Anime Festival Asia, more commonly known as AFA, is back in Singapore for the tenth time this year. Apart from the various exhibitions of official anime goods, creator goods and even Japanese food, there are also meet-and-greets and showcases during the day and “I Love Anisong” concerts at night. All of these are happening over a three-day period, from 24 to 26 November (Friday to Sunday) at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre.

The biggest highlight of this event is none other than the daily “I Love Anisong” concerts. The concerts feature Japanese artistes whose songs are used in anime, usually as the opening or ending song. These songs also define the anime, and are sometimes so iconic that hearing them reminds you of the anime.

This year, there are a total of 15 acts, all more than ready to hype up the atmosphere for three nights! Let’s take a look at who they are below.

24 November (Friday)

1. Nogizaka46

The official rival of Japanese female idol group AKB48, Nogizaka46 debuted in 2012. Their popularity is apparent with their singles and albums topping the Oricon charts (Japanese CD sales ranking). With a total of 46 members, only 15 — Asuka Saito, Erika Ikuta, Kana Nakada, Kazumi Takayama, Mai Shinuchi, Manatsu Akimoto, Marika Ito, Minami Hoshino, Miona Hori, Misa Eto, Reika Sakurai, Rina Ikoma, Sayuri Inoue, Sayuri Matsumura, Yuuri Saitou — will be making an appearance, subject to changes. This will also be Nogizaka46’s first performance in Singapore.

One of their more notable anisongs is “Yubi Bouenkyou” (Finger Telescope), the ending song for “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic”.

2. FLOW

A 5-piece rock band with two vocalists, a guitarist, a bassist and a drummer, FLOW was formed in 1998. Their songs have struck a chord with many anime fans, beginning with “GO!!!”, the upbeat opening song for “Naruto” in 2004. They have since created theme songs for various popular anime, such as “Beelzebub”, “Code Geass”, and “Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods”.

3. Iris

Malaysia-born Iris began her singing career in 2012. After moving to Japan in 2015 and getting featured in a television programme where she hitchhiked across Japan, her popularity gradually increased. She was also chosen to endorse Kose’s Sekisui skincare products, and even sang the theme song for the commercial. Her performance will be the opening act for the first night.

Iris’ latest song is “Aka Dake ga Tarinai” (Only Red is Missing), also the ending song to the anime movie “Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion”.

4. Shiena Nishizawa

The singer-songwriter fell in love with music in middle school, when she first got hold of her father’s old guitar. After emerging as the winner of Flying Dog Audition, a popular singing contest, the then 17-year-old Nishizawa debuted in 2015 with “Fubuki” (Snowstorm), the ending song for the anime “Kantai Collection”, otherwise known as “KanColle”. Nishizawa also sang “Kikan” (Return) for “KanColle: The Movie” and released her first album “Break Your Fate” earlier this year.

5. Tomohisa Sako

From a street performer to an online singer called “Shounen T”, Sako eventually released his first single “Ai Kotoba” (Words of Love) in 2012. His song “Getta Banban” (Mad-paced Getter) was used as the opening song for the anime “Pokemon XY”, and his latest single “Floria” was the opening song for the anime “Natsume’s Book of Friends”. The talented 25-year-old, who was nicknamed “the God with the healing voice” by fans, is also active as an actor, producer and songwriter.

25 November (Saturday)

6. ClariS

ClariS, which means bright and clean in Latin, is a duo formed in 2009, originally with singers Clara and Alice — currently Clara and Karen. Their song “Irony” was used as the opening song to the anime “Ore no Imoto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai”. Since then, the masked duo has been singing for various anime, such as “Puella Magi Madoka Magica”, “Nisemonogatari”, and “Moyashimon Returns”.

7. Konomi Suzuki

After winning the Animax All-Japan Anisong Grand Prix in 2011, Suzuki debuted the following year with “Choir Jail”. The 21-year-old has also made four consecutive appearances at Animelo Summer Live, the biggest annual anime music festival in Japan. Some of her famous songs are “This Game”, opening song for anime “No Game No Life”, and “Redo”, opening song for anime “Re:Zero”.

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