Misono

Misono Koda (神田 美苑, Kōda Misono, born October 13, 1984), who performs under the mononym Misono (stylized as misono), is a Japanese singer-songwriter from Kyoto. She is also the younger sister of Japanese singer Kumi Koda. Misono was the lead singer of pop band Day After Tomorrow, until the group disbanded in 2005. In 2006, Misono made her debut as a solo artist, remaining under the Avex Trax label. Since her debut as a solo artist, she has released thirteen singles and three studio albums. In December 2013, she announced her retirement.

Career

Day After Tomorrow

Misono was the lead singer of J-pop group Day After Tomorrow from 2002-2005. Six months after the debut of Day After Tomorrow, Misono had reportedly gained weight. In September 2006, she joined a dieting program, MTV Girls Meets Beauty supported by Takano Yuri, that commenced on October 5, 2006 through MTV Japan.

After the group went on hiatus, she began to make solo appearances. Misono made her debut as a solo artist at Velfarre, a now-defunct dance club owned by Avex in 2006.

Neverland

Her debut solo single, "Vs" was released in March 2006. "VS" was used as the main song for the Namco Bandai game, Tales of the Tempest. The single went to number 4 on the Oricon Single Charts, making it her highest selling single to date thus far. In May 2006, she released her second single "Kojin Jugyō." In July 2006, she released her third single, "Speedrive" which was used as the main song for the live action film, Lovely Complex.

In November 2006, she released her fourth single, "Lovely Cat's Eye" which debuted at number 9 on the Oricon single charts. In February 2007, she released her first double A-side single, "Hot Time/A. (Answer)" as well as her solo debut album Neverland. Neverland did not sell very well, charting at the number 20 position on the Oricon album chart.

Sei: Say

In May 2007, Misono released her sixth single "Pochi," which debuted at number 36 on the Oricon Single Charts.

In September 2007, Misono started the release of a string of singles called the "Misono Rock Project", which all had a rock theme to them. The first of these singles was "Zasetsu Chiten" released in September 2007. The follow-up to "Zasetsu Chiten" was "Jūnin Toiro", released in November 2007. In January 2008, Misono released "Mugen Kigen", the original last single of the project. All of the singles released failed to chart in the top twenty of the Oricon single charts.

In June 2008, Misono released an unexpected last addition to the rock project, "Ninin Sankyaku". "Ninin Sankyaku" was used as the main song for the game Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World. The single peaked at number 10 on the Oricon single charts.

Her second full length studio album, , was released in June 2008. More so than its predecessor, Sei: Say had failed to make an impact due to lack of promotion. Its peak position on the Oricon was number 20.

Tales with Misono: Best

In October 2008, Misono released her 11th single, "Kazoku no Hi/Aburazemi Mesu". In November 2008, Misono collaborated with Mai Satoda, Toshifumi Fujimoto as Goda Kyodai on a Christmas single called, "Mō Sugu Christmas." The single went to number 3 on the Oricon single charts.

In January 2009, Misono, Satoda, and Fujimoto as Goda Kyodai released a second single together called "Bye Bye". It peaked at number 4 on the Oricon single charts.

In February 2009, she released her twelfth solo single and second double A-side single, "Kyūkon/?cm". In March 2009, Misono collaborated with her sister Kumi Koda on their first single together, "It's All Love!". It was expected to be released on March 4, but was pushed back to March 31. "It's All Love!" charted at debuted at number one.

In April 2009, Misono announced that she would release another double A-side single and a new best-of album. The single, "End=Start/Shūten (Kimi no Ude no Naka)" was used for the Japanese-American film The Harimaya Bridge, which Misono also starred in. The album, Tales with Misono: Best is going to be a compilation of songs that were used as promotion for the video game series bearing the "Tales of" titles.

Cover Album 1 and 2

In June 2009, Misono, Satoda, Ranko Kanbe, and Fujimoto as Goda Kazoku, released another single together called, "I Believe (Yume o Kanaeru Mahō no Kotoba)/Don't Leave Me". On September 23, 2009, Misono released both her second compilation album Cover Album and her fourteenth single "Urusei Yatsura no Theme (Lum no Love Song)".

In November 2009, Misono will release another double A-side single titled "Watashi Iro/Bokura Style". In December 2009, Misono, Satoda, Kanbe, and Fujimoto as Goda Kazoku released an album together, Mai Satoda with Goda Kazoku.

"Cover Album" was followed up shortly with Cover Album 2, another collection of cover songs. It was released on January 27, 2010. Whereas in the first "Cover Album", Misono created medleys of anime songs, Misono created medleys of specific artists; more specifically, Ulfuls and Judy and Mary.

Discography

Filmography

• 2007: Obachan Chips
• 2009: The Harimaya Bridge

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Misono at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Misono at the Internet Movie Database