Maaya Sakamoto

[tasuki]

It seems to me that the little singer/声優 (seiyuu; voice-actress) introduced in the series 天空のエスカフロネ (Escaflowne of the Heavens) in 1995, has been as active in the music field than in the seiyuu field (if not more) and has produced more than exclusively for the anime industry.

She's grown a lot since and it seems to me, that though she doesn't usually fall into the J-pop category, that this is an omission. She has an amzing register, she can reach very low keys as well as sing really high-pitched anime style songs. She's dabbled in a lot of genres, but it seems that she's more at home in what I believe the Japanese call "folk", which means accousic instruments and few arrangements. Yet, she thrives in blues-like songs, rock-like song, and more j-pop songs.

In my opinion, she's the equal of many of her so-called mainstream j-pop artists, yet she doesn't receive as much of the recognition. Perhaps she likes it that way, perhaps it's the way she's been pinned as an anime singer, or perhaps a bit of both. I don't know.

Does anyone feel the same?

[Twisted]

I'm not sure, but i think this sentiment only exists outside of Japan. As far as i know Maaya is very popular among Japanese people. Her recent single "Tune in Rainbow" sold quite well.

Western hardcore Jpop fans don't regard anime singers very high for some reason. Probably due to shortsightedness. They don' t recognize anything good when they hear it. I heard quite some people say: Oh, she's that anime singer so it's no good.

It's true that many studio's didn't use topranking artists in the past due to budget reasons, but currently that's changed. Especially the more popular series use Oricon ranking artists these days. For example Gackt in the new "Fist of the North Star" series or Mai Kuraki for "Detective Conan".

[tasuki]

Inu ya sha is also a good example. But you don't see the reverse happening. For example, I know Tune in Rainbow sold well, I bought it the day it came in stores and I was lucky to get one (can't wait for her singles collection to come out at the end of July... It's got a DVD with it, apparently), but she still didn't make the charts. YET, the song from Gundam Seed from that Chinese model (can't remember her name Vivien Hsu or some such thing) made it on... I simply don't understand this double standard. But I think you're wrong about the sentiment being only outside Japan. My wife was only recently flabbergasted to learn that Maaya ranked amongst some of the best-selling artists in Japan... Well, maybe it's just my wife who's out of it...

[Saiyuki]

i don't see how anyone could say that she is just a anime singer and nothing better. Maaya Sakamoto is a good singer who can can hit almost any note. in fact i'm listening to one of her songs right now. i like it when she sings in a mellow tone myself. if anone has a problem with her then i'll kick their ass, got that

[lineartube]

Maya Sakamoto, Faye Wong (FFVIII) and Yoko Kanno are one of my favourite Japanese singers and authors.

J-pop doens't get here much so I started to get contact with the Japanese world of music through anime. I don't know why should anyone think about anime songs being low grade. Anyone heard the Cowboy Bebop OST's?

[Shadow]

Although Maya Sakamoto is an anime singer, she is one of my favorite Jap singers. I totally agree with you guys that anime should not be considered as low grade...

PS. maya sakamoto also sang for RahXephon (ongaku); which in my opinion was very nicely sung.... and yes, i've heard of the Cowboy Bebop OSTs by Yoko Kanno; they surely have their own style and it's no wonder why Yoko is so popular in Japan.

[tasuki]

Well, Yoko Kanno has certainly won her fame, at least in my book. Except for a few minor mihaps, all she does is marginal... Any of you heard the OST to Brain Powerd? Maaya also appears on that. After Escaflowne, I think it's my favourite Kanno OST...

I agree with you Shadow about the RahXephon tune, it's really great. I was listening to it when I thought up this thread yesterday...

[MuZ]

I quite like Maaya Sakamoto but I haven't heard all that much. I went to find other songs of hers after hearing the Escaflowne song. :)

[alfred183]

I love Yakusoku wa Iranai. Its one of my top 10 songs :)

[Shinmeiryu]

Maaya is one of my favorite seiyuu-singers, and is very underrated within the J-Pop community IMO.

One of her more recent songs, Gravity, which in english is almost a testament that she is capable of crossing over, much like Mai Kuraki and Hikki.

[tasuki]

If you're interested and you can read the Japanese, here's her complete discography.

http://www.oikake.net/artists/Sakamoto_Maaya/disc/

I rather deplore her label's recent move to only release singles or mini-CDs... I hope her next full length album (accompanied by an area 2 DVD) will have all her most recent on it... Release date July 2003. Can't wait!

[Shadow]

Hmmm... the release date is July 2003... I can't wait! but i wonder if I have to import them from Japan this time as well...
<Toronto don't have much 'new' anime merchandise>
:eek:

[*Aoi Sora*]

I think Maaya is a wonderful singer, I've got many of her songs and I truly enjoy them all. She's got an amazing voice, and "Yubiwa" probably has to be my favourite of them all... It's gorgeous!

