Liyuu (born 9 January 1997) is a Chinese singer and

cosplayer Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...

who is affiliated with HoriPro International and Lantis. Beginning her activities as a cosplayer before 2016 under the stage name 黎狱 (, pronounced same as "Liyuu"), she made her debut as a musician in 2020 with the release of her first single "Magic Words", the title track of which was used as the opening theme of the anime television series '' Hatena Illusion''. Her music has also been featured in ''

I'm Standing on a Million Lives is a Japanese manga series written by Naoki Yamakawa and illustrated by Akinari Nao. It has been serialized in Kodansha's ''shōnen manga'' magazine ''Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine'' since June 2016. The manga is licensed in North America by Ko ...

''. She is also known for her role as Tang Keke in the mixed-media project ''

Love Live! Superstar!! is a Japanese multimedia project co-developed by Kadokawa Corporation, music label Lantis, and animation studio Bandai Namco Filmworks (formerly known as Sunrise). The project is the fourth installment in the ''Love Live!'' franchise after '' ...

''. She is nicknamed Li-chan by her fellow Liella members.

Biography

Liyuu was born in Shanghai on 9 January 1997. From an early age she developed an interest in

anime is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

, particularly after watching series such as ''

Cardcaptor Sakura , abbreviated as ''CCS'', is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by the manga group Clamp. Serialized monthly in the ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from May 1996 to June 2000, it was also published in 12 ''tankōbon'' ...

'', ''

Shugo Chara! , also known as ''My Guardian Characters'', is a Japanese ''shōjo'' manga series created by the manga author duo, Peach-Pit. The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as "cool and spicy ...

'', and ''

Reborn! ''Reborn!'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Amano. It follows Tsunayoshi Sawada, a young boy who discovers that he is next in line to become boss of the Vongola family, a powerful Mafia organ ...

''. During her junior high school years, she watched the series ''

K-On! is a Japanese four-panel manga series written and illustrated by Kakifly serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara'' magazine between the May 2007 and October 2010 issues, and also serialized in Houbunsha's '' Manga Time Kirara Car ...

'' and gained an interest in the character Yui Hirasawa. While researching about anime, she discovered the practice of cosplay, which immediately interested her. Upon entering high school, she began engaging in cosplay activities, with Yui as her first character. At first, she experienced difficulties in preparing for cosplay as her school prohibited the use of make-up, leaving her with little experience in applying it to herself. She then began participating in various cosplay events in China, before attending her first overseas event, appearing at Winter Comiket in Tokyo in 2016. Her activities would gain her a following in Japan, eventually leading to her having over 1 million followers on social media. Liyuu's interest in pursuing a career as a musician began in junior high school. Although she did not originally intended to become a singer, she developed an interest in anime music and would sing such songs in private. In high school, she published a number of songs on the Chinese video sharing website Bilibili. In 2019, she sang the song "Polaris", which was used as an image song for the character Siren in the mobile game ''

Dragalia Lost ''Dragalia Lost'' was an action role-playing game developed by Cygames and published by Nintendo, for Android and iOS. It was initially released in September 2018, and was later released in other regions. The game received mixed reviews fro ...

''. She then became affiliated with the talent agency HoriPro International. In 2020, she made her major debut as a singer under Lantis with the release of her first single "Magic Words"; the title song is used as the opening theme of the anime television series '' Hatena Illusion''. Her second single was released on 25 November 2020; the title song is used as the closing theme of the anime television series ''

''. In December 2020, it was announced that she will be playing the role of Keke Tang in the multimedia project ''

''. She held her first solo concert in Yokohama on February 11, 2022.

Personal life

Before the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

outbreak in 2020, Liyuu lived in Shanghai, visiting Japan at least once a month for cosplay and artist activities.

Discography

Studio albums

References

External links

Official website

HoriPro International profile
{{Authority control 1997 births Chinese expatriates in Japan Chinese women singers Expatriate television personalities in Japan Cosplayers Horipro artists Lantis (company) artists Liella! members Living people Singers from Shanghai