Japanese is an agglutinative, synthetic, mora-timed language with simple phonotactics, a pure vowel system, phonemic vowel and consonant length, and a lexically significant pitch-accent. Word order is normally subject–object–verb with particles marking the grammatical function of words, and sentence structure is topic–comment. Its phrases are exclusively head-final and compound sentences are exclusively left-branching. Sentence-final particles are used to add emotional or emphatic impact, or make questions. Nouns have no grammatical number or gender, and there are no articles. Verbs are conjugated, primarily for tense and voice, but not person. Japanese adjectives are also conjugated. Japanese has a complex system of honorifics with verb forms and vocabulary to indicate the relative status of the speaker, the listener, and persons mentioned.
Kanon is a Japanese visual novel developed by Key, a brand of Visual Arts. It was released on June 4, 1999, for Windows as an adult game. Key later released versions of Kanon without the erotic content, and the game was ported to the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Switch. The story follows the life of Yuichi Aizawa, a high school student who returns to a city he last visited seven years prior, and he has little recollection of the events from back then. He meets several girls and slowly regains his lost memories. The gameplay in Kanon follows a branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters by the player character. The game once ranked as the second best-selling PC game sold in Japan, and charted in the national top 50 several more times afterwards. Kanon has sold over 300,000 units across several platforms.
Toshiyuki Morikawa is a Japanese voice actor, narrator and singer who is the head of Axlone, a voice acting company he founded in April 2011. His name is sometimes, although incorrectly, transliterated as Tomoyuki Morikawa. In 2003, he and Fumihiko Tachiki formed the band "2Hearts", one of their works being the ending theme of the video game Dynasty Warriors 4: Empires. He has voiced many characters in anime and video games, including Yoshikage Kira in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Kengo Akechi in Kindaichi Case Files, Sephiroth in the Final Fantasy series and Kingdom Hearts series, Dante in Devil May Cry, Kagaya Ubuyashiki in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Isshin Kurosaki in Bleach, Minato Namikaze in Naruto: Shippuden, Julius Novachrono in Black Clover, Mard Geer Tartaros in Fairy Tail, Eizen in Tales of Berseria, Boros in One Punch Man, both Eneru, Hatchan and Scopper Gaban in One Piece, Tyki Mikk in D.Gray-man, Naraku in Inuyasha, Griffith in the 1997 series of Berserk, Isaburo Sasaki in Gin Tama and the main and titular character of Tekkaman Blade. He attended Katsuta Voice Actor's Academy with Kotono Mitsuishi, Chisa Yokoyama, Wataru Takagi, Sachiko Sugawara, and Michiko Neya. Because of his deep voice, he is often cast as an imposing character. He is the current official dub-over artist of Ewan McGregor, Tom Cruise, Adam Sandler, Martin Freeman, Keanu Reeves, Jude Law, Chris O'Donnell, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Mark Wahlberg and Owen Wilson.
Keiko Toda is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator from Nagoya, Aichi. Her most famous role is the voice of the children's hero Anpanman on the long running anime Soreike! Anpanman. She was also the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine in the Japanese dub of Thomas & Friends from Season 1 to Season 8. She was once married to Shuichi Ikeda and Junichi Inoue.
Ken'ichirō Ōhashi, better known by the stage name Kenn, is a Japanese actor, voice actor and singer from Tokyo, Japan. He made his debut as a voice actor in 2004 in the Japanese anime Yu-Gi-Oh! GX as Judai Yuki, the protagonist of the series and his most known role. He also performed in the musical adaptation of the popular sports anime The Prince of Tennis as Yuta Fuji, the younger brother of Seigaku's Shusuke Fuji. He was the vocalist and keyboardist of the rock band The NaB's in 2003 until October 2006 before it was suspended, leading him to pursue a solo career in 2009. KENN played the part of Ikuto in the musical adaptation of Peach Pit's manga Shugo Chara.
The Snow Queen is an anime television series based on the 1844 children's story of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen. It is directed by Osamu Dezaki and animated by TMS Entertainment. The first episode aired on May 22, 2005, on Japan's NHK network.
Inazuman (イナズマン) is a television series starring a mutant fictional character of the same name created by Shotaro Ishinomori. The first television series ran from October 2, 1973 to March 26, 1974 with a total of 25 episodes. A second season named Inazuman Flash aired in 1974 from April 9 to September 24 with a total of 23 episodes.
Satoshi Ohno is a Japanese idol, singer, actor, radio host, artist, dancer, and choreographer. He is the lead vocalist and leader of the boy band Arashi, hence his nickname Leader.
Dragon Ball Z Hit Song Collection series is a soundtrack series from the anime Dragon Ball Z. It was produced and released by Columbia Records in Japan only, from July 21, 1989 to March 20, 1996 the show's entire lifespan. The collection features a variety of theme songs, insert songs, image songs, character songs, instrumental suites, remixes, and medleys. On September 20, 2006, Columbia re-released the Hit Song Collection on their Animex 1300 series.
Yui Sakakibara is a Japanese voice actress, choreographer, dancer and singer from Hyōgo Prefecture. She appeared on Kōhaku Uta Gassen as background dancer behind Ami Suzuki in 1999 and 2000. She used the name Mayo Hinano and others in her previous roles. She is also credited as FES from the band "Phantasm" (ファンタズム) in the Science Adventure visual novel series, which is a stage name of her character Ayase Kishimoto from Chaos;Head.
Superfly is a Japanese rock act that debuted on April 4, 2007. Formerly a duo, the act now consists solely of lyricist and vocalist Shiho Ochi with former guitarist Kōichi Tabo still credited as the group's composer and part-time lyricist. Superfly's first two studio albums were certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan, and their first four consecutive albums all debuted at the top of the Oricon Weekly Album Charts, a first for a female recording artist in Japan in over seven years.
Maaya Uchida is a Japanese voice actress and singer who works for I'm Enterprise. She won the Best Rookie Actress Award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. She is best known for her roles such as Rikka Takanashi in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions, Irina Shido in High School DxD, Hiyori Iki in Noragami, and Catarina Claes in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!.
Sachika Misawa is a freelance Japanese voice actress and singer from Yamanashi Prefecture. As a voice actress, she was previously affiliated with numerous agencies, with the recent being Stardust Promotion, departing from the agency in March 2023. As a singer, she is signed to Universal Music Japan. Some of her main roles include Kuroyukihime in Accel World, Sakura Bakushin O in Uma Musume, Minami Azuma in Tokyo ESP, Rin in the music video for Shelter, Yukari Kohinata in Locodol, Sakura "Cosmos" Akino in Oresuki, and Moca Aoba in BanG Dream!.
BanG Dream!, also known as Bandori! (バンドリ！), is a Japanese music media franchise owned by Bushiroad. Created by Bushiroad president Takaaki Kidani in January 2015 with original story by Kō Nakamura, the project began as a manga before expanding to other media. In addition to other manga, BanG Dream! includes an anime television series, live concerts, singles and albums, vtubers, and the mobile rhythm game BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! by Craft Egg.
Ultraman Taiga is a Japanese tokusatsu drama produced by Tsuburaya Productions. It is the 31st entry to the Ultra Series, the first series released in the Reiwa period and the seventh entry to the New Generation Hero lineup. It began airing on TV Tokyo on July 6, 2019.
Fairouz Ai is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with Raccoon Dog. She played her first major role as Hibiki Sakura for the anime series How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?. She also played Manatsu Natsuumi/Cure Summer in Tropical-Rouge! Precure, Emily Orange in Kandagawa Jet Girls, Eripiyo in If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Jolyne Cujoh in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, Delta in The Eminence in Shadow, and Power in Chainsaw Man.
Asuka Kijima is a fashion model, entertainer, YouTuber, and ABEMA announcer. She is from Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She is signed to TRAPEZISTE.