[tasuki]

Thank you Aoi Sora, Yubiwa is at the top of my list as well, I think it reaches the soul. So does Hikari no naka e...

Probably you'll have to import it, yes. But as you live in Toronto, unless you have a region free DVD player, you won't be able to play the DVD that comes with the album...

[Shadow]

Probably you'll have to import it, yes. But as you live in Toronto, unless you have a region free DVD player, you won't be able to play the DVD that comes with the album...

Yeah... Luckily I have a region free DVD player (that i got from Japan a few years ago)... but importing mechandise tends to be expensive, too bad there's not too much Japanese shops in Toronto.

[tasuki]

Have you tried buying from Japanese venders online, such as Tower records (www.towerrecords.co.jp) or Amazon Japan (www.amazon.co.jp)? I'm fairly certain that accounting for the high exchange rate (I mean 87 yen to a dollar?!?!), you could probably get it for a more reasonable price that way than if you bought it through a store in Toronto... But Japanese CDs are so expensive anyway... Now I'm used to it, but it took me a long time to swallow paying 35 bucks for a 10-track CD...

[Shadow]

That's a good idea... I've never tried using Japanese online venders directly; usually I import my CDs through online stores based in Canada or the States.

And boy! They were pretty expensive... I remember importing my Orphen soundtrack (since I couldn't find the songs online); and it came to roughly around 40 bucks for one CD! (after taxes, shipping, duties)

[tasuki]

I know... Doesn't that blow a hole in a pocket, eh? DVDs are also outrageously expensive here... I still can't get over paying 5000 yen plus for a 30-minute anime DVD...

[Shadow]

Ha ha ha... exactly... it's way too expensive to buy everything so usually I try to download it off the net first.... (I have a huge collection of anime and it's all from the net... i love being wired... lol)

[me.kara.beam!]

Maaya's one of my favorite singers of all time. I bought her Easy Listening and Lucy CD and loved every minute.


I love Hemisphere from Raxephon and her new song from Tune the Rainbow titled 'Garden of Everything' (featuring Steve Conte). It's a nice song to listen to on rainy days, in my opinion. :p

[degpiexoxo]

one of the first songs i really liked when i started to get into j-pop was maaya sakamoto's "another grey day in the big blue world" it's in english, but wow. what a pretty song. i like her.

[Lil'Anij]

I like Maaya Sakamoto very much, especially when she is working together with Yoko Kanno.
Her beautifull voice and his talent for unusual sounds...
I like the Theme of Loddos War and the english song Annother grey day in a big blue world.
Japanses singing english are cute ^-^

[Shadow]

Yes! I totally agree with you Lil'Anij... Both Yoko Kanno or Maaya Sakamoto are so good that they can feature in a song alone.

Imagine how good they can be when they work together (as in Wolf's Rain - Gravity)!

[Lil'Anij]

Originally posted by Shadow
Yes! I totally agree with you Lil'Anij... Both Yoko Kanno or Maaya Sakamoto are so good that they can feature in a song alone.

Imagine how good they can be when they work together (as in Wolf's Rain - Gravity)!

Thanks for agreeing me ^_~

Try the opening of Record of loddoss war!
Kiseki no Umi
Lovely and very interesting!

P.S.
http://www.animelyrics.com/jpop/sakamoto/
Nice place to get some lyrics, if ou are lucky you will even find a translation ^-^

[Shadow]

Hmm... i haven't heard of the song from Record of Lodoss War yet, altho i've listened to most of her other songs... but i bet it'll be good considering her standards.. ha ha...

thx!

[tasuki]

Actually, if you listened to her album Hotchpotch, you've heard it. It's track 8. I think the reason why Sakamoto-san enjoys a privileged relationship with Kanno-san is because the former worked her first seiyuu/singer job on a Kanno project (Escaflowne; although I'm not sure whether Sakamoto-san was scouted by Kanno-san or not). Since then Sakamoto-san and Kanno-san have collaborated on a number of projects (Bebop, Escaflowne the movie, Brain Powerd (one of Kanno's best soundtracks), Arjuna, etc.), fueling the good vibes. Yet, over the last few years (two or three, I'd say) Sakamoto-san and Kanno-san have worked less and less with each other... I wonder if something happened?

If you're interested, here's Sakamoto Maaya's complete discography.

http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/maaya/disco/index.html

[Shadow]

Oh wow, i didn't know that they have collaborated on such many projects before Gravity...

[They even worked together on Arjuna too? Actually, I didn't find the songs in Arjuna (Mameshiba, Saigo no Mameshiba, Sanctuary) as good as her other works... hmmm.. maybe it's because I haven't seen that anime yet...~]

[tasuki]

Well, Arjuna was short-lived and a marginal piece of work, at best. It's worth a look-see, though. At the risk of repeating myself, you should give a listen to the two soundtracks for the would-have-been Evangelion successor TV series Brain Powerd. The series itself is worth a look, the story is OK, but the music by Kanno-Sakamoto is just out of this world. It is equal to Escaflowne in my book.

