Check Here for the latest news and announcements from Sony. Please note I will update this thread whenever Sony sends me an email, which is rather infrequent.
T.M.Revolution & Home Made Kazoku returns for a special Saturday concert at Otakon 2013! Otakon welcomes back T.M.Revolution who made his US debut performance 10 years ago at Otakon 2003, as well as Home Made Kazoku who last brought their unique "large, medium, small" style to Otakon in 2010, for a joint concert event on Saturday, August 10, 2013. T.M.Revolution (T.M.R.) was the first major Japanese rock/pop performance at Otakon. The success of that show demonstrated that Japanese acts could find an audience in America by leveraging the fanbase for anime. T.M.R.'s American debut helped bring Otakon to the attention of the Japanese music industry and helped stimulate interest in bringing J-pop and J-rock acts to the US. Jim Vowles, Otakon’s Director of Guests and Industry stated, "T.M.R.'s show in 2003 was a game-changer for us and for the whole world of anime conventions. His enthusiastic performance was a massive success, and T.M.R. himself was fantastic with his fans. It was new territory for all of us and we've looked forward to his eventual return for ages.” Ten years later, such concerts have become almost a requirement for conventions of any size, and draw a dedicated audience of their own. While Otakon has continued to showcase major J-Rock acts such as L'Arc~en~Ciel, JAM Project, and X-Japan, it has also brought an increasingly diverse range of musical performers, such as shamisen performers the Yoshida Brothers. Takanori Nishikawa, born in 1970 in Shiga prefecture, made his debut as T.M.Revolution (T.M.R.) in May 1996, with the single “Dokusai –monopolize-”. Since then, he has established a reputation as a singer with ear-catching tunes combined with intriguing and irresistible live performances. Many singles have been picked up as themes of major anime and games including Mobile Suit Gundam and Sengoku BASARA. Since his debut, T.M.R. has built a global fan base and reputation mainly among anime fans. He has performed at major anime conventions in the US, such as OTAKON 2003 where local audiences were dazzled by his dynamic performance. These activities led to the release of his albums worldwide. T.M.R. launched his 10th anniversary project in 2005 in which he released the single “vestige” in August 2005, hitting #1 on Oricon chart. He also released a self-cover album “UNDER:COVER” (all songs requested by fans) in January 2006. In June of that same year, he released a CD and a DVD, both entitled “1000000000000”(pronounced billion) featuring all singles and music videos he had previously released. This proved immensely popular and also hit #1 on the Oricon charts. On September 19th 2012, T.M.R. released DVD and Blu-ray discs titled T.M.R. LIVE REVOLUTION '12 -15th Anniversary FINAL which contains footage of his 15th anniversary tour final at Daiichi-Taiikukan, National Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo. Also in September 2012, he organized the rock festival “Inazuma Rock Festival” for the fourth time at his birthplace in Shiga prefecture. T.M.R.’s recent participation includes appearing at “Anime Festival Asia 2012” in Singapore on November 9th. Not one to rest on his laurels, he is currently expanding his field as an actor, voice actor, and host for many media programs. http://www.tm-revolution.com/ https://www.facebook.com/tmrevolutionofficial Home Made Kazoku debuted May 2004 with Ki/oon Records / Sony Music Entertainment Japan Inc. and won acclaim as the best upcoming artist of the year on the Japanese music scene. MICRO is widely referred to as a ‘soul rapper’ because of his husky, powerful voice. KURO adds a deep, whispering rap which gives life to the lyrics. Combined with U-ICHI's DJ skills, their positive, heartwarming music has entranced many listeners' ears. Large, medium, small. Vocalists Micro and Kuro are originally from the United States. MICRO spent a part of his childhood in Kentucky, while KURO lived in Chicago until he was 12. Their first full-length album, Rock the World, achieved #5 on the Oricon national chart, with over 300,000 sales, and spent an amazing two months in the Best 20s. Home Made Kazoku created