A Deep Dive into the Nationally Beloved Anisong Singer Hironobu Kageyama! Exploring the Reasons Behind His Current Status

On May 23rd (Friday), from 9:00 to 10:00 PM, episode #47 of “SHIBUYA ANIME BASE” (#ShibuAni, pronounced: ShibuAni) was broadcast live on ABEMA.

This time, Sunshine Ikezaki appeared as a guest, and an interview with Hironobu Kageyama was aired. In addition, the first-ever media broadcast of live footage from the joint concert “Wakaremichi no, Sono Saki e” by MyGO!!!!!×Ave Mujica was shown.

First, Hironobu Kageyama appeared in the "Industry Deep Dive Connection" segment, which explores the jobs and personalities of people working in the anime-related industry, where his journey to becoming a nationally renowned anisong singer was closely examined.

Kageyama debuted as a singer at the age of 16 in 1977 and continues to perform on stage even now. In this episode of “ShibuAni,” the program visited his private studio, which serves as the base for his singing career, where treasures such as Akira Toriyama's autograph and a display of numerous guitars were featured.

This segment introduced in a chronological timeline the path Kageyama took to reach his current activities. Kageyama debuted in 1977 at age 16 as Michel, the vocalist for LAZY. Reflecting on that time, he said, "The lyrics for our debut song were written by Yukinojo Mori, who had just debuted as a songwriter around then. Amazing, right? For our second single, the record company put in a lot of effort: music by Shunichi Tokura, lyrics by Yumi Matsutoya. In terms of songwriting, there couldn’t have been a more high-profile combination, but it didn’t sell very well (laughs)."