BEAT CRUSADERS

Hitomi Takahashi (April 8, 1989) is a Japanese pop rock singer, mostly known for lending her voice to several animé soundtracks. Hailing from Shiogama in the Miyagi Prefecture, Takahashi grew up in a music-loving household, listening to The Beatles and Eric Clapton but it wasn’t until 2003 that she found her true vocation while singing at a karaoke event with her friends. Shortly after, she won a Sony Music SD audition, beating nearly 20,000 other contestants. In 2004, she was chosen to sing on the theme song for the animated series Gundam Seed Destiny, which spawned Takahashi’s debut single “Bokutachi no Yukue,” reaching the top of the Oricon charts. A second single entitled “Evergreen” saw the light in 2005 and debuted at Number 22 in Japan thanks to its inclusion in the drama New Kids War. “Aozora no Namida” met a similar fate, peaking at Number 8 in the Japanese charts after being featured on the animé Blood+. A year later, she won New Artist of the Year at the 20th Japanese Gold Disc Awards and dropped her debut full-length, Sympathy, which hit Number 10 on the Oricon charts after selling over 30,000 copies. Preceded by the singles “Communication,” “Ko·mo·re·bi,” “Candy Line,” and “Jet Boy Jet Girl,” Takahashi’s sophomore effort Bamboo Collage (2007) adopted a more punk-pop approach that ultimately failed to resonate with her fans, reaching a tepid Number 63 on the Japanese Albums Chart. Following her graduation from high school in 2008, Takahashi relocated to Tokyo and delivered the singles “Atashi no Machi, Ashita no Machi,” which was used as the opening song for the animé Toshokan Sensō, and “Wo Ai Ni,” a collaborative track with Beat Crusaders that could be heard on the animé Gin Tama. Her third and final album, Picorinpin (2011) turned out to be a massive commercial failure, resulting in her getting dropped by Sony Music after failing to reach the Top 200 of the Oricon charts.