BASIC FACTS

birthday: July 16th, 1979
native place: Saitama Prefecture
bloodtype: B
height: 169 cm
shoe size: 23.5
hobby: tennis (at highschool), games, cooking, outdoor activities
favorite musician: Sawada Kenji
favorite place to be: a quiet place with clean air
favorite words: "love", "hard work", "passion" and "great talents mature late"
favorite food: Hoya salted fish, Italian food (spaghetti)


SO, WHO IS KOTANI KINYA?

Kotani Kinya is a japanese singer and actor. His very first single was "Spicy Marmalade", under the name of Bad Luck - a fictional band which sang in the anime Gravitation. Kinya filled the singing voice-role of Shindou Shuichi, the lead singer of Bad Luck.
In fact, Kinya sang most of the songs in Gravitation and Gravitation OVA, to the point that his own songs are falsely labeled as Gravitation songs.

To avoid further mistakes, here is a list of all songs he did for both series:

- Gravitation (TV) anti nostalgic
- Gravitation (TV) Glaring Dream
- Gravitation (TV) Spicy Marmalade
- Gravitation (TV) The Rage Beat
- Gravitation (TV) yuutsu na Seven days
- Gravitation (OVA) Blind Game Again
- Gravitation (OVA) in the moonlight
- Gravitation (OVA) Smashing Blue (ending theme)


Shortly after his first single, he appeared in Gravitation OVA (soundtrack album) and Mad Soldiers' Laboratory (mini album). Mad Soldiers (Asakura Daisuke and Ito Kenichi) were Kinya's Producers in Antinos Records. Kinya was introduced to Asakura Daisuke by a voice trainer during his highschool time.

Until the 2.1 version of this page was born, Kinya has released ten singles, two mini-albums and three albums under different record labels. His 4th album is going to be released in August 30th, 2006. There are three artist-books about him. He also had a role in two dorama, three movies, a number of musicals and other acting stuff. More about his works here.


CHANGE OF LABEL

As Antinos Records was closed in 2003 and Mad Soldiers were no longer Kinya's producer, at first there wasn't any news from him. Then it appeared that he is now working under R and C Ltd.

The mini album "NATIVE" was the first CD released under this label. After that came the single "BLAZE", in which he changed his stage name into just KINYA (exactly on January 26th, 2005). Many people (including myself) were shocked as "BLAZE" was out, because Kinya has drastically changed his appearence. He has adapted a more mature style. But to the fans' relief, his silly personality hasn't changed.

So with the new label he has changed the following:

- his hair color (black vs. apricot)
- his style (serious vs. cute and colorful)
- his guitar (he no longer uses Ito Kenichi's "yellow glimmer monkey")
- his name (KINYA vs. Kotani Kinya - more about this in the fun facts)
- his fanclub name (MEDALIST vs. MC Pantei - more about this in MC-K2)
- his website name (he freed himself from all the "Kotani" parts)


But that doesn't mean that he has loosen himself completely from the Antinos-time. He still sings his old songs and uses his red microphone stander. So we can tell that the he has survived the transition period well.

More good news that came along with the change of label is that Kinya has started to write his own songs.
It started with NATIVE. He wrote the lyric for "Silent Scene". For "Ai No Katate", not only that he wrote the lyric, he also made the music composition and worked on the arrangement. After that he also wrote the "BLAZE" and "aerial" lyrics.


DEBUT

How Kinya made his debut is summed up in these 2 DVDs: kinyaga yuku! and kinyaga kuru!?

The DVDs summarize a show aired in Japanese national TV about how Kinya "fought" for his debut. In order to promote himself, Mad Soldiers gave him tasks to be done. An example: he had to collect a number of fans (sometimes 300, 500, even 5000!) who would come to his "mini concerts" on a specific day at a specific location (e.g. Zepp Sapporo).

So there he was, strolling down the streets, with only his so-called "Radi-case" and cameramen, gathering fans whenever and where ever he could. He sang on the streets, in schools, gyms, music stores, malls, in a harbour, on a ship, on a rickshaw, in tram, even in a youth hostel (where he at first got a little groggy, because there were only foreigners there). He made his own concert posters and flyers with a little help from a pocket camera and copy shops. He even volunteered as a newspaper boy, so he could insert his posters in the newspaper.

One of those tasks even said that he had to fly to Taiwan to gather fans there. Yes, Mad Soldiers could be mean. But Kinya made it, and he even got interviewed by taiwanese TV and radio station.

There are so much more to see. You will know why Kinya is well-known for his extraordinary live shows, and you will understand why he cried at his concerts. No wonder, with such loyal and supporting fans of his. You will admire his courage and energy to do such tasks. Of course, he had to do them, but nevertheless, you have to admit that it takes a lot of courage and as little shame as possible to hop around on the streets carrying a tape recorder, singing your heart out in a country where no one even understand your language.


MC-K2

Kinya was also formerly known as MC-K2.

MC = maza-kon (mother complex)
K2 = Kotani Kinya


Together it's Kotani Kinya, the mother-complexed boy. With this, he was also known as "Maza-kon Rokka" (mother complexed rocker). Also, his fanclub's old name was called "MC Pantei", which is the abbreviation of "Mother Complex Pank+Party.


FUN FACTS

One interesting fact is that Kotani Kinya is only a stage name. His real name is Fujiyoshi Kinya. There is still no definite source about this, but it seems that after his real name didn't gain popularity, Kinya changed his surename to Kotani, which is probably his mother's maiden name, and wrote the whole name in Katakana instead of Kanji. With this, the name gained popularity. It also fit together with the MC-K2 image. And it was probably why he changed his name into just KINYA after his image-change in 2005.


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