was a Japanese

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

singer. He was best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the ''

Digimon , short for "Digital Monsters" ( ''Dejitaru Monsutā''), is a Japanese media franchise encompassing virtual pet toys, anime, manga, video games, films and a trading card game. The franchise focuses on the eponymous creatures, who inhabit a "Di ...

'' anime television series, including his recording debut in 1999 with his first and most famous single, "

Butter-Fly "Butter-Fly" is a song recorded by Japanese singer Kōji Wada as the opening theme song to ''Digimon Adventure''. The song was released as Wada's debut single on April 23, 1999. Background and release "Butter-Fly" was the theme song to the 19 ...

", the theme song of the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

Digimon Adventure , known as ''Digimon: Digital Monsters'' in English-speaking territories, is a 1999 Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation in cooperation with WiZ, Bandai and Fuji Television. It is the first anime series in the ''D ...

''. He was signed with the Lantis recording label. His nickname is "Immortal Butterfly

Anisong , also shortened to , is a genre of music originating from Japanese pop music. Anime songs consist of theme, insert, and image songs for anime, video game, and audio drama CD series, as well as any other song released primarily for the anime mar ...

Singer" (不死蝶のアニソンシンガー).

Life and career

Wada was born in

Fukuchiyama 250px, Fukuchiyama Castle 250px, Fukuchiyama city center is a city in northern Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 76,037 in 36412 households and a population density of 140 persons per km². The total area of t ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

, Japan. In 2003, Wada released his first original album, ''

All of My Mind ''All of My Mind'' is the first album of Japanese singer Kōji Wada was a Japanese pop singer. He was best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the ''Digimon'' anime television series, including his recording debut in ...

'', which included many of his previous works. He also collaborated in Michihiko Ōta's self-cover album ''Mirai e no Message: Ōta Michihiko Self-Cover'', featuring in two tracks – a cover version of "Hontō no Tsuyosa" (本当の強さ) ( Ken & Wormmon's Theme) and in "3 Primary Colors" (the '' Tamers'' theme), along with AiM. Later, he released an album called ''The Best Selection: Welcome Back!''. It contains several of his earlier works as well as two new songs, titled "Pierce" and "Kimi no Keshiki." On August 1, 2008, he debuted a mini-album titled ''Ever'', which contained five brand new songs. An album titled ''Kazakami no Oka Kara'' (風上の丘から), was sold at his live concerts in Japan throughout the end of 2009 in commemoration of his 10th anniversary in music, and it was released worldwide on January 11, 2010. Wada had contributed songs to six of the seven ''

series (with one of his songs reused for the seventh, to which he contributed no new songs), including opening themes for the first five of them. He also performed two songs used as ending themes for ''

Digimon Frontier , is the fourth anime television series in the ''Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. Unlike the previous series, the main characters can merge with ancient spirits known as "Legendary Warriors" to become Digimon themselves. The ...

'', "Innocent: Mujaki na Mama de" (イノセント～無邪気なままで～) and "an Endless Tale" (with AiM). He starred in various other songs for the series, such as "Bokura no Digital World" (the "memorial" theme for the Adventure series), "Yūki o Uketsugu Kodomo-tachi e" and also several Christmas songs. He also performed the theme song for '' Transformers: Robots in Disguise in Japan.''

International appearances

In July 2007, Wada made his first show in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, doing a solo presentation and singing along other invited Japanese singers on the " Anime Friends". This happened one year after

Ayumi Miyazaki or Ayumi for short, is a Japanese singer and composer. Miyazaki has sung several songs in the Digimon series. He sang the evolution theme song for ''Digimon Adventure'' called "Brave Heart" and its '' Digimon Adventure Tri'' remix. He also sang ...

visited Brazil in another convention "ExpoAnime Brasil". He also visited the state of

Rio Grande do Sul Rio Grande do Sul (, , ; "Great River of the South") is a Federative units of Brazil, state in the South Region, Brazil, southern region of Brazil. It is the Federative_units_of_Brazil#List, fifth-most-populous state and the List of Brazilian st ...

in Brazil on October 14, 2007, during the Anima Weekend event. On December 15–16, 2007, he made a live presentation in the "Anime Festival XL" event in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

