Shiena Nishizawa

Shiena Nishizawa (西沢 幸奏, Nishizawa Shiena, born February 23, 1997), also known by her stage name Exina (stylized as EXiNA), is a Japanese pop rock singer from Saitama, signed to Sacra Music under Sony Music Entertainment. She won the Grand Prix in the first FlyingDog Audition in 2014. She released her debut single "Fubuki" in 2015, and her first album Break Your Fate in 2017.

Shiena Nishizawa
西沢 幸奏
Nishizawa at Otakuthon 2018
Background information
Birth nameShiena Nishizawa (西澤 幸奏, Nishizawa Shiena)
Born (1997-02-23) February 23, 1997
Saitama, Japan
GenresPop rock
Occupation(s)Singer, lyricist
Years active2015–present
Labels
Websiteexina.jp

Nishizawa's music was influenced by her father, as well as artists such as Dave Grohl. Her songs have been featured in anime series such as Kantai Collection and The Asterisk War. She has also appeared at anime events in Europe and Asia. In April 2017, she opened her official fanclub Face to Face. In July 2019, she began to use her new stage name Exina, and she moved to Sacra Music under Sony Music Entertaiment.

Early life and education

Nishizawa was born in Saitama Prefecture on February 23, 1997.[1][2] Although she had some interest in music since she was a child, in junior high school, she became interested in pursuing a music career after receiving a guitar her father had used.[1] In 2014 while still in high school, she won the Grand Prix in the first FlyingDog Audition, beating 3,000 other candidates.[3][4]

Career

She released her debut single "Fubuki" (吹雪, Snow Storm) on February 18, 2015; the song is used as the closing theme to the 2015 anime series Kantai Collection aka KanColle.[5] She then appeared at Animelo Summer Live in August 2015.[6] Her second single "Brand-new World / Piacere" (ピアチェーレ) was released on November 11, 2015; "Brand-new World" is used as the first opening theme to the 2015 anime series The Asterisk War, while "Piacere" is used as the closing theme for the original video animation (OVA) Aria the Avvenire.[7] Nishizawa made her first overseas appearance in Düsseldorf, Germany, at the DoKomi anime convention in April 2016.[8] Her third single "The Asterisk War" was released on May 25, 2016; the song is used as the second opening theme to The Asterisk War.[9] Nishizawa's fourth single "Kikan" (帰還, Return) was released on November 23, 2016; the song is used as the theme song to KanColle: The Movie.[10]

Nishizawa's debut album Break Your Fate was released on March 15, 2017.[11] Her official fanclub, named Face to Face, opened in April 2017.[12] She appeared at Anime Festival Asia Indonesia in August 2017,[13] Cosplay Mania in the Philippines in October 2017,[14] Anime Festival Asia Singapore in November 2017,[15] and C3 AFA Hong Kong on February 11, 2018.[16] Her fifth single "Love Men Holic" was released on February 21, 2018; the song is used as the closing theme to the 2018 anime series Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles.[17][18] Nishizawa's digital single "Meteor / New Generation" was released on June 27, 2018; both songs are used as insert songs in the 2018 anime series Last Hope.[19][20] In June 2018, after returning to Singapore in June 2018 for the Natsu Rock concert event,[21] Nishizawa made an appearance at Penang Anime Matsuri in Malaysia in July 2018,[22] and at Otakuthon in Montreal, Canada in August 2018.[23] She returned to AFA Singapore in December 2018.[24]

On July 9, 2019, she began to use her new stage name Exina, and she moved to the Sacra Music record label under Sony Music Entertainment Japan.[25] Her first mini album under her new stage name, XiX, was released on August 21, 2019.[26]

Musical style and influences

Nishizawa's music style focuses on rock, and she lists artists such as Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters as her musical inspirations.[27][28] Her love of music was also influenced by her father, who owned a guitar and was the first to teach her how to play music.[27]

In interviews with Anican and Animate Times, Nishizawa related the production of "Fubuki", her first single. The single began as a demo recorded shortly after she won her audition. The demo had no title and different lyrics, and at the time of her audition, it had yet to be decided that she was to sing the song for Kantai Collection. She mentioned that she was not familiar with the series before making the single, and that she felt pressured about debuting in a franchise that was very popular. After the release of the single, she was "filled with emotions" and was determined to start writing her own songs, as "Fubuki" was not written by her.[4][29]

The production of Nishizawa's second single "Brand New World" was discussed in an interview with Newtype. She relates how she wanted to challenge herself by writing the lyrics to the title track. She used as influences the relationship of the characters Ayato and Julis from The Asterisk War, particularly their "feelings of emotion". She used lyrics such as "bloom powerfully" to convey a message of "pushing through even when feeling the sense of pain". For the single's B-side "Piacere", she wanted the song to relate to Aria the Avvenire depicting a generational change, and to express the feelings of kindness, pleasure, and sadness.[30]

