Nana Mizuki

Born in Niihama, Ehime, she began to train singing enka when she was five years old.[10] In 1993, she released a Compact Cassette single "Tsugazakura" (つがざくら, lit. "Phyllodoce Nipponica") as Nana Kondō.[11] However, she passed the audition of game Noël: La Neige and became a voice actress.[10]

Mizuki released an image song single titled "Girl's Age" under the name Chisato Kadokura in 1997. When she performed her first concert at the age of 20, she was scouted by the Japanese record label King Records. Her debut single as Nana Mizuki, "Omoi", was released on December 6, 2000. Her 2004 song "Innocent Starter" became her first Top 10 single and her 2005 single "Eternal Blaze" reached No. 2 position on Japanese Oricon weekly single charts.[10]

Mizuki won the "Best Musical Performance" award by her song "Justice to Believe" in the first Seiyu Awards in 2007. Since her seventh album Ultimate Diamond debuted at the No. 1 position on Oricon weekly album charts during the week of June 15, 2009, she became the first voice actress to reach the No. 1 position on the Oricon weekly album or single charts since its creation in 1968.[12] Ultimate Diamond sold over 74,000 copies in the first week.[7] In addition, her 21st single, "Phantom Minds", became the first voice actress single to top the charts, debuting at the No. 1 position on the issue of Oricon weekly single charts dated January 25, 2010.

On November 23, 2009, NHK announced that Mizuki would take part in the 60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen of New Year's Eve. It was Mizuki's first time appearing on the show. Nana chose her song "Shin'ai" for her performance.[13][14]

She is well known for voicing female characters who are very shy yet kind-hearted and gentle, and many of the characters she has voiced were initially very shy/soft-spoken (however, after interactions with other people, they gradually opened up (e.g. Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Nyamo from Love Hina, Hinata Hyūga from Naruto, Wrath from Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) and Tsubomi Hanasaki from Heartcatch Precure!). She's also well known for voicing females with romantic affection for protagonists, as six of her characters have romantic feelings for the main characters (Oboro from Basilisk, Hinata Hyūga from Naruto, Colette Brunel from Tales of Symphonia, Tamao Tamamura from Shaman King, Moka Akashiya from Rosario + Vampire and Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha), some of her characters craved maternal attention (e.g. Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its sequels A's and StrikerS, Wrath and Maria) and she was also part of the voice actress quartet "Prits", alongside Yumiko Kobayashi, Natsuko Kuwatani and Hisayo Mochizuki (all four voiced characters in the anime Sister Princess). Nana Mizuki voices Microsoft's Japanese Windows 7 unofficial "OS-tan" mascot, Nanami Madobe. The mascot's name uses some wordplay on Mizuki's own name as well as the operating system ("Nana" = "seven").[15][16]

In the middle of February 2010, Mizuki was named her hometown (Niihama, Ehime)'s First Tourism Ambassador. The news was broadcast during her Live Academy 2010 tour, held in Kanagawa, Osaka, Aichi, Miyagi, Fukuoka, Ehime Prefecture Niihama Cultural Center's Hall. There were 7 lessons in total.[17] In 2010, Mizuki won the Tomiyama Kei Award in the 4th Seiyu Awards for her news hook in the year 2009. In 2010, she also participated in 61st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen singing "Phantom Minds", the single which had topped Oricon Charts.

On January 21, 2011, she released her first autobiography, titled Shin Ai, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her singing career. Mizuki won Top Pop Artists award in Billboard Japan Music Awards 2010 on February 6, 2011, together with 4 other artists: AKB48, Nishino Kana, SID and Exile.[18]

Mizuki has participated in the 60th (2009), 61st (2010), 62nd (2011), 63rd (2012), 64th (2013) and the 65th (2014) edition of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. On December 3–4, 2011 she had a two-day concert at Tokyo Dome. She became the first voice actress and 8th Japanese female solo artist to hold a concert at Japan's largest concert hall. On March 3, 2012, Mizuki won Animation Artist of the Year 2011 award in Billboard Japan Music Awards 2011.[19]

On November 10, 2013, Mizuki performed Preserved Roses, Kakumei Dualism and Heart of Sword -Yoakemae- in her first overseas performance as a guest performer for T.M.Revolution at Anime Festival Asia, Singapore, Valvrave night.[20] On November 23–24, 2013, Mizuki held her first solo concert outside Japan, in Taiwan.[21]

In March 2014, at the 64th Annual MEXT Art Encouragement Prizes Nana Mizuki was recognized as Rookie of the Year in the Popular Entertainment division.[22]

She held her second overseas solo concert in Singapore (September 27, 2014) and Taiwan (October 4–5, 2014) entitled "Nana Mizuki Live Flight 2014+".[23]

On September 22, 2016, she held a concert at Koshien Stadium, Japan's oldest stadium, becoming the first voice actress and the first solo artist to hold a concert at the venue.[24]

In July 2017, Mizuki made her debut as a stage actress in a Japanese production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in the title role.

On September 30, 2017, she performed in the opening ceremony of 72nd National Sports Festival of Japan, held at Ningineer Stadium in Ehime, in front of Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko and approximately 20,000 attendees.[25]

She held a 7-day long concert series at the Nippon Budokan in January 2018.[26]

Mizuki announced her marriage to a person in the music industry on July 7, 2020, on her blog.[27][28] On November 6, 2020, she announced on her blog that she was pregnant with her first child.[29][30] On March 16, 2021, Mizuki announced on her blog that she’d successfully given birth to her first child.[31][32] On April 23, 2022, she tested positive for COVID-19[33] but later recovered and returned to work.[34]

Studio albums

• 2001: Supersonic Girl
• 2002: Magic Attraction
• 2003: Dream Skipper
• 2004: Alive & Kicking
• 2006: Hybrid Universe
• 2007: Great Activity
• 2009: Ultimate Diamond
• 2010: Impact Exciter
• 2012: Rockbound Neighbors
• 2014: Supernal Liberty
• 2015: Smashing Anthems
• 2016: Neogene Creation
• 2019: Cannonball Running
• 2022: Delighted Reviver

Compilation albums

• 2007: The Museum
• 2011: The Museum II
• 2018: The Museum III

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Nana Mizuki at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Nana Mizuki at IMDb