There are anison singers, and there are singers whose songs just happen to end up in a lot of anime. Where will you put Mai Kuraki（倉木麻衣）then? A glance through her discography and you will be forgiven to think that she belongs to the first category -- to date she has 29 (as many as I can count) anime theme songs, of which 27 have appeared in the famous Case Closed aka Meitantei Conan (名探偵コナン) and its various spin-offs. She held the Guinness World Records for the artist with the most songs featured in a single animated franchise from July 25th, 2017 to May 19th, 2023 when she was dethroned by the duo angela, who have 34 songs in Soukyuu no Fafner (a personal favorite of mine that I will recommend to anyone who likes mecha anime). But given that Fafner has reached its ending and Case Closed is still going strong, expect Mai Kuraki to break the record once more.
Anyway, back to the original topic, do you consider Mai Kuraki an anison singer? I personally do not, given how extensive Kuraki’s catalog is and how many non-anime hits she has. It is the same case as with B’z, another regular presence on Case Closed. I imagine these artists have a very strong relationship with the producers of the series, if not being fans of it themselves, thus why their songs are featured so regularly. Hell, Kuraki is a character in Case Closed, her counterpart also a popular singer who sometimes makes cameos in the bizarre cases of Conan Edogawa.
That is not to say some of Kuraki’s most successful hits are not tied to Case Closed like the subject of this topic, 2017’s Togetsukyō ~Kimi Omou~ (渡月橋 〜君 想ふ〜 Togetsu Bridge ~Thinking About You~). The song was used as the 55th ending theme of Case Closed as well as the closing song for its 21st movie The Crimson Love Letter. Given how the movie takes place in Kyoto, it is only given that Togetsukyō centered around the titular Togetsu bridge. I have never been to Kyoto, but from the images alone it certainly looks stunning in fall, with white bridge on a backdrop of red from the maple trees. The song ties that scenery to the classic story of a woman far away from her lover letting her emotion pour over the Katsura river, in hope that the water will carry it to him.
Togetsukyō has been Mai Kuraki’s best-selling single since 2004, peaking at 2nd on the Japan Hot 100 Chart and 5th on the Oricon Chart. And it is not hard to see why. There is bound to be someone who heard of this song and immediately thought “I should make time for Kyoto.” It is a classic song in theme and styling, much like a classic landscape painting harmonizes the tones of different subjects. It draws up a beautiful vision of the Togetsu Bridge and imbues it with a fantasy that anyone would have had put themselves in at least once.
She was on Music Fair the other day(along with other artists like Perfume, Sexy Zone and Liella!) and she looked and sounded great. She performed "Secret of my heart / Togetsukyou ~Kimi Omofu~."
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