Kimeru
| Kimeru | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 17, 1980 Kumamoto, Japan |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Labels | Nippon Crown, birdie house inc. - Absolute production |
| Website | http://www.kimeru.com/ |
Kimeru (most often written either in Romaji (Kimeru) or with Katakana (キメル), but has been written as きめる (Hiragana) and (決める) (Kanji), born June 17, 1980) is a Japanese pop musician, singer, and stage actor. He is most famous for his work with The Prince of Tennis. He adopted the stage name Kimeru, which means "to decide" in Japanese, before debuting. Kimeru's birth name has never been announced publicly.
Born June 17, 1980 in Kumamoto-ken in Japan, after graduating from high school, he originally became a mailman, but later decided to pursue a career as a singer.
On December 5, 2001 Kimeru released his first single, "You Got Game?" with Absolute Productions/Birdie House Inc. The song was used as the first ending song for the anime テニスの王子様 (The Prince of Tennis, commonly called "TeniPuri" or "AniPuri"), which was based on a manga by the same name created by Takeshi Konomi. He followed up this release one year later with "Make You Free", which was also used as an opening song for later episodes of TeniPuri.
In the spring of 2003, Kimeru originated the role of Shusuke Fuji, the prodigy of Seigaku Middle School's tennis club, in The Prince of Tennis musical production series (commonly called Tenimyu), and understudied the lead role of Ryoma Echizen. The rising popularity of the musical brought rising popularity to his music, and on November 27, 2003 Kimeru released his first mini-album, The Beginning. Kimeru would sing "You Got Game?" at the end of each show for three of the musicals (the first musical, Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine, and Side Fudomine), and "Make You Free" for Dream Live 1st.
The end of 2003 also brought tragedy to TeniMyu. Less than two weeks before the second musical of the series, Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine, the lead actor cast for the main role of Echizen, Kotaro Yanagi, was struck by a car and was in critical condition for some months. Because the musical's rehearsals were well underway and performance dates already set, Kimeru had to step up into the role. Takashi Nagayama (who was playing the role of Eiji Kikumaru) filled in as Fuji, and Yamazaki Ichitaro (who had left the series) came back as Kikumaru. Kimeru was struck so hard by his friend's accident that when he released his third single, "Overlap" (a theme song for the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters), he also dedicated its coupling song, "Oath in the Storm", to Yanagi. Kimeru returned to his role of Fuji when Yuya Endo was brought in as the new Echizen (Nagayama went back to Kikumaru as well, and Ichitaro permanently left). A small joke about Kimeru playing Echizen was added in Dream Live 1st.
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