Nana Mizuki
Native name: 水樹 奈々
Birth name: 近藤 奈々 (Kondō Nana)
Born: January 21, 1980 (age 33)
Niihama, Ehime, Japan
Genres: Anison, J-pop, Electronic Dance, Rock
Occupations: Voice actress, Singer, songwriter
Instruments: Vocals, piano
Years active: 1998–present
Labels: King
Website:
www.mizukinana.jp
Nana
Mizuki (水樹 奈々 Mizuki Nana?, born Nana Kondō (近藤 奈々 Kondō Nana?),
January 21, 1980) is a Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress
represented by the agency Sigma Seven. She was born and raised in
Niihama, Ehime, Japan. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, and made
her debut as a voice actress in 1998; however, she released her debut
single "Omoi", under the King Records label on December 6, 2000. A year
later, she released her debut album, Supersonic Girl on December 5,
2001.
In the years that followed, Mizuki enjoyed modest
success that concluded with the release of her single "Innocent
Starter", which reached the top 10 Oricon singles chart, charting at No.
9. Since then, Mizuki's releases have charted steadily higher in Japan,
establishing her as a successful singer in the country. Despite this,
she remains a prolific voice actress, with over 130 voice roles in
separate media. On June 3, 2009, her album Ultimate Diamond reached #1,
her first release to do so; while her single "Phantom Minds", released
on January 13, 2010, also charted at #1. Mizuki is the first voice
actress to top the weekly Oricon albums chart and the weekly Oricon
singles chart since its inception in 1968.
Early life
Born
in Niihama, Ehime, Japan, she began to train in enka when she was five
years old. In 1993, she released a Compact Cassette single "Tsugazakura"
(つがざくら?, lit. "Phyllodoce Nipponica") as "Nana Kondou". However, she
passed the audition of game Noël: La Neige and became a voice actress.
Career
Mizuki
released an image song single titled "Girl's Age" under the name
Chisato Kadokura in 1998. When she performed her first concert at the
age of 20, she was scouted by the Japanese record label King Records.
Her debut single as Nana Mizuki, "Omoi", was released on December 6,
2000. Her 2004 song "Innocent Starter" became her first Top 10 single
and her 2005 single "Eternal Blaze" reached No. 2 position on Japanese
Oricon weekly single charts.
Mizuki won the "Best Musical
Performance" award by her song "Justice to Believe" in the first Seiyu
Awards in 2007. Since her seventh album Ultimate Diamond debuted at the
No. 1 position on Oricon weekly album charts during the week of June 15,
2009, she became the first voice actress to reach the No. 1 position on
the Oricon weekly album or single charts since its creation in 1968.
Ultimate Diamond sold over 74,000 copies in the first week. In addition,
her 21st single, "Phantom Minds", became the first voice actress single
to top the charts, debuting at the No. 1 position on the issue of
Oricon weekly single charts dated January 25, 2010.
On November
23, 2009, NHK announced that Mizuki would take part in the 60th NHK
Kōhaku Uta Gassen of New Year's Eve. It was Mizuki's first time
appearing on the show. Nana chose her song "Shin'ai" for her
performance.
She is well known for voicing female characters who
are very shy yet kind-hearted and gentle, and many of the characters she
has voiced were initially very shy/soft-spoken (however, after
interactions with other people, they gradually opened up (e.g. Fate,
Lili, Nyamo, Hinata, Wrath, and Tsubomi). She's also well known for
voicing females with romantic affection for main male protagonists, as
six of her characters have romantic feelings for the main characters
(Oboro from Basilisk, Hinata Hyūga from Naruto, Colette Brunel from
Tales of Symphonia, Tamao Tamamura from Shaman King and Moka Akashiya
from Rosario + Vampire, while Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical
Nanoha is left ambiguous in this regard), some of her characters craved
maternal attention (e.g. Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical
Nanoha and its sequels A's and StrikerS, Wrath and Maria), and she was
also part of the voice actress quartet "Prits", alongside Yumiko
Kobayashi, Natsuko Kuwatani and Hisayo Mochizuki (all four voiced
characters in the anime Sister Princess). Nana Mizuki voices Microsoft's
Japanese Windows 7 unofficial "OS-tan" mascot, Nanami Madobe. The
mascot's name uses some wordplay on Mizuki's own name as well as the
operating system ("Nana" = "seven").
In the middle of February
2010, Mizuki became her hometown (Niihama, Ehime)'s First Tourism
Ambassador. The news was broadcast during her Live Academy 2010, held in
Kanagawa, Osaka, Aichi, Miyagi, Fukuoka, Ehime Prefecture Niihama
Cultural Center's Hall. There were 7 lessons in total. In 2010, Mizuki
won the Tomiyama Kei Award in the 4th Seiyu Awards for her news hook in
the year 2009. In 2010, she also participated in 61st NHK Kōhaku Uta
Gassen singing "Phantom Minds", the single which had topped Oricon
Charts.
On January 21, 2011, which was also her 31st birthday,
she released her first autobiography, titled Shin Ai, to commemorate the
10th anniversary of her singing career. Mizuki won Top Pop Artists
award in Billboard Japan Music Awards 2010 on February 6, 2011, together
with 4 other artists: AKB48, Nishino Kana, SID and EXILE.
On
November 30, 2011, it was announced that Mizuki would be participating
in the 62nd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. It was her third time taking part in
the program. Mizuki had a two-day concert at Tokyo Dome between December
3–4, 2011. She became the first voice actress and 8th Japanese female
solo artists to hold a concert at Japan's largest concert hall.
On March 3, 2012, Mizuki won Animation Artist of the Year 2011 award in Billboard Japan Music Awards 2011.
On
November 26, 2012, it was announced that Mizuki would be participating
in the 63rd NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen. It was her fourth time (in a row)
taking part in the program.
Some of Nana Mizuki's songs:
2006: "Justice to Believe"
http://nanamizukimusicvideo.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/mv-nana-mizuki-justice-to-believe.html
2010: "Phantom Minds"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiSLlg6rFtM
2011: "Scarlet Knight"
http://nanamizukimusicvideo.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/mv-nana-mizuki-scarlet-knight.html
2011: "Junketsu Paradox"
http://www.jokeroo.com/videos/music/seven-mizuki-nana-junketsu-paradox-sub.-espaol.html
2012: "Bright Stream"
http://www.jpopsuki.tv/video/Nana-Mizuki---BRIGHT-STREAM/f5be56ce5fdb6830a956d55fe144a483
2013: "Vitalization"
http://en.musicplayon.com/play?v=102421
Some of Nana Mizuki's voice acting roles:
[Anime] Naruto, FullMetal Alchemist, Rosario + Vampire, FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Toriko, and, Blood-C.
[Video
Games] Tales of Symphonia, Wild Arms 5, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the
New World, Star Ocean: The Second Evolution (PSP), Final Fantasy:
Type-0, and, Resident Evil: Revelations.
[Dubbing Roles] Ultraviolet, Minority Report, Glee, I Am Number Four, The Hunger Games, and, Evil Dead (2013).
Mr.Children
