'Driving in the Silence' lyrics in progress

Frecklegirl has uploaded all the romaji lyrics (and soon to be translated) lyrics to Maaya's latest concept album 'Driving in the Silence' on her site. So keep an eye on Nostalgic Lavender for all your lyrical needs.

Maaya Sakamoto 'In the Silence' 20111 Concert Report

So. It's been a while. I hope you've all been well. I've finally got a spare moment to post! Time has been lacking since we entered December and luckily there hasn't been any major Maaya news to post. Until now! Yes, thanks to roxfan and Jerome from Maayas.net I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Friday concert of Maaya's 'in the silence' 2011 tour.

Click here for a more official report but I shall post the setlist first:

1. inori
2. blind summer fish
3. doreddo 39
4. afternoon repose
5. bitter sweet
6. another grey day in the big blue world
7. birds
8. 30minutes night flight
9. Dreaming
10.Kioku -there’s no end
11.Bokutachi ga koi wo suru riyuu
12.Setsuna
13.Universe
14.30minutes night flight～sound of a new day
15.Driving in the silence
16.Sayonara Santa
17.Melt the snow in me
18.homemade christmas
19.Kotoshi Ichiban
20.Tatoeba ringo ga te ni ochiru you ni
21.Kyokuya
22.Chikai
23.Driving in the silence –reprise-

Encore
01.Buddy
02.Okaerinasai
03.

13th December: Mahiru ga Yuki
14th December: Fuyu desu ka
16th December: Rule - iro asenai hibi
17th December: Kinobori to Akai Skirt
18th December: Pocket wo kara ni shite

I suppose what I should tell everyone first off is that they filmed Friday's concert. Yes, this does mean it is highly likely that this tour will be out on DVD sometime within the next twelve months. Hopefully before spring comes so that 'Driving in the Silence' will still get to be a winter concept album! Maaya has been saying that she wants everyone to put it away once spring comes until winter next year. 

The concert was all three concept albums back to back, and the venue was 700 seats - so pretty small! Everyone who attended the concert recieved a cute black and red stocking and a postcard which could be slotted into the pamphlet. 100 of the postcards each day were signed by Maaya herself, unfortunately I didn't get a signed one but the photo was really sweet and it had the date of the concert performance we attended printed on so it was a nice souvenir.

On to the performance! The stage was quite simple but each album performance began with a short, simple black and white animation introducing the concept and title of the album. Then Maaya and the band appeared behind a thin screen, Maaya herself dressed in an outfit reminiscent of the album covers themselves.

The music was just fantastic, and hearing the albums played in order was an amazing experience. Everything sounded fresh and the band were really tight. Not to mention Maaya's singing. 'easy listening' in particular sounded gorgeous after ten years, and Maaya's English for 'afternoon repose' and 'another grey day in the big blue world' was spot on.

I was shocked at how short she is in real life. When I went to the fanclub live in 2009 we were quite far back so she looked tall but on Friday I was but three (!!) rows back and when I saw her heels I was bowled over. She's so tiny! 150 cm sounds so big on the internet but in real life she was very petite. So, so pretty and cute. I like to think I didn't embarrass myself but I'm afraid I was very uncool when she came close to us...let's hope that it is not clearly shown on any DVD release T_T

The photo on the link above is from the 'Kyokuya' performance. Stunning!

But what was really special was 'Rule - iro asenai hibi-', this is one of my favourite Maaya songs ever, and I'm not ashamed to say I was crying when it started. What an amazing track. Although I wouldn't have minded hearing any of the other four tracks played on the different days either. I hope they are all included on the DVD!

In addition, I also took the chance to go and see the planetarium show...the aromatherapy? Well, it was quite nice in the end! I learnt my lesson, don't knock it till you've tried it. The show was an introduction to the European night sky and Maaya narrates different legends about where the constellation names comes from. 'Melt the Snow in Me' and 'everywhere' are both played in full as well. I hope she gets some new fans from the couples that were in attendance.

A nice couple of days! I'll try and get some pictures up from my iPhone once I'm back in Japan (home for Christmas right now)

Happy holidays!

'In the Silence' December 2011 concert goods unveiled

Guh. Look how cute the goods for the concerts are.

I want everything.

'Driving in the silence' drops to no.41 in its second week

Well, I suppose we should have expected it. As hardcore fans, we all tend to buy first week which makes Maaya's sales quite top-heavy.

Thus, we all brought her new album the week it was released and got it into the top three, whereas this week it sold just over 2,000 copies and landed inside the top 50 on Oricon at no. 41. Which means she sold about 20,000 copies in total, if one imagines all the copies floating around the world right now. Not bad for a mini concept album.

Official site updates with 'in the silence' live info, fanclub lives and Maaya's winter reccomendations

Real life as once again intruded onto updates but we are also in post-release limbo. Maaya's PR run for 'driving in the silence' seems to be over and with a rehearsal schedule for two tours I imagine she's pretty busy at the moment. Not that I'm complaining! I'm heading back to the UK for Christmas and I have just enough time to stop by a 'in the silence' performance before running off to Narita airport and a good old family Christmas.

On to Maaya news, though! Or rather, continuing in the vein of concerts. Maaya's official site updated with information about 'in the silence' confirming what we already knew: she will be performing 'easy listening', '30 Minutes Night Flight' and 'Driving in the silence' in FULL. Looking at the venue, it seems like it's a 700 seat theatre which is a pretty small venue. Another interesting thing in the announcement is that tickets will be available on the day.

With all the demand for tickets and people failing to get tickets in the fanclub lotteries it strikes me as odd that they would make some available on the day too, but I guess if you aren't in the fanclub/haven't got a credit card/other reason then it means you also have a chance to go. Cool.

Next live announcement is that the title for Maaya's new set of IDS fanclub concerts in February 2012 will be called 'Winter Songs'. You know what you'll be getting!

Finally, Tower Records have a cute Maaya bulletin up with some hand-written comments by Maaya herself about 'Driving in the silence' here. Her reccomended winter movie is 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' and her reccomended activity in winter is to curl up with a hot mug of coffee while listening to 'Driving in the silence'. Well, if you can't promote your album at a music store, then when can you? I shall follow her advice to the letter.

I really like 'Driving in the silence' though, it's so good *_*

Tune into Vitamin-M live later on today through Ustream

As was reported a couple of weeks ago, the 500th episode of Maaya's radio show Vitamin-M will be broadcast live tonight November 18th at 25:30 (1.30am Japan local time...) so all you lucky people in different timezones will be able to tune into the show through its internet stream at a more reasonable hour.

To listen to the show live simply go to the official Ustream channel and press play.

'Driving in the silence' no.3 on Oricon with 17,590 copies sold

Well done, Maaya! Her new concept album has entered the top three on Oricon to chart on the weekly album ranking with 17,590 copies sold. Excellent news!

Another piece of good news is that Maaya is featured on the cover of CDJournal for December and the picture is super pretty! November is going well so far! Lawson Tickets also have an interview up on their website with a nice photo taken in Ireland.

'Driving in the silence' - Sayonara Santa lyrics

Once I've seen you off from the window
I'll never see you again

Goodbye, I loved you
When we first met I was still a girl, but since then
Many winters have passed
And I am now all grown up

The day we first sang together
The lights the prism reflected on the wall were laughing
I wanted to be a good girl
Like you wanted
I always wanted to be
Someone who would be perfect for you

Goodbye, I loved you
Tomorrow you'll become someone else's, won't you
Though I've grown this tall
Though I've become this good at singing
If only you'd waited a little
Then surely, surely it would be me

We won't be able to meet any more
Many winters have passed
And I am now all grown up
I'm grown up
Once I've seen you off from the window
We'll never meet again

Fanclub events decided for February 2012

Six fanclub events will be held across Japan in February 2012 according to Maaya's official fanclub IDS' homepage. Tickets will be allocated by lottery!

Hurrah!

'Driving in the silence' - two big thumbs up

I had the day off today which granted me the great pleasure of being at home when Maaya's new concept album 'Driving in the silence' arrived at my doorstep. Excitement!

Yes, I have listened to the album three times already. I'm on the fourth as I write this, I figured I better savour it before bashing out a review. Especially as it's the day before the actual release day - thank you, Amazon Japan. 

