Mami Kawada (born February 13, 1980 in Sapporo, Japan) is a Japanese retired singer and lyricist, known for her work in anime music. She is particularly associated to the Light Novel boom of the late 2000s through her relationship with the franchises Shakugan no Shana and A Certain Magical Index, for which she performed multiple openings, endings and insert themes.
A trainee of Eiko Shimamiya, Kawada started her career in 1997 as part of the former's production group I've Sound. She was often paired with fellow member Kotoko, performing both solo as a duo. Her real breakout came in 2005, however, after switching to Geneon Entertainment (now NBC Universal Entertainment Japan), when her single "Hishoku no Sora", used as Shana's first opening theme, soared at number 11 at the Oricon weekly charts. This tend would mark the rest of his career, achieving similar positions a few more times and collaborating with similar-sounding artists like Maon Kurosaki, before she announced her retirement from music industry in 2016.
Kawada's genre is a very personal mix of J-pop, electronic rock and trance. She stands for her distinctive voice, ethereal electronics and heartfelt lyrics, which help to transmit a sensation of trascendence and power.
Discography
- 2006: Seed
- 2008: Savia
- 2010: Linkage
- 2012: Square the Circle
- 2015: Parablepsia
Her work contains examples of:
- Anime Theme Song: A given. She has several iconic anime openings up to early 2010s, not limited to Shana and Index.
- Be Yourself: She has several songs whose topic is not being lost in an erratic society.
- Catchphrase: The song "It's no big deal" comes apparently from a catchphrase Kawada's father has.
- Gratuitous English: All of her albums, and several of her more known songs, like "Joint" and "Get my Way", have titles and part of their lyrics in English.
- Multilingual Song: Japanese with English verses thrown in.
- Passing the Torch: In a way, her relationship to Maon Kurosaki feels like this. They have a somewhat similar style, and they are both fans of writing their songs only after reading the manga or light novel in question to get inspired. Kawada's star career went from 2005 to 2016, while Kurosaki's started in 2010.
- Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Several of her album covers emphasize this, with plenty of chiaroscuro and sometimes a bit of blue thrown in.
- Self-Empowerment Anthem: The aptly named "Snap out of it!!", which she performed with Kurosaki.
- Sexy Packaging: Notably, she posed nude from waist up, though without revealing parts, in the cover of Linkage.
