And Kristine Sa has started to make a mark on the anime convention scene as a rising star in the music world. She appeared at AnimeFEST in Dallas in September of 2002, and is looking forward to more convention concerts in 2003. Sa, 20 years old at this writing, is a full-time college student in Toronto who aspires to be a singer and actor, and already has had a debut album - "I Never Knew" - released on Nemesis Records. A second album may follow in the summer of 2003.

Why become a musician? "I guess we all have a secret little person who wants to be on stage," Sa replies. "Mine just seems to take over every now and then."

Sa's story is the sort of tale that anime fans can understand: born in Vietnam, her family moved to Canada while she was still a child. While many anime fans enjoy making music, that was a family thing for Sa, whose sister - Tam Doan - has been one of the top performers in Vietnamese pop music. "I've been told that we're just alike when we karaoke," said Sa about her sister's voice. "My family is very musically oriented. I grew up with a lot of musical influence. There's always a lot of music in the house."

Sa wanted to become a performer, but not to duplicate her sister's work. "I wanted to go into stage acting or something that wasn't like my sister," she said. "I didn't want to be in her shadow but everything came back to music." She got her break when she met up with people at Nemesis Records, a startup New York company that was looking for a breakthrough act. So far, Sa is the company's main act, a performer for which Nemesis holds high hopes.

For Sa, there's a big difference between the quiet, private process of writing her songs, and then getting on stage to perform those songs in front of an audience. Sitting in her basement at a keyboard and composing is the most personal thing she does, but on stage "It's a great high. You get to go on a ride with the audience. If it goes well you get to float above it - I see images in my head of colors." Before the delights of the stage, there's the fear just before the performance. "I'm scared. I get really, really nervous before I go on stage. I get butterflies in my stomach, they're more like pigeons or eagles, but there' a great release when you go on stage." 

The songs on her debut albums are original compositions, some written entirely by herself and others completed from tracks laid down by Omega Red of Nemesis. "I've always written songs, but I only played the songs for myself. After I met up with Nemesis, I figured I could let these out for other people. I liked that other people were connecting with it."

The songs on "I Never Knew" are autobiographical songs, telling of Sa's loves and hopes. "I have a hard time writing about something I don't understand, I'm into truth and realism." As for the music's dealing with love and romance, "I think every young lady is into that. By the time you reach 16 or 17, it's all about finding the right guy. I think we all have it in us, finding the right person to share our lives with."

Sharing your inner feelings to music in front of audience might seem intimidating to some, but Sa said "It still is private in some ways. I have control over what is shared...I have my own private connection to it."

Sa already has a group of dedicated fans who wait for every fresh release of her song tracks. "I have this funny look on my face when I hear the word `fans,'" said Sa, delighted that people enjoy her work. "It was my goal to have people connect with my music, and I would have been disappointed if people had turned away. I guess I'm one of those people who doesn't expect my goal to come true - I thought it wouldn't happen to me." 

The fans share their stories at a message board where they talk about Sa's music inspires or calms them. The singer appreciates their reactions to her work. "It lifts me up a lot when I'm down. I tend to be skeptical about myself, almost pessimistic, and some times I get a little hard on myself. The forum helps me and it lets me known there are people rooting for me."

This singer wants to remain honest to herself. "I don't ever want to lose sight of my goal, which is to put out something that remains `me.'" 

If anything keeps Sa down to earth, it's her university studies, which keep her firmly in touch with the real world. "It's great to be on stage and hear the cheers, but then it's great to go back to class and be like everyone else. I love to be told where I have to progress. If I get lost in only the cheers it might jade me a little. It might make me arrogant and lose myself."

When Sa is asked about the chance of being a commercial singing success, she objects to the word "commercial," saying it sounds "..really selfish and greedy. All of that (big success) is very scary - I don't want to wake up and look into the mirror and not recognize myself."

After her graduation from university, Sa would like to pursue an acting career, and wants to demolish the stereotypes that limit Asian women to a handful of roles. "We're going to change that," she said.