In an interview with Akiba Souken, Nishizawa described the production of her first album Break Your Fate. The album revolved around the theme of "fate", particularly on the feeling of "fighting one's self". She described the feeling of fate being created by the mind as weakness, that a person would then need to fight. For the album's second track "Shark", she wanted to express the impression of sharks as "scary and dangerous" creatures that need to swim to breath. The song features a long English phrase as she wanted to "do expressions that she had never done before". The song "Gemini" is meant to represent a fantasy world, while the song "Feel This Moment" was meant to serve as her anthem for her live performances.[31]

Nishizawa related to Animate Times and Akiba Souken the production of her fifth single "Love Men Holic". Since the song was to be used as the ending theme to the anime series Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, she wanted to write a love song that would use ramen-related words as puns in the lyrics. An example is the song's title, with "Love Men" being a take on the word "ramen", while she also used the lyrics "show you" as a pun on shōyu (醤油), the Japanese word for soy sauce. One influence in the song is the personality of the series' main character Koizumi, who Nishizawa describes as not "putting emotions on the table", thus inspiring the use of salt-related terms in the lyrics.[32][33]

Discography

As Shiena Nishizawa

Studio albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak positions
JPN
[34]
Break Your Fate
  • Released: March 15, 2017 (JPN)
  • Label: Victor Entertainment
  • Formats: CD, CD+DVD
 16

Singles
List of singles, with selected chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
JPN Oricon
[34]		 JPN Hot 100
"Fubuki"[Jp 1] 2015 6 3[35] Break Your Fate
"Brand-new World" 24 36[36]
"Piacere"[Jp 2]
"The Asterisk War" 2016 30 24[37]
"Kikan"[Jp 3] 29 50[38]
"Love Men Holic" 2018 48 96[39]
"Meteor" —
"New Generation"
"—" denotes releases that were ineligible to chart.

Music videos
List of music videos
Title Year Director(s)
"Fubuki" 2015 Hidenobu Tanabe[40]
"Brand-new World" Kouji Fujita[41]
"The Asterisk War" 2016 [42]
"Kikan" [43]
"Break your fate" 2017 [44]
"Love Men Holic" 2018 [45]

As Exina

Mini albums
List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title Album details Peak positions
JPN
[34]
XiX
  • Released: August 21, 2019 (JPN)
  • Label: Sacra Music
  • Formats: CD, CD+DVD
 137

Notes
  1. (吹雪)
  2. Piachēre (ピアチェーレ)
  3. (帰還)
gollark: Isn't "turing-complete + a halting problem solving thing" super-turing?
gollark: (it needed a restart for kernel updates so I could connect it to yggdrasil)
gollark: I accidentally broke it by restarting my server.
gollark: ++Delete wall demon
gollark: ... oops.

