Azusa Tadokoro is a talent of many, but mainly, she’s now working as a professional singer and voice actress. Azusa Tadokoro, at the age of seventeen, was declared the winner of a talent competition in 2011 where she competed against 12,000 participants. Not long after that, she started making a name for herself in the industry and joined the cast as a voice actress of popular anime like BanG Dream!, Pop Team Epic, Violet Evergarden, and more.

Her most recent notably contribution is however as a singer under the Lantis record label, where she provided the ending theme song Little Soldier for the praised anime “Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken” (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime).

Azusa Tadokoro has now entered her fifth year as a singer and we took this opportunity to learn more about her singing career.

You recently marked the fifth year of your career as a “restart”. Would you mind explaining what this means and what changes we can expect?

Approaching the fifth year, I want to put even more effort into the things I already do, that being singing, and voice acting. On top of what I have to do, I have to find my own reasons to keep going.

How did you start working as a singer? Have you always wanted to be in this career?

While I’ve always liked singing, I didn’t exactly think of becoming a singer. I aspired to be a voice actor and underwent auditions for that, and I am very happy I did because now, I can be both a singer and a voice actor.

You mentioned in the past that you always loved listening to rock music and that you wanted to become a “cool rock artist”. Could you tell us more about your rock influences and can we expect to hear more fast-paced rock song like RESOLVE in the future?

I really like the singing voice that is present in rock—undecorated, straight-ball and filled with fierce spirit; I think I’ve gotten my influences from things like that. I haven’t decided yet, but if there’s ever an opportunity, I definitely want to sing more rock songs!

Your new single Little Soldier is featured as the ending theme song for “Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken” (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime). What are the features that make Little Soldier stands out as a song?

Nestled in the world of anime, there’s this exhilarating feeling as if the world is going to open up. But it’s not just cheerful, I think it’s really charming because of the sorrowful melody and gentle lyrics that are filled with love.

In the Little Soldier music video, we follow you through a journey in the town whilst playing with children. Can you tell us more about the story and inspiration behind it?

In the setting of the music video, the children are actually the incarnation of slimes!

It was shot in Japan, but the place was very fancy. Because I don’t have a lot of chances to shoot outside, this time I could really just relax while shooting! The kids were very nice and really cute too, it was a fun time!

So far the anime has been received very well from the Japanese and overseas audiences. What do you think are the reasons for its international success?

The charming characters! Everyone’s got their own beliefs, and they’re so cool, you end up enthralled. And the main character Rimuru is so strong! Watching the battle of wits is thrilling!

Not only do you perform for anime series, but you also work as a voice actress. What are some challenges you face when working in these fields? We imagine some of them are overlapping?

It’s easy to fall victim to nervousness; both when I sing and when I act, my body would become tense. So I struggle with that.

Being a singer, one of the privileges is to be able to perform in front of a big audience. What is your favorite part of performing live?

I really like the times when I can feel like I share my feelings with those that came to listen.

Do you have any plans performing outside of Asia in the near future?

For the time being, I don’t, but I’ve never been outside of Asia so far, be it for work or in private, so I’d really like to go sometime!

If you could perform live in any city around the world, where would you most like to perform?

Tahiti [laugh]! I really want to sing in the beautiful outdoors scenery there!

I really just want to go [laugh].

Some consider music to be a universal language, how do you feel about fans of your music who cannot understand Japanese?

There really isn’t a problem!

Even if you do not understand the language, if you like the songs, and like my work, that itself makes me very happy!

When you have free time, what do you like to do?

I drink Royal Milk Tea at a cafe!

Now that you have started fresh again, do you have any short-term or long-term goals you are aiming for?

I’d like to challenge dubbing, theatre, musicals and the like!

I want to refine my courage and expression even more!

Please leave a message for your international fans.

I cannot really come see you, and that makes me sad, but if I can reach you all with my activities and music in Japan, I’ll be happy!

I look forward to the day we’ll be able to talk directly! Thank you for your continued support!

We want to give a huge thanks to Azusa Tadokoro for taking time off her busy schedule! As of writing, you can still catch the song Little Soldier by watching this season’s Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken!

As a little side note, today is the birthday of Seta Kaoru from Bang Dream!, a character voiced by Azusa Tadokoro!

Little Soldier

Artist edition CD Little Soldier (リトルソルジャー) Slow Regret (スロウリグレット) Nani mo nai Watashi ni wa (何もない私には) Buy at CDJapan Anime edition CD Little Soldier (リトルソルジャー) Slow Regret (スロウリグレット) Little Soldier (リトルソルジャー) (Off Vocal) Slow Regret (スロウリグレット) (Off Vocal) Buy at CDJapan

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