Mami Kawada
Mami Kawada is a retired Japanese pop singer and lyricist who was signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan and also a member of I've Sound, a musical group which produces soundtracks for eroge and anime.
Born and raised in Sapporo, Japan, Kawada was discovered by her music teacher Eiko Shimamiya and joined the trance group I've Sound in 2001. She released her first single, a split-single with musician Kotoko, in 2002, and her first solo single in 2005. Her first album, Seed, was released the following year. She released four more albums throughout the remainder of her career.
Kawada's songs have been featured as theme music for various anime shows such as the Shakugan no Shana and A Certain Magical Index series. She has performed theme songs for various eroge such as Love, Election and Chocolate and Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue. She has also written songs for other musicians. During the LisAni 2016 event, Kawada announced her retirement from singing activities following a final concert in May 2016.
Biography
Debut
Kawada's vocal talents were first discovered by Eiko Shimamiya, who was her teacher at a vocal school in Sapporo, Hokkaido. She was introduced to I've Sound, a music production group which featured Shimamiya as a member. Kawada joined I've Sound in 2001, and in that year released her debut song titled "Kaze to Kimi o Daite", which was used as the opening theme to the eroge Miss You. The song was later compiled on I've Sound's fifth compilation album Out Flow in 2003.In 2002, she released her first song associated with an anime, "Sora no Mori de", the ending theme to the anime Please Teacher!. The song was released in a split single with singer Kotoko, who performed the series' opening theme "Shooting Star". That same year, Kawada and Shimamiya performed a number of theme songs for visual novels as the unit Healing Leaf, although only one of those songs, "Ame ni Utau Ballad", was featured in an I've Sound Compilation. In mid-2003, she performed the ending theme to the anime Please Twins!, "Asu e no Namida", which was also released in a split single with Kotoko.
2005–06: ''Seed''
In 2005, Kawada signed a contract with Geneon Entertainment and released her first major single "Radiance", which was used as the opening theme to the anime Starship Operators. Later that year, she released her second single "Hishoku no Sora", which was used as the opening theme to the anime series Shakugan no Shana. It became her best-selling single and sold approximately 37,000 copies, peaking at number 11 at the Oricon weekly charts.In March 2006, Kawada and Kotoko released a split single for the OVA adaptation of the game Baldr Force, with Kawada performing the ending theme "Undelete" and Kotoko performing the opening theme "Face of Fact ". Four weeks later, Kawada released her debut album Seed. The album reached number 12 in the Oricon weekly charts and charted for five weeks, selling more than 25,000 copies. Later that year, Kawada held her first live tour, where she distributed a pamphlet CD containing the first instance of a song that she both performed and composed by herself, "Carpe Diem".
2007: ''Savia''
After her success with "Hishoku no Sora", Kawada released the single "Akai Namida / Beehive" in 2007. The single includes the song "Akai Namida", which was used as an insert song in the Shakugan no Shana movie in May 2007. She also sang "Tenjō o Kakeru Monotachi", the movie's ending theme, together with Kotoko, Shimamiya, Mell and Kaori Utatsuki under the name Love Planet Five. Three months later, she performed the second ending theme to the series Hayate the Combat Butler, "Get My Way!". Kawada's next single, "Joint", was released on October 31, 2007; the title track is used as the opening theme to the series Shakugan no Shana Second. The single marked the first time her single reached the Top 10 on the Oricon weekly charts as it reached number 9 in its first week; the single eventually sold 37,000 copies and charted for 19 weeks. She performed at her first live concert outside Japan on January 19, 2008, at the KHS Hall in Taiwan. In late March 2008, Kawada released her second album Savia. The album includes "Sense", used as the ending theme of episode 24 of Shakugan no Shana Second, as well as "Akai Namida" and "Get My Way!". The album also includes the song "Hisui", which was used as the ending theme to the 2008 Japanese theatrical film OneeChan Bara. It peaked at number 15 on the weekly charts and charted for five weeks.
