First solo and birthday event, supported by "that" dog-shaped voice actress! Report on "Akane Kumada's Debut Commemoration & 20th Birthday Event - Sunny Sunny Birthday Party

Rookie voice actress Akane Kumada held the "Akane Kumada Debut Commemoration & 20th Birthday Event - Sunny Sunny Birthday Party" on February 2, 2020, for her artist debut just before her 20th birthday.

Akane Kumada won the Grand Prix at the age of only 17 in the next generation voice actor artist audition "ANISONG STARS" in 2017, where top runners in the industry, including Noriyasu Uematsu, Hironobu Kageyama, Aki Hata, and Kenichi Suzumura, served as judges. She then played the role of Eren in the TV anime "Tensei Takera Kara Slyme Datta Koto" and Izumi Shibusawa in the TV anime "Rifle is Beautiful", steadily building her career. She made her debut as a solo artist with the single "Sunny Sunny Girl◎" released on January 29, 2020.

⇒Aki Hata is a mother! We interviewed Akane Kumada, a new voice actress who made her debut as an artist with "Sunny Sunny Girl◎," the opening theme song for the TV anime "Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga!

As Ms. Kumada will celebrate her 20th birthday on February 3, she held her first solo event and birthday event "Akane Kumada Akane Debut Commemoration & 20th Birthday Event - Sunny Sunny Birthday Party" on the last night of her teenage years at LOFT9 The event was held at LOFT9 Shibuya, Tokyo. It was a luxurious event where the audience could fully enjoy Ms. Kumada's charms through her songs and talks.

Ms. Kumada's personality shines through in her talk program!

As Ms. Kumada herself said in a previous interview, she and the staff thought about how to make this event enjoyable for everyone. At the venue, hamburgers produced by Ms. Kumada herself (her favorite food) were on sale, and her hospitality was clearly evident.

The event opened with a live performance of her debut song "Sunny Sunny Girl◎. Ms. Kumada, dressed in an outfit decorated with yellow, her personal color, sang enthusiastically while dancing to the energetic choreography she also performed in the music video. She was in a rather tense mood until her first greeting, but she seemed to have relaxed a little by the time the next talk corner, which delved into her personal side and charms, came on. I wondered if a moderator would appear here (......), but it turned out that Ms. Kumada herself would be the moderator, and the stage unfolded as she told her own story. It was really a very first time for me to see her trying her best to chat with a script in her hand.

First, the program started with "Akane Kumada 20th History," which recounted Kumada's history from the age of 0 to the present. She was a baby who laughed a lot. In her childhood, she wanted her father's glasses so badly that she destroyed several of them. She sometimes quizzed the audience about her interesting episodes, such as her unusual adolescent behavior, "I started to rebel after I declared it to my parents in advance. ...... The audience was filled with laughter. Ms. Kumada has been really cute since she was a little girl! The audience cheered with "Cute! The audience cheered with "Cute!

Next was a corner to answer the questionnaires collected from the audience before the show began.

Ms. Kumada herself asked the following questions: "What do you want Akane, now that she is turning 20, to challenge herself with? Tell me the character you would like to see her play! In response to the question, "What is your favorite part of Akane?", she responded, "She is pure and serious, but sometimes playful. His reaction was truly hilarious.

When asked to "Do something crazy! he improvised a voice imitation of Inuyu Horiuchi, who plays Nobunaga Oda in "Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga," showing his ability to handle variety and improvisation.

In the "What's in the box?" segment, Kumada showed his frightened expression and surprisingly courageous appearance. The contents of the box, by the way, was a small box. Inside it was a suspicious-looking button ....... When he pressed it, the screen showed Tomokazu Sugita, aka Naoshi Sugita, who played the role of Julian Uesugi Kenshin in "Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga," or rather, Naoshi Sugita in a dog costume. This surprised not only the audience but also Mr. Kumada!

Kumada, of course, was surprised! After being moved by his life lesson, the entire audience sang a chorus of birthday songs and a birthday cake appeared on the stage.

Kumada-san looked thrilled by the surprise celebration. When the candles were extinguished, the audience burst into applause and cheers.

Mr. Kumada performed a song from his memory! Live performance filled with emotion and smiles!

The second half of the event was the live performance part.

Once Ms. Kumada left the stage, a video of her talking about the episode before she participated in the audition "ANISONG STARS," which led to her debut, was shown on the screen.

Just before her audition, her beloved pet rabbit passed away. Although he felt great sadness, he could not do anything once he was dead. He went into the audition thinking that he would never feel sadder than he did now. The song she sang at the audition was Minori Chihara's "Beyond the Boundary".

Ms. Kumada appeared on stage after this video and sang "Beyond the Boundary. Ms. Kumada sang once again the song that changed her destiny. At first, her facial expression gave me the impression that she was as nervous and deeply moved as she was at the beginning of the event. But when she began to sing, what a magnificent performance she gave!

Her liberating and flowing voice in the chorus was a real surprise to me.

The next song they performed was "YOUR FREE STAR," a song from their debut single. The phrase "yay yay yay" made the audience sing along with Mr. Kumada, holding up peace signs. The audience continued with "Sobakasu" by JUDY AND MARY and "Kira Kira Happy☆ Hirake," a song from the anime "Kira Kira Happy☆ Hirake! The audience seemed to feel closer to the stage as the band performed songs that fully conveyed their energy, which is one of their main attractions.

The live was already in its final stages. Here, Ms. Kumada sang "First Step, Fun Step!", a slow number from her debut single. She had tried many auditions but failed to get any results, and she was depressed every day. After overcoming such a period, she talked about how happy she was to be able to enjoy the event with her fans and sang a song about her 19 years of life, which was met with warm applause from the audience.

Kumada was unintentionally moved by this, but she regained her composure and performed her debut song "Sunny Sunny Girl◎" one last time. Shaking off the sentimental mood she had been in earlier, Kumada sang with great gusto, which was truly charming.

As Ms. Kumada said at the end of the performance, the song "Sunny Sunny Girl◎," sung after the song "First Step, Fun Step! Through live performances, new drama is created in the songs. Akane Kumada, who created such a wonderful moment at her debut event, may have been destined to become a voice actress artist after all.

The event ended with a farewell to each and every one of the audience members. The 90-minute event was a "First Step, Fun Step!" for fans, who were able to enjoy Kumada's charm to the fullest through songs, talks, and surprises.

Akane Kumada is sure to make even greater strides in 2020, so keep an eye out for her!