Like with Maaya's previous albums YCCM and everywhere the first edition comes in a large slipcase with the limited edition cover on, which then slides off to reveal the normal edition covered CD and the bonus movie disc housed in its own individual case. Lovely packaging and the paper is all very high quality. Ireland looks great and they really got their moneys worth out of that trip: cover art for 'Buddy', 'okaerinasai' and 'driving in the silence' plus 8 minutes worth of movie/music video.

Music-wise, I am really, really enjoying the album.

In fact, the person I had reservations about on the credits list, Rasmus Faber, turned in the three best tracks on the album in my opinion. So long, jazz renditions of anime songs, hello grown up atmospheric tracks of awesomeness. The work he did with Frida really goes well with Maaya's voice. And of course some of the credit must go to Kono Shin for arranging them too. 'Sayonara Santa' and 'Melt the snow in me' we had heard already (and I really like them) but with no previews 'Kyokuya' (polar night) in the second half of the album was something I was looking forward to and it did not dissapoint.

I would have been happy with the whole album being Rasmus/Frida/Kono Shin with these three tracks.

I'm also really enjoying 'Tatoeba ringo ga te ni ochiru you ni' (For example, like an apple falling into your hand) as well. Another track we didn't have a preview for; it reminds me a little of the b-side to 'Saigo no kajitsu'. The instruments sound wonderful in the speakers. In fact, all the instruments in the album sound really lovely and crisp in my speakers. It's a pleasure to listen to.

The other tracks are also enjoyable. The only...well, surprise, I suppose, was 'homemade christmas'. When it came on I was a bit disappointed. It seemed to have 'b-side' written all over it with a good helping of 1980's hairspray and sparkle shoveled on top. I don't know, it didn't sit well with me even though I understand how it fits into the image of Christmas and all, but it just sounded poor in comparison to the tracks in front of it.

With three or four listens however (I know, right?) I am definitely appreciating it more and its place in the album. Especially when I remember than 'bittersweet' on 'easy listening' wasn't exactly my favourite track but I still enjoyed the album over all. Same with 30 Minutes Night Flight being very wishy-washy in places. In fact, after four listens you will lose the urge to skip it. Success!

Over all, I would say that this album is better than 30 Minutes Night Flight, although the concept and journey 30 minutes took us on was more effective. But in terms of the music, I think 'Driving in the silence' is better, the tracks are fresh and interesting to listen to.  Although reading the lyrics it seems like there's a lot of sadness going on in the content - lots of broken hearts at Christmas apparently!

2011...we've had:

You Can't Catch Me
Buddy
Okaerinasai
Driving in the silence

What a year! So much new content, it'll be interesting to see which release people preferred. At the moment I'd say 'Driving in the silence' is more enjoyable than YCCM but that might be because it's new and sparkly!!

What do you guys think?

EDIT: OK, I've found one problem with the album: it won't get out of my head. Now how am I supposed to get a good night's sleep?!

'Driving in the silence' shipped and out tomorrow

Online purchases of Maaya's new concept album are starting to arrive and officially the album is out tomorrow - very exciting!!

Feel free to post your thoughts on the album in the comments section once you've had a chance to listen ^^

Maaya Sakamoto First and Last Photobook - You Can't Catch Me Tour 2011

It seems there are some people who need convincing that this photobook is worth the money. It is. Not only are the photos all beautiful, but there is a lot of reading material about each of the concerts, the effects of the earthquake on the tour and interviews with Maaya and Maaya's blog entries during the tour's duration.

While I realise that a lack of Japanese comprehension will put the text off limits, there are more than enough photos to satisfy even fans who can't read Japanese ^^ If you needed any more convincing, here are some preview photos!

Now, what are you waiting for?

Amazon Order Link
CDJapan Order Link
Yesasia Order Link

Yes, that is my right hand. Woo!

'Okaerinasai' is no.8 on weekly Oricon with 13,498 copies sold

The numbers are in: Okaerinasai ended up beating Buddy's weekly ranking of no.10 to land in at no.8 on the Oricon weekly chart with 13,498 copies sold. Buddy itself dropped to 24 - not bad at all! In its second week it sold 3,906 copies. So although both singles sold similar numbers but in the end Okaerinasai sold about 10,000 copies more in its first week than Buddy.

I thought it would be the other way around, usually upbeat songs sell more but what a nice surprise! Apparently Yumin and Maaya are the perfect match.

And only another five days until the new mini album! The lovely countdown65 over at Maayas has made a cute banner for the right hand side of the this blog linking to Maaya's site for those who want more information about the release ^^ and Jason has put up a few previews of the tracks we've heard so far from the album. I must admit, it sounds great!

Remember to pre-order as well!

Maaya narrates new planetarium show from December

Now, this is an interesting project to crop up. I can’t work out if it’s product placement for Maaya’s music or if it’s just a rather odd idea that someone came up with to attract visitors to the planetarium theatre or…well. I don’t even know.

So! Would you like to have the night sky of Northern Europe projected right before your very eyes while Maaya reads a story to you? Or narrates the night sky. Or both. They’ll also be playing two Maaya songs! One as the theme song and one more. Oh, and there will be aromatherapy!

Yes. That’s right. Aromatherapy. A perfume designer has produced an original perfume with the flavour of the Bergamot orange and Earl Grey which will flow through the planetarium dome during the show it seems.

Well. What more can I say? I’m rather nonplussed by the idea, to be honest.

For more information on the show which will start running at the planetarium in December please click here.

I kind of want to go, though...

Photobook gets no.1 on Oricon book ranking and 'Okaerinasai' ranks no.7 on the daily chart

Maaya's newest single came out on Wednesday and ranked in at no.7 on the Oricon daily singles chart, just as 'Buddy' did the week before. It's interesting that despite two different tie-ups the rankings didn't reflect the more popular anime. Maybe the weekly ranking on Wednesday will show a bigger difference.

I guess for now all we can say is that the hardcore Maaya fans (myself included) must have all pre-ordered both singles and got them to no.7 on the first day!!

The second piece of ranking news is that Maaya's photobook of the You Can't Catch Me 2011 Tour got no.1 on the Oricon book chart last week! Apparently it sold 5,000 copies in its first week. I hope that people who didn't know who Maaya was saw the book in the shops at no.1 and picked it up for a browse. It'd be nice if Maaya could be more widely known. This is her second no.1 this year after all (after the album got no.1 at the start of 2011...I know books and CD's aren't quite the same thing but still!)

Moving on, one of this blog's faithful commenters pointed me in the direction of this news over at Anime News Network about a new book/recital that Maaya is involved in from the people who brought you the Full Moon Recital Hall project and the Type-Moon series. It's in a similar vein to the previous works and I had seen it mentioned on Japanese Maaya fan sites but wasn't sure exactly what it was so it is nice to see it explained in so much detail in English!!

Aaannd finally! I know, right? But I've been sick = lack of updates!

On the 18th of November Maaya's radio show Vitamin-M will be broadcasting LIVE at 12:30 at night, Japanese time (that's 24:30!) on the radio and through U-Stream to celebrate it's 500th show! See the official announcement over at her info page. This is rather exciting! I wonder if she'll sing any of her songs live...anyway, so please send in your emails to Maaya at Vitamin-M with how her radio show has connected with you etc. Anyway, as it is on U-stream all you Maaya fans around the world can also tune in and enjoy the show for free! Just remember to factor in your time zone ^^

Phew! Hope you're all well, I can't believe it's November the day after tomorrow.

Maaya exhibition currently on display in Tokyo stores

I think I mentioned this in an earliar post but currently some of Maaya's costumes are on display in Tokyo, for example at the Tower Records store. For more information about where you can see the exhibitions click here for Maaya's official homepage announcement.

The outfits from Maaya's tour and a photo exhibition of shots taken on her trip to Ireland are available to view. The photos on the website are the outfits on display ^_^

'Buddy' gets weekly no. 10 and 'Okaerinasai' on sale

'Buddy' ended up with a weekly position of  no.10 on the Oricon Chart with 12,895 copies sold. When we look at who she was up again: KARA, CN Blue, NMB48 (part of the AKB army)  amongst others it isn't too surprising that she ended up further down the chart - but congratulations for another top ten single!! ^^

I finally got my hands on the photobook and 'Okaerinasai' as well, both of which I have thoroughly enjoyed. The live CD's played back to back...and the whole back story to the concert and the photos. It's a really nice present from Maaya I think. There's actually quite a hefty amount of text for a photobook. It contains Maaya's blog entries from her mobile phone fanclub site as well as interviews and text by another person responsible for writing up the tour. And the photos of course are great.

