Mari's concert was Friday night, and she was also on the Macross panel on Saturday morning.
After each event she had an autograph session, at which she also sold CDs.
Concert
Mari's concert was scheduled for 7 PM, right after the opening ceremony. This time there was no line--
the room was open from 5 PM, and people could take whatever seat was available as they came in. The room
was packed for Mari's concert, with people lining the walls and sitting in the aisles.
Mari sang