a buzz with their tracks featured as theme songs on many hit anime series, such as Eureka Seven (“Shonen Heart”) and NARUTO (“Shooting Star”). Their third album, Thank You!!, hit #5 on the Oricon chart. Following their fourth album, Home, which included the lead track “No Rain No Rainbow” (the theme song of NARUTO SHIPPUDEN the Movie: Bonds), Home Made Kazoku headlined their first tour in Japan, including a sold-out show at the Budokan in front of more than 10,000 fans. They also took their show overseas to the US (Otakon 2010) and Taiwan which ended up being great successes. They host an annual music festival, held for the third time this year in October, called Kazoku Fes.2012. Along with their announcement of their comeback to Otakon in 2013, Home Made Kazoku just released their latest album 3RISE on January 1, 2013 for all their overseas fans. http://www.home-made.jp/ ABOUT OTAKON AND OTAKORP, INC.: Now entering its twentieth year, Otakon is an annual celebration of Japanese and East Asian popular culture, and also one of the largest gatherings of fans in the United States. Otakon celebrates popular culture as a gateway to deeper understanding of Asian culture, and has grown along with the enthusiasm for anime, manga, video games, and music from the Far East. Since 1999, Otakon has been held in Baltimore, Maryland; currently, Otakon is one of Baltimore's few large, city-wide events, drawing over 32,000 people for three days each year (for a paid attendance of over 89,000 turnstile attendees). Otakon is a membership based convention sponsored by Otakorp, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based, 501(c)3 educational non-profit whose mission is to promote the appreciation of Asian culture, primarily through its media and entertainment. Otakorp, Inc. is directed by an all-volunteer, unpaid staff – we are run by fans, for fans. For more information about Otakorp, Inc., see http://www.otakon.com/otakorp/index.asp For more information about Otakon., see http://www.otakon.con
Japanese “KAWAii” Pop Culture Festival KYARY PAMYU PAMYU, T.M.REVOLUTION, SHOKO NAKAGAWA, SCANDAL, END OF THE WORLD･･･ MORE live performances, shows, are being planned !! Japanese Pop Culture Festival, “KAWAII MATSURI” , coming up in TOKYO!! Japanese Pop Culture Festival, “KAWAII MATSURI” will be held on 20th& 21st of April, for the first time in Tokyo. Musicians, singers, fashion models, perfomers…. Many iconic artists those who represent all genre of Japanese Pop culture will be taking part in this special event. “KAWAII”, a Japanese adjective meaning “cute” “ lovely” “adorable”, is now known all over the world and has become the “it” word to explain Japanese Pop culture. And the following word,“ MATSURI” meaning “festival” or “gala”, “KAWAII MATSURI” will be a showcase of cutting-edge Japanese KAWAII culture. This event will also feature 3 symbolic areas of Tokyo, HARAJUKU, SHIBUYA, AKIHABARA, where people from all over the world gather to seek “Kawaii” trends Official Website : http://kawaii-matsuri.jp MAGAZINE STAGE ★MODELS→ Fumiko Aoyagi, Apochi, Yuka Ueoka, Hitomi Ueno, Risa Ebihara ,Misa Kimura, Ami Kondo, Natsuko Kondo, Saki Sato, Ayumi Seto, Shiho Takechi, Rina Tanaka, Kurumi Tanaka, Natsume Mito, Anna Yano,Una、Yura and more… ◆Artist Line-up ＜20th Sat/APRIL＞ T.M.REVOLUTION, a male rock vocalist, his catchy melody and dazzling performance has a great influence on Japanese youth culture. SHOKO NAKAGAWA,noted icon of Japanese game, animation, “ cosplay”(dressing-up) culture. MAY’N, a female rock vocalist, one of the top-rank singers of Japanese animation songs. Also, DENPA-GUMI.INC and LINQ who are rapidly gaining popularity will appear on stage ＜21stSun/ APRIL＞ KYARY PAMYU PAMYU, one of the most distinguished icon of HARAJUKU, whose music video from the album “PON PON PON” has been played over a million times on the internet. SCANDAL, a girls rock band, cute looking but their rough and tough performance is adored by teenage girls. END OF THE WORLD, 4 membered music group that came out of nowhere and made a huge impact on the Japanese music scene in 2010. Their unique sounds and style attain enormous popularity from Japanese youth. MORE live performances,shows, are being planned !! Details and news will be updated on the official website! Please check : http://kawaii-matsuri.jp/ 【Event Information】