'A HAPPY NEW YEAR' is a great b-side as well. Thumbs up!

By the way, 'Chikai' off the new mini-album out next month was broadcast on Maaya's new radio show 'from everywhere'. You can find the show on Nico Nico Douga, the song gets played around the 13 minute mark. This is, if you remember, Maaya's second self-composed piece. The two songs we've heard in full...I like both of them. I'm really looking forward to the album >_<

Speaking of which, due to a very international collaboration with a bunch of fans I am the lucky holder of a ticket to the 'in the silence' tour being held in December!! PHEW! THank you guys T_T it really means a lot. Although I read on the Japanese fansite 100331 that on one of the radio shows Maaya's been on in the past few weeks of single PR the live show will feature all the songs from all the mini albums possibly in order or release date. So all of 'easy listening', then 30 minutes, then 'driving in the silence'.

I suppose it would make sense as the albums are meant to be a complete package but I was a little surprised. Well, I guess we'll find out!!

And then after all the excitement, my health broke at the weekend -_-;;;;;  I'm on the mend though, I've been occupied with reading the photobook interviews. It turns out seven days straight working with overtime, trying to get tickets to a concert and lack of sleep isn't good for the body!!

Phew. It's been a long week but we've finally got two singles and a photobook to play with until the album next month!

Congratulations on your good work Maaya - I love it!

'Buddy' debuts at no.7 on Oricon ranking

Not sure how it will fare weekly, but we'll see; here's the official ranking page.

'Buddy' and photobook released and special Natalie.mu interview

As the title suggests ^^;; there is a special long interview up on Natalie.mu here.

A swift look over, something that caught my eye was that 'homemade Christmas' from the new concept album is apparently electronic. Now that is something interesting to look forward to. I'm not sure if I've said this on the blog but the first Maaya song I ever heard was 'Getsuyoubi no asa' from DIVE. What a way to start my Maaya fandom! I was completely under the impression that she was some kind of indies electronica!

Currently listening to the 'Buddy' single, and 'something little' is a very soft coupling track. Maaya has said it is supposed to balance out the fierceness of 'Buddy' and it certainly is a change of pace. It's sweet. On to the live tracks!

EDIT: the live CD is pretty sweet. Maaya sings so well *_* and the arrangements are great!

'driving in the silence' official mini site uploaded and Tower Records exhibition

The official promotional website for Maaya's new concept album 'driving in the silence' has been uploaded to Maaya's official website here. Some nice photos in the flash movie from the shoot in Ireland, a link to 'sayonara santa' and the official album track previews have been uploaded. I guess more content will be added over the next few weeks.

'Buddy' is on sale tomorrow as is Maaya's FIRST and LAST photobook ^^V Tower Records in Tokyo also has a couple of Maaya's costumes from the YCCM tour on display to mark the new single release.

Full 'Buddy' PV and alternative covers for both singles

Victor Music uploaded the full version of Maaya's 'Buddy' PV today for your enjoyment - the song is still sounding great ahead of its release on Wednesday. Always a good sign! I hope that you've all put it in your shopping baskets.

Speaking of the singles coming up, Maaya's official site unveiled four alternative covers on Maaya's news site here. The covers are available if you buy both first press editions of 'Buddy' and 'Okaerinasai' in the form of two alternative shot jackets and two 'live' jackets. Pretty sweet!

I went to see Maaya on stage on Friday while I was on business in Tokyo in her Recita Calda production of the life of Joan of Arc. It was an outdoor stage in the it had a roof but no walls to the sides of the stands. The production was a one woman show in that Maaya performed the whole thing alone in a combination of recital and performance. It was like she was reading a book but then would get up to act it as well. She was accompanied by Spanish Connection, a trio of musicians who provided a French...well, I thought it was more Spanish like their name, but very European flavour with their back up music.

It was really interesting but at several points she came down off the stage and started walking around the audience rows!! She was literally five meters away from my seat! I found it hard to concentrate then, and I wish I had been able to go with someone else as I wanted to be like 'OH MY GOD' to someone but everyone else seemed to be quite stoic ^^;; she was beautiful, seriously (*_*) so, so, so pretty up close.

But what I really found impressed was the sheer versatility and power in her vocal performance. She must have played dozens and dozens of characters as well as narrating the whole thing. When she was playing a prosecutorfor Joan of Arc's trial her voice gave me goosebumps. No mercy. I was really impressed. I've always been more of a listener to her music than a follower of her seiyuu work but I'd love her to play an evil character someday. That would be awesome.

Two thumbs up!

Argh, she walked so close to me >_<

EDIT: Also, the second episode of 'from everywhere' is available for podcast now ^^  go take a listen here.

Previews of 'driving in the silence' uploaded to Maaya's discography

Maaya's discography on Flying Dog's homepage has been uploaded with some short clips of 'driving in the silence' here. What are you waiting for, go listen!

EDIT: The clip of 'driving in the silence' itself as a track doesn't really give much of an impression but I love the sound of all the other tracks. Especially 'Melt the snow in me' - it sounds really interesting...and it's in English! By the way, 'Chikai' is the song composed by Maaya - wasn't expecting it to sound like that!

'from everywhere' podcast now online

Hello all! Maaya's new radio show 'from everywhere' started this week and you can listen to the podcast on the official website here.

The show is going to be concentrating on trips and stories from people's travels so if you have any places you would like to reccomend to Maaya or stories about places you have visited then start sending those mails into the show ^^

'Sayonara Santa' short PV uploaded to Youtube

The lyrics are about a girl who is reminiscing about her first love. I think this probably ties in with the comment Maaya made in the Yorimo interview about imagining what Santa Claus' first love would have been like. This must be from the girl's perspective.

I don't know what I was expecting from 'Driving in the silence' but I am pleasantly surprised by this track. When I listened to Faber's other tracks on Youtube I wasn't overly keen but once again Maaya's taste has proven to be a winner as 'Sayonara Santa' is definitely a hit with me. Really, really sweet. And wintery! I can't wait to be wrapped up in warm clothes with this on the ol' iPod.

Not long to go!

EDIT: actually, listening again...I wonder if the lyrics are about a little girl who met Santa and then grew up so she wasn't able to meet him anymore...

'Sayonara Santa' PV confirmed!!!

Japanese fansite 100331 has discovered that Space Shower TV is listing a new Maaya Sakamoto PV to be on air soon for the Driving in the silence song 'Sayonara Santa'.

Now that WOULD be exciting. Maaya is really spoiling us. I know she said she wants to work more and more but this pace is crazy!

Vitamin-M announcement this week maybe...?

EDIT: And look what Victor Entertainment just uploaded!  I think this is where the money was spent on Maaya PV's - how amazing and how adorable!!! IT'S IRELAND!

'Okaerinasai' lyrics by ear - in full!

Well, the full version of the 'Okaerinasai' PV leaked so I thought I would updated my by-ear lyrics translation. The full version did not dissapoint. And that final section...well, I almost teared up. It's such a pretty song and a really, really warm feeling tingles all over when I listen to it.

Lyric-wise, the section about 'the shape of heaviness' in the second bridge was a bit tricky to translate. If anyone has any suggestions after listening to the song about a better way to translate it I would be very grateful. Still, it came together quite well for a by ear translation. Again, this will need to be updated or replaced by Frecklegirl's translation when the official lyrics come out! But for now, enjoy!

Through the remains of the summer rain
I ran to the station
And saw you from behind
In my half sleeved school uniform
I ran after you in a hurry
Drops of water hitting my eyelashes

We knew the beautiful colours of all the kind things in the world
But we didn’t know anything about the world back then

Welcome home to the memories
When you want to cry, when you want to meet up
We will be here

Welcome home
We’re still protecting the dreams we had,
the things we loved
And you

While combing my hair
I imitated the girl I saw in that movie
When I washed my face in cold water
All of my sadness was washed away

All of the things that had been written above the skies
Have all landed here right in front of my eyes
And I also keenly feel the shape of heaviness

Welcome home to the memories
Turning back
Or changing are not weaknesses

Welcome home
I understand
Without saying anything,
Without even asking,
I'll embrace you softly

Welcome home to the memories
When you want to cry, when you want to meet up
We're right here next to you

Welcome home
I want you to realise that to live is to forget
And it's always the present that sparkles the most brightly

October 2011 Yorimo.co.jp Interview Translation

A rush of new songs from Maaya Sakamoto, she opens her heart to us:
"I want to surprise people more. I keep thinking how greedy I am.” 

