is a Japanese singer-songwriter who is prominent in the area of soundtracks for

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 ...

and

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, War film, war, fantasy, or Horror film, horror media featuring such te ...

productions. He is one of the founders of the

Anison , 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 ...

band

JAM Project JAM Project ("JAM" standing for "Japan Animationsong Makers") are a Japanese anison band founded on July 19, 2000 by anison singer Ichirou Mizuki. The band is composed of many vocal artists well known in the anime music industry. Aside from the m ...

and has been a regular member ever since its inception in 2000. His nickname is the "Young Lion of Anison" and he goes by the motto "Always Full Voice". Endoh took the industry by storm when he released the two ''Enson'' albums and the subsequent third, in which he covered many famous anime theme songs. Due to their success, Endoh went on to sing signature songs with the respective artists, such as "Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite" with

Chihiro Yonekura is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. History While Yonekura was attending university, she sent off several demonstration tapes to recording companies. She was scouted out, and received the opportunity to do the op ...

, "

Sousei no 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 ...

" with Akino, "

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 ...

" with

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 1999 with his first and most famous single, "Butter-Fly", the theme s ...

, "

Bakuryū Sentai Abaranger is Toei's twenty-seventh production of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries, and the first series to use TV Asahi's current logo. It aired from February 16, 2003 to February 8, 2004, replacing '' Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger'' and was replaced by '' ...

" with Hideyuki Takahashi from

Project.R are a Japanese musical ensemble established by Nippon Columbia and Toei Company to perform on the soundtracks for the Super Sentai Series beginning with '' Engine Sentai Go-onger''. For the various series, Columbia has taken various popular voca ...

, " Eternal Blaze" with

Nana Mizuki is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator from Niihama, Ehime. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name, Nana Kondō, in 1993 and made her debut as a voice ...

, "Yuzurenai Negai" with

Naomi Tamura is a Japanese pop singer and songwriter who made her solo debut in 1994 with the song ''Jiyuu no Hashi''. She is best known for singing theme songs for popular Anime series such as ''Yuzurenai Negai'' for ''Magic Knight Rayearth'' and ''Yuragu ...

, "

Pegasus Fantasy is a song by Japanese metal band Make-Up. Serving as the band's fourth major release single, "Pegasus Fantasy" and its B-side were used as the theme songs for the first half of the original ''Saint Seiya'' anime. "Pegasus Fantasy" became Make-Up ...

" with

NoB , also known by the name NoB, is a Japanese singer. He is the former lead singer of the band Make-Up and a Project.R member. Overview With Make-Up, he recorded several songs for the anime ''Saint Seiya'', including the first opening song " ...

, "Makka na Chikai" with

Yoshiki Fukuyama is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter. He originally became known on an international level for his work in the anime ''Macross 7'' where he was the singing voice and guitar of the show's main character, Basara Nekki. Fukuyama is curre ...

, "Kimi Taiyou ga Shinda Hi" with

Maon Kurosaki is a Japanese singer and songwriter signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After being discovered while working as a performer in Akihabara, Tokyo, she made her major debut in 2010, performing ending themes to the anime television series ...

, "SERIOUS-AGE" with

Faylan is a female Japanese singer affiliated with management agency S, run by veteran singer Hiromi Satō. She is known for many of her songs being in video games and anime. Her stage name was given by composer Noriyasu Agematsu. She is affectionately ...

, "We Are" with

Hiroshi Kitadani is a Japanese singer, who primarily performs theme songs and other songs in anime. He also works behind the scenes of many songs. He currently works with JAM Project. He is most famous for singing the first, fifteenth, nineteenth (with Kishidan) ...

, "KINGS" with Angela, "DREAM SOLISTER" with

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

, and " UNINSTALL" with

Chiaki Ishikawa is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She is also the lead vocalist of Japanese musical duo See-Saw. Many of her songs, both solo and with See-Saw, have been used as theme songs in various anime series. Since 2003, her popularity abroad as part of S ...

