is a Japanese singer, songwriter, and lyricist for various anime theme songs and shows, including Record of Lodoss War, Please Save My Earth, Macross Plus, Outlaw Star, Kaze no Stigma, Maoyu, and Aria The Origination.
Biography
Arai joined Victor Music Entertainment after graduating from university. She worked on collaborations with various artists there. Her first single, "Yakusoku" was released in 1986, and was used as an insert song for the anime Windaria. She also released the album Natsukashii Mirai. In 1988 she left her agency. In 1992, she released the singles "Kaze to Tori to Sora ~reincarnation~" and "Kooru Suna" which were used as songs for the Record of Lodoss War anime and The Weathering Continent drama CD, respectively.
Her activity in anime continued with Please Save My Earth. In 1994, she sang "Voices" for the Macross Plus OVA, She would later release her first compilation album Sora no mori in 1997. She wrote and performed the two ending songs for the 1998 anime Outlaw Star and contributed songs for Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight. In 2012, she provided music for Shibuya International's 10th anniversary short film called Birth.
Arai has performed at many conventions, music festivals, and clubs. In 2005, she celebrated her 20th anniversary in her music career with the compilation album, Sora no Uta, and went on tour to France and Germany in 2006.
Arai has worked with many different music artists. In 1989, she joined Tomoko Tane on some of her albums. She also worked with Yuri Shiratori and composed tracks for the latter's album. In 1998, she and Yayoi Yula released the album Goddess in the morning. She joined a band called Marsh-mallow which released an eponymous album in 2001. In 2011, she worked with a new music group, releasing RuRu Chapeau.
! rowspan=2; | Catalogue <br/> Number <br/>(Japan)
! colspan=2; style="width:16em;"| Oricon
<!-- ADD LATER IF AVAILABLE
! rowspan=2; style="width:12em;" | Sales
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|-
! style="width:6em;"| Peak<br>position
! style="width:6em;"| Weeks<br> charted
|-
| <!-- 懐かしい未来 -->
| align=left | Natsukashii Mirai
| VDR-1284
| 97
|
|-
|
| align=left | Sora no Niwa <!-- そらの庭 -->
| VICL-60043<br>VTCL-60152
| 71
|
|-
|
| align=left | Furu Platinum <!-- 降るプラチナ album cover also says Furu Platinum -->
| VICL-60549<br>VTCL-60153
| 32
|
|-
|
| align=left | Eden<br>(エデン)
| VICL-61214<br>VTCL-60156
| 35
|
|-
|
| align=left | Sora no Sphere<br>(ソラノスフィア) <!-- labelled on Akino Arai's website as original 5th album -->
| VIDL-30073<br>VTCL-60107
| 30
| 4
|-
|
| align=left | Red Planet
| VTCL-60301
| 39
| 3
|-
|
| align=left | Blue Planet
| VTCL-60302
| 38
| 3
|-
|
|align=left | Little Piano Plus (30th anniversary)
|VTCL-60430
|
|
|}
<!-- EXAMPLE
|2000
|align=left| Mizutamari ni Utsuru Sekai
| KICS-834
| –
| –
|-
-->
<!-- unsourced, TBD
- VHmusic – August 19, 2005
- VHmusic 2 – July 18, 2006
-->
Compilation albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ List of compilation albums, with selected chart positions
|-
! rowspan=2; style="width:2em;" |Year
! rowspan=2; style="width:20em;" | Title
</references>
External links
- (Victor Entertainment)
- French fan-website : https://www.akinoarai-fr.com/