Mami Kawada is unstoppable.

Mami Kawada is probably the only I'VE singer other than KOTOKO that I follow with invested interest. To most people, they sound rather similar and often indistinguishable (usually to Mami's disadvantage - I can't tell you how many times I've seen the Onegai Teacher and Twins ending themes miscredited to KOTOKO), but I vouch that after repeated listenings, it becomes very easy to notice the unique and very ear-soothing inflection in Mami's voice. In fact, I would go so far as to say that she is now a better singer than KOTOKO. Her earlier songs simply weren't catchy enough to gain any sort of attention, and were often relegated to features for games, or used as anime ending themes.

That is quickly changing, and this year is a particularly good year for her. Like KOTOKO, she signed on with Geneon and started getting more attention, from both fans and her own composers. Her first release under Geneon was Radiance, the opening theme for Starship Operators. Radiance totally blew me away, and contains what I believe to be the most addictive intro sequence ever in anime song history. At the time, I considered Radiance to so ridiculously awesome that I instantly declared it the pinnacle of her musical career.

Apparently I was wrong, because her new single, Hishoku no Sora, is even better. It is by far the best opening theme this season, for the highly promising Shakugan no Shana animation. She is now 2/2 for hits, and headed in a great direction with Geneon supporting her. As of now, Mami Kawada is unstoppable. I am almost afraid of hearing her next song; will I be able to handle it?

Posted by Paranda at November 9, 2005 1:25 PM

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Posted by: Dice at August 15, 2006 8:31 PM