Career

Early years

Masaaki Endoh was born in the

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

on August 28, 1967. After graduating from high school, he joined a group called The Hiptones, but after it dissolved in 1993, he became half of the acoustic duo Short Hopes. In 1995, music producer Shunji Inoue approached Endoh for a record deal, and he debuted as a solo artist. In this time, he also worked as Steeple Jack with other musicians, and they also released two albums before disbanding. He sang some opening themes for anime until two years later, he and Hironobu Kageyama joined together to form the Metal Brothers. This duo only lasted from 1997 to 1998, when the group broke apart. During this time, he released an album, and formed the musical act Blind Pig with two other musicians. The group released two rock albums before they disbanded.

JAM Project

In 2000,

Ichirou Mizuki , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, voice actor and actor best known for his work on theme songs for anime and tokusatsu. For over 50 years, he had recorded over 1,200 songs for Japanese film, televisio ...

gathered four artists to form JAM Project: Masaaki Endoh,

Eizo Sakamoto is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter who was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is most famous for being the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Anthem. In the 1990s he started up the band Animetal which performed heavy metal co ...

Rica Matsumoto is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer who was born in Yokohama, Japan. Her name is also sometimes romanized as Rica Matsumoto. She was one of the founders of the anison band JAM Project. After early stage work, she began both voice ac ...

, and

Hironobu Kageyama is a Japanese singer and composer prominent in the soundtracks for anime, video game and tokusatsu productions. He is sometimes called Kami (Kei) by his fans. Kageyama got his big break at age 16, as lead singer of the rock band Lazy. By the ea ...

. Vocally, Endoh specializes in sustained high notes, covering the upper male range that the other male members cannot hit easily. Although he is a very versatile vocalist, Masaaki Endoh rarely writes with the group, although he is becoming more active towards the recent best albums. Some of the songs he wrote for the group include "SAMURAI PARTY" on THUMB RISE AGAIN, "Kimi no Moto he" on X cures Earth, and "WE ARE ONE" on AREA Z. He has shown particular favor to a special type of outfit he wears to most performances, a jacket that is cut at the shoulders, revealing his arms. His hair is usually styled high in concerts. Endoh often stars in songs that have very long notes or extremely high notes, and this ability was dubbed "Super Endoh Time" by fans. The most well-known example being containing a twenty-second note. Another example is "Seventh Explosion", where he would hold a note for twenty-five seconds, and five seconds in, Fukuyama would join him. The JAM Project songs with the highest note that Masaaki Endoh sings as of the release of their 15th anniversary album is a sustained E5 in "Rocks". He is also well known for yelling English words in JAM Project songs such as "MAXON".

2000s

Masaaki Endoh enjoyed moderate success from 2000 to 2003, when he released his first studio album, ''Chakuriku!!''. At around the same time, he sang the opening for '' Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger'', for which he gained much popularity. After its success, he halted singing opening themes to focus more on JAM Project. By 2006, he released his second album M.e. and followed by a concert organized by Lantis to promote the release. The album included ''Carry On'' and ''CLOWN'', which were also released on the soundtrack for the series

Muv-Luv is a Japanese visual novel developed by âge and originally released as an adult game for Windows on February 28, 2003. Consisting of two parts, and the gameplay in ''Muv-Luv'' follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determine ...

. Masaaki Endoh released ''ENSON'' and ''ENSON2'' in the summer of 2008, which proved to be a massive success. The album contained covers of popular anime opening themes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including " Uninstall" by

and " Sousei no Aquarion" by Akino. In 2009, he returned to singing opening themes. He followed up with the release of his third studio album, Circus Man. He introduced the concept of him being a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

show performer, the cover showing his face with clown makeups. A concert was organized but never released as home media.

2010s

In May 2010, he participated in ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S is the second main spin-off of the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise, succeeding ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'', in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump and the 15th anniversary of V Jump. The series aired in Japan from April 2, 2008 to Mar ...

