Posted by Takagaki Ayahi’s solo debut single was released last week (7/21) and bundled with the limited edition is the PV to the title track, “Kimi ga Iru Basho”. As a member of the seiyuu group sphere, Ayahi’s solo precedes Kotobuki Minako’s by a couple of months, but seems to be part of some master plan by their record label, Music Ray’n (a subdivision of Sony Music Entertainment Japan), to milk their four singers for everything they can. Tomatsu Haruka already had her solo debut prior to the formation of sphere, whereas Toyosaki Aki had hers not too long after. The fact that they all have official websites under their own .com domains sort of reiterates how much they’re being promoted separately and together, which is actually nice to see since seiyuu groups don’t tend to last very long. I find sphere to be one of the better groups to come along since all the girls can sing well enough on their own to justify solo debuts, so it’ll be interesting to see how much more of their music is featured in upcoming anime.
As for Ayahi’s debut single that’s featured as the ending theme of Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin this season, I thought it was a really catchy song when I first heard it, which was only overshadowed a bit by the ending sequence featuring real kids. In comparison, I find the full version even better, which is something I tend to say a lot but isn’t always the case. (Lia’s CLANNAD ~AFTER STORY~ OP and MUCC’s Senkou no Night Raid OP come to mind.) What’s interesting to note about the petite girl with the big voice is that her single also features a third English track titled “You Raise Me Up” (see below), an inspirational New Age song written by Secret Garden and covered by over a hundred artists to date. Ayahi’s English pronunciation isn’t perfect, but her opera singing skills do come through a bit in that song. She did attend and graduate from a music university after all, so it’s nice to see her finally get into the music industry on top of being a seiyuu.
Her singing profession doesn’t take precedence over her acting one however, as she currently plays Kuroki Ami in Seikimatsu Occult Gakuin and stars as the lovely Ferris Eris in Densetsu no Yuusha no Densetsu (a.k.a. The Legend of the Legendary Heroes). She also narrates in Asobi ni Iku yo, alongside all the other sphere members’ roles.
Wow, I had no idea that Ayahi could sing like that in “You Raise Me Up”
I wonder how tall she is.
150.8 cm
I definitely like this more than the OP. Actually, I’d go so far as to say this is the best OP of the season, not including HOTD which keeps changing EDs every episode lol. Seriously, I can’t stop listening to this song, Ayahi’s voice is so soothing. >.<
Whoops, I meant best ED lol.
Love Ayahime’s voice and her opera always stands up and captivates me everytime :] Love to loop this song, thanks for the PV couldn’t find it anywhere in my short search. Really good debut single ^^ Haruka Tomatsu has another coming out soon as well.
You could see a little of her singing talents in Canaan’s “Life” as well. I think it was an insert song in the last episode.
In case anyone was wondering, “You Raise Me Up” is a cover of a Josh Groban song…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VqRlO3wa1A
His version is quite a bit better imo, but she does pretty well herself.
Slight correction: The song was originally written by Secret Garden and performed by Brian Kennedy. It has been covered by hundreds of artists now, including Josh Groban. I’ve updated the link for it above to point to its Wiki page and added a streaming mp3 as well.
Wow, i never heard her sing like that before. she sung you raise me up pretty good despite the engrish. *thumbs up*
Sphere’s girls…
Talented? checked
Cute? checked
And seeing how Toyosaki and Tomatsu are 2 of my fav seiyuu right now, go Sphere go!
This is the real “petite girl with the big voice” Raise Me Up cover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_DUlNW48Rk
How’d you get a video of my wife?
Wow, that version of You raise me up gave me shivers, I read she studied opera and lyrical singing too, and I heard a piece of her singing that way once, but really, i’ve been surprised once again!! Thanks for sharing!!