5th October 2011
Originally published on Yorimo.co.jp

Singer and voice actress Maaya Sakamoto’s (31) steady advance cannot be stopped. This month she will release two new singles, followed by her third concept album on November 9th. Since marking her fifteenth anniversary last year she has increased her activities, and has just finished this year’s tour of the country which ran from spring to summer. Despite announcing her marriage to voice actor Suzumura Kenichi in August, she has no desire to slow down. I asked her just what was going on.

“Life revolving around work hasn’t really changed at all.”

In August of this year Maaya announced her marriage herself through a message on her official website. The marriage between two popular voice actors caught many fans by surprise and immediately after the announcement Twitter and other forums were overflowing with both words of congratulations and surprise.

　── Congratulations! Has anything changed since you announced your marriage?

"Thank you! Before we announced it I was nervous as I didn’t know how everyone would react. But I was glad that I got to tell everyone in my own words [through her official website] and I was really happy as the amount of congratulations and blessings we received exceeded my expectations. I’ve been working everyday and both right before and right after the announcement I was still in the middle of recording so in terms of my daily work life nothing has really changed at all. I didn’t even move until recently and until then I just continued living alone as normal *laugh*. We’re both active as individuals so having a life that revolves around work is something that hasn’t changed at all really."

── Will there be anything different, such as the content of your lyrics, now you’re married?

"The source of energy I use as the basis for my lyrics is the feelings and experiences that make up my everyday life, but I haven’t really written them until now with the intention of making them autobiographical so…I think that by announcing my marriage there are going to be people who will read my life into the lyrics as an autobiography; but whether something you create reflects your own experiences or not, well that’s a different topic altogether. If marriage influences my values then I think that the effects of that will come through naturally but right now I can’t think that there will be much difference. I think that maybe more than me being different it might be the opinion of the person interpreting the lyrics that changes *laugh*. I would like them to be flexible in their interpretations of what I make as it’s not always going to be about me! *laugh* "


Consecutive releases of new songs including a song written by Matsutoya Yumi

Last year she held a successful solo concert at the Budokan and her most recent original album, ‘You can’t catch me’ went to number one on the Oricon chart. She then got married but it seems as if her creative urges have only increased. Both of the new songs unveiled for her two consecutive singles in October are surprising in that they feature very unique collaborations which Maaya herself put forward. For the first release ‘Buddy’ (19th October, theme song to the animation ‘Last Exile: Fam of the Silver Wings’) Maaya collaborated across Record Label boundaries with popular electric rock band School Food Punishment, a band who Maaya says, “I thought were really interesting.” It is a rare Maaya song, reverberating with a fresh, intense electronic beat.

"It’s difficult because it has a tricky melody but singing it feels amazing. Working together closely with the band during the recording I felt really good and I was able to have fun singing."

And for the second release, ‘Okaerinasai’ is a new song which has been composed by none other than Matsutoya Yumi (on sale 26th October). The compatibility between Yumin’s music and Maaya’s high tone voice has already been proven with Maaya’s previous cover of ‘Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara’. Her voice when singing ‘welcome home’ is like a gentle embrace, and I am sure that in these current times that is something which will sink into the hearts of listeners in Japan. It is featured as the opening theme song of the television anime ‘Tamayura –hitotose-‘, set in Hiroshima’s Takehara. (On air from October on AT-X, TOKYO MX)

"So much has happened this year and I think everyone has been thinking hard in their own way about it all. I also have lots of things that I want to tell people through what I create, but rather than putting out something written clearly in strong language I want to sing it in a song like this. I hope that listeners will find something if they listen through the song to the end."

"Matsutoya-san is an artist who I’ve respected and admired ever since I was a child, so I honestly never thought that the day would come when I would get to work with her. But when I plucked up my courage and asked her, she readily agreed to taking on the job and listened to my last album, praising the lyrics. I was so happy. In a meeting we had Yumi-san said, “I would like to live in a way that feels like a ‘welcome home’.” I wrote the lyrics thinking that it is nice that there are so many different kinds of ‘welcome home’, not just the kind when you arrive back at your house."

Popular Northern European DJ Participates in a ‘Winter’ Concept Album

As well as her seven original albums, Maaya has also released concept albums at several intervals in her career. It’s a project that she enjoys: “I work on the album as if I were shooting a short film, overseeing everything.” The third in this series of concept albums is ‘Driving in the silence’, to be released on November 9th. With winter as its theme, this is her first album to take a specific season as its subject matter.

"Winter is my favourite season but I could never get used to the idea of just putting one Christmas song into an album, so I've never sung one until now. But this time I was thinking it would be nice if I could make an album that people could listen to just in winter. My personality is more suited to spending Christmas quietly at home, being thankful for what I have rather than getting excited and being busy. I try to imagine who Santa Claus might long for, what his first love might have been like when he was young."

One thing that stands out in this album is the participation of the globally popular Swedish Producer/Composer/Club DJ Rasmus Faber. Upon his arrival in Japan, Maaya approached him and requested him to write a song for her.

Rasmus is well known by animation fans in Japan and is known for his jazz arrangement album of anime songs. Maaya also encountered him thanks to his jazz arrangement cover of her song ‘Yakusoku ha iranai’.

After agreeing to compose, Rasmus passed on three tracks which had been written together with his friend Frida, saying “You can use any of these you like.” But “I liked all of them” and so Maaya ended up recording all three tracks. Those three new songs, including ‘Sayonara Santa’, are somehow filled with the scent of Northern Europe, with mysterious, lyrical melodies, the beauty of which when combined with Maaya’s bitter-sweet lyrics are sure to knock out any Western music fan.

"I think it was a good collaboration, the melody develops in an interesting way which is somehow different to something a Japanese composer might have come up with."

Why she held concerts after the March 11th Earthquake

In December Maaya will hold an almost daily series of concerts over five days at Tokyo’s Tennozu Isle to present her concept albums. While she has admitted in the past that “I can’t do concerts!”, she is an unbelievable performer.

── Have you ever had a year with so many concerts?

"No, never. I guess I started to like concerts…It’s fun and being up on stage has become really natural to me. I’ve become able to stand on stage while staying true to myself. I feel like I have been able to reduce the space between myself and the audience as much as possible."

The Great Tohoku Earthquake occurred right in the middle of her last tour. March 11th was the day of her concert in Fukuoka. Following unaffected performances in Aichi and Osaka, Maaya wrestled with whether to put the Tokyo Nakano Sun Plaza performances scheduled for the 30th and 31st on hold in the atmosphere of self-restraint [in Japan following the earthquake] but then decided to take action.

This writer was fortunate enough to take part in the concert on the 31st. The large-scale set was cut, and between songs on a simple stage lit with minimum lighting and powered by a mobile electricity generator, Maaya explained why she decided to go ahead with the concert: “On my radio show I received an email from a young listener in Sendai asking me not to talk about sad things, but about happy things instead.” Even if it was only a little, she wanted to help cheer those whose hearts were in pain. Isn’t that what music is for?

Maaya also wrote on her official site: “Like a cook making food, or a florist selling flowers, going on as normal. I think that that will lead us to long term support. Those who can live their lives as normal should continue to do so. My daily life and my work is singing, acting, creating and bringing that to you.” Maaya Sakamoto was probably the first Japanese artist to hold a large concert in Tokyo in the days following March 11.

── You certainly made a big decision.

"Everday the situation was changing from one minute to the next; there were problems with power the power supply and it was a difficult decision as we didn’t know when a big aftershock would come. But the staff really understood that and we shared the responsibility together. We also had the understanding of the people who came to see the concert and had a full house. I really thought there would be more cancellations but in each venue we were met with warm applause. This was a tour that was created from everyone putting their ideas together. We announced that we would put the tour on in this way and that we would return the money of people who could no longer come, and then left it in the hands of those who could still make it to decide for themselves. It must have seemed harsh to request each person to take responsibility for themselves like that. But because each of them asked themselves what they really wanted and found either “I want to listen” or “I can’t right now” and decided upon that I think that it was right move at that time."