References
  1. "西沢　幸奏 | プロフィール" [Shiena Nishizawa | Profile] (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  2. Hideyuki (interview), Mori; Tsukahara (photograph), Takaaki. "西沢幸奏「LOVE MEN HOLIC」インタビュー｜"LOVE×麺"新感覚のラブソング、誕生 (1/3)" ["Love × Men", a Love Song with Modern Sentiment: An Interview with Shiena Nishizawa on ”Love Men”’’ (part 1 of 3)] (in Japanese). Natalie. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  3. "第1回フライングドッグ・オーディション、グランプリ発表！受賞者は17歳の高校3年生・西澤幸奏さんに決定!" [1st Flying Dog Audition Grand Prix Announced! The winner is Ms. Shiena Nishizawa, a 17-year-old 12th grader !] (in Japanese). M-ON! Entertainment. September 30, 2015. Archived from the original on December 28, 2016. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  4. "西沢幸奏 デビューシングル「吹雪」ロングインタビュー 後篇" [Shiena Nishizawa debut single "Fubuki" long interview (First Part)]. Anican (in Japanese). MG2 company. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  5. "西沢幸奏「艦これ」エンディング曲PVを公開" [Shiena Nishizawa Released MV for "Kan Colle" Ending Theme] (in Japanese). Natalie. January 15, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  6. "TVオンエア情報" [TV On-Air information] (in Japanese). Mages. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  7. "Brand-new World/ピアチェーレ" [Brand-new World / Piacere] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  8. "Shiena Nishizawa – Die Anime- und Japan-Expo in Düsseldorf" (in German). DoKomi. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  9. "The Asterisk War" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
  10. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (August 18, 2016). "KanColle Anime Film's Trailer Reveals Cast, Staff, Theme Song Artist". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 18, 2016.
  11. "Break Your Fate" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  12. "西沢幸奏 オフィシャルモバイルFC 「Face to Face」グランドオープン!" [Shiena NIshizawa Official Mobile Fan Club "Face to Face" Grand Open!] (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. April 17, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  13. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (May 22, 2017). "C3 AFA Indonesia Announces Musical Guests". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  14. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (June 19, 2017). "Philippines' Cosplay Mania Hosts Shiena Nishizawa as Musical Guest". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  15. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (September 25, 2017). "C3 AFA Singapore Adds Tomohisa Sakō, Konomi Suzuki, TRUE, Mashiro Ayano, Moso Calibration as Musical Guests". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  16. Pineda, Rafael Antonio (December 18, 2017). "C3 AFA Hong Kong Announces 1st Wave of Guests". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 20, 2017.
  17. "Love Men Holic" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  18. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (December 4, 2017). "Shiena Nishizawa Performs Ms. Koizumi loves ramen noodles Anime's Ending Theme". Anime News Network. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  19. "Jūshinki Pandora Anime's 2nd Video Reveals Insert Song, More Cast, March 29 Netflix Premiere". Anime News Network. February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  20. "西沢　幸奏 | Meteor/New Generation" [Shiena Nishizawa | Meteor/New Generation] (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  21. "ライブ情報、続々到着!" [Live Information, one after another arrives!] (in Japanese). Victor Entertainment. May 16, 2018. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  22. "I Love Anisong | Penang Anime Matsuri". Sozo. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  23. "Montreal's Otakuthon to Host Former Ghibli Production Coordinator Hirokatsu Kihara". Anime News Network. May 3, 2018. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
  24. "C3AFA Singapore 2018 出演決定！" [C3AFA Singapore 2018 appearance has been decided!]. Shiena Nishizawa official website (in Japanese). September 15, 2018. Retrieved November 5, 2018.
  25. "西沢幸奏、ソロプロジェクト「EXiNA」を立ち上げ、SACRA MUSICよりミニアルバム『XiX』リリース決定！8月25日にはお披露目ライブ開催決定！" (in Japanese). M-ON! Entertainment. July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  26. "8月21日（水）ミニアルバム「XiX」リリース決定！" (in Japanese). Sony Music Entertainment. July 9, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
  27. "[WOW Japan x C3 AFA Jakarta] An Exclusive Q&A with Shiena Nishizawa". Sozo. July 20, 2018.
  28. Nagasawa, Tomonori. "Shiena Nishizawa Shares Her Feelings About Performing Overseas". Manga Tokyo. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  29. "『劇場版 艦これ』主題歌に込めた想い――シンガー 西沢幸奏さんが思い描く夢とは" ["KanColle: The Movie": The thoughts included in the theme song, singer Shiena Nishizawa's dreams imagined]. Animate. November 11, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  30. "西沢幸奏、「アスタリスク」OPの制作秘話を語る" [Shiena Nishizawa talks about the secret story of the "Asterisk" OP production]. WebNewtype (in Japanese). Kadokawa Corporation. November 17, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  31. "運命と戦え！　西沢幸奏、待望の1stアルバム「Break Your Fate」は、力強いロックアルバムに" [Shiena Nishizawa's long-awaited first album "Break Your Fate", to a powerful rock album]. Akiba Souken (in Japanese). Kakaku.com. March 14, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  32. "西沢幸奏 5thシングル「LOVE MEN HOLIC」インタビュー／あなたはラーメン中毒？恋愛中毒？" [Shiena Nishizawa 5th single "Love Men Holic" Interview: Are You Addicted to Ramen? Love Addiction?] (in Japanese). Animate. February 23, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  33. "西沢幸奏×ラーメン!? 「LOVE MEN HOLIC」の歌詞に隠された女の子の心情とは？" [Shiena Nishizawa × Ramen!? The feelings of a girl hidden in the lyrics?]. Akiba Souken (in Japanese). Kakaku.com. February 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  34. "西沢幸奏の作品" [Shiena Nishizawa's works] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  35. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). March 2, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  36. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). November 23, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  37. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). June 6, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2016.
  38. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
  39. "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). February 28, 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2018.
  40. "吹雪" (in Japanese). Space Shower Networks. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  41. "Brand-new World" (in Japanese). Space Shower Networks. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
  42. "西沢幸奏／The Asterisk War Music Video（2chorus）_TVアニメ「学戦都市アスタリスク」新OPテーマ" (in Japanese). April 1, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2018 – via YouTube.
  43. "西沢幸奏／帰還　Music Video（2chorus）_ 『劇場版 艦これ』主題歌" (in Japanese). November 4, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2018 – via YouTube.
  44. "「Break your fate」西沢幸奏 Music Video（2chorus.ver）" (in Japanese). February 16, 2017. Retrieved September 14, 2018 – via YouTube.
  45. "西沢 幸奏 『LOVE MEN HOLIC（ TVアニメ「ラーメン大好き小泉さん」EDテーマ）』Music Video 2chorus.ver" (in Japanese). January 12, 2018. Retrieved September 14, 2018 – via YouTube.
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