, better known by her stage name AKINO, is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

-born

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese pop singer, from

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

and Mesa, Arizona.

History

Originally debuting in 2003 with her brothers Akashi and Aiki and her sister Kanasa in the band

bless4 bless4 is a Japanese vocalist, vocal band (music), ensemble from the United States consisting of four siblings from the Kawamitsu family. Youngest sister Akino (singer), Akino has her own solo musical career, and youngest brother Aiki has also r ...

, Akino made her solo debut in 2005 with the singles "Genesis of Aquarion" and "Go Tight", the opening themes of the anime series ''

Genesis of Aquarion , also known simply as ''Aquarion'' is a Japanese anime television series written and directed by Shoji Kawamori, produced by Satelight. Set in the future, a giant fighting machine called the Aquarion is humanity's only effective weapon in th ...

'' composed by

Yoko Kanno is a Japanese composer, arranger and music producer best known for her work on the soundtracks of anime series, television series, live-action films, video games, and advertisements. She was born in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. She has wri ...

. In 2006, Akino released "A Chance to Shine", the opening theme for the anime series '' Oban Star-Racers''. In 2012, she released other singles under Yoko Kanno's composition, including "

Kimi no Shinwa ~ Aquarion Dai 2 Shou is the third single by American-born Japanese recording artist AKINO. It is the first single that also features her brothers Akashi and Aiki and sister Kanasa, backing her up as their band bless4. It is used as the opening theme of the anime ''A ...

" and "Paradoxical ZOO", the opening themes for the anime series ''

Aquarion Evol is the sequel to the 2005 anime series ''Genesis of Aquarion''. It was originally announced on February 25, 2011, by the production staff. It aired on TV Tokyo from January to June, 2012 and its premiere featured an hour-long special that ...

''. In 2014, Akino and

released "Extra Magic Hour", the opening theme for the anime series ''

Amagi Brilliant Park is a Japanese light novel series written by Shoji Gatoh and illustrated by Yuka Nakajima. Fujimi Shobo has published eight volumes since February 20, 2013, under their Fujimi Fantasia Bunko imprint. J-Novel Club has licensed the series fo ...

'', and in 2015, released "Miiro", the opening theme for the anime series ''

Kantai Collection , abbreviated as , is a Japanese free-to-play web browser game developed by Kadokawa Games and published by DMM.com. The central theme of the game is the representation of World War II warships Moe anthropomorphism, personified as teenage girls ...

'', based on the game of the same name by

Kadokawa Games Kadokawa may refer to: * Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publ ...

. In 2016, Akino and

released "Golden Life", the first opening theme for the anime series '' Active Raid'', and "Cross the Line" the opening theme for the anime series '' Izetta: The Last Witch''. In 2022, Akino was featured as the vocalist for the song "Scream" which was released as BGM for two fights in the Pandemonium Abyssos raid series of ''

Final Fantasy XIV ''Final Fantasy XIV'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed and published by Square Enix. Directed and produced by Naoki Yoshida, it was released worldwide for Windows and PlayStation 3 in August 2013, as a rep ...

''.

Discography

Singles

* - April 27, 2005 *"

Go Tight! "Go Tight!" is the second single from AKINO, produced and composed by Yoko Kanno. The title track is used as the second opening theme of the anime ''Genesis of Aquarion'' and an insert song of the sequel ''Aquarion Evol''. "Go Tight!" peaked at # ...

" - August 24, 2005 *"Genesis of Aquarion" & "Go Tight!"- August 24, 2011 (re-release) * - February 15, 2012 *"Extra Magic Hour" - 2014 *"Jet Coaster Ride" - 2014 *"Miiro" - 2015 *"Just Moving On Now" - 2015 *"Golden Life" - 2016 *"Cross the Line" - 2016

Albums

*'' Lost in Time'' - November 7, 2007 **Includes "Chance To Shine" (''

Ōban Star-Racers is a French-Japanese anime television series created by Savin Yeatman-Eiffel of Sav! The World Productions in association with multiple international companies. Originally produced as a short movie titled ''Molly Star Racer'', a television serie ...

'' Japanese opening) and *''Decennia'' - March 25, 2015 *''your ears, our years'' - March 24, 2021 **Album spans 3 discs and has 37 songs. There is also an edition that comes with a Blu-ray Disc.

''Genesis of Aquarion'' soundtracks

*''Genesis of Aquarion: Original Soundtrack'' - June 8, 2005 **Includes & *''Genesis of Aquarion: Original Soundtrack 2'' - September 22, 2005 **Includes the insert songs and "Genesis of Aquarion" (English version of "Sōsei no Aquarion")

''Aquarion Evol'' soundtracks

*''Aquarion Evol: Psalms of Eve'' - May 23, 2012 **Includes and *''Aquarion Evol: Love@New Dimension'' - July 25, 2012 **Includes and

References

External links

bless4 official web site

1989 births American women pop singers American musicians of Japanese descent American people of Okinawan descent Anime singers Japanese women musicians Japanese women pop singers Japanese Latter Day Saints Living people Musicians from Okinawa Prefecture Singers from Utah 21st-century Japanese singers 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers American women musicians of Japanese descent {{Japan-singer-stub Japanese mezzo-sopranos American mezzo-sopranos