It's possible for a person to go through a period of significant development and growth in five years. I realized that when I watched singer Sayaka Sasaki perform in May at Utamatsuri 56. This series of events have featured singers each time.
Sasaki also performed at an Utamatsuri event five years ago. She was already a technically accomplished singer at that time, but she has since developed into an experienced entertainer who ticks all the right boxes. Her interaction with the audience as well as her singing was excellent.
Akita native Sasaki, who has described herself as an "anime otaku," won the third All-Japan Anison (anime song) Grand Prix contest in 2009 after being employed as a clerical worker in her home prefecture of Akita. She made her debut as a singer the following year. Before winning the contest, she had had a number of auditions to become an anison singer.
Since realizing her dream, her recent assignments have included singing theme songs for the immensely popular "Girls und Panzer" anime and the tokusatsu sci-fi action drama series "Garo." To become a more versatile artist, Sasaki has also taken up acting, appearing in a feature-length film version of "Garo," and trying her hand at composition.
At the recent Utamatsuri event, she entertained the audience with her original songs, and also with a special program titled "Singing Nichi-asa," featuring theme songs from anime and tokusatsu programs broadcast by TV Asahi on Sunday mornings, such as "Hugtto! PreCure" (Hug! Pretty Cure), "Kaito Sentai LupinRanger vs Keisatsu Sentai PatoRanger" and "Kamen Rider Build." She also sang popular songs from the Showa era (1926-1989) and songs by other anison singers.
Sasaki delighted the audience with a cooking demonstration explaining how to prepare a cold press juice that she said she drinks every day, and harumaki spring rolls, using a recipe that she learned from her mother.
She also talked about "bringing rain" to a country that is said to have rainfall only three days a year during a visit to the Middle East. Her story recalls a similar tale told by Hironobu Kageyama and Masaaki Endo, who both belong to the same entertainment agency as Sasaki. I heard they have made it rain in South America during the dry season and caused it to hail all of a sudden at an amusement park on a sunny day.
The cooking demonstration, crowd interaction and performance were all great, but I was especially impressed with her singing. It goes without saying that a professional singer can sing well, so critics usually don't have a chance to praise them, no matter how much their singing may move us. This time, however, I was extremely impressed by the depth and nuance of her voice.
My specialty is tokusatsu, so I wasn't familiar with many of the anime theme songs in the program. Nevertheless, her performance moved me -- it truly was a precious experience.
As I get older, I feel each year passes so quickly. Five years have flown by in which I have just been occupied with routine work and day-to-day life. But people can change and evolve dramatically over a period of five years. I felt that while watching Sasaki at the event.
Most anime and tokusatsu works feature protagonists who have a positive outlook on life. I'm thrilled to realize that Sasaki is proof that singers who sing songs from those works similarly move forward.
Suzuki is a Yomiuri Shimbun senior specialist and an expert on tokusatsu superhero films and dramas.
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