　── By coincidence the last stop on the tour was Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture on June 15th.

"I received flowers saying, “Thank you for coming – from all the fans in Senday.” There were lots of messages that were actually encouraging us. I really think that I was really cheered up by that."


“I married him because he doesn’t say that.”

　── It seems like since getting married you’re accelerating your activities more and more.

"I want to challenge myself, even in concerts there is so much I want to try out or haven’t had the chance to do yet. Last year I tried to put my energy into trying out lots of different things because it was my fifteenth anniversary, but since then I don’t really feel like I want to slow down at all. I want to surprise people even more in my sixteenth year, I want to entertain them. I wanted to be busier in my sixteenth year [than my fifteenth]. And that really happened *laugh* I’ve been able to have fun with different ways of presenting myself that people didn’t expect. Though I have a schedule of plays and concerts for this year and for new year I’ve already started thinking about next year. I keep thinking how greedy I am *laugh* I feel like I don’t want to be someone who says “I’ve really calmed down after getting married in my thirties” *laugh* It never runs out, this feeling of wanting to try things I haven’t done before as Maaya Sakamoto, there's still so much…"

　── Does your husband never say, “It would be nice if we could spend a bit more time together?”

"I married him because he doesn’t say that. *laugh*"

（Original Article Research and Text by Yorimo Editorial Desk – Yamato Taro）

Full 'Buddy' PV, new interview and photos of 'J'eanne de Arc' Pamphlet

Bit of a random collection of news, but that's Wednesdays for you!

First up, Ara ma they didn't! has posted up a full version of Maaya's 'Buddy' PV here for your enjoyment. That was a nice surprise! It looks like someone ripped it from a Japanese television broadcast. Check it out! It would have been cool if it had somehow linked to the 'okaerinasai' music video at the end but it's still a pretty ok video. 'Himitsu' was the best Maaya PV so far I think - it had 99% amazing shots.Where as the yellow feathered thing she flaps in the chourus is...well, you can decide for yourselves.

Song is still awesome. 

Secondly, there is a new interview up at Yorimo about the new string of releases (singles, album and photobook!) with some lovely photos - including a very Red Riding Hood-esque shot in front of a castle. Awesome!

Finally, I mentioned that next week Maaya will be on stage again in Tokyo in the Recita Calda production of 'Jeanne d'Arc' and there is a pamphlet available if one orders in advance. You can see a preview of inside the pamphlet here if you scroll down a bit. It looks pretty!

EDIT: Did a quick look over the interview and there is one quote that is really good when she's talking about how marriage hasn't slowed her down and she actually has more and more she wants to do:

Interviewer: Does your husband ever say: "It'd be nice to spend a bit more time just you and me."?

Maaya: "I married him because he doesn't say that *laugh*"

 Aww, it's nice he's supportive of her work!!

'driving in the silence' covers released

 Guess who released her covers! It's nice to have an early update. I particularly like the normal edition (the one with the crystal.) Both very nice but I think the text looks a little...rough. A bit fan-made if I'm honest. But I love the photos. The normal one is beautiful. I hope there are a lot of shots of Ireland!!

Source: Maaya's official homepage.

EDIT: Victor have posted a larger, high quality version of the limited edition cover on their Twitter account here. Text looks much better!!

EDIT no.2: There is also now an official Victor Music Facebook page. Huh. And they have high quality covers of both limited and regular editions uploaded. What is interesting is that the announcement is in English and Japanese - finally an acknowledgement of Maaya's international following?!

One can only hope that this is the start of official news in English.

EDIT no.3: I can't stop looking at the high quality covers, Maaya is so pretty. She just seems to have gotten more beautiful as time goes by.

Friday is here again! Phew, it has been a long week. Let's round-up everything that's been released in the past 24 hours.

Firstly, Maaya has a new regular radio show: 'from everywhere' to be broadcast on JFN radio stations around Japan from October. The official page of this new website is here, and you will be able to listen via podcast each week as well - hurray! A really cute picture of Maaya as well. There's going to be a little diary part of the website as well, it looks like. A nice surprise! You can email in to the show as well.

Next, Maaya's official homepage has updated her profile with a new Buddy themed photo, you can see that here.

Finally, the official mini promo websites for Buddy, okaerinasai and (well, not yet) driving in the silence have been set up. Mostly the content is what we already know but the photos are beautiful. So go take a look if you have time ^^

'Okaerinasai' Lyrics by Ear

This is certainly not official but I had a go at translating the lyrics to okaerinasai from the PV uploaded on Maaya's official channel by ear. So forgive me if (and when!) the official lyrics come out and they turn out to be completely wrong. That said, they are shaping up to be lovely.

A couple of weeks ago on Vitamin M when she was talking about the song, Maaya mentioned that the lyrics are about the friendship between girls and I certainly know what she means. I've moved around so much in the past three years and now I'm on the other side of the world, but when I go home it is like nothing has changed and my childhood friends are always there to welcome me home.

Anyway! These are certainly not 100% accurate, but for the next month they should keep us going till the official lyrics come out.

Through the remains of the summer rain
I ran to the station
And saw you from behind
In my half sleeved school uniform
I ran after you in a hurry
Drops of water hitting my eyelashes

We knew the beautiful colours of all the kind things in the world
But we didn’t know anything about the world back then

Welcome home to the memories
When you want to cry, when you want to meet up
We will be here
Welcome home
We’re still protecting the dreams we had,
the things we loved
And you

Maaya releases 'Buddy' and 'Okaerinasai' PVs

Well, Maaya certainly kept this one quiet! I open Youtube to find Flying Dog have uploaded two brand spanking new promotion videos to Maaya's Youtube account! Get read for odd clothing, pretty windmills and overall 'Where is this going?' concepts.

The songs are excellent though. I have been won over by Buddy! Maaya looks beautiful in the videos. Another piece of news is that an official concert report of the Tomioka Mill live has been posted up with pictures of everyone getting wet on Maaya's official page. Good Tuesday evening, I'd say!

Enjoy the videos!!

I.D Essay Book - My Ideal 'Thirties' Woman

I seriously love the new edition of I.D. It is the perfect size to hold in one hand! Do I mind that I have two copies of the same book? No! Anyway, I think Maaya answered her own question at the end of this essay at the Budokan concert - sharing her birthday with thousands of people can't be bad!

I really wish that one day an official English version of I.D is translated by a professional and released by Flying Dog or someone...does anyone think that is possible? Would there ever be enough international interest in these books to warrant publication overseas? Girls' Generation have shown it is possible to get official English versions released but...is Maaya just too niche to get the same attention?

I guess that it would cost too much money for an official translation and publication (T_T) still, an official English homepage would be nice!

My Ideal ‘Thirties’ Woman

By Maaya Sakamoto 
Originally published in I.D.

Among my acquaintances there is a woman I shall call Ms. M who is very popular with both men and women. She is eight years older than me and works as a promoter at my record company. She isn’t flashy, has a strong sense of justice and is always smiling. She can get along with anyone. 

Something unforgettable happened when my single ‘Hashiru’ was released. Ms. M had just become my PR manager and it was at the beginning of our working relationship.

In order to promote ‘Hashiru’ Ms. M had been making the rounds of various media outlets such as radio stations and magazines. But without a big tie-up and because I wasn’t famous even if she gave them a sample CD more often than not she was brushed off with, “We’ll listen to it later.” It wasn’t unreasonable, they were receiving several CDs a day and on top of the desk would be a mountain of sample CDs all piled up. Most likely they would not listen to them all.

One day she was more pushy than usual: “This is a great song, please listen to it,” and the other party replied, “Really? What’s good about it?” I don’t know what she was thinking but apparently she sang the first chorus of the song right there on the spot. Ms. M’s unexpected action took the person off guard and it seems they put the CD on straight away saying, “You’re quite a character. OK! Let’s listen right now.” She says that she did it because at that moment she wanted to make them listen just once with all her heart, but I’ve never heard of another promoter who would promote the song by singing it themselves.

