Post by jam_ongaku on Dec 15, 2008 14:26:52 GMT 8
Ichirou Mizuki January 7, 1948, born (Toshio Hayakawa), is a famous, highly prolific Japanese vocalist, lyrist, composer, voice actor and actor best known for his work on theme songs for Tokusatsu and Anime, having performed numerous theme songs for Japanese film, television, video and video games. He is referred to by fans and fellow performers alike as the aniki (アニキ, aniki? "big brother") of the anison, or anime music genre. As such, he is popular known as "Aniki", an informal way of referring to an older brother. In terms of fame, he is only rivalled by a handful of anison singers, most of whom joined him in forming the group JAM Project.
In July 1968, Mizuki released his first single called "Kimi ni sasageru Boku no Uta" and this song was composed by Kanae Wada. Later, he is perhaps most famous for his earlier performances: the opening theme songs of the Go Nagai animated television series Mazinger Z, Leiji Matsumoto's Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Tatsunoko Productions' Tekkaman: The Space Knight — Mazinger Z would later give birth to the Super Robot genre of anime that dominated the Japanese television landscape of the 1970s.
On July 19, 2000, he formed (with fellow anison vocalists Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endoh, Eizo Sakamoto, and Rica Matsumoto) the "supergroup" JAM Project. (Effective August 2002, he has since reduced his formal status in this group to "part-time member" and now focuses on producing both the group and up-and-coming talent.)
His most recent performance was STORMBRINGER, the opening of Kotetsushin Jeeg (as part of JAM Project). Fittingly enough, Kotetsushin Jeeg is a sequel to Steel Jeeg, an anime which Mizuki sang the opening theme for. He also sang the opening song of the Japanese version of Bionic Commando Rearmed, called "Go Go Bionic".
In July 1968, Mizuki released his first single called "Kimi ni sasageru Boku no Uta" and this song was composed by Kanae Wada. Later, he is perhaps most famous for his earlier performances: the opening theme songs of the Go Nagai animated television series Mazinger Z, Leiji Matsumoto's Space Pirate Captain Harlock and Tatsunoko Productions' Tekkaman: The Space Knight — Mazinger Z would later give birth to the Super Robot genre of anime that dominated the Japanese television landscape of the 1970s.
On July 19, 2000, he formed (with fellow anison vocalists Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endoh, Eizo Sakamoto, and Rica Matsumoto) the "supergroup" JAM Project. (Effective August 2002, he has since reduced his formal status in this group to "part-time member" and now focuses on producing both the group and up-and-coming talent.)
His most recent performance was STORMBRINGER, the opening of Kotetsushin Jeeg (as part of JAM Project). Fittingly enough, Kotetsushin Jeeg is a sequel to Steel Jeeg, an anime which Mizuki sang the opening theme for. He also sang the opening song of the Japanese version of Bionic Commando Rearmed, called "Go Go Bionic".
