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
• Catalog #: VTCL-60141
• Release Date: 5/27/09
• Price: ¥3,800
• Preorder from CD Japan

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.

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.

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!

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

1. Vento
2. Get No Satisfaction!
3. Triangler
4. Loop
5. Kazemachi Jet ~ kazeyomi edition
6. Ame ga Furu
7. Remedy
8. Kiseki no umi
9. Kaze ga fuku hi
10. Purarine
11. Lucy
12. Hashiru
13. Yakusoku wa iranai
14. Yubiwa
15. Bokutachi ga koi wo Suru Riyuu
16. Hikari Are
17. Mameshiba
18. Saigo no Kajitsu
19. Kazamidori
20. Universe

Disc 2

1. Platinum
2. Tune the Rainbow
3. NO FEAR / ai suru koto (w/ Maaya playing piano)
4. Pocket wo kara ni shite
5. Kazamidori (w/ Maaya playing piano)
6. Colors
7. Behind the scenes footage - Making of LIVE TOUR 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.

• Preorder from CD Japan
• Preorder from Amazon.co.jp

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

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.

Mantora.com
Excite Anime News

Maaya Voices Lightning in FF XIII?!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Download Remedy TV version mp3

Video of ending credits animation