Ms. M always puts her all into what she’s doing. She will fall in love with the artists she is put in charge of and does not hold back on her affection. She treated me with more kindness than I deserved.

The night before my third album ‘Lucy’ was released, I went drinking until the early hours with some staff members in Harajuku. At 5am when the shop was closing there were about two other groups of customers besides us. Ms. M, quite pissed, was babbling drunkenly, “She’s amazing! Maaya Sakamoto is amazing! I’ll follow her to the end!”

She accosted the waiter who brought our bill saying, “I’m really sorry to bother you but can you please put on this CD? It goes on sale tomorrow. It’s really good, please put it on.” She’s a pretty devious drunk…I was embarrassed and brought the conversation to a close with a friendly smile, “No, don’t worry about it.”

A little while later, thinking that Ms. M had been in the bathroom a long time I looked around to find her in the back of the shop chatting to the staff about something. She was pressuring them to put ‘Lucy’ on.

Finally, after Ms. M had put the heat on them, the staff really did play the CD. ‘Lucy’ is a nice album but I wouldn’t have said it was a particularly good fit for a French-style bar. But I was really happy and Ms. M cried again.

When she comes to my concerts or plays she is always crying somehow. Before she comes to see them, when the opening night draws near, she will go to pray at a shrine dedicated to a god of the arts on my behalf. She has the quick reflexes of a Kansai woman on her comebacks. She is quick to realise when there is something up with me. She lectures me when I complain. Always laughing, always crying, always getting cross. If I was a man I would want to make her my wife.

When she entered her thirties, as it was an important turning point age-wise I secretly planned to give her a special present. It was something I couldn’t possibly do on my own: I got all the people who knew Ms. M well to write her a message. After I floated the idea to them, over sixty people took part out of their affection for Ms. M. 

What was surprising was that it was not in the least bit difficult to gather all these messages together. All of the participants were really helpful, and all the messages were incredibly detailed and overflowing with words straight from the heart. There was no flattery or things said out of politeness. I understood once again how far and how deep her personal connections went. I had thought of the idea for the present and stuck the messages into an album but in reality I hadn’t done anything at all. This wonderful present was a success of Ms. M’s thirty years of life. This was a treasure that she had created herself. 

When I go over to her house to hang out the album is always on display for everyone to see. The front cover is a cute portrait of Ms. M drawn by an artist she manages. She says that, “If there was an earthquake then this is what I would escape with.” 

When I turn thirty, I wonder if I will be able to celebrate my birthday together with so many people like she did.

I’m not very confident!!

'driving in the silence' tracklist released

Well, the tracklist is finally out! That was a rather exciting thing to wake up to this morning. Looking good! Although when I saw the title of Maaya's own track at the end of the CD my mind did automatically go 'wedding'. Not sure if that is the right train of thought, but there we go.

The site also confirmed that the first pressing edition will have the short movie from Ireland, something telling you how to pre-order concert tickets for December and a postcard with which you can enter a competition for a special gift. Hurrah.Looking forward to Vitamin-M to hear what Maaya's thoughts on this are, and her official site have gone back to Friday announcements - curious! Maybe someone else noticed they were off track too.

1.Driving in the silence　　　 　　　　
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto  Music: Shibakusa Rei　

2.Sayonara Santa 　　　　　　
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto  Music: Rasmus Faber & Frida Sundemo

3.Melt the snow in me 　　　　　　　
Lyrics and music:Rasmus Faber & Frida Sundemo

4.homemade Christmas 　　　　　　　　　　　
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto  Music Eguchi Ryo　

5.Kotoshi Ichiban (No.1 This Year) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Lyrics Maaya Sakamoto  Music: Nagano Ryo


6.Tatoeba ringo ga te ni ochiru you ni (For example like a ringo dropping into my hand) 　　　　
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto  Music: Nagano Ryo

7.Kyokuya (Polar Night)　　　　 　　　　　　　　
Lyrics: Maaya Sakamoto  Music: Rasmus Faber & Frida Sundemo　

8.Chikai (Vow) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Lyrics and Music: Maaya Sakamoto

9.Driving in the silence―reprisel―


Sound produced and arranged： Kono Shin

Tomioka Silk Mill concert gets rained on

The set list for the Tomioka Silk Mill concert has been posted around the internet and the lovely Megumi (who I went to Maaya karaoke with on Saturday!) kindly posted up a report on the Maayas.net forum here. I am very jealous that she got to go to such a one-off concert!

Unfortunately due to typhoon no.15 Maaya and everyone who attended the concert got very, very wet apparently but it seems to have carried on regardless with this rather lovely set list:

1.Purachina
2.Yasashisa ni tsutsumareta nara

3.Hashiru
4.Kaze ga fuku hi
5.Tsuki to hashirinagara
6.SONIC BOOM
7.Kiseki no Umi
8.Ame ga furu
9.Kazamidori
10.Bokutachi ha koi wo suru riyuu
11.stand up, girls!
12.Get No Satisfaction!
13.Magic Number
14.everywhere
ENCORE
15.Okaerinasai
16.Poketto wo kara ni shite

Looking at reports it seems like it was more of an acoustic concert (a bit like the fanclub live I went to in 2009) with a small band. I really like the set list, I want to hear acoustic versions of Magic Number and Get no Satisfaction!

News updates: cover art and bonus goods

Is it just me or has someone on Maaya’s official website gotten so excited about the releases that they forgot all about that whole ‘every Friday we will announce something’ theme and just got hyper-active with the upload button? They are certainly very upload trigger-happy at the moment.

So! News roll. Maaya’s official site unveiled the covers for the okaerinasai single – and very nice they are too! I think we can now safely say all the covers were shot on her trip to Ireland. Very pretty! I really like the limited edition covers for both singles. Really nice!

It’s also just a few days until the concert at the Tomioka Silk Factory in Gunma Prefecture (lucky Megumi from Maaya’s has a ticket!) and on Twitter it was announced that both the re-issue of I.D. and from everywhere would be on sale along with some CD’s – I assume the new singles. 

The latest volume of the Full Moon Recital Hall Bedtime Story is on sale from today and Sai-zen-sen is re-broadcasting it tonight at 10pm (Japanese time.) They also released information about the final volume, it will be spread over two discs with full illustrations etc. and a bit more expensive because of the extra disc and massive illustration book. Looks like a nice volume!

A lot of special gifts at different stores were announced as bonus’ for the new releases as well. Driving in the silence will have a message card at Animate online, the…er…Broccoli(?) Online store will have a special postcard with a message on it as well. Nice one!

Buddy has also been leaked in full on the internet for those of you who are internet savvy.

I also managed to get a ticket for Maaya's performance in Recita Calda which is rather exciting. Apparently it's not a musical, a play or a simple recital but a NEW KIND OF THEATRE EXPERIENCE! Going from the PR material at least, haha. Will let you know how it goes!

Tamayura event reports released - Maaya performs 'Okaerinasai'

(c)Moca News

We heard a few weeks ago that Maaya was a surprise guest at the Tamayura PR event that was held last month. She appeared just after announcing her marriage and sang Okaerinasai to a bunch of lucky fans. Well, reports and photos of the event have turned up. Specifically the seiyuu news site Moca News put up two really pretty photos of Maaya's performance.

Very interesting dress!

Source: Moca News

Kono Shin teases us yet again

With a picture of Maaya and the guys at a recording session. Apparently they've been recording this album this the end of May! Well, this with blog entry and photo, apparently all the recording is finished. Awesome!

See the photo and blog here.

Maaya's official site releases previews of both singles

I think they took pity on us! Listen to the two songs from the okaerinasai single here, and listen to the two songs from the buddy single here.

The okaerinasai single sounds beautiful, two thumbs up for Yumin being involved. Both songs are lovely. buddy is pretty good but something little sounds like a filler track. I know it's a b-side, but still! A big thank you to Flying Dog for uploading the previews!

I have the okaerinasai previews on repeat ^^;;

By the way, a couple of goodies for this release are floating around at various shops. Some are giving away reversable covers if you pre-order both the Tamayura OP and ED singles (the opening is by Megumi Nakajima) whereas the freebie being offered for Last Exile is a stamp card...whatever that is.

Enjoy the previews!

