Happy New Year! あけましておめでとう＾＾ I hope you’ve rested well over the holidays because let’s make 2016 better and what better way to start it than to share and explore different music groups! Probably you might switch after reading this too (◕‿◕)!

Heard of the songs “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari (君の知らない物語)”, “Perfect Day”, “My Dearest” or perhaps the more recent “Ghost of a Smile” and “Nirvana (ニルバナ)”? If you had previously watched the anime “Bakemonogatari (化物語)”, “Guilty Crown (ギルティクラウン)” or “Noragami (ノラガミ)”, you may have previously listened to their songs.

supercell is a personal favourite music group of mine. I got interested after listening to “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari” for a start. Why, you may ask? Because of its melody, nope. Was it because of the singer Nagi Yanagi (やなぎなぎ)? Not really although her voice was and is still extremely beautiful to listen to. What really struck me was the lyrics of the song, which was about unrequited love. How they played on the constellations Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively) to mirror the person’s relationship was something that everyone could relate to. Such meaningful music that you can associate with doesn’t come by that often, which supercell managed to do with every release. Interestingly, all of supercell’s songs have been written by ryo, the only songwriter in the group ever since their inception.

Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, Credits: zerochan.net

Each album has a strong underlying meaning and could express anything from life, death, revival, love, separation, happiness, anguish, regret among many others. Emotions are usually portrayed indirectly but can be easily appreciated after listening to their songs and having an understanding of the lyrics (or translations). Another point I love about supercell is that each song is unique, not just in melody but the same feeling can be painted differently. Take for example “My Dearest” and “Ghost of a Smile”. Both songs are about love, but “My Dearest” is about that special person being with you every step of the journey although you may never notice him/her. “Ghost of a Smile” is instead about separation and being able to move on although there still exists feelings for each other, be it either one-way or otherwise.

EGOIST, Credits: egoist-inori.jp

My Dearest, Credits: tophdwallpapers.club

With all that, how did supercell managed to get recognised in the first place? It all started in 2007 when ryo (songwriter) uploaded the song “Melt (メルト)” to Nico Nico Douga (NND) with an illustration of Miku by the artist 119 (pronounced Hikeshi) without his permission. After contacting 119 with an apology, 119 expressed interest and the both of them formed supercell. In the meantime, Nagi (under the name of Gazelle on NND) uploaded her cover of “Melt” onto NND the next day. Soon afterwards, she contacted ryo to discuss a future collaboration. What was interesting about this was that they were fans of each other.

2 years later when ryo was requested to provide the ending song for “Bakemonogatari”, he approached Nagi to provide the vocals for supercell’s debut single “Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari”. From then on, Nagi became supercell’s vocalist for the next 2 years till 2011. After which, auditions were then held for their third album “Zigaexperientia”, of which vocalist Koeda was selected out of 2000 candidates. The other vocalist selected was Chelly, to be part of the pop music duo EGOIST, consisting of herself and ryo. Originally formed to produce theme music for “Guilty Crown”, they have since continued to produce music after the end of the series.

Cutting the details short, 119 has since left and supercell is now an 11-member group with the other 10 members focusing on illustrations and music videos. Some of the more noticeable illustrators are huke (Illustrator for Black★ Rock Shooter (ブラック★ロックシューター)) and redjuice (Illustrator for Guilty Crown and Project Itoh (伊藤計劃)) to name a few. supercell continues to produce albums for prominent titles, such as “Great Distance” for the game Bravely Second: End Layer and more recently “Reloaded (リローデッド)” for Project Itoh.

Editor’s note : That’s really a lot

If you would like to get to know about supercell/EGOIST, reach out to me! ＼(＾▽＾)／
-Brandon (Also admin for supercell FC/Facebook)

Copyright © supercell, INCS toenter Co.,ltd. & Sony Music Records Inc.

*(For those familiar with romaji, I use Kunrei-shiki instead of the more common Hebon-shiki (Hepburn), but the variations are minor.)

Post by Brandon Goh
Edited by Kai Yeat

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