#monthly column

Since this is the very first feature I think a self-introduction is in order. I am a singer and this year I have celebrated my 10th Anniversary as part of a vocal unit called Kalafina. I passed an audition to sing the theme songs for all seven movies of the theatrical version of “Kara no Kyoukai”. After that we got to sing many more theme songs for various anime works as well as for the NHK TV program “Rekishi Hiwa Historia”. Up until now I got to sing so many different songs, I got to meet many great people, our encounter with SPICE was also very exciting. They wrote amazing live reports for us, they followed us backstage and got to experience a side of us which we had never shown before, we got the chance to take part in “Songful Days”, an event sponsored by SPICE. With that kind of warm and comfortable relationship I feel like I can freely write this column.

Since all of my readers might end up being confused about certain things in the future I think it’s best to also share some private information about myself… *laughs*

I was born on July 2nd 1987 in Toyama Prefecture, back in 2009 I moved to Tokyo together with my family in order to pursue my activities as part of Kalafina. In my life I am supported by my hard working mother and my younger sister who shares my hobbies. My hobbies are reading, watching TV and films, doing puzzles and sleeping. I am an indoor person all the way.

The first manga I ever owned was a monthly shōjo manga magazine (hereinafter referred to as monthly magazine) called “Nakayoshi”. Then I also got the monthly magazine “RIBON”, during my earlier years of primary school I also got to read the monthly magazine “Ciao” at my friend’s house. Then from my higher grades of primary school onwards I started to buy separate volumes and these days nothing gives me more happiness than to feel the weight of a paperbag filled with dozens of new manga volumes.

The first animes I really liked in my childhood days were “My Neighbor Totoro” – I had completely worn out my video tape – and an English learning show by Disney called “Minnie Mouse is singing the ABC song for us ♪” I have been a big fan of anime ever since the old days but my love became stronger ever since I moved to Toyko and these days I tend to watch around 40 works every season.

The first gaming console I ever used was the “Super Nintendo”. I also played games on the Play Station, Gameboy and the Nintendo DS, I currently have more than 10 gaming apps on my mobile phone. In recent years I have also been going to a lot of collab cafés and stage plays of my favourite works.

I only just started to write and already it’s all about my otaku activities *laughs*. On that note I would like to mention that when it comes to books I am not just a fan of manga but of all kinds of literature such as short novels. When it comes to TV and films I am not just into anime, I also like variety shows, love stories, action, suspense and lots of western tv shows (mostly procedural crime dramas).

In the past I have often been asked, “among all those things, why is it that you feel the strongest emotional impact when it comes to manga and anime?” In short my reply is always, “it is my way of escaping from reality so I am able to actually face reality.”

Manga, anime, games, for me they provide a fantasy world filled with ideals and dreams. Step by step they will take you to another world. In there you will find brightly sparkling elements, a warm and fluffy sense of healing, before you know it you will have tears running down your cheeks and once in a while you will feel great emotional pain deep within your heart *bitter smile*.

This way I have been able to experience many different things. I am living quite the ordinary life so I get to experience things the real me wouldn’t do…for example, there’s a world where I am actually doing sports! Since it is all a fantasy I can use magic and psychic powers, it is possible to talk with all kinds of animals. In these works there are worlds where you can see sceneries which you could have never imagined in the real world.

Also, the characters living in these worlds carry so many ideals and dreams, their words and actions are powerful and provide hope, they give me the strength to face the struggles of the real world. By experiencing a wonderful piece of work you can get inspired and find the strength to face all your challenges. They help me revalidate the things I want to do, what needs to be done in order to achieve those things, they give me the motivation to reach my goals. Through these works I want to experience the best as well as the worst things. I feel like this is the most important thing. In this column I would like to talk about the things that are important to me.

This is a bit sudden but did you know that during this anime season you can enjoy a lot of nostalgic works on TV? “Lupin the Third Part 5“, “Legend of the Galactic Heroes - Die Neue These “, “GeGeGe no Kitarō Vol.6”, “Captain Tsubasa”, “Card Captor Sakura Clear Card Arc”, “Soul Hunter” and many more.

When you watch them you can fully experience the charms of these works which so many people have been enamored with in the past. To feel the warmth and excitement from the early days again, it is great. That feeling of being fully immersed also seems to come back. I wonder if the power and beauty of these works will touch my heart again. While once again experiencing the sparkle of these works which I had enjoyed back in the day, I feel like I am falling in love with them all over again. Also, I feel like many people are getting to know these nostalgic works for the very first time, there seems to be a growing interest in works from the past.

As a big CLAMP lover I have been watching “Card Captor Sakura Clear Card Arc” ever since the last season when it first started to air, simultaneously I have been reading the manga. “Card Captor Sakura” is a story about a girl that comes across magical cards and receives magical powers. The main character Sakura Kinomoto-chan (hereinafter referred to as Sakura-chan) encounters magical cards during her fourth grade of primary school. All in all there are 53 cards such as “water”, “fire”, “wind”, “thunder”, “ground”, “light” and “darkness”. Sakura-chan struggles to bring them to life and consequently control them. She is a very cute, kind-hearted and courageous girl! She has to face various difficulties. Through her words and actions I feel incredibly empowered. I don’t even know how many times I have been comforted by her encouraging words, “it’s gonna be absolutely fine!”

And then there are all these inspiring quotes by Sakura-chan’s best friend Tomoyo Daidouji (hereinafter referred to as Tomoyo-chan). “Seeing a beloved person being happy gives me utmost happiness”, “Whatever good thoughts may be hidden within your heart, if you don't put them into words, none of it will ever be acknowledged by others.” These are the quotes I always keep in mind during important times. Tomoyo-chan may have a gentle nature but she is a very though girl with a strong will. She is my favourite character!

This is the story of Sakura-chan & Co. Time has passed and they are all junior high school students now. The cards which need to be collected have turned transparent, many new things are happening. There are new cards. Lots of mysterious characters. I will continue to loyally watch Sakura-chan’s adventures!

That’s it for today. Thank you for sticking around till the very end. I’d be happy if you checked out my next edition.

Well, until next time!