'', the third series in the ''

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The plot follows the story of a boy named Yugi Mutou, w ...

'' franchise, starting with its fourth opening, "Believe in Nexus". Following this, he released an insert single, "Clear Mind"'','' for the show's soundtrack. Later in December, he released a third single for the show, being the fifth and final opening, on the same day JAM Project released their 10th Anniversary BOX. He appeared in Hironobu Kageyama's 2011 Live Birthday concert with other JAM Project members. In 2011, he formed SV Tribe with

and Aki Misato and the group continues to write and perform opening music for many anime series. In July 2012, he released his fourth studio album (e)-STYLE and promoted the album by touring Japan for three nights from July 24 to August 6, 2011. For the release, the YouTube channel of Lantis released a set of videos showing Masaaki Endoh breaking down the lyrics of each song on the record. In the summer of 2011, he joined JAM Project in Animelo as a returning regular performer. He also participated in the Type-Moon 10th anniversary by singing "Fellows". To celebrate Christmas in 2010, Masaaki Endoh performed five concerts from November 11 to December 24 titled "Christmas Acoustic Night 2010 ~present of the voice~" that contained acoustic songs across his albums and covers. In December 2012, he performed three more concerts under the title "Christmas Acoustic Night 2012 ~present of the voice~" for three nights from the 2nd to the 23rd. The tradition continued in 2013; while on tour with JAM Project for their latest album, he took Christmas Eve to perform a single live show called "Christmas Acoustic Night2013 ~present of the voice~". He released his fifth studio album in August 2013, and went on a live tour titled "Masaaki Endoh Live Tour 2013 ~Extreme V Machine~" in September 2013 to promote the album. He explained that the "V" stands for "voice" on his Extreme V Machine live tour, as well as signifying the number 5 in Roman numerals. In spring 2014, he formed a small group called "Endoh-kai" to sing the opening theme of ''Kenzen Robo Daimidaler'' and Lantis launched a small campaign to promote the group. In November 2014, Endoh released his first acoustic album called ''Present of the Voice'', containing several arrangements of his signature songs. A campaign to promote the album requested fans send in photos which would be shown while the track ''my beloved'' played. In 2015, he released the third ''ENSON'' album, which followed the previous iterations with more covers of famous theme songs. He released his sixth studio album in February 2017, this time with a more steampunk and robotic approach to some of the songs. In 2018, he released his first single in six years for the ''Angels of Death'' anime adaptation. In December 2018, he released the follow-up to ''Present of the Voice'' with ''Present of the Voice 2''. The album contained arrangements of "Vital" and "Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger" along with his original songs.

Personal life

Because he was in the rugby club in high school, Masaaki Endoh was very physically fit with chest measurements of 120 cm, now measuring 105 cm. He dislikes

coriander Coriander (;

, and has a difficult time with the food abroad when touring with JAM Project, so he brings along Japanese instant noodles. He also dislikes being alone in hotel rooms, and hates roller coasters. He is often referred to as "En-chan" by fellow JAM Project members.

Discography

Albums

# Chakuriku!! #* Released on November 27, 2003 / LACA-5220 / Lantis # M.e. #* Released on November 29, 2006 / LACA-5577 / Lantis # Circus Man #* Released on April 29, 2009 / LACA-5901 / Lantis # (e)-Style #* Released on July 6, 2011 / LACA-15127 / Solid Vox # Extreme V Machine #* Released on August 7, 2013 / LACA-15327 / Solid Vox # Present of the Voice #* Released on November 5, 2014 / LACA-15460 / Solid Vox # V6 Engine #* Released on February 1, 2017 / LACA-15596 / Lantis

Compilation Works

# ENSON ～Cover Songs Collection Vol.1～ #* Released on June 11, 2008 / LACA-5774 / Lantis # ENSON2 ～Cover Songs Collection Vol.2～ #* Released on December 17, 2008 / LACA-5826 / Lantis # ENSON3 ～Cover Songs Collection Vol.3～ #* Released on October 7, 2015 / LACA-55510 / Lantis

Miscellaneous

# Best Anisongs Vol.01 #* Contains many of his older singles and several covers. # Blind Pig'' and ''Blind Pig II #* Albums that were released under his short-lived group. # Star Generation #* A project with other anison artists for an anime. # Strykers #* Dengeki Stryker soundtrack. # Ko Bu Shi – Tekken – Theme Song Album #* Game soundtrack with

Masami Okui is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Itami, Hyōgo. She began her professional musical career at age 21 as a concert backup singer. From almost the very beginning of her career, Masami has sung themes for anime television and movies. She ...

