Welcome!
Welcome to MaayaSakamoto.net!
If you've been here before, then you've probably seen my old Dive
page (which you can still find here). Thanks to my
buddy Chris, this site has been given a complete facelift. :)
If you feel dropping a line, you can e-mail me at
jason@maayasakamotoNOSPAMnet
(replace "NOSPAM" with a period / dot).
5.19.2009
Napple Tale OSTs Reprints out in July
Victor Entertainment is reprinting the soundtrack cds for the
Napple Tale Dreamcast game. A
different music company originally released the cds in 2000, which have been out of print for
quite some time. For fans that don't know or maybe forgot, Maaya voiced the main character
in the game. She also performed a few songs including the opening and ending themes (Shippo
no Uta and Midori no Hane respectively, both also available on the Shippo no Uta
single and Nikopachi). Napple Tale OST 2 includes the song
Dreams in a Pie, which is an English version of Koibito ni Tsuite from
Hotchpotch. Here are the details and some CD Japan links
for the Napple Tale cd re-releases.
On a side-note, Maaya's "We Are Kazeyomi" concert dvd is out tomorrow. CD Japan just shipped my copy
and I'm highly anticipating watching it.
5.7.2009
Kazeyomi Concert Sample Clips
Maaya's upcoming concert dvd is out in less than 2 weeks and Victor Ent. / flying dog has posted some sample
video clips on her official site.
There are also details about the concert and an image gallery on the same splash page. The video clips
seemed to have been leaked because they were uploaded to Youtube several days ago. The audio in the Youtube clips
isn't that good (and I know some people don't use Windows Media Player and/or simply prefer flash video format),
so I've posted my own flash converted clips to MS.net. There are samples for Maaya's performances of Triangular,
Kiseki no umi, Hashiru, Mameshiba and Kazamidori. The clips actually are slightly bigger than the layout
of this site, so I've added a separate page for people that want to watch the videos in their original size.
For people living in Japan, there is a video clip of the entire Mameshiba performance on
Yahoo Japan. For folks in other
countries, well you are in luck as well because someone uploaded the clip to Youtube.
4.17.2009
Yoko Kanno / Seatbelts Compilation Album and Live Concert
I usually don't bother to post info about compilation albums with Maaya songs, but I'll make an exception
in this case because it's a Yoko Kanno collection. It will contain 3 cds of music from Kanno's many soundtracks.
The tracklist includes 4 Maaya songs: "Yakusoku wa Iranai", "The Garden Of Everything",
"Yubiwa" and "Yoake no Octave". This is a great compilation for fans just starting
to buy Kanno cds. Here are the details.
Title: Rai Chikyuu Kinen Collection Album Space Bio Charge
There is also a big Yoko Kanno live concert scheduled on July 7 in Japan that will include the Warsaw Philharmonic.
Several other artists will also be performing including Maaya, Origa, Megumi Nakajima, May'n, Mai Yamane
and Scott Matthew. There's more info about the concert and compilation album on
Victor Entertainment's site.
4.17.2009
Voice Role in Evangelion: 2.0, Final Fantasy XIII Demo Footage
According to AnimeNewsNetwork,
Maaya has a voice role in the upcoming Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance movie as a new
character named Makinami Mari Illustrious. Gainax has revealed very little about Makinami, but
I assume she is a supporting character in the film.
In other voice acting related news, footage of the Final Fantasy XIII demo has hit the web now that
the blu-ray for Final Fantasy VII Advent Children is out in Japan. I've embedded one video posted on
Youtube (which is actually part 1 of several). There are also
higher quality videos on this site.
Lightning doesn't say much during the demo, but hopefully she's more talkative in the rest of the game.
4.02.2009
Maaya Voice Role in FF XIII Confirmed
At the end of January, I posted a "rumor" that Maaya would be voicing the character Lightning
in the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII videogame. Well it's now fact because the latest issue of
Dengeki Playstation magazine includes a partial
voice cast for the game and lists Maaya as Lightning. If that wasn't proof enough,
Maaya's official site now has
an announcement about the role. The only thing more official would be an announcement on the
FF XIII site, but I
can't find any voice cast info there.
There isn't a release date for FF XIII, however it will probably come out at the end of this
year or early 2010 in Japan. Maaya fans in N. America may want to get the Japanese version of FF XIII
because Square Enix usually dubs the dialogue for localized releases of their games. People with
N. American PS3s will still be able to play the Japanese FF XIII release because there is no region
locking for games on the console (there will not be a Japanese Xbox 360 version of the game).
