Shouta Aoi (蒼井 翔太,Aoi Shōta; born August 11, 1987), is a Japanese singer and actor. Under the stage nameShowta (stylized as "SHOWTA."), he debuted as a singer with the song "Negaiboshi" in 2006 and released his first studio album,Eve, in 2008. In 2009, he left his agency and briefly released music independently under the pseudonymNoboru Ryugaki (柳ヶ木 昇).
In 2013, Aoi relaunched his singing career under his new stage name with the extended playBlue Bird, followed by the release of "Virginal" in 2014. In 2015, he released his first studio album,Unlimited. Since the relaunch of his music career, his music is produced byElements Garden.
Throughout his career, Aoi has been given titles such as "Archangel" and was praised for his "angelic" singing voice. He is known for his soft, high-pitched voice and androgynous appearance, allowing him to play female parts as well.
Aoi was born inFukui Prefecture, Japan. He has one older sister.[2] From elementary to high school, he played tennis and won many trophies.[3] As a child, he watched a lot ofanime and played video games, citing his interest in voice acting throughAkira Ishida's portrayal of Fish Eye fromSailor Moon SuperS.[2] In school, he was bullied for his high-pitched, feminine voice.[4][5][6] He credits his friends from junior high school for helping him regain his confidence after they complimented his performance of "So Into You" byKoda Kumi during a karaoke outing.[5][6] In 2004, he competed in the Yamaha Teens' Music Festival under the name "Noboru Yanagawa" and won the Grand Prix for theTokai, Ibaraki region.[7][8] Initially, when he first auditioned, he had mistakenly believed it was an amateur karaoke competition.[9] He was a finalist at the national competition, along withAtaru Nakamura, where he performed "1000 no Kotoba" byKoda Kumi.[2]
Aoi debuted under the name Showta with the single "Negaiboshi" on July 26, 2006, underKing Records, which charted at #119 on theOricon Weekly Singles Chart.[10] On November 22, 2006, he released his second single, "Trans-winter (Fuyu no Mukōgawa)", which served as the theme song to the live-action television adaptation of the mangaDamens Walker.[8] His third single, "Hito Shizuku", a mid-tempo ballad, was released on April 4, 2007.[11] His fourth single, "Kimi ni, Kaze ga Fukimasu You ni" was released on July 27, 2007, as the ending theme song toIchiteru.[12] For his fifth single, he released a cover ofYoshie Kashiwabara's 1983 song "Haru na no ni" on January 23, 2008.[13]
Aoi released his first studio album,Eve, on March 5, 2008, which charted at #115 on theOricon Weekly Albums Chart.[14] His sixth single, "Hikaru no Gen-chan", was released on April 23, 2008, forNHK'sMinna no Uta segments during the months of April and May.[15] In 2009, Aoi contributed the song "Ekubo" to the movie soundtrack ofKanna-san Daiseiko Desu! the Movie, which was released as a promotional digital single.[16] He made his first acting appearance as Saki Hanajima in theFruits Basket stage play adaptation.[17][18][19][20]
In 2010, Aoi left King Records, citing his desire to become a voice actor andtheme song performer. He began releasing music and performing independently under the name Noboru Ryugaki.[21] He was a featured artist in the song "Oji-sama to Cheek" on Kenzo Saeki and Boogie the Mach Motors' collaboration album,21-Seiki-san sings Harlmens.[22] During this time, he also performed in independentmusical theatre and stage productions.
