Yui Makino
Musical history. Makino took up piano at the age of four. The film director Shunji Iwai discovered her talent for playing the piano when she was seven years old and from the age of 8 to 17. She played piano solos for three of his films: "Love Letter", "All About Lily Chou-Chou" and "Hana and Alice". She graduated from Tokyo College of Music as a piano major with the top score in her senior year. She made her debut as a singer in 2005 with "Omna Magni," produced by Yoko Kanno. It was used as the ending  theme song for the anime "Sousei no Aquarion". In the April of the same year, she also debuted as a voice actress, starring as heroine in "Tsubasa Chronicle" and recording several songs for its soundtrack. She released "Amrita", the ending song for the Tsubasa Chronicle film, as well as "Undine", the opening theme for the TV Tokyo anime "Aria the Animation", coupled with its inserted song "Symphony". It achieved No. 25 on the Oricon chart. In 2006, Makino released two songs from another TV Tokyo anime, "Aria the Natural", the theme song "Euphoria" and an insert song, "Amefuribana." They were  released on one product and achieved No. 18 on the Oricon chart. In addition, she released her debut album, "Tenkyū no Ongaku" on 6 December 2006. In 2007, she was invited to represent Japan at the Japan-China cultural exchange event. She also released two singles for the programmes "Sketchbook ~full color's~" and "". On 23 January 2008, Makino released her seventh single, "Spirale," as the opening theme of "Aria the Origination". Coupled with the anime's insert song, "Yokogao," the single reached No. 20 on the Oricon chart. She also performed her first solo concert at the Fuchuno Mori Geijutsu  Gekijo Wien Hall in Tokyo, where she sang and played the piano accompaniment for each song. She released her eponymous second album, "Makino Yui" in March 2008. It reached No. 22 on the Oricon chart. She graduated from Tokyo College of Music as a piano major in the same month. She held her Holography concert at SHIBUYA-AX in 2011. In March 2013, Makino was hired to sing and be the "Hungry Zombie Francesca" voice in a national campaign to promote the Hokkaido region throughout Japan. Awards. She was nominated for "best young voice actress" for her outstanding portrayal of  Misaki Nakahara from "Welcome to the N.H.K".