There is actually a demo for the game coming out with the Japanese blu-ray release of
Final
Fantasy VII Advent Children Limited Edition (aka Trial Version Set) due on 4/16.
On a quick side-note, Maaya turned 29 a couple days ago, so belated happy birthday to her!
3.19.2009
Kazeyomi Concert DVD Details & Playlist
More details about Maaya's upcoming concert dvd are available on her
official site, including the contents of both
discs (total runtime is 168 minutes). After comparing the playlist against the report on
Mantora.com, the dvd will include
all the songs she performed at her Tokyo concert. The 2nd disc will contain some behind the scenes
footage of backstage and rehearsal stuff and also video from her Nagoya and Osaka concerts. The first
pressing will come with stickers and a special dvd case. Here's the entire playlist.
Disc 1
Vento
Get No Satisfaction!
Triangler
Loop
Kazemachi Jet ~ kazeyomi edition
Ame ga Furu
Remedy
Kiseki no umi
Kaze ga fuku hi
Purarine
Lucy
Hashiru
Yakusoku wa iranai
Yubiwa
Bokutachi ga koi wo Suru Riyuu
Hikari Are
Mameshiba
Saigo no Kajitsu
Kazamidori
Universe
Disc 2
Platinum
Tune the Rainbow
NO FEAR / ai suru koto (w/ Maaya playing piano)
Pocket wo kara ni shite
Kazamidori (w/ Maaya playing piano)
Colors
Behind the scenes footage - Making of LIVE TOUR 2009
2.20.2009
Kazeyomi Concert DVD Preorders
CD Japan already added a listing for Maaya's Live Tour 2009 "We Are Kazeyomi" dvd to their
on-line store, see the below link. I'll update this post with more preorder links as I find them.
Kazeyomi Concert DVD out in May
Some details about Maaya's upcoming concert dvd were posted on her official site.
Apparently it will include two discs. Hopefully this means the video footage will be spread across both
discs because the concert was around 3 hours long.
Title: Maaya Sakamoto Live Tour 2009 "We Are Kazeyomi"
Catalog #: VTBL-4~5
Release Date: 5/20/09
Price: ¥6,300
Runtime: 168 minutes
2.04.2009
Kazeyomi Live Tour 2009 Concert DVD
Victor Ent. / flying dog posted an update on Maaya's official site
that a dvd of her recent concert in Tokyo will be coming out. No details have been released, but
Coma mentions that more
info will be announced on her Vitamin M radio show.
Since January, Maaya has been on a concert hall tour around Japan promoting Kazeyomi. This is the
tour that was announced at the same time as her Ame ga Furu single.
There are reports of the Tokyo concert on the following web sites. Both sites are in Japanese,
but there are a few photos worth checking out for people not fluent in the language.
I'm posting this as a "rumor" since the Japanese voice cast of the
Final Fantasy XIII videogame has yet
to be officially announced by Square Enix. In any case, the latest trailer for the game includes
voice dialogue. The main female character, named Lightning, sounds exactly like Maaya. In fact,
I'm 100% sure it's her after listening to the trailer several times. This is probably Maaya's
biggest voice role in a videogame to date. I've embedded the trailer below. You can hear her
voice several times, specifically at 0:34, 1:18 (collage of gameplay clips) and 2:23.
1.15.2009
Kazeyomi Page Up
I've posted a Kazeyomi page here on MS.net with longer sample clips as promised.
I'll add a review of the album later, but for now I hope people enjoy the clips.
1.14.2009
Kazeyomi Released!
Today is the release date for Kazeyomi, more than 3 years after Maaya's last full album. It's been a long
wait, but we have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel. I just received my copy of the limited
edition from CD Japan, which surprisingly they shipped over the weekend. I'll post a Kazeyomi page with
some longer sample clips very soon.
Victor Ent. / flying dog updated the official Kazeyomi mini-site
with new content (click the spinning icons along the top). There's a web radio / podcast by Maaya, comments
on the album tracks and photo gallery. As a warning, the podcast plays some of the album songs in the
background and includes a clip of Kazamidori. So if you don't want to be spoiled at all before getting
the cd, you should avoid podcast.
1.10.2009
Remedy TV Version
Kurogane no Linebarrels ep 14 just aired in Japan and includes the 2nd ending theme song
performed by Maaya, Remedy. This song is track 4 on her upcoming
Kazeyomi
album. I've uploaded the TV version of Remedy in mp3 and streaming formats. This version is quite
a bit longer than the short sample clip on Maaya's official site. I'm absolutely in love with
this song and looking forward to getting my copy of Kazeyomi next week.