2011–2016: Voice acting debut and stage activities
Aoi signed onto S Inc. in 2011 for voice acting and debuted under the name Shouta Aoi, making his first appearance as Kanshiki in the gameBlack Robinia.[23] He performed "Ai no Sasameki Goto" as the first song released under his new stage name, which served as the theme song to thedrama CD seriesSangokushi Lovers.[3] In October, he voiced Ryunosuke Matsushita in the animeKimi to Boku and also performed the songs "Sora", "Tomorrow" and "Over" for the show's soundtrack.[24]
In 2012, Aoi was cast as Ai Mikaze in theUta no Prince-sama media franchise, where he performed and sang several songs for the character in the game and anime soundtracks.[23] After gaining recognition from the success of his role, Aoi released his firstextended play,Blue Bird, on January 13, 2013, which contained theme songs he performed forBroccoli drama CDs.[25][26] On January 15, 2014, Aoi released his first single, "Virginal", under his stage name, as the ending theme song toBreak Out,[27] which was then followed by his first concert,Shouta Aoi 1st Live: Virginal.[28] On August 6, 2014, he released his second single, "True Hearts."[29] Alongside of singing and voice acting, Aoi continued participating in stage productions, including playingSakuya Shiomi in thePersona 3: The Weird Masquerade musicals.[4]
In late 2014, Aoi was cast as Ayumu Tamari in theOVAThis Boy Suffers From Crystallization, his first leading role in animation.[4] He also provided the theme song, "Glitter Wish",[30] which was later released as the B-side to his third single, "Himitsu no Kuchizuke", on December 3, 2014.[31] In 2015, he released his first studio album,Unlimited, which charted at #7 on theOricon Weekly Albums Chart.[32] Aoi's fourth single, "Murasaki", was released on September 2, 2015, serving as the theme song to the stage musicalPrince Kaguya,[33] which he also starred in as the title character.[34] On February 3, 2016, he released the single "Zessei Stargate" as the opening theme song toPhantasy Star Online 2: The Animation, in which he also voiced the character Itsuki Tachibana.[35]
Aoi returned to King Records in 2016.[36] During that year, both B-green and King Records released compilation albums of his previous works,S andShowta Best.[37][38] After changing labels, Aoi released his sixth single, "Innocent", as the opening theme song toFirst Love Monster on July 27, 2016, in which he also played Renren.[39] His seventh single, "DDD", was released October 19 as the theme song toFuture Card Buddyfight DDD, a series in which he also played recurring character Gaito Gurenzo.[40] On January 25, 2017, Aoi released the song "Flower", which was the ending theme song for the variety showKing's Brunch for the month of January.[41][42] On October 11, 2017, he released his second studio album,Zero, which sold 11,361 copies within its first week.[43][44]
On May 9, 2018, Aoi released the song "Eclipse" as the opening theme song toDevils' Line, in which he also appeared in as Kenichi Yoshii.[45][46] In 2019, he provided the narration toDimension High School and later appeared in the show as Shiro Oide, his first role in live-action television.[47] On April 10, 2019, Aoi released his ninth single, "Tone", as the opening theme song toKono Oto Tomare! Sounds of Life, in which he was also cast as Mio Kanzaki.[48] On May 3, 2019, a set of 24 voiced stickers featuring Aoi for the messaging applicationLine was released, based on his radio showShouta Aoi: Hungry Night.[49] In September 2019, Aoi appeared in the live-action television dramaReal Fake as Akane.[50]
On October 10, 2022, Aoi released "Psycho:Logy" as a digital single; the title song was used as the opening theme of the second season ofPop Team Epic.[51] On October 15, 2022, Aoi announced that he has left his management company S and will be working freelance.[52]
Since the beginning of his career, Aoi has been recognized for his soft, high-pitched voice and has been given nicknames such as "archangel" and "angelic singing voice."[53][6] He is also branded as being a "genderless singer" due to his androgynous voice and appearance,[6] which allowed him to play female roles. In a survey conducted byAnime! Anime!, 50% women and 50% men in the questionnaire ranked him as #2 as the voice actor with the most "angelic" voice.[54] Aoi himself became anInternet meme following his appearance inPop Team Epic, in which the studio responded by releasing exclusive merchandise of him.[55] In 2018, Aoi was the second most-followed voice actor onTwitter in Japan.[56]
Aoi has appeared in commercials forCyberStep Toreba 2D.[57] In 2016, Aoi appeared and sang in the commercial forLotte's Lady Borden ice cream along withYuki Kaji andKenshō Ono.[58]
In 2017,Denon produced a collaboration headphone set with Aoi, and he also starred in their commercial.[59][60] In April 2018,Sanrio released a fashion collaboration line with Aoi andLittle Twin Stars, featuring a character based on himself named "Shoutan" and Tamutamu, a character Aoi personally designed.[61][62][63] The character line ranked #5 in the 2018 Sanrio Character Ranking in the collaborations category.[64] Sanrio distributed a mini album for the Shoutan character performed by Aoi himself, titledTwinkle Star.[65]
^Ryugaki, Noboru (February 1, 2010)."☆ごあいさつ☆".Shouta Aoi Official Blog: Blue Feather (in Japanese).Archived from the original on May 23, 2021. RetrievedMarch 4, 2019.
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