ReoNa

Reona (stylized as ReoNa) is a Japanese singer and cosplayer, born on October 20, 1998, in Kagoshima. Her interest in music and cosplay began during her elementary school years, encouraged by a classmate and further fueled by her fascination with the Vocaloid movement, particularly Hatsune Miku. Active as a cosplayer since junior high, Reona attended events like Comiket 91 in 2016 under the names Reopeko and ReoNa*. She began posting song covers on her video-streaming channel, most of them being versions of various anime theme songs. In 2017, Reona's singing career took a big turn when she became a finalist in an audition held by Sacra Music. The following year marked her major debut as the singing voice of the character Elza Kanzaki in the anime series Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online. She released "Pilgrim" in 2018, which made it to the top of Japan's anime streaming charts and digital music rankings. This was followed by digital singles "Step, Step" and "Independence." Reona's first EP Elza (2018) peaked at number 8 on Oricon's weekly charts. The single "Sweet Hurt" was released in 2018, and was the ending theme for the anime series Happy Sugar Life. In 2019, she released the single "forget-me-not." Over the next few years, she continued releasing singles both under her own name as well as as Elza Kanzaki. She released her first full-length album Unknown in 2020, which peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart. This was followed by the album HUMAN in 2023 and the single "Gajumaru Heaven in the Rain" in early 2024.