There’s Something About LiSA: JP Netizens On Singer’s “Wild” Past

LiSA
The DEMON SLAYER theme song singer is at the height of her popularity. Will a new article on her "wild" past change that?

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I got into learning Japanese originally due to anime and manga. But I’ve been out of that loop for years. So out of the loop, in fact, that when I recently added a new song to my YouTube playlist, I had no idea it was the theme song to the hottest anime Japan’s seen in decades.

The song “Gurenge” (紅蓮華; Crimson Lotus Flower) is the opening theme to Demon Slayer (鬼滅の刃; kimetsu no yaiba). As Noah Oskow has discussed here in detail, Demon Slayer has been a runaway smash hit as both an anime and a manga. And the recent film release has taken Japan by storm. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, it’s managed to top Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away as Japan’s top-grossing domestic box office film.

LiSA 『紅蓮華』 -MUSiC CLiP YouTube EDIT ver.-

LiSA 5thFull Album「LEO-NiNE」2020.10.14 Release! Streaming&Download:https://LiSA.lnk.to/leo-nine_digital CD:https://lisa.lnk.to/leo-nine_PKG TVアニメ「鬼滅の刃」オープニングテーマ! 先行フル配信38冠を達成した、”和”の世界を感じさせるロックチューン! https://LiSA.lnk.to/gurenge 「紅蓮華」 作詞:LiSA 作曲:草野華余子 編曲:江口 亮 “紅蓮華” MUSiC CLiP: Producer:高山宏司 Director:フカツマサカズ(FACTORY 1994) Production:TETRAPOT FILMS Dancers:金ノ舞(金澤慎治 & 清水舞手) ソリッドなロックからキュートなポップスまで、スタイルにとらわれず体現できるジャンルレス・ロックヒロイン=LiSA。 2019/7/3リリースのLiSAのニューシングル「紅蓮華」ミュージッククリップ公開! 週刊少年ジャンプ連載中の大人気漫画原作、 TVアニメ「鬼滅の刃」オープニングテーマ! https://kimetsu.com/anime/ 2019/7/3リリース LiSAニューシングル 「紅蓮華」商品概要 ■初回生産限定盤(CD+DVD)VVCL 1458~9 / 1,600円+税 ☆「紅蓮華」ミュージッククリップ収録DVD付  ☆「紅蓮華」パッケージ仕様 ■通常盤(CD)VVCL 1460 / 1,200円+税 ■期間生産限定盤(CD+DVD)VVCL 1461~2 / 1,600円+税 ☆TVアニメ「鬼滅の刃」ノンクレジットOP映像収録DVD ☆アニメ描きおろしイラスト使用ミニポスター&イラスト使用三方背ケース仕様 ※2019年10月末日まで出荷予定 「紅蓮華」ミュージッククリップフルバージョンは、 初回生産限定盤にDVDとして同梱! http://www.lxixsxa.com/

The song has also catapulted a singer to stardom. Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1987, Oribe Risa (織部 里沙), known by her stylized stage name LiSA, has been eyeing show business since she was in elementary school and attended Amuro Namie’s Okinawa Actor’s School in 5th grade. She spent years paying her dues as an indie artist and as a member of groups such as Girls Dead Monster. She debuted as a solo artist in 2011 working for Aniplex and has been releasing music every year since.

Her big break came last year with the release of “Gurenge”. Since then, the single has been certified gold and she’s had back-to-back appearances for two years on NHK’s year-end Red and White Singing Competition, a good benchmark of a performer’s popularity.

After 20 years of hard work, LiSA was an overnight success.

Of course, with all this extra attention comes extra scrutiny. Recently, that scrunity found its way back to RiSA’s school days. What did reporters find? And…does anyone really care? Let’s take a look at the controversy – and at how people in Japan are reacting.

Karaoke Drinking on Such a Winter’s Day

The piece in question comes from Daily Shinchou, who interviewed friends from LiSA’s past. If the name of the paper rings a bell, you may recall that they’re the same outlet that interviewed the rich playboy in Tokyo who coaxed a woman into drinking herself to death. So, they’re no strangers to controversy.

In talking with people from LiSA’s life, Shinchou made the shocking – shocking! discovery that…artists can be a little wild. As the paper tells the tale, LiSA didn’t make it big as she expected with Okinawa Actor’s School. She had been staying with friends of her mother in Okinawa. But, her dreams crushed, she returned home to Gifu, deflated.

As Shinchou tells it, the middle school LiSA began acting out. She dated boys older than her and – gasp! rode around town with them in low-riding cars.

But, says the paper, that’s not all!

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The young LiSA, says Shinchou, took to hanging out and drinking in karaoke rooms with friends. She even took up bicycle theft as a hobby. (Yes, bicycle theft not only happens in Japan, it’s pretty damn common.)

However, the article notes that LiSA did more than just “hang out” in karaoke rooms: she also practiced, rehearsing hits from artists like MISIA and Shiina Ringo. I think any kid who’s ever ditched school to practice a passion – whether it be singing, a musical instrument, or another art form – can relate to that feeling. LiSA may have been struggling, but from all appearances, she never “gave up” on her dream. It’s just that her dream ended up taking a different direction.

After her short stint tearing up Gifu, LiSA went to Tokyo and started her musical career. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Treacherous Schoolchums Get Roasted

But now that news of LiSA’s (admittedly fairly mild) wild past is out in the open, how are fans reacting?

Judging by popular social media forum Girls Channel, the overall reaction is in LiSA’s favor, with more people calling out her former classmates than the singer herself. A few, however, expressed mild alarm over Shinchou’s report.

The article itself on Girls Channel has been absolutely buried, receiving 2,352 downvotes and only 111 upvotes. The top commenter says: “Who gives a damn about this old news.”

Another top commenter took aim at LiSA’s supposed school “friends”: “I’d steer clear of nasty-ass schoolmates who spilled info like this now.”

Another commenter was even more blunt: “It’s rough when you get famous and your old classmates and whatnot sell you out. I don’t get people who snitch like this.”

Mind you, not everyone was nonplussed. A few went after LiSA for being a “criminal” for her history of bike theft. (Being a criminal in Japan – or even being related to a criminal – is something one rarely recovers from…particularly a celebrity.) Others questioned whether “someone of integrity” would drink as a middle- or high-schooler. But other commenters argued that this wasn’t a rare occurrence, especially in remote parts of Japan.

The story appears to have made few waves on Twitter. All in all, the Daily Shinchou article doesn’t seem like it’ll blunt the singer’s popularity or in any way damage her career. Certainly, there’s no mass movement to erase all forms of her existence as happened with poor Pierre Taki. Again, there seemed to be more outrage that LiSA’s supposed friends would do her wrong like this.

While there’s an active debate over how seriously her purported career of theft should be taken, most people seem willing to leave this story exactly where it was found: in the past.

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