Usagi Drop Essay - Playing Masako by Maaya Sakamoto

Last week or the week before, the Usagi Drop anime website unveiled a collaboration between Maaya Sakamoto and Gekidan Inu-Curry (the illustrator for the universe music video and Maaya’s Newtype column) as one of their website’s special sections. It was an interesting essay but parts of it were a little tricky! Anyway, here it is.

The original can be found here.

EDIT: This post is getting a lot of traffic, I'm glad people found it interesting! Enjoy!

Maaya Sakamoto: Playing Masako in Usagi Drop

Ayu Matsuura, who plays Rin, always stands straight in front of the microphone, her voice cool and relaxed. When I look at her I feel nostalgic, reliving my own days as a child actor, and strangely, I start to want to tickle her. She’s asked question after question from the adults around her, “What year are you at school?”, “Which school lunch do you like best?”, “How is your summer vacation homework coming?” And even this is somehow very familiar.

I wonder, when exactly did I become ‘an adult’?

I started this work when I was eight years old. It’s been twenty-three years from then until now and I’ve never done any other sort of work.

When I was a child acting and singing were simply fun, nothing else. But one day, there was a moment when I thought, “huh?” Wait a second, how did I did I do this acting thing up until now? For some reason I suddenly became unable to do the thing I had always been able to do without thinking. Despite enjoying it, or maybe because I did enjoy it, work stopped being just ‘fun’. And it was because of that I was no longer able to quit doing it. It’s difficult, I want to get better, I want to learn more…Those desires became the driving force for why I have done this for so long, and maybe they pushed me towards adulthood. It’s ironic but if it had just been ‘fun’ I probably wouldn’t have come this far. That’s how I feel now I’m 31 years old. For me, everything that happened was one thing in a long, continuous period of time with no relation to my age or experience, I never feel like I’ve become an adult. .

In Usagi Drop I play Rin’s mother, Masako. Even though she’s a mother Masako is still young and mentally very immature. She’s got a unique point of view and viewers might frown a little thinking, “What’s wrong with this woman?” A childish way of talking, her actions and words showing a lack of common sense…There are probably few people who can emphasise with a woman who has made the decision to keep her own daughter at a distance. She’s an elusive, difficult character. But it’s because she’s difficult that from an acting point of view she caught my interest. I feel like there’s a mysterious link between someone like me who was a child actor playing the role of mother who can’t become a true adult.

I know it’s a little presumptuous of me to put this in as an example in this essay but on this production I worked with Takkou Ishimori for the first time in a long time, and while we were looking at the children in the cast he commented offhand, “I was also a child actor and I started out at about their age. It’s difficult growing up, you know. It was really tough turning from a boy into a man.”

Those words where somehow really deep, and left an impression on me. As a pro he is on a completely different level to me so I was too shy to say ‘I know what you mean’, and could only stand there and nod silently but…Wow, so Takkou-san was also brought up with these two personas, the actor and the normal boy, and with time grew up into this wonderful person…it was a dazzling revelation.

Everyone starts to live as an adult without really noticing when it happens. Even though there are still lots of things you don’t understand or don’t know how to do, there are less and less people who will teach you or get angry with you. Even though you’re busy with your own problems people will rely on you. How others see you and how you see yourself…there’s so much you don’t understand.

“It was really tough turning from a boy into a man.”

Yes, it is difficult, really difficult. Even though I’m pretty much an adult at my age I still can’t catch up with who I want to be. In acting, in life. I think until I can say something like Takkou-san with the same gentleness, I think I will try one thing at a time..

Working on Usagi Drop, it seemed like I was looking at the distant future and the distant past at the same time. Then I came back to myself in the present once again and took a deep breath. I came to work on this show thinking, ‘ok, let’s take a step out into this new scenery’, in full knowledge of my immaturity, and giving it everything I had. Standing next to Rin, I think I started to understand Masako’s restlessness and passion. 

Fin.

  

Maaya composes song for 'driving in the silence'

We’re currently being battered by a typhoon here on Honshu. This is my first proper one, and I’m actually surprised at how strong the wind is even though I have a whole bunch of mountains between me and the centre of the storm. So! I decided to listen to last night’s Vitamin M.

So I was hoping my apartment block wouldn’t get blown away when Maaya announced something that was a pleasant surprise: the new concept album will have a song composed by Maaya herself! This will be the first one (that’s made it to release, at least) since everywhere! And she played everywhere, building up to the news perhaps? She played the first half of buddy again as well, what a tease for those of us on the internet stream!

Other information I gleaned was that Tomioka Mill isn’t a World Heritage Site yet but is currently aiming to be one. I stand corrected. Still, must be a pretty special place. She also had a chat about visiting Europe and Egypt. Including the marketplaces of Egypt and being offered a million types of ball pen.

Maaya said that the recording was almost finished: “The end is in sight!” Recording both the singles and album at the same side, she got confused at times about which song was meant for which release. Then she moved on to announcing that her own song would be included. Hurray!

And ended with Okaerinasai…argh, I want to hear these new songs so badly! Especially since they are on air each week and she already sang Okaerinasai at the Tamayura event. Perhaps I should buy a radio.

Buddy single cover released

Both of them can be found at Maaya's official site here.

©FlyingDog, Inc.

Beautiful. This is the limited edition cover, the regular edition is a monochrome version.

Kono Shin posts photo of final song recording session

Well, Maaya's new album should be moving into the post production stage as we speak. Kono Shin, the producer of the new concept album, posted up a blog entry with a photo of the recording session of the final song.

Exciting times! And tomorrow is Friday so we're going to get some more exciting news soon (^^)

'Kara no Kyokai' Interview with Maaya Sakamoto

Roxfan over at Maaya's has posted up a great big translation of an interview that was included in the Kara no Kyokai anime BluRay boxset. It's uploaded to his site here.

The following (P26-29) is an interview between the Garden of sinners Co-creators Takashi Takeuchi (Character Concept) and Kinoko Nasu (Original Story) along with Voice Actress Maaya Sakamoto (Shiki Ryougi). The three provide insight and introspection to the novels and the theatrical chapters, as well as reflect back upon their experiences during the movies' various production stages.

Let's all say thank you!

'driving in the silence'

The title of Maaya’s new album is to be ‘driving in the silence’

I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t that. It sounds like a long lost Pink Floyd song!

Announced by her official page, they also announced a line up of collaborators including lots of people I have never heard of! Hurray! This is quite exciting...

New essay and illustration collaboration for 'Usagi Drop' anime

I posted a few months ago on Maaya taking part in the anime adaptation of the manga Usagi Drop. The official anime website has updated with an essay written by Maaya on playing Masako, the mother of Rin. It seems like the illustration is done by the same artist who illustrated the ending theme sequence.

You can see the essay on the official site here.

EDIT: I wonder if it's the first of a series...That would be a nice way to bridge the gap between now and the October release fest.

P.s The illustrator is the same one who illustrated the 'universe' PV animation and Maaya's Newtype column!

I.D Essay Book - Festival

It's been a while since I posted a translation but I felt like I had been on the computer too long today when I got back from work and writing out this long hand was really relaxing. The new edition of the essay book is so easy to hold in one hand! It's really light and flexible! Two thumbs up from me.

Since it's summer, it's fitting that the next essay to come out of the book is about a festival. Unfortunately the festival season is almost over but it's going to be hot for a while yet so I think it's a nice read for a summer evening. Enjoy!



Festival

Speaking of festivals, there is one scene that is for me unforgettable. It was something that happened when I was in the third grade of elementary school. It was the summer holiday that I went to stay at my grandmother’s house in Saga.

I got friendly with another child from the neighbourhood, K-kun, and together with my cousins we played together almost every day. As K-kun was the oldest, he became the leader without anyone realising it. Tanned dark from the sun, he wore a white t-shirt that was a little too big for him. I don’t remember what his face looked like.

One evening there was going to be a big festival so we children got to go out as well. It was a huge thrill and a luxury to be given pocket money and allowed to go out and play at a time of day when we usually would never have been allowed outdoors.

Children run without any reason to hurry, that’s the way they are. Even though the straps hurt my big toe, we hurried to the arcade in our beach sandals, patter patter. We were sucked into the bustling atmosphere, gradually swallowed up by the crowds of people. But buried in the adults who were crowding all around, we couldn’t even see the main stage; even if we had wanted to buy something from a stall it was all we could do to just keep sight of our friends. It was a scary, helpless moment when I thought about what might happen if I got lost in a town I was unfamiliar with.

