Masaaki Endoh

Masaaki Endoh (遠藤正明, Endō Masaaki, born August 28, 1967) is a Japanese singer/songwriter who is prominent in the area of soundtracks for anime and tokusatsu productions. He is one of the founders of the anison supergroup JAM Project and has been a regular member ever since its inception in 2000. His nickname is the "Young Lion of Anison" and he goes by the motto "Always Full Voice".

Endoh took the industry by storm when he released the two Enson albums and the subsequent third, in which he covered many famous anime theme songs. Due to their success, Endoh went on to sing signature songs with the respective artists, such as Sousei no Aquarion with Akino,^[1] Butter-Fly with Kōji Wada,^[2] Eternal Blaze with Nana Mizuki,^[3] Pegasus Fantasy with NoB,^[4] Kimi Taiyou ga Shinda Hi with Maon Kurosaki,^[5] SERIOUS-AGE with Faylan,^[6] and KINGS with Angela.^[7]

Career

Early years

Masaaki Endoh was born in the Miyagi Prefecture on August 28, 1967. After graduating from high school, he joined a group called The Hiptones, but after it dissolved in 1993, he became half of the acoustic duo Short Hopes. In 1995, music producer Inoue Shunji approached Endoh for a record deal, and he debuted as a solo artist. In this time, he also worked as Steeple Jack with other musicians, and they also released two albums before disbanding.

He sang some opening themes for anime until two years later, he and Hironobu Kageyama joined together to form the Metal Brothers. This duo only lasted from 1997 to 1998, when the group broke apart. During this time, he released an album, and formed the musical act Blind Pig with two other musicians. The group released two rock albums before they disbanded.

JAM Project

In 2000, Ichirou Mizuki gathered four artists to form JAM Project: Masaaki Endoh, Eizo Sakamoto, Rica Matsumoto, and Hironobu Kageyama.

Vocally, Endoh specializes in sustained high notes, covering the upper male range that the other male members cannot hit easily. Although he is a very versatile vocalist, Masaaki Endoh rarely writes with the group, although he is becoming more active towards the recent best albums. Some of the songs he wrote for the group include SAMURAI PARTY on THUMB RISE AGAIN, Kimi no Moto he on X cures Earth, and WE ARE ONE on AREA Z. He has shown particular favor to a special type of outfit he wears to most performances, a jacket that is cut at the shoulders, revealing his arms. His hair is usually styled high in concerts.

Endoh often stars in songs that have very long notes or extremely high notes, and this ability was dubbed "Super Endoh Time" by fans. The most well-known example being Hagane no Messiah (鋼の救世主, Hagane no Kyūseishu, "Steel Messiah") containing a twenty-second note. Another example is Seventh Explosion, where he would hold a note for twenty-five seconds, and five seconds in, Fukuyama would join him. The JAM Project songs with the highest note that Masaaki Endoh sings as of the release of their 15th anniversary album is a sustained E5 in "Rocks". He is also well known for yelling English words in JAM Project songs such as MAXON.

2000s

Masaaki Endoh enjoyed moderate success from 2000 to 2003, when he released his first studio album, Chakuriku!!. At around the same time, he sang the opening for Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger, for which he gained much popularity. After its success, he halted singing opening themes to focus more on JAM Project.^[8]

By 2006, he released his second album M.e. and followed by a concert organized by Lantis to promote the release. The album included Carry On and CLOWN, which were also released on the soundtrack for the series Muv-Luv. Masaaki Endoh released ENSON and ENSON2 in the summer of 2008, which proved to be a massive success. The album contained covers of popular anime opening themes in the late 1990s and early 2000s, including Uninstall by Chiaki Ishikawa and Sousei no Aquarion by Akino.

In 2009, he returned to singing opening themes. He followed up with the release of his third studio album, Circus Man. He introduced the concept of him being a circus show performer, the cover showing his face with clown makeups. A concert was organized but never released as home media.^[9]

2010s

In May 2010, he participated in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D'S, the third series in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, starting with its fourth opening, Believe in Nexus. Following this, he released an insert single, Clear Mind, for the show's soundtrack. Later in December, he released a third single for the show, being the fifth and final opening, Asu e no Michi ~Going my way!!~ (明日への道〜Going my way!!〜, The Road to Tomorrow ~Going my way!!~) on the same day JAM Project released their 10th Anniversary BOX.^[10] He appeared in Hironobu Kageyama's 2011 Live Birthday concert with other JAM Project members. In 2011, he formed SV Tribe with Hiroshi Kitadani and Aki Misato and the group continues to write and perform opening music for many anime series.

