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 For
all of her musical accomplishments, including a bevy of anime theme
songs, Chiaki Ishikawa was missing one point on her resume, a concert
performance. Whether as a member of the See Saw duet with Yuki Kaijura
or as a solo performer, Ishikawa had generated a succession of
successful recordings, including songs for the Noir anime and themes
for two versions of Gundam Seed, Simoun and Bokurano. However, all of
those themes and all of Ishkawa's professional singing had been done in
a studio, not in front of an audience. She hadn't spent much time
singing in public since she was part of a church choir, then her
sister's band. "I never thought I'd become a professional singer," said
Ishikawa at an interview session. Just like a typical girl, I thought
it'd start a family and become a good mom. But my singing got better
and my older sister really fostered me (as a performer)." So, one day
after the interview session, Ishikawa was scheduled to make her first
public concert performance at Anime Expo, half a world away from home.
"Before I had a concert, I wanted to have a backlog of songs and the
right time is now." |
 The
songs included .hack and Gundam seed songs, material she expected to be
popular among Anime Expo fans. "I grew up watching Gundam,but I never
imagined I would end up writing the ending themes," she said. Getting
those themes right to the point they satisfy the series' producers is
part of the unique studio pressure that Ishikawa has faced in her
career. "The production staff is very detailed about their work. They
check the music...we were able to maximize what we could do, working
together." For many performers, acting and singing are different parts
of the same skill, and Ishikawa agrees. "When I'm making something, I
try to think like that character. I'll be that character and write
their lyrics." Ishikawa already had had a CD of her songs on sale
in the U.S., and her producer said more copies were sold than expected,
but he acknowledged that musical sales success is difficult in the U.S.
for Japanese performers.
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