I got into learning Japanese originally due to anime and manga. But I’ve been out of that loop for years. So out of the loop, in fact, that when I recently added a new song to my YouTube playlist, I had no idea it was the theme song to the hottest anime Japan’s seen in decades.
The song “Gurenge” (紅蓮華; Crimson Lotus Flower) is the opening theme to Demon Slayer (鬼滅の刃; kimetsu no yaiba). As Noah Oskow has discussed here in detail, Demon Slayer has been a runaway smash hit as both an anime and a manga. And the recent film release has taken Japan by storm. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, it’s managed to top Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away as Japan’s top-grossing domestic box office film.
The song has also catapulted a singer to stardom. Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1987, Oribe Risa (織部 里沙), known by her stylized stage name LiSA, has been eyeing show business since she was in elementary school and attended Amuro Namie’s Okinawa Actor’s School in 5th grade. She spent years paying her dues as an indie artist and as a member of groups such as Girls Dead Monster. She debuted as a solo artist in 2011 working for Aniplex and has been releasing music every year since.
Her big break came last year with the release of “Gurenge”. Since then, the single has been certified gold and she’s had back-to-back appearances for two years on NHK’s year-end Red and White Singing Competition, a good benchmark of a performer’s popularity.
After 20 years of hard work, LiSA was an overnight success.
Of course, with all this extra attention comes extra scrutiny. Recently, that scrunity found its way back to RiSA’s school days. What did reporters find? And…does anyone really care? Let’s take a look at the controversy – and at how people in Japan are reacting.
Karaoke Drinking on Such a Winter’s Day
After 20 years of hard work, LiSA was an overnight success. Click To TweetThe piece in question comes from Daily Shinchou, who interviewed friends from LiSA’s past. If the name of the paper rings a bell, you may recall that they’re the same outlet that interviewed the rich playboy in Tokyo who coaxed a woman into drinking herself to death. So, they’re no strangers to controversy.
In talking with people from LiSA’s life, Shinchou made the shocking – shocking! discovery that…artists can be a little wild. As the paper tells the tale, LiSA didn’t make it big as she expected with Okinawa Actor’s School. She had been staying with friends of her mother in Okinawa. But, her dreams crushed, she returned home to Gifu, deflated.
As Shinchou tells it, the middle school LiSA began acting out. She dated boys older than her and – gasp! rode around town with them in low-riding cars.
But, says the paper, that’s not all!
