiga website from November 2018 to January 2021. An anime television series ad ...

''. Her music has also been featured in '' I'm Standing on a Million Lives''. She is also known for her role as Tang Keke in the mixed-media project ''

Love Live! Superstar!! is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by Kadokawa Corporation, music label Lantis, and animation studio Bandai Namco Filmworks (formerly known as Sunrise). The project is the third major and fourth overall installment in the ''Love Li ...

''. She is nicknamed Li-chan by her fellow Liella! members.

Biography

Liyuu was born in Shanghai on 9 January 1997. From an early age she developed an interest in

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 ...

, particularly after watching series such as ''

Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine '' Nakayoshi'' from the June 1996 to August 2000 issues, it was also published in ...

'', ''

Shugo Chara! , also known as ''My Guardian Characters'', is a Japanese shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga series created by the Mangaka, manga author duo, Peach-Pit (manga artist duo), Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, w ...

'', and ''

Reborn! ''Reborn!'', known in Japan as and also as ''Hitman Reborn!'' for disambiguation purposes, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Amano. It was serialized in Shueisha's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from M ...

''. During her junior high school years, she watched the series ''

K-On! is a Japanese Yonkoma, four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kakifly. It was serialized in Houbunsha's ''Manga Time Kirara'' magazine between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues, and also serialized in Houbunsha's ''Manga T ...

'' and gained an interest in the character Yui Hirasawa. While researching about anime, she discovered the practice of

cosplay Cosplay, a blend word of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and Fashion accessory, fashion accessories to represent a specific Character (arts), character. Cosplayers often i ...

, which immediately interested her. Upon entering high school, she began engaging in cosplay activities, with Yui as her first character. At first, she experienced difficulties in preparing for cosplay as her school prohibited the use of make-up, leaving her with little experience in applying it to herself. She then began participating in various cosplay events in China, before attending her first overseas event, appearing at Winter

Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual Doujinshi convention, ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered ...

in Tokyo in 2016. Her activities would gain her a following in Japan, eventually leading to her having over 1 million followers on social media. Liyuu's interest in pursuing a career as a musician began in junior high school. Although she did not originally intended to become a singer, she developed an interest in anime music and would sing such songs in private. In high school, she published a number of songs on the Chinese video sharing website

Bilibili Bilibili (stylized in all lowercase), nicknamed B Site, is a Chinese online video sharing website based in Shanghai where users can submit, view, and add overlaid commentary on videos. Bilibili hosts videos on various themes, including ...

. In 2018, she became affiliated with the talent agency HoriPro International. The following year, she sang "Polaris", which was used as an

image song In Japan, an image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album (often called an image album or character album) for an anime, video game, drama, manga, or other commercial product that is sometimes sung by the voice actor or a ...

for the character Siren in the mobile game ''

Dragalia Lost ''Dragalia Lost'' was an action role-playing game developed by Cygames and published by Nintendo. It was released for Android and iOS in September 2018 before being discontinued in November 2022. The game received mixed reviews from critics a ...

''. In 2020, she made her major debut as a singer under Lantis with the release of her first single "Magic Words"; the title song is used as the opening theme for the anime television series ''

''. Her second single was released on 25 November 2020; the title song is used as the closing theme for the anime television series '' I'm Standing on a Million Lives''. In December 2020, it was announced that she will be playing the role of Keke Tang in the multimedia project ''

''. She held her first solo concert in Yokohama on February 11, 2022. Later that year, she released the single "True Fool Love", the title song of which was used as the opening theme to the anime television series '' More Than a Married Couple, But Not Lovers''. In May 2023, Liyuu modeled for the brand Baby, The Stars Shine Bright's first fragrance.

Personal life

Prior to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Liyuu lived in Shanghai, visiting Japan at least once a month for cosplay and artist activities.

Filmography

Anime television

;2021 *''

'', Tang Keke ;2022 *'' Love Live! Superstar!! 2nd Season'', Tang Keke ;2024 *'' Love Live! Superstar!! 3rd Season'', Tang Keke

TV series

2024 * '' Sugar Dog Life'', Shiorin

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

Official website

HoriPro International profile
* {{Authority control 1997 births Chinese expatriates in Japan Chinese women singers Expatriate television personalities in Japan Cosplayers Horipro artists Lantis (company) artists Liella! members Living people Singers from Shanghai Chinese voice actresses 21st-century Chinese actresses