FLOW’s “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” featured in the theatrical release of ‘Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods’ As been previously announced, the highly anticipated new Dragon Ball film, Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods, comes to theaters in the U.S. and Canada for a limited release on Aug 5, 6, 7, & 9. This legendary opening theme song, “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA”, covered by the rock band FLOW, will be featured as the theme song in this latest film. “CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA” plus other hit songs by FLOW are part of their 8th album “FLOW THE MAX”, which is available on iTunes and Amazon. Get the music today and be powered up before the U.S. theatrical premiere! PLUS, don't miss your chance to see the band LIVE at Anime Fest 2014 from August 15-18 in Dallas, TX. iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/flow-the-max-!!!/id632825447 Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Max/dp/B00C7M8GDM/ ‘Dragon Ball Z: Battle of the Gods’ official movie website: http://www.dragonballz.com/ Anime Fest 2014 registration info: http://animefest.org/ [About FLOW] Originally formed in 1993 by TAKE and his older brother/vocalist KOHSHI, the band was named FLOW in '98 and evolved into its current line-up in 2000, after bassist GOT'S, another vocalist KEIGO and drummer IWASAKI joined the siblings. Originally formed in 1993 by TAKE and his older brother/vocalist KOHSHI, the band was named FLOW in '98 and evolved into its current line-up in 2000, after bassist GOT'S, another vocalist KEIGO and drummer IWASAKI joined the siblings. In 2003, FLOW made their major debut with the single "Blaster". They followed up with "Go!!!", the opening theme song for the hit anime, “Naruto”. FLOW then released "DAYS", which became the opening theme song to the popular TV anime series “Eureka Seven: Psalm of Planets”. These were just the first of many hits to come. Some of their other songs include theme songs for Naruto Shippuden, Code Geass, Eureka Seven AO, and most recently Samurai Flamenco. In 2013 FLOW celebrated their 10th anniversary. They both the arranged and performed the theme song for the anime theatrical movie, “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods”. FLOW Official Site: http://www.flow.mu/ Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/FLOWofficial.music Twitter: https://twitter.com/FLOW_official VEVO: http://www.youtube.com/user/FLOWofficialVEVO/
FLOW releases their ultimate anime best album, "FLOW ANIME BEST KIWAMI” Known for their many anime themes, 5 piece rock band FLOW releases their second and the ULTIMATEanime best album! This album “KIWAMI” (meaning “ultimate” in Japanese) includes songs from popular anime series plus their new song “AWAKE”, “Bluebird” (a collaboration cover song with Diana Garnet) and a remix by DJ Kazu! Also this summer, FLOW will also be embarking on their first ever world tour titled “FLOW WORLD TOUR 2015 KIWAMI” which they will hit up 8 countries, that include Japan, Taiwan, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Canada, and the U.S.. Their stop in the U.S. will be on June 12th, at the largest independently organized anime convention in the NY/NJ area, Anime Next 2015! Stay tuned for more details on their world tour..... “FLOW ANIME BEST KIWAMI” iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/flow-anime-best-kiwami/id971077866 Amazon:http://www.amazon.com/Flow-Anime-Best-Kiwami/dp/B00U0AFBEU [Set list] 1.7 –seven- Ending theme of TV anime “The Seven Deadly Sins” 2.AWAKE Theme song of Original anime “Kiwami!!! Extreme V ” 3.GO!!! Opening theme song for TV anime series “NARUTO” 4.Re:member Opening theme song for TV anime series “NARUTO” 5.Sign Opening theme song for TV anime series “NARUTO : Shippuden” 6.DAYS Opening theme song for TV anime series “Psalms of Planets Eureka seven” 7.Brave Blue Opening theme song for TV anime series “EUREKA SEVEN AO ASTRAL OCEAN” 8.COLORS Opening theme song for TV anime series “CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion” 9.WORLD END Opening theme song for TV anime series “CODE GEASS