Interview: ChouCho

ChouCho is the singer of many recent anisongs, including songs for Fate/kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, Heaven’s Memo Pad, Glasslip, and Mashiiro Symphony. She got her start singing Vocaloid covers on Nico Nico Douga and quickly established a successful solo career in recent years.

We started off by asking her about a sandwich from the Hard Rock Cafe (the concert was held there) she tweeted a picture of the day before, marveling at the size of it:

What do you think about size of the food here in the US?

It’s double the size of Japan’s.

Aside from American food, we understand you’re from Osaka. What kind of food from Osaka do you like?

I want to eat takoyaki sometimes!

Let’s go back to the start of your career. You sang anisongs even as early as high school.What anime did you like back then?

I used to copy J-pop songs then [actually]. After graduating from high school with the band I had, that was the first time I copied anime songs.

Any particular ones?

Evangelion and Aquarion–songs by Yoko Kanno and Maaya Sakamoto.

What inspired you to post videos on Nico Nico Douga?

When I was in an anime song cover band, we entered a local anime song event in Osaka. And the other band’s vocalist was posting their songs on Nico Nico, which was the first time I heard about anyone doing that.  That inspired me to do the same.

Any particular Nico Nico artists you liked?

Vocaloid composers, like supercell.

Any favorite supercell songs?

The most played song on Nico Nico was “Hajimete No Koi Ga Owaru”. [ED: Below is her cover of the song.]

Did you feel you were adding something unique by covering Vocaloid songs? They start out as a software voice, after all…

Hatsune Miku is a machine, so it doesn’t have emotion. Even without vocals, the song itself has enough charm to convey [emotions] directly, so when I did the cover, I was thinking a lot about how to convey the charm of the songs through my performance.

Tell us about how you got chosen to do the KamiMemo OP.

They were looking for a singer to do OP for KamiMemo, and I was selected from various candidates. They saw my NicoNico videos and that’s how I got vetted, and I feel I was very lucky.

How do you prepare for a performance like the one you just did?

I practiced at home a lot, and practiced English MCing. I studied English in Canada for a half year. But that was 5 years ago, so I almost forgot all my English. It’s been a long time since I went over English and I was nervous about it.

The anime you sing for features a lot of cute girls. Who are your favorite cute anime characters?

It’s difficult to say! I put a lot of energy into each anime I sing for, so it’s hard to choose. If I have to choose, it’s Alice from KamiMemo.

Do you have any image in your head when you sing?

Since it’s main theme song, I have to become the character’s feeling, in order to express.

How’s your pet rabbit Sanagi doing?

It’s very cute and tsundere! Normally, it’s cool (tsun), but when it’s hungry and begs for food, it’s cute (dere).

How did you name Sanagi?

My name is ChouCho (“butterfly”), and Sanagi means “cocoon.”

What message do you have for your American fans?

I now understand that our songs are loved even across international borders. Through this concert, I will try our best, so we can come back to the USA again.

So, last question: are you gonna gamble here in Vegas?

Probably, if I have time tonight!


Michael Huang conducted the interview, with on-site translation help by Raymond Hu. Rome Yamashita translated the interview from the Japanese.

ChouCho
ChouCho

Author: gendomike

Michael lives in the Los Angeles area, and has been into anime since he saw Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1999. Some of his favorite shows include Full Metal Alchemist, Honey and Clover, and Welcome to the NHK!. Since 2003 he has gone to at least one anime convention every year. A public radio junkie, which naturally led to podcasting, he now holds a seminary degree and is looking to become Dr. Rev. Otaku Bible Man any day now. Michael can be reached at mike.huang@animediet.net. You can also find his Twitter account at @gendomike.

1 thought on “Interview: ChouCho

  1. Now I’m super jealous. What a great performer she is. The lack of emotion was also my problem with vocaloids. I didn’t really like her until Hyouka but her Memo song grew on me after awhile. Enter Enter Mission! collab was absolutely my favorite part of the entire concert. Well, that and on day 1 when they were all leaving stage hearing Choucho get the most chants from the audience was really awesome too. I really love how this music is getting to more and more people over the years. 10 years when I first got into it it was pretty hard to find anyone that enjoyed it within 1000 miles of me.

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