. In August 2008, he released a mini-album named ''ever'', which contains five original songs, with four of them composed and written by himself. In December 2008 he was performing in the "Animeku 08", in February the "AniCon", and in July the "Anime Friends" (both in 2010) Events from "Yamato", in Brazil and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. On June 5–6, 2010, he did 2 concerts in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is anchor ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in the Santa Lucia Arena at the "Dengeki Live", a

J-pop J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...

event and anime convention. In response to his metastasized cancer in 2011, he cancelled two appearances planned for Chile and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

Death

On October 4, 2011, Wada announced via his blog that he was putting his career on hold in order to deal with a sudden metastasized

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

which had previously seen treatment in 2003. On April 3, 2016, Wada died suddenly from complications related to

nasopharynx cancer Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), or nasopharynx cancer, is the most common cancer originating in the nasopharynx, most commonly in the postero-lateral nasopharynx or pharyngeal recess ( fossa of Rosenmüller), accounting for 50% of cases. NPC occurs ...

. His last single, "Seven〜tri. Version〜", was released only five days prior to his death.

Tribute

A CD tribute for Kōji Wada was released in Japan on July 31, 2016 under the name of "Digimon Song Best of Koji Wada." The CD includes a total of eleven tracks by the late singer. Additionally, the cover features Angemon, Wada's favourite character from the "Digimon" franchise. Another compilation, "Koji Wada Digimon Memorial Best", was released on January 25, 2017. In '' Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker's Memory'' - released December 14, 2017 in Japan and January 19, 2018 worldwide - the new Digimon Hudiemon was made as a tribute to Wada, with it being a butterfly Digimon and its attack Infinity Dream referencing the song Butterfly. Hudie (Chinese for butterfly) is also the name of the hacker group featured in the game, which is also a tribute to Wada.https://www.pintaram.com/u/zubamon/1671346839720797135_2217822651

Discography

''
All of My Mind ''All of My Mind'' is the first album of Japanese singer Kōji Wada was a Japanese pop singer. He was best known for performing theme songs for several installments of the ''Digimon'' anime television series, including his recording debut in ...
''

* ''Starting Over'' * ''

'' (April 23, 1999) (

) * ''Seven '' (April 23, 1999) * ''Target: Akai Shōgeki (ターゲット～赤い衝撃～)'' (Target ~Red Crash~) (April 26, 2000) (

Digimon Adventure 02 is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is the sequel to ''Digimon Adventure'', and the second anime series in the '' Digimon'' franchise. The series aired in Japan from April 2000 to March 2001. It was originall ...

) * ''The Biggest Dreamer '' (April 2, 2001) (

Digimon Tamers is a Japanese anime television series and the third television series in the '' Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. The series takes place in a new setting separate from the preceding series, ''Digimon Adventure'' and '' Digimo ...

) * ''Kaze (風) '' * ''Egao (笑顔) '' * ''Boku wa Boku Datte (僕は僕だって) (c/w "Target ~Akai Shōgeki~")'' * ''Modern Love'' * ''Kimi-iro no Mirai -Yume- (君色の未来-ゆめ-) (c/w Honō no Overdrive)'' * ''Kimi no Keshiki''

''Kazakami no Oka Kara''

* ''billow'' * ''Hikari Sasu Basho e (光り射す場所へ)'' (Towards the Place Where Light Shines) * ''Ai no Kishi (愛の騎士)'' (Knight of Love) * ''Dai・Jou・Bu (ダイ・ジョウ・ブ☆)'' (It's Alright) * ''cogito, ergo sum ~Aishuu~ (cogito.ergo sum ~哀愁~)'' ( I Think, Therefore, I am ~Sorrow~) * ''cogito, ergo sum'' (I Think, Therefore, I am) * ''Kimi ga Ita Kara (君がいたから)'' (Because You Were Here) * ''Anata no Soba de (あなたの傍で)'' (By Your Side) * ''Kakusei (覚醒)'' (Awakening) * ''Natsu no Kaze ni Hukarete (夏の風に吹かれて)'' (Blowing In the Summer Wind) * ''Sem Barreiras: Kegarenaki Jidai e ( SEM BARREIRAS ~汚れなき時代へ~)'' (Without Barriers: Towards an Era Without Dishonor) (with Ricardo Cruz) * ''Always'' * ''Eien no Takaramono II (永遠の宝物 II)'' (Eternal Treasure II) * ''Kazakami no Oka Kara (風上の丘から)'' (From the Windward Hill)

