Canadian Sings Theme for a Japanese Anime
June 25th, 2009 by Claytonian
For some people, including this post’s sad-sack of an author, singing in a foreign language is easy compared to actually speaking it. It’s an interesting phenomenon. So my heart goes out to this Canadian who is working hard to become a J-pop idol.
Catherine St-Onge, stage name HIMEKA, is an incredibly good singer of Japanese songs. So much so that she recently won an Animax contest. Here is the subtitled footage:
And here is the theme song she was given the opportunity to sing as a reward for winning the contest:
If you have a dream and a mic, lots of things are possible.
Contributor Bio: Claytonian blogs about Japan, language, and news at The Hopeless Romantic, and vlogs on YouTube as well.
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A small correction: HIMEKA didn’t sing the theme for the original Valkyria Chronicles game, she’s singing the theme for the anime adaptation of that game that began airing a few months ago.
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Thanks, title changed to reflect this
It’s really a pity that the anime adaptation is turning out to be such a sub-standard affair.
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She’s good. No accent or whatsoever
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she is an amazing singer. What I dn’t understand is, for as long as she has loved anime and Japanese cutlure, currently works part time here and sings so well in Japanese, how can she not speak the langauge yet at 27?
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She is already a pro
her Japanese is already good enough
Himeka’s blog
http://himeka.wordpress.com/
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thank you so much for sharing this blog link, it was fun to read and you are right, the media in the video above didn’t really give her a chance and just stated she wasn’t could. I should learn by now not to trust what the media says. Impressive blog though of what she has accomplished so far.
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Good, though I don’t know if I would say incredible.
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here is the pv for her version of the song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SeSSRnzF60
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Congrats to her! And she’s actually a Quebecer, she seems to come from Laval, right beside Montreal.
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She has an awesome dream, and it’s great to see how much she’s pushing for it- how far she’s gotten. I think she’s good, but would like her to kick it up slightly one notch… She did win me over on singing the Record of Loddoss War theme though, and the second video really trumps.
*prepares for someone to misinterpret my message for bashing anyway* ><
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I fail to see how your comment could be misinterpreted, but I suppose this is the internet…
Haven’t heard much beyond the Valkyria Chronicles song (which really wasn’t my cup of tea) but I’ll definitely be keeping up on her progress.
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Hooray, a version of Honoo to Eien that’s actually in tune. No disrespect to Maaya Sakamoto but in the original version she hits those high notes on the flat side and that always kind of bothered me.
It’s kind of disappointing that she just wants to sing anime songs when at this level she could do much more than that, but some people are just at their best when they’re doing what they love. I hope HIMEKA will have a bright future.
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HIMEKA has stated that she was misquoted as only wanting to be an anime song singer. I believe she said she is not so picky or narrow-minded or something to only aim for becoming an anime song singer and is welcoming a singing career in general.
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That’s impressive. I’ve heard of people going over to do the Japanese pop or rock scene but wasn’t aware of this.
It’s intensely difficult to make it in a country with a radically different language, so I have a lot of respect for that. I don’t think it’s “disappointing” at all to do what you set out to do.
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Good for her. I didn’t even know they had contests like these open to foreigners, for her to win the top spot is quite an accomplishment.
Although it’s actually quite easy to sing Japanese without knowing the language. Phonetically speaking, it’s quite easy to enunciate Japanese with enough studying (watching anime, and listening to music). That’s why I understand why she flubbed in actually speaking Japanese because she doesn’t use it daily were she still living in Laval.
Her voice is nice, but needs a bit of her pizazz. What bothers me is when she takes a breath while she sings, it stands out too much, but I guess it’s just a question of controlling one’s breath.
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Oh here’s a post on HIMEKA here~
I’m still happy to see more supporter for her, it’s been hard on her over there. Really hope she gets more singles~
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Cool!
What anime is this?
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Never mind. Please ignore this.
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A friend of mine has been recording songs in Japanese for a while, but she’s writing her own music, so far she didn’t manage to get a contract with a record label. Last thing I’ve heard is that she found a regular job in Japan for now, I don’t know if she’ll continue to try to get a contract.
In my opinion she didn’t promote herself very well in the past, she mainly relied on networking and doesn’t know enough important people.
I guess it’s easier to get recognized by singing popular songs and being pushed by casting shows(?).
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