Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto
坂本 真綾
Born March 31, 1980 (1980-03-31) (age 31)
Origin Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan
Genres Pop
Occupations Singer, lyricist, actress, voice actress
Instruments Vocals, guitar
Years active 1996–present
Labels Victor Entertainment, Flying Dog
Associated acts Yoko Kanno, Shōko Suzuki, Yūho Iwasato
Website www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya

Maaya Sakamoto (坂本 真綾 Sakamoto Maaya?, born March 31, 1980[1]) is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress.[2] She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki[3] in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne. She released her debut single Yakusoku wa Iranai, in collaboration with Yoko Kanno under Victor Entertainment on April 24, 1996.[4]

Since her 1996 debut, she is among the more popular voice actresses who have also branched into singing, performing songs in both English and Japanese. As well as being a prolific seiyū, she has also had several successful releases; despite initially only modestly selling, her singles Tune the Rainbow,[5] Loop,[6] Ame ga Furu,[7] and Triangler[8] have all reached the top 10 Oricon singles chart: Triangler in particular charted at #3 and remained charting for 26 weeks. Her albums have had similar success, with Shōnen Alice[9] and Yūnagi Loop[10] both reaching the top 10 Oricon albums chart; and her newest album, You Can't Catch Me, released on January 12, 2011, became her first release to ever reach #1.[11] She held a concert at the Nippon Budokan on March 31, 2010, her thirtieth birthday.[12]

On August 8, 2011, Sakamoto married fellow voice actor and frequent co-star Kenichi Suzumura. She announced their marriage on her official site five days later.[13]

Contents

Early life

Born in Tokyo, Sakamoto grew up within a family of her parents and her older brother, who sustained a serious motorcycle accident in 1999 or 2000 (he married in 2002 and had a daughter in 2004). Sakamoto graduated from Toyo University with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology in the spring of 2002.[14] Her favorite colors are blue and gold,[15] while her hobbies are performing, reading, and singing.[1] She was one half of the seiyū duo Whoops!!, alongside Chieko Higuchi. She has been called onee-sama (お姉さま onee-sama?), a respectful way of saying "older sister" by her Ouran High School Host Club co-star Ayaka Saitō.

Collaborations

Sakamoto first teamed up with composer Yoko Kanno in her 1996 debut single, "Yakusoku wa Iranai" ("Promises Not Needed"), which was used as the opening theme for the anime series The Vision of Escaflowne. Kanno collaborated with Sakamoto up until her fifth album, Yūnagi Loop, which has no songs composed by Kanno. Sakamoto also performed three songs for the series Wolf's Rain, for which Kanno was the composer: "Gravity" (which is sung completely in English), "Tell Me What The Rain Knows" (with lyrics by Chris Mosdell) and "Cloud 9". She performed "Hemisphere", the opening theme of the series RahXephon, as well as two songs for the series' theatrical version RahXephon: Pluralitas Concentio: "Tune the Rainbow" and "The Garden of Everything" (duet with Steve Conte). In 2008, Sakamoto and Kanno collaborated again for "Triangler", the opening theme song for the series Macross Frontier.[16] She also performed the song "cream" with HIDE, which was featured in the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex mini album be Human.

Awards and nominations

In the 23rd Anime Grand Prix, she ranked tenth place under the seiyū category with 126 votes.[17]

In addition, in the first Seiyū Awards, she was nominated for "Best Actress in a leading role" for her portrayal of Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club as well as "Best Musical Performance" for Tsubasa Chronicle's ending theme Loop.[18]

Discography

Main article: Maaya Sakamoto discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Filmography

TV animation

Note: Lead or important roles in bold

OVA

Theatre animation

Web animation

DVD

  • Panda de Mafumafu - Narrator[26]

