HIMEKA

[Jessui]

Hey, that's what the media has been calling her, I didn't come up with it <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



So! I found out about this girl through her appearance on a TV show - her stage name is Himeka and she's originally from Canada. I'm always fascinated by stories like these She came to Japan to be an anime song singer (!) and ended up winning first place in a nationwide anime song competition IN Japan (that is, her competition was all Japanese), and now her debut single, 明日へのキズナ, is set to be released this month on May 27th. It's the theme song for Valkyrie Chronicles, the anime adaption of a video game (I think).



I think she has a really great voice, and I really like the song they gave her. I was impressed with what I could see of her presence on stage in the clip and her performance in the PV. It's like she really becomes a different person when she sings.



I found the clip of the show I saw her on! It shows her winning the competition, her life in Japan, her collection of songs that she can sing, and they have her sing... Sazae-san XD Of all anime songs! The 2channelers were not happy <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... R#>/XD.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':XD:' />

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLmptAMxUXo



She sounds great singing in Japanese, and while it seems like she can speak it more or less, she gets way too nervous and then can't speak at all (as you will see <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' /> ) Becky tells her she can answer in English, but she just shuts down completely. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';/' />



Here's the PV for her debut single (the video and audio don't match very well, but at least you can hear the song): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CE236W56JE

And her official site: http://www.himeka.info/



It'll be interesting to see how she does on May 27th!

[neshcom]

I'm really impressed with her voice and her song sounds really nice, but I kept watching that clip and thinking, "GODDAMMIT!" I'm really happy for her success, but I feel like I'm watching a tsunami begin to form, right? I don't really know the right way to put it, but it feels like her success will fan the flames for every other wannabe karaoke star. I can't say I really know the anime song community (as opposed to the more pop-oriented groups), so maybe this is all just a tiny blip on the radar.



Despite my ill-feelings, I don't mean any disrespect towards her though. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... pyeyes.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':cryalot:' />



Anyone else think of this when they showed that picture of her and her friends? <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /dance.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sad:' />

[Ap2000]

Seems ok, at least she's not a second Magibon !



Her singing isn't bad.

[story]

I just started watching Valkyrie Chronicles and thought the opening song was pretty good. I would have never guessed it was sung by a Canadian <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':crazy:' />

[tsukinobyouin]

She's pretty damn good. Her voice actually reminds me of Nakagawa Shoko's but stronger and a little more mature. She's pretty cute too - not drop dead gorgeous, but not at all Magibon <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':eekrun:' /> Good for her, I hope she does well. It's actually really impressive that she won that anime competition - the fact that she wasn't eliminated simply for being white feels like a big deal. One of the random people they interviewed mentioned that even the anime world was starting to change, which was an interesting point. A lot more foreigners know about anime than do Jpop, but it seems like Jpop has welcomed in foreign talents long before anime music did.