Lelouch of the Rebellion R2” 10. Ai Ai Ai Ni Utarete Bye Bye Bye Opening theme song for Noitamina anime series “Samurai Flamenco” Season 2 11. CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA Main theme song for the movie “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods” 12. HERO -Kibou no Uta- Featured song for the movie “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods” 13. CALLING Ending theme song for TV anime series “HEROMAN” 14. WORD OF THE VOICE Opening theme song for TV anime series “PERSONA –Trinity Soul-“ 15. Hey!!! Opening theme song for TV anime series “BEELZEBU” 16. GLORY DAYS Original by 「GLORY DAYS」/ D✩DATE （Opening theme song for TV anime series “Kingdom” Season2） 17. Bluebird feat. Diana Garnet - Original song “Bluebird” by Ikimonogakari（Opening theme song for TV anime series “NARUTO : Shippuden”） 18. FLOW ANIME BEST Kiwami MIX by DJ Kazu [Anime Next 2015] June 12~14 Garden State Convention Center http://www.animenext.org/ 《FLOW WORLD TOUR 2015 極》 May 15thBIGCAT, OSAKA, JAPAN May 22ndLIQUIDROOM, TOKYO, JAPAN May 30thTHE WALL, TAIPEI , TAIWAN June 12thAnime Next Convention, SOMERSET,NJ, U.S.A June 21stCLUB JUNK BOX, SENDAI, JAPAN June 26thBOTTOM LINE, NAGOYA, JAPAN * * * PERU, BRAZIL, ARGENTINA, CHILE… The date is coming soon…! August 7thEDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA August 9thMONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA ★FLOW OFFICIAL SITE http://www.flow.mu/ ★FLOW OFFOCIAL Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FLOWofficial.music ★FLOW OFFICIAL VEVO https://www.youtube.com/user/FLOWofficialVEVO
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION releases their highly anticipated new single “Easter”, 8 previous albums now available for international fans! ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION has just released their highly anticipated new single titled "Easter"! This latest single comes after a 2 year hiatus without a release from the band. Other tracks include “Parallel World” and “Seaside Sleeping” for a total of 3 newly recorded songs. In addition, the band has also revealed that it is working on a new studio album, which is being recorded in Los Angeles at Studio 606, which is the private studio of the American rock band, Foo Fighters. ALSO for first time ever, the band has made available 8 of their previous albums for international fans via iTunes and Amazon. Albums ranging from their debut album “Destructive Amplifier” to their long selling hit album “Sol-fa” are now available! New Single “Easter” 1. Easter 2. Parallel World 3. Seaside Sleeping iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/easter-single/id971057474 Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Easter-Asian-Kung-Fu-Generation/dp/B00U0AK1AY/ Now available on iTunes + Amazon iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/asian-kung-fu-generation/id295201343 Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Kung-Fu-Generation/e/B00197HZ7O/digital/ [ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION] Official Site： http://www.asiankung-fu.com https://www.facebook.com/akg.offical VEVO @YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/akgVEVO
AKIRA’s hit singles now available on iTunes! Making an appearance at Kawaii Kon 2015! Singer and fashion model, AKIRA has released her music for the first time for international fans to enjoy! Her debut single “Aoki Tsuki Michite”, featured as the ending theme song for the anime series, "Black Butler: Book of Circus“ and her 2nd single “Kirie Toroimen No Shirabe” are now available. As previously announced, she will be making an appearance at Kawaii-Kon in Hawaii from March 27-29. Don’t miss your chance to see her in person! [Aoki Tsuki Michite] iTunes: http://smarturl.it/AokiTsukiMichite Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Aoki-Tsuki-Michite-Akira/dp/B00U1NZ4G6/ [Kirie Toroimen No Shirabe] iTunes: http://smarturl.it/KirieToroimen Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kirie-Toroimen-No-Shirabe-Akira/dp/B00U1NSFTO/ http://www.akira-web.com/ Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akira.web.official VEVO @YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/akiraofficialVEVO Kawaii Kon: http://www.kawaii-kon.org/