Other songs

* ''Butterfly strong version'' * ''Eien no Takaramono'' (永遠の宝物) (Eternal Treasure) (September 2006) * ''Grace'' * ''Pierce'' * ''Shōjo no mama de'' (少女のままで) (Remaining a Girl) * ''Starting Over / Say Again'' (November 7, 2001) * ''bravery'' (August 1, 2008) * ''sketch'' (August 1, 2008) * ''Hanabi Jack (ハナビジャック)'' (August 1, 2008) (Fireworks Jack) * ''Kami Hikōki (紙飛コウキ)'' (August 1, 2008) (Paper Airplane) * ''Kimi to Kisetsu to Hidamari to'' (キミと季節と陽だまりと) (August 1, 2008) (You, the Seasons, and the Sunshine) * ''Honō no Overdrive ~Car Robot Cybertron~'' (炎のオーバードライブ～カーロボットサイバトロン～) ('' Transformers: Car Robots'' Opening Theme) (May 24, 2000) * ''Fire!! / With the Will'' (April 24, 2002) (

) * ''Innocent: Mujaki na mama de'' (イノセント～無邪気なままで～) (May 22, 2002) * ''An Endless tale'' (November 22, 2002) (featuring AiM) * ''Hirari (ヒラリ) '' (November 5, 2006) ( Digimon Savers) * ''Miracle Maker '' (February 2003) (feat. AiM &

Takayoshi Tanimoto , is a Japanese vocalist known for his theme song performances in '' Digimon'', ''Zatch Bell!'' and ''Dragon Ball Kai'', the last of which he sang " Dragon Soul" and " Yeah! Break! Care! Break!" as one-half of a special unit, Dragon Soul. Overview ...

as "Spirit of Adventure") * ''Daybreak (c/w "Innocent ~Mujaki na Mama de~")'' * ''for the future (c/w "Hirari")'' * ''Haruka na Okurimono'' (遥かな贈りもの) (A Faraway Gift) (c/w "an Endless tale") (featuring AiM) * ''Yūki o Uketsugu Kodomo-tachi e'' (勇気を受け継ぐ子供達へ) (with AiM,

Michihiko Ohta is a Japanese singer, composer and arranger who has worked for several anime series such as ''Bubblegum Crash'', ''Captain Tsubasa J'' and ''Digimon''. Career In the Digimon series, Ohta wrote three of the four opening themes: "Target ~Akai Sho ...

, Sammy, and Hassy) * ''Mirai e no Tobira ~Ano Natsu no Hi Kara~'' (未来への扉～あの夏の日から～) (with AiM, Michihiko Oota, Takayoshi Tanimoto, Sammy, and Hassy) * ''Days'' (with Hassy, AiM, Kanako Ito, and Sammy) * ''We are Xros Heart'' (August 1, 2010) '' Digimon Xros Wars'' * ''The Hero who Dances in the Sky! X5!'' (December 1, 2010) ''Digimon Xros Wars'' * ''Evolution & DigiXros/We are Xros Heart ver. X7'' (June 9, 2011) ''Digimon Xros Wars'' * ''Butter-Fly〜tri. Version〜'' (November 25, 2015) ''

Digimon Adventure tri. is a Japanese adventure anime film series produced by Toei Animation. Celebrating the 15th anniversary of the ''Digimon'' franchise, the six-part series serves as a direct sequel to the first two television series, ''Digimon Adventure'' and ' ...

'' * ''Seven〜tri. Version〜'' (March 30, 2016) ''

References

External links

Official blog

All of My Mind track list
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wada, Koji 1974 births 2016 deaths Japanese male pop singers Digimon Musicians from Kyoto Anime musicians Deaths from nasopharynx cancer Deaths from cancer in Japan