Dubbing

TV drama

  • Suekko Chōan Ane Sannin - Emi

Short films

  • 03†[27] - Zero Saint Cross


Appearances in other media

Drama CD

Video games

Musicals

Radio

  • Sakamoto Maaya no Vitamin M (坂本真綾のビタミンＭ?) - Bay-FM[29]
  • Sakamoto Maaya Chizu to Tegami to Koi no Uta (坂本真綾　地図と手紙と恋のうた?) - TBS Radio[30]
    • Broadcast date: April 7, 2007 ~ March 28, 2009
  • Konica Minolta presents Night on the Planet - Tokyo FM
  • Yellow tail music tail - Tokyo FM
  • Sapporo Beer Key of Dish - Tokyo FM
  • Sakamoto Maaya no Naisho Hanashi (坂本真綾のナイショ話?) - Nack5
  • Girls' School Fantasy – NACK5
  • Sakamoto Maaya I.D. (坂本真綾 I.D.?) - Nack5, FM Osaka, FM Aichi
  • Sakamoto Maaya no Who Is Lucy (坂本真綾のWho Is Lucy?, Sakamoto Maaya's Who Is Lucy) – FM Fukuoka, Sendai City-FM, FM-Nigata, K-Mix
  • Sakamoto Maaya I.D. Night Flight (坂本真綾 I.D. Night Flight?) - Nack5, FM Osaka, North Wave, Cross FM
  • Sakamoto Maaya no Escaflowneeyes (坂本真綾のEscaflowneeyes?, Sakamoto Maaya's Escaflowneeyes) - Nippon Cultural Broadcasting
  • Sakamoto Maaya no Lucy's Radio Show (坂本真綾のLucy's Radio Show?, Sakamoto Maaya's Lucy's Radio Show) - Nippon Cultural Broadcasting


Webcast

Publications

Serialization

- A monthly column

Books

- An essay collection (out of print)