, and others.

Collaborations

# 002.02.06Akogi na futaritabi daze!! LIVE ALBUM – Dai 1 Shou #*

& Masaaki Endoh collaboration tour # 011.10.09U-n-d-e-r—standing! #* Opening with SV Tribe for the anime series ''

Majikoi , often abbreviated , is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by and released for the PC on August 28, 2009 (first press version) as a DVD and on October 30, 2009 (regular version) as two DVDs. An English translation of the PC version wa ...

''. # 012.12.05Jounetsu Element #* Opening with SV Tribe for the anime series ''

Monsuno ''Monsuno'', released as in Japan, is an animated series that premiered in the United States on February 23, 2012 on Nickelodeon, Nickelodeon's sister channel, Nicktoons (American TV channel), Nicktoons and began airing on TV Tokyo in Japan in Oc ...

''. # 013.02.06Ultraman Taro Rock Ver #* Opening with

for the tokusatsu series ''

Ultraman Taro ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman (character), Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman (1966 ...

''. # 014.03.26V-ANIME collaboration -homme- #* His version of Yuusha Ou Tanjou featuring Nightmare. # 014.04.23Kenzen Robo Daimidaler #* Sung as part of "Endoh-kai". # 015.12.02TANSON – Tank Song Mini album

DVD/Blu-Ray

# 011.11.09(e)-Style Live Tour DVD # 014.03.26Extreme V Machine Live Tour DVD # 017.10.27Masaaki Endo Live Tour 2017 – V6 Enjin

Singles

# 995.11.11Forever Friends # 996.07.24Killed by Beak Spider # 997.02.21Yuusha Ou Tanjou! (勇者王誕生!) (GaoGaiGar Theme) # 997.08.21A Piece of the Sun # 998.11.21Ano kawa wo koete (あの河を越えて) # 999.03.03Ready, B-Fight # 999.06.21Senshi yo, Tachiagare! (戦士よ、起ち上がれ！) # 000.01.01Yuusha Ou Tanjou! (Mythology Version)" (勇者王誕生！-神話(マイソロジー)バージョン-) (GaoGaiGar FINAL Theme) # 000.08.23eX-Driver -Sniper- (With Milk) # 002.04.20Bakutou Sengen! Daigunder ( 爆闘宣言！ダイガンダー) # 003.03.01Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger (爆竜戦隊アバレンジャー) # 009.07.01Sea Jetter Kaito (シージェッター海斗) # 009.09.25Kankyou Choujin Ecogainder (環境超人エコガインダー) # 010.05.12Believe in Nexus (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Theme 4) # 010.09.22Saigo no Eden (With Aki Misato) # 010.12.22Asu e no Michi ~going my way! (明日への道～Going my way!) (Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Theme 5) # 011.01.11Honki Sentai Gachi Ranger (本気戦隊ガチレンジャー) # 011.05.11Tamashii meramera Itchodo (魂メラめら一兆℃) # 011.11.09Fellows # 012.01.11Kankyou Choujin Ecogainder 0X (環境超人エコガインダー0X) # 018.07.25Vital/Pray # 020.08.05Goshowa Kudasai Ware no Na wo! (ご唱和ください我の名を！)

External links

Endoh-Masaaki.com
– Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Endoh, Masaaki Japanese male pop singers 1967 births Living people People from Ishinomaki Musicians from Miyagi Prefecture Anime musicians JAM Project members