Wakana Ootaki, known mononymously as Wakana, is a Japanese pop singer. Born in Fukuoka, Japan on December 10, 1984, Wakana discovered her passion for singing at a young age. In 2005, she joined the FictionJunction project, collaborating with composer Yuki Kajiura on various anime soundtracks, including Fist of the North Star True Saviour Legend and Pandora Hearts. The following year, Wakana and her FictionJunction colleague Keiko formed girl group Kalafina, known for their theme songs in The Garden of Sinners film series as well as debut single, "Oblivious," which reached number 8 on the Oricon charts, gaining them a considerable following. Throughout the years, Kalafina released numerous anime theme songs and original material, achieving chart success with five studio albums and two compilation albums on Oricon's Top 10. Following the group’s disbandment, Wakana embarked on her solo career, debuting with the single "Toki o Koeru Yoru Ni," in February 2019. She followed this with her debut self-titled album in March which peaked at number 19 and EP Aki no Sakura in November, returning only a few months later with sophomore album magic moment in February 2020 which landed at number 22. In October that same year she delighted fans with a cover album of beloved anime songs, titled Wakana Covers ~Anime Classics~ with her talent recognized at the Weibo Account Festival in Tokyo 2020, where she received the prestigious Classic Anison Singer award. In May 2022, Wakana announced an exciting collaboration with the mobile game Memento Mori, with her song "Flag" serving as a character song for Florence, voiced by Ayaka Suwa, adding a new dimension to her diverse musical portfolio. On May 31, 2023, Wakana released Sonosaki, to the delight of her fans, which charted in the Top 100 Albums Chart in Japan, coming in at number 31.
