If you have watched the Ef series, Hayate the Combat Butler, or even The World God Only Knows, chances are you’ve heard of Elisa’s voice before. Being one of the younger anisong singers in Japan, this model cum singer is slowly, but surely, making her mark in the Japanese music industry. We here at PC.com managed to snag an interview with her during her visit to Malaysia for the Animax LIVE Concert.
PC.com: Have you been to Malaysia before? Or is this your first time here?
Elisa: This is my first time in Malaysia.
PC.com: How does it feel to be in Malaysia?
Elisa: I’m happy that I got the opportunity to come to Malaysia and perform.
PC.com: In the future, what sort of anime projects would you like to participate in?
Elisa: So up till now, I’ve been in the music and anime industry for around seven years, and during the course of my career, I’ve participate in various genres of music. So personally, I’m looking forward to challenging myself in other genres of music that I’ve yet to do.
PC.com: How did you get your start in the anime song industry?
Elisa: Back when I was attending Secondary School, I attended an audition as a model, and it was sometime during the audition that I decided to be a singer instead. The first song that was offered to me was an anime song, so that was how it began.
PC.com: During your whole career as a singer, what is the single most toughest job you have?
Elisa: The biggest challenge I have when it comes to singing anime songs is to convey the tone of the anime to suit the song. It’s important that the song mirrors the theme of the anime, and in order to do so, I need to change the tone or sound of my voice in order to suit it. That is the most important part of the job in my opinion.
PC.com: Who are your music inspirations?
Elisa: My inspiration is Sarah Brightman. Her song, Celtic Woman, is one of my greatest inspirations. Besides that, my father works in the classical music industry, so I had some exposure to the music industry when I was young.
PC.com: Of all the anime projects that you were involved in, which project is the one that you’ve enjoyed the most?
Elisa: While trying to pick a project I had the most fun with is quite difficult, I will say that my time working on Kami Nomi Zo Shiru Sekai (The World God Only Knows) was one of my favourite projects to work on.
PC.com: How different is singing for an anime compared to singing a pop song?
Elisa: In most of my songs, I’ve used two kinds of singing voice for both pop songs and sopranos, so I don’t actually know how to differentiate them. To me, they are both the same.
PC.com: Do you have any interest in song writing or music composition throughout your career?
Elisa: I actually attempted to write the lyrics to a song a few times, and I’ve always find it very tough for me. However, I would like to challenge myself if the opportunity allows me to do so. One of the songs that I’ve written the lyrics to was Wonder Wind for Hayate no Gotoku (Hayate The Combat Butler). The lyrics of the song were written based on the character of the series.
PC.com: So why did you choose Kami Nomi as the most interesting work in your career?
Elisa: Well, the first reason is that the Kami Nomi project took roughly 16 hours, spread out over two days of recording to accomplish. This was the first time in my career that a recording session took that long. The entirely of the song is around nine minutes long. However, in the anime, only a small section of the song was used as the opening of the anime. The whole song actually tells a story and is split into five “chapters”, with the part used in the anime being one chapter of the whole song. Besides that, the composition of each “chapter” is different, and required a different way to sing it.
PC.com: Personally, do you watch anime?
Elisa: When I was young, I used to watch anime with my elder brother who is six years older than me. So after I started singing anime songs, I started looking for animes whose genre interests me. So one anime that I was really interested in was Warau Salesman, which was created by Doraemon’s creator Fujiko Fujio.
PC.com: Do you have any anime in particular that you’re looking for to working with?
Elisa: Seeing as my latest single is for a movie, I would like to reach out to other genres to work with instead of staying exclusively to anime. While I prefer working in the anime industry, I’m also interested in breaking out into the video game or TV drama industry.
PC.com: Do you play any games or read any manga?
Elisa: I was born in the same year that the Gameboy was released. So when I was young, I used to play games with my brother on the Playstation and the Super Famicom (NES). One of the games I used to play was the Zelda series. As for manga, my favourite genres are romantic mangas and gag mangas.
PC.com: Have you ever wanted to be a seiyuu (voice actor)?
Elisa: Ah, I wanted to try being a seiyuu, but it seems really tough when I talked to other seiyuus about it. However, if I ever have the opportunity to be a seiyuu, I would like to do it. Also, I feel that the character archetype that suits me is a younger sister character.
PC.com: If you could create your own anime series, what would it be about?
Elisa: If I could create my own anime, with me being the lead character, I would make a story based on the love between a brother and sister.
PC.com: Have you ever imagined working in the anime industry in another capacity? Such as an animator or director?
Elisa: Truthfully, I wanted to do it. But I doubt I have the ability to pull it off successfully. So I’ll stick to singing for now.
PC.com: What is your message to our readers and fans?
Elisa: I’m glad that I have the chance to come to Malaysia to communicate with my Malaysian fans. This connection I have with fans gives me the drive to perform even more for my fans.
PC.com: Do you have any words of encouragement to your fans who want to be a singer like you?
Elisa: If you wish to be an anime singer, the most important thing to have is to love anime. Aside from that, work hard towards your goal, and try as hard as you can to make it!