But right then K-kun quickly pushed his way through the crowd, shouting “This way!” Panicked, we followed him and came out in a small alleyway. Twisting and turning again and again, running out through a fishmonger’s…set free from the crowds of moments before we just ran and ran.

Running, running, before finally making it through the confusing alleyways to find ourselves back at the entrance to the arcade we had been in earlier.

“There,” K-kun hadn’t brought us to a festival stall, but to a normal barbeque stand which stood there every day. Watching the festival’s energy from afar, we split piping hot takoyaki sitting on the curb. I can’t forget that nameless emotional high I felt in that moment. The unease I had felt moments before had disappeared, now a feeling of exhilaration from relying on K-kun’s trustworthiness through the back streets of an unfamiliar city. For a weak Tokyo child like me it is a special memory. Even now when I smell raw fish the image of K-kun’s back, clad in that white t-shirt, is engraved into my memory.

Just the other day, I had the chance to go back to Saga all of a sudden. My grandmother had passed away.

My now all grown up cousins took me for a walk along that old arcade. At the back of the station, which has been done up very nicely, the arcade was very quiet. There were lots of shops which were shuttered up. As it had always been, the shrine we used to go to was full of crows.

I thought to myself, I bet I’m the only one who remembers that festival. But my cousin pointed to an alleyway behind the arcade and said, “Do you remember that? That’s where we all ran out from at the festival.” So it wasn’t just been me who had experienced that emotional high that night!

I wondered whether to ask about K-kun or not. But as I did, I was surprised to hear his name being brought up by the other party: “Do you remember K-kun?” My cousin is now a dance instructor and it turned out K-kun was one of her pupils. When I enquired further, it came to light that K-kun, who I had thought was older than me, was actually a year younger!

Because he had lead everyone else, I had been under the impression that he was older. Wow, your memories really can be wrong sometimes…

My cousin showed me a video on her phone. It was a clip of K-kun’s back as he danced into a shop window in the arcade at night. The image of him shaking his butt to calls of encouragement was hilarious, and I laughed with a strange but happy feeling as I thought, “Ah, K-kun is always from behind.”

I try walking along that back path once again.
I smell the fishmongers.

Fin.

Yumin cover and Vitamin-M airs the new songs

Last night's Vitamin-M aired both of Maaya's new songs to the public for the first time. It's a pity that they don't include the songs on the podcast as I think staying up till 1.30am is a bit of a push! Still, rather cool.

One of the editor's of the Sai-zen-sen blog also posted up a picture of the CD that will be included in the next release of 'Full Moon Recital Hall' here as a preview. This was my favourite of all four stories so I will definitely be buying this one. In case you haven't been following it, deltafour has been posting a week by week bi-lingual version on his site here. Highly reccomended!

Have a nice weekend!

EDIT: By the way, Luminaire over at Jpopmusic informed me that the coupling song to one of the new singles 'A HAPPY NEW YEAR' is a Yumi Matsutoya cover. You can listen to the original on Youtube. Here's a rough translation of the lyrics ^^

Lyrics: MATSUTOUYA Yumi
Music: MATSUTOUYA Yumi
Arrangement: MATSUTOUYA Masataka
Romanization: Per M JENSEN

"Happy New Year!"
Let's hurry through the frozen avenues
To the room of my beloved you
Faster, faster, so that this year too
you will be the first person I see

"Happy New Year!"
Please give me a brand new kiss
And then the street will be overflowing with the sound of bells
I pray that this year too
You will be blessed with good fortune, always, always

"Happy New Year!"
Ah, where will today come from?
I lose myself in the cheerful crowds
Just like this I want to grow one year older
Loving you, forever, forever

I pray that this year too
You will be blessed with good fortune, always, always

CLAMP drawing for Maaya's marriage

In celebration of Maaya's marriage to Kenichi Suzumura last week, Nanase Ohkawa from the CLAMP manga team posted a creation dedicated to the two on her private board which is really pretty!

It's Princess Tomoyo and Kamui!!! An imagined wedding between Tomoyo and Kamui, the CLAMP characters that Maaya and Kenichi have voiced in the past ^^VV

You may also remember that CLAMP were included in the special pamphlet from Maaya's Budokan live last year. It's so nice they have such a good working relationship!!

Click here to see the drawing.

Two singles in two weeks - 'Buddy' and 'Okaerinasai' October 2011

Rather unexpected. I was thinking perhaps 'Buddy' and 'Okaerinasai' would be a double a-side - not two whole seperate singles! Maaya's sucking up our money this winter.

19th of October: Buddy
26th of October: Okaerinasai

The first pressing of both singles will have live tracks included from the 'You Can't Catch Me' tour earliar this year recorded at the Tokyo International Forum shows.

◆New Single　「Buddy」10月19日発売　
　
TVアニメーション『ラストエグザイル―銀翼のファム―』オープニングテーマ
　 ・初回限定盤/VTZL-29/￥2,310(tax in)　　・通常盤/VTCL-35119/￥1,155(tax in)

今回は、注目の４人組バンド“School Food Punishment”とのハイパーコラボ！！
作曲・演奏で“School Food Punishment”が参加。
恐るべき化学反応を起こす、ドラマティックな攻速アッパーチューン！

<収録曲>
1.「Buddy」作詞：坂本真綾 作曲：School Food Punishment, 江口 亮　編曲：江口 亮
　　ストリングス編曲 : 江口 亮, 村山達哉
2.「something little」 　作詞：坂本真綾　　作曲：塚本 亮　　編曲：山本隆二
3.「Buddy」 (Instrumental) 　
4.「something little」　(Instrumental)

・初回限定盤 特典CD
　（2011年6月3日、4日公演＠東京国際フォーラム・ホールＡ　ライブ音源（前編））
　<収録曲>　1.eternal return　2.秘密　3.DOWN TOWN　4.スピカ　5.みずうみ　6.ボクらの歴史
7.キミノセイ　8.悲しくてやりきれない　9.ムーンライト（または“きみが眠るための音楽”）

So the 'Buddy' single will include the new track 'something little' as a b-side and on it's limited edition the track list will be:

1) eternal return
2) Himitsu
3) Downtown
4) Spica
5) Mizuumi
6) Bokura no Rekishi
7) Kimi no sei
8) Kanashikute Yarikirenai
9) Moonlight -mata wa kimi ga nemuru tame no ongaku-

◆New Single 「おかえりなさい」 10月26日発売
　
TVアニメーション「たまゆら～hitotose～」オープニングテーマ
　 ・初回限定盤/VTZL-31/￥2,310(tax in)　　・通常盤/VTCL-35120/￥1,155(tax in)

2010年、「やさしさに包まれたなら」をカバーし、話題になった坂本真綾。
今作は松任谷由実かきおろしの新曲！
ユーミンらしいノスタルジックであたたかさにあふれたナンバーに乞うご期待。
c/wには、同じくユーミン1981年の名曲「A HAPPY NEW YEAR」のカヴァーを収録。
　
<収録曲>
1.「おかえりなさい」　 作詞:坂本真綾　作曲:松任谷由実　編曲:森俊之
2.「A HAPPY NEW YEAR」 作詞・作曲: 松任谷由実　　編曲:窪田ミナ
3.「おかえりなさい」 (Instrumental)
4.「A HAPPY NEW YEAR」　(Instrumental)

・初回限定盤 特典CD特典
(2011年6月3日、4日公演＠東京国際フォーラム・ホールＡ　ライブ音源（後編）)
<収録曲>　1.ピース　2.風待ちジェット　3.Get No Satisfaction!　4.マジックナンバー　5.光あれ
6.トピア　7.I and I　8.stand up, girls!　9.everywhere

The second single, 'Okaerinasai' will have another new track composed by Yumin! Awesome. And the limited edition CD will have:

1) PEACE
2) Kazemachi JET
3) Get no satisfaction!
4) Magic Number
5) Hikari are
6) TOPIA
7) I & I
8) Stand up girls!
9) everywhere


This is quite incredible news, we're getting basically a whole concert in audio on these limited edition versions...Along with the YCCM concert photobook I think this is much better than a DVD! And altogether you'd be spending about the same anyway!