2008–10: ''Linkage''
In 2008, Kawada released "PSI-Missing" and "Masterpiece", which were used as opening theme songs to the anime series A Certain Magical Index. The singles' B-sides, "Ame" and "Jellyfish" respectively, were also used as insert songs in the series. In late 2008, Kawada opened her official website together with her official fan club M.A.L.L., an acronym that stands for "Mami Artist Lasting Live".In June 2009, Kawada released the single "L'Oiseau bleu", which was originally included in the I've Sound 10th Anniversary 「Departed to the future」 Special CD BOX released on March 25, 2009. Kawada also performed the opening and ending themes to the original video animation series Shakugan no Shana S. The opening theme "Prophecy" was released on November 18, 2009.
On March 24, 2010, Kawada released her third album Linkage. containing the singles "PSI-Missing", "Masterpiece" and "Prophecy", as well as the ending theme to Shakugan no Shana S, "All in Good Time", and a cover of the song "Dreams", originally performed by the Irish rock band The Cranberries. In the same year, she started writing lyrics for other I've singers, beginning with "Piece of My Heart", an insert song used in the eroge Love, Election and Chocolate, sung by Nami Maisaki; Kawada also performed the game's opening theme "Initiative".
2010–12: ''Square the Circle''
In autumn 2010, Kawada performed the opening theme to the second season of A Certain Magical Index, "No Buts!", which eventually became her highest charting single to date, reaching number 6 in its first week on the Oricon weekly charts.On February 16, 2011, she released her 10th single "See Visions", the second opening theme to the second season of Index. Four months later, she wrote the lyrics for the song "Lead to the Smile", the solo debut of I've singer Rin Asami, who started her career that year. In 2012, she performed three songs for the third Shana series Shakugan no Shana Final: "Serment" was the second opening theme song; "U/N" was used as the ending theme for episode 15; and "Kōbō" was used as the ending theme for episode 24. Later, she released the single "Borderland" on May 29, 2012; the title track is used as the opening theme to the anime television series Jormungand. She released a new album titled Square the Circle on August 8, 2012.
2013–16: ''Parablepsia''
Kawada wrote the song "Recall", which was used as the ending theme to the 2013 anime television series Amnesia; the song was performed by Ray. She released a greatest hits album titled Mami Kawada Best: Birth on her birthday, February 13, 2013, which includes all of her singles except for "Prophecy". It also includes "Fixed Star", the ending theme to the film A Certain Magical Index: The Movie – The Miracle of Endymion. The album peaked at number 4 on the Oricon daily charts and at 15 on the Oricon weekly charts. "Fixed Star" was released as a single on February 20, 2013. She performed the song "Snap Out of It!!" together with Maon Kurosaki, which was included on the music collection Toaru Majutsu no TV Songs released on August 28, 2013. Kawada released the single "Break a Spell" on February 26, 2014; the title track is used as the second ending theme to the anime television series Tokyo Ravens. She wrote the songs "Lull " and "Ebb and Flow", which were used as ending themes to the 2013 anime television series Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea; both songs were sung by Ray.Kawada made an appearance at the Bangkok Comic Con in Bangkok, Thailand in July 2014, and the Animao Anime Music Festival event in Shanghai, China in November 2014. She performed the song "Wings of Courage ", which is used as the opening theme to the 2014 visual novel Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue, as well as the song "Belief", which is used in the 2014 video game Dengeki Bunko: Fighting Climax. She made an appearance at the Animax Carnival event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2015. She released the single "Gardens" on August 5, 2015; the title track is used as the ending theme to the second season of the anime television series To Love-Ru Darkness. In August 2015, her fanclub merged with I've Sound's fanclub I'VEs to form a new fanclub called I've Members.
Kawada released her fifth album Parablepsia on September 16, 2015, which includes her singles "Borderland" and "Break a spell", as well as the songs "Howl" and "Here", which were used in the pachinko game Black Lagoon 2. She released the single "Contrail " on January 27, 2016; the title track is used as the opening theme to the 2016 anime television series adaptation of Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue.