じ――ンಠ_ಠ。。。

The year is almost over, but before that, we celebrate another happy birthday to our beloved Minorin! This is the year that I converted to minorhythm, and I continue to spread the Minorin love everyday. (I sound like a cultist, lol) For Aaya I went over her activity this year, but I realize you can see all of her activity on her website.

I’ll still point out some big turning points in her career:

[11/19/06] Receives the Animation Kobe Award for best Theme Song alongside fellow SOS-dan girls, Hirano Aya (absent) and Goto Yuko for Hare Hare Yukai
[03/18/07] Live performance @ Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou concert
[05/30/07] 2nd re-start single, Kimi ga Kureta Ano Hi, reaches Top 20 on the ORICON charts at #20
[07/07/07] Performs at Animelo Summer 2007 as a solo artist.
[10/24/07] 2nd album, Contact, released; peaks at #12 on ORICON charts. Website also changed to fit album’s theme.

Today she turns 27. For the 2nd year, Minorin performs a special intimate concert on her birthday. Her birthday live is called “i melody”, where the the “i” is a pun of the Japanese word for love (”ai”) and herself (”I”), expressing her love for music. It’s already been sold out a month ago, so you can see how popular she has become.

It’s kind of hard to imagine, since her popularity has just begun to rocket. You can see how popular she has become with each of her blog entries getting at least a hundred comments. Her seiyuu workload has increased, with three main/reoccurring roles in the Fall season alone (Toa from Dragonaut, Chiaki from Minami-ke, and Nanaka from D.C. II); we can only expect more from her in the future.

I cannot say that Minorin’s popularity sprung from her role as Nagato Yuki alone. Those who have seen her live performances often are surprised and impressed how powerful and melodious her voice is, yet seeming doing so effortlessly. It makes me wonder why she wasn’t popular sooner (then again, she hasn’t been a very popular anime before Haruhi). I suppose from the positive reception of Minorin’s voice combined with the trance + violin harmonies in Yuki’s character song gave her a new style that fit her like a glove (as you may have noticed from her proceeding singles and album afterwards). Although I have not seen her guitar playing + singing combo, I can only imagine how magical her lives were like back then in the streets of Akiba. I cannot wait until the day Lantis lets her write her own songs professionally.

Not only have I found Minorin to be an excelling new artist, but also a genuinely sweet person and kind heart. She has been described as a “Japanese beauty”; her aura makes you feel happy (in some ways, a kind of moe, lol). Her manager notes her to be very hard working, often giving more than what is expected. In her blog — to which she updates every single day in succession — she tells fun, sentimental, and often comical, stories of her day. In a few entries, she reveals her innocent, dojiko (and slightly air headed) nature. She usually blogs at around 10-11 at night, so you can tell she’s always busy and is a hard worker. Many readers often relate to her episodes, or just find her personality really cute — not to mention her lovely photos. You can see her blog entry on her birthday here. It’s surprising to know she’s already 27.

As seiyuu3 has once said, “it’s never been better time to be a follower of minorhythm”.