Actually, if you're interested in finding out more about Sakamoto Maaya, go here, it's a very good English resource:

http://www.maayasakamoto.net/

For more about Kanno Yoko, this is a good English ressource:

http://jameswong.com/ykproject/core.html

[Shiroi na Tenshi]

I am a huge Maaya Sakamoto fan. If it was possible I would get all the Maaya songs there are. If it were also possible I would have given them away to those who want them on this site. It's too bad no one knows where I can give them away to...

[Shiroi na Tenshi]

she's my fave artist reight now. i think she is rivalling the Maaya aSakamoto group with her remember Seishun anime group interests.
yo know, like Ai yo kienaide mou/
Bu maaya is great. i have Empty the Pocket and Tune the Rainbow, Gravity, and yakusoku wa Iranai, kaze no fuku hi, and other osngs by this wonderful artist. She's perfectly awesome in a reverable kind of way...

[SushiShin]

Maaya Sakamoto !!!!!!!!! I'am a Dreamer!!!!!!!:blush: I like that song!!!

[Shiroi na Tenshi]

Anyone please answer this one for me. If you know why Maaya Sakamoto is so downplayed as an artist by so many people, then good! If you dont, then please answer anyway!

My real question is, what albums has Maaya come out with recently?

[Shiroi na Tenshi]

You know what?

I'm done with being a huge Maaya Sakamoto fan!

For example, did you know that she backmasks in her songs subliminal messages?

On accident yesterday, I was playing around with my player and headphones, and, to my astonishment, When the 3.5mm was half-in, half-out, it happened! The vocal channel, bass channel, and rhythm channels disappeared. I only heard the middle range of pitch, along wiht the background singers...

SONGS I DID THIS TO WERE ALL IN HER DISCOGRAPHY!!! It is well known that Maay Sakamoto, composer Yoko Kanno, and Steve Conte worked together to create a song called "THe Garden of Everything." This forward lyrics talks about the devil (see the Bible) and I believe now that the backmasking in it are also intentional.

Other subliminalized songs by Maaya: "Kiseki no Umi" - When I reversed the part where the singers are chanting, it sounded like "SATAN, IS OUR GOD SATAN, IS OUR GOD SATAN..."

"Gift": Where kids are chanting what sounds like "Hashirazu aneto mi", not saying those are the words, the background singers are also chanting incantations.

"Kaze ga Fuku Hi": This was one of my favorite songs. But I did the test yesterday, and guess what? I didn't reverse the words of the BG singers, but I found that it was all backwards! Amazing, huh?

I find it sad, and sacry, to trust Maaya for 3 years, then accidentally find, well, [B]this[B]!

Sorry, all you Maaya Fans. I blame Yoko Kanno. She's my fave pianist, don't get me wrong, but I think this team had to end after the album Lucy.

One more thing...why in the world is her album called Lucy? She never dedicated it to a girl named Lucy, or made a song about a girl named Lucy...

Sound's like Lucifer to me.

[Shiroi na Tenshi]

And another "important" Thing about Maaya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno's music...

I actually used software to find the "lost" hidden track talked about on a certain Kanno album, Into the Another World, made for Arjuna, I believe, and please believe it was hard to believe, yet I found it. It's entitled, according to it's relevance to Maaya Sakamoto's "Mameshiba," "Mameshiba (Instrumental)".

Tsubasa no tenshi... kyou wa atarashiku na hi ni wa...abunasai!!!


One more thing...
There's this evil sounding part ot Kanno's music at the supposedly assumed end of this hidden track, that goes on for approx. 15 sec. and is quite dark, if you ask (which you didn't, but still...) I will have it posted at this site...

http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/8357223/54ea46d5/sharing.html?rnd=92

One last thing for all of you...
I must apologize to Kanno and everybody else who may be slandered in this and the preceding posts. But I only believe what I have done and heard wtih my own ears. It's much harder to do things if you cannot implement them, but it is my warning to all you who are trying to get to know about Sakamoto and to all her die-hard fans...TO BE FOREWARNED IS FOREARMED. REVIEW WHAT YOU KNOW ABOUT THESE TWO ALBUM PARTNERS, THEN RESPOND WITH WHAT YOU FIND OUT...

I promise you, if the above was a lie, or even a half-truth, then I will reswear my allegiance to the support of Kanno and Sakamoto-shin, but I don't think it will owrk out that way...

Pay cose attention to my signature...

[gerbin]

cool Maaya-san has a thread here!

i first heard her songs from the anime Tsubasa Chronicles. looking for more songs right now. hehehe

[Shiroi na Tenshi]

This was a cruel joke to play on Maaya-sama fans.

I must apologize. I'm sorry, gomen nasai, and I wish to apologize to those who answer to the Yoko Kanno Project (because we all know Yoko erself is too booked on piano tours to do anything else.)