In July 2012, he released his fourth studio album (e)-STYLE and promoted the album by touring Japan for three nights from July 24 to August 6, 2011.^[11] For the release, the YouTube channel of Lantis released a set of videos showing Masaaki Endoh breaking down the lyrics of each song on the record. In the summer of 2011, he joined JAM Project in Animelo as a returning regular performer. He also participated in the Type-Moon 10th anniversary by singing Fellows.^[12]

To celebrate Christmas in 2010, Masaaki Endoh performed five concerts from November 11 to December 24 titled "Christmas Acoustic Night 2010 ~present of the voice~" that contained acoustic songs across his albums and covers.^[13] In December 2012, he performed three more concerts under the title "Christmas Acoustic Night 2012 ~present of the voice~" for three nights from the 2nd to the 23rd.^[14] The tradition continued in 2013; while on tour with JAM Project for their latest album, he took Christmas Eve to perform a single live show called "Christmas Acoustic Night2013 ~present of the voice~".^[15]

He released his 5th studio album in August 2013, and went on a live tour titled "Masaaki Endoh Live Tour 2013 ~Extreme V Machine~" in September 2013 to promote the album.^[16][17][18] He explained that the "V" stands for "voice" on his Extreme V Machine live tour, as well as signifying the number 5 in Roman numerals. In spring 2014, he formed a small group called "Endoh-kai" to sing the opening theme of Kenzen Robo Daimidaler and Lantis launched a small campaign to promote the group.^[19]

In November 2014, Endoh released his first acoustic album, containing several arrangements of his signature songs. A campaign to promote the album requested fans send in photos which would be shown while the track My Beloved played.^[20] In 2015, he released the third ENSON album, which followed the previous iterations with more covers of famous theme songs.

Personal life

Because he was in the rugby club in high school, Masaaki Endoh was very physically-fit with chest measurements of 120 cm, now measuring 105 cm. He dislikes coriander, and has a difficult time with the food abroad when touring with JAM Project, so he brings along Japanese instant noodles. He also dislikes being alone in hotel rooms, and hates roller coasters. He is often referred to as "En-chan" by fellow JAM Project members.^[21]

Discography

Albums

1. Chakuriku!!
   • Released on November 27, 2003 / LACA-5220 / Lantis
2. M.e.
   • Released on November 29, 2006 / LACA-5577 / Lantis
3. Circus Man
   • Released on April 29, 2009 / LACA-5901 / Lantis
4. (e)-Style
   • Released on July 6, 2011 / LACA-15127 / Solid Vox
5. Extreme V Machine
   • Released on August 7, 2013 / LACA-15327 / Solid Vox
6. Present of the Voice
   • Released on November 5, 2014 / LACA-15460 / Solid Vox

Compilation Works

1. ENSON ～Cover Songs Collection Vol.1～
   • Released on June 11, 2008 / LACA-5774 / Lantis
2. ENSON2 ～Cover Songs Collection Vol.2～
   • Released on December 17, 2008 / LACA-5826 / Lantis
3. ENSON3 ～Cover Songs Collection Vol.3～
   • Released on October 7, 2015 / LACA-55510 / Lantis

Miscellaneous

1. Best Anisongs Vol.01
   • Contains many of his older singles and several covers.
2. Blind Pig and Blind Pig II
   • Albums that were released under his short-lived group.
3. Star Generation
   • A project with other anison artists for an anime.
4. Strykers
   • Dengeki Stryker soundtrack.
5. Ko Bu Shi - Tekken - Theme Song Album
   • Game soundtrack with Hironobu Kageyama, Masami Okui, Faylan, and others.

Collaborations

1. [2011.10.09] U-n-d-e-r--standing!
   • Opening with SV Tribe for the anime series Majikoi.
2. [2012.12.05] Jounetsu Element
   • Opening with SV Tribe for the anime series Monsuno.
3. [2013.02.06] Ultraman Taro Rock Ver
   • Opening with Chihiro Yonekura for the tokusatsu series Ultraman Taro.
4. [2014.03.26] V-ANIME collaboration -homme-
   • His version of Yuusha Ou Tanjou featuring Nightmare.
5. [2014.04.23] Kenzen Robo Daimidaler
   • Sung as part of "Endoh-kai".

Live tours

1. [2011.11.09] (e)-Style Live Tour DVD
2. [2014.03.26] Extreme V Machine Live Tour 2013 DVD

Singles

1. [1995.11.11] Forever Friends
2. [1996.07.24] Killed by Beak Spider
3. [1997.02.21] Yuusha Ou Tanjou! (勇者王誕生!)
4. [1997.08.21] A Piece of the Sun
5. [1998.11.21] Ano kawa wo koete (あの河を越えて)
6. [1999.03.03] Ready, B-Fight
7. [1999.06.21] Senshi yo, Tachiagare! (戦士よ、起ち上がれ！)
8. [2000.01.01] Yuusha Ou Tanjou! (Mythology Version)" (勇者王誕生！-神話(マイソロジー)バージョン-)
9. [2000.08.23] eX-Driver -Sniper- (With Milk)
10. [2002.04.20] Bakutou Sengen! Daigunder ( 爆闘宣言！ダイガンダー)
11. [2003.03.01] Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger (爆竜戦隊アバレンジャー)
12. [2009.07.01] Sea Jetter Kaito (シージェッター海斗)
13. [2009.09.25] Kankyou Choujin Ecogainder (環境超人エコガインダー)
14. [2010.05.12] Believe in Nexus
15. [2010.09.22] Saigo no Eden (With Aki Misato)
16. [2010.12.22] Asu e no Michi ~going my way! (明日への道～Going my way!)
17. [2011.01.11] Honki Sentai Gachi Ranger (本気戦隊ガチレンジャー)
18. [2011.05.11] Tamashii meramera Itchodo (魂メラめら一兆℃)
19. [2011.11.09] Fellows
20. [2012.01.11] Kankyou Choujin Ecogainder 0X (環境超人エコガインダー0X)

External links

• Endoh-Masaaki.com - Official website (Japanese)

References