- A photo and lyrics book compilation

- An essay collection

References

  1. ^ a b Official profile."Sakamoto Maaya". Victor Artist website. January 14, 2011. (Japanese)
  2. ^ Doi, Hitoshi. "Sakamoto Maaya". Seiyuu Database. July 5, 2010. Archived by WebCite July 8, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "Cast list @ Bandai's Escaflowne Official Website" (in Japanese). http://www.b-ch.com/ttl/index.php?ttl_c=134#ttl-more-data. Retrieved 2010-11-27. 
  4. ^ "Oricon past rankings for Yakusoku wa Iranai" (in Japanese). http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=292975&samecd=1&chart_kbn=111&linkcd=10033206. Retrieved 2009-12-24. 
  5. ^ "Tune the Rainbow Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=503172&samecd=1&chart_kbn=111&linkcd=10061787. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  6. ^ "Loop Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/freen_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=592071&samecd=1&chart_kbn=111&linkcd=40352706. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  7. ^ "Ame ga Furu Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=785151&samecd=1&chart_kbn=111&linkcd=40479054. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  8. ^ "Triangler Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=758465&samecd=1&chart_kbn=111&linkcd=40461618. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  9. ^ "Shōnen Alice Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=524466&samecd=1&chart_kbn=11A&linkcd=30067270. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  10. ^ "Yūnagi Loop Past Rankings" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp/free_contents/search/ranking_list.asp?itemcd=617363&samecd=1&chart_kbn=11A&linkcd=31318423. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
  11. ^ "Maaya Sakamoto earns first no.1 album on weekly chart". Anime News Network. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-01-17/maaya-sakamoto-earns-1st-no.1-album-on-weekly-chart. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 
  12. ^ "CDデビュー15周年を記念して、坂本真綾の武道館ライブが決定!!" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2009-09-11. http://www.famitsu.com/anime/news/1227499_1558.html. Retrieved 2010-01-04. "2010年3月31日（水）、坂本真綾の誕生日当日に武道館でLIVEが開催される。" 
  13. ^ "みなさまにご報告させていただきます" (in Japanese). http://blog2.morinaga.co.jp/biscuit/2011/08/%E3%81%BF%E3%81%AA%E3%81%95%E3%81%BE%E3%81%AB%E3%81%94%E5%A0%B1%E5%91%8A%E3%81%95%E3%81%9B%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%9F%E3%81%A0%E3%81%8D%E3%81%BE%E3%81%99.html. Retrieved 13 August 2011. 
  14. ^ "the id, March 2002" (in Japanese). http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/id/the_id/200203.html. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
  15. ^ "1995→2010: Seems like things haven't changed, but maybe they have? Looking back on 15 years!". http://sakamotomaaya.com/271/ids-1995-2010. Retrieved 2011-03-23. 
  16. ^ "http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/triangler/index.html". http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/triangler/index.html. Retrieved 2008-04-18. 
  17. ^ "第23回アニメグランプリ" (in Japanese). Animage. http://animage.jp/old/gp/gp_2001.html. Retrieved 2008-11-03. 
  18. ^ "各部門ランキング　中間発表" (in Japanese). Seiyu Awards. Archived from the original on 2007-01-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20070116222131/http://www.seiyuawards.jp/center.html. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  19. ^ "スタッフ＆キャスト／貧乏姉妹物語" (in Japanese). http://www.toei-anim.co.jp/tv/binboushimai/staff/index.html. Retrieved 2007-10-19. 
  20. ^ "超ハイクオリティーで描かれるテレビアニメ『CANAAN』マスコミ試写リポート！" (in Japanese). Famitsu. 2009-06-25. http://www.famitsu.com/anime/news/1225061_1558.html. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  21. ^ "NHKアニメワールド　スターウォーズ／クローンウォーズ" (in Japanese). http://www3.nhk.or.jp/anime/cw/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  22. ^ Katoh, Hidekazu et al. "Tsubasa - Reservoir Chronicle". (May 2007) Newtype USA. pp. 26-33.
  23. ^ "Kemono to Chat's OVA official website" (in Japanese). http://www.takeshobo.co.jp/sp/kemocha/. Retrieved 2009-08-13. 
  24. ^ "Maaya Sakamoto to play new character in Evangelion 2.0 film". http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-04-17/maaya-sakamoto-to-play-new-character-in-eva/2.0-film. Retrieved 2009-10-15. 
  25. ^ "キャスト - チョコレート・アンダーグラウンド" (in Japanese). http://www.watermark.jp/choco/cast/index.html. Retrieved 2009-04-22. 
  26. ^ "ぱんだ　ｄｅ　まふまふ　サイト" (in Japanese). http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/herb/panda/. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  27. ^ "03＋" (in Japanese). Kinokuniya. http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/4988002447923.html. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  28. ^ "Character information: ジャンヌ・ダルク" (in Japanese). Level-5. http://www.level5.co.jp/products/jeannedarc/character1.html. Retrieved 2010-01-04. 
  29. ^ "Vitamin M radio info @ Official Website" (in Japanese). http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/radio/vm.html. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  30. ^ "Chizu to Tegami to Koi no Uta Radio Official Site @ TBS Radio" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2007-04-10. http://replay.waybackmachine.org/20070410010329/http://www.tbs.co.jp/radio/maaya/. Retrieved 2009-04-11. 
  31. ^ Maaya Sakamoto, Take, ufotable on Galactic Railroad Project - Anime News Network (September 13, 2010)
  32. ^ "坂本真綾PHOTO&エッセイ集「アイディ。」発売！" (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. http://vemall.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/index.html. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 
  33. ^ "地図と手紙と恋のうた" (in Japanese). Kinokuniya. http://bookweb.kinokuniya.co.jp/htm/4757213743.html. Retrieved 2009-03-18. 
  34. ^ "坂本　真綾 ニュース @Victor Entertainment" (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/-/Information/A008957.html. Retrieved 2011-02-07. 

External links

Maaya Sakamoto
Albums
EPs
Compilations
Singles
Videos
Sakamoto Maaya Live Tour 2009 "We Are Kazeyomi!" · Sakamoto Maaya 15th Memorial Live "Gift"
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