Chiaki Takahashi -- Tonari ni...（隣に…）

I hear this one from time to time during my friend's anison hour, and later found out that it was part of the "Idolm@ster" collection. Specifically, this is seiyuu/singer Chiaki Takahashi（たかはし智秋）with her 2009 "Tonari ni..." (Next To You...) as her character Azusa Miura（三浦あずさ）.

A mighty epic ballad, I had first imagined that this was some showstopper song from an elaborate musical. I mean, the first time I listened to "Tonari ni...", the inspirational music had me thinking "YES!! I WILL LOSE 20 KG BY THE END OF THIS YEAR!!". But instead of Broadway, this was a song by a character from a popular game of over a decade ago.

I never lost those 20 kilos, by the way (cough, cough). "Tonari ni..." was written by Yuriko Kaita（貝田由里子）and composed by NBGI, and the song can be found in the album "THE IDOLM@STER MASTER ARTIST 07 ~ Miura Azusa".

Apparently, there was even a jazz version by Takahashi on "THE IDOLM@STER Vol.1 Vocal CD「PERFECT IDOL 01」" although I'm not sure when that disc came out.