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Middle School Student Wins Pony Canyon Audition to Sing Deemo Anime Film's Theme
posted on by Alex Mateo
Pony Canyon announced at its "DEEMO THE MOVIE – Utahime Audition Final" panel at the Anime Expo Lite online event on Friday that 14-year-old third-year middle school student Hinano Takashima will perform the theme song for DEEMO THE MOVIE, the anime film based on Rayark Games' Deemo game. Takashima won against five other finalists at Pony Canyon's audition, a contest that started in January and had 1,400 participants from around the world.
Yuki Kajiura (Demon Slayer, Sword Art Online, Fate/Zero) is writing and composing the film's theme song.
The five judges for the final round included Kajiura, music producer Yasunori Mori, Pony Canyon producers Toshihide Nishinaka and Mitsuyasu Yanagita, and Anime Expo senior director Azusa Matsuda.
Sister studios Signal.MD and Production I.G are producing the film. Jun'ichi Fujisaku is credited as executive director for the film, with Shūhei Matsushita credited as director, and Yoshihiro Hiramine credited as assistant director. Fujisaku is also penning the script alongside Bun'Ō Fujisawa, and Mebachi is designing the characters. Pony Canyon is producing. The film is "expected to wrap up" in 2020.
The original 2013 rhythm game, Deemo, debuted as an iOS and Android smartphone game. Rayark Games later released the game on the PlayStation Vita in Japan in 2015 with the title Deemo: Last Recital. PM Studios and Rising Star Games released the game on PS Vita in North America and Europe, respectively, in May 2017. The game received a release on the Nintendo Switch worldwide in September 2017. Deemo -Reborn-, a new version of the game compatible with virtual reality devices, debuted in November 2019.
Rayark Games describes the game:
A girl who fell from the skies and lost her past
Deemo who plays the piano all alone in the world of the treehouse
an accidental encounter between the two.
The music flows as the fingers hit the piano keys.
The start of a fairytale journey has begun...
'Before turning to leave, don't forget to say one last goodbye.'
Rayark Games is developing the rhythm game sequel Deemo II.
Sources: Press release, Animation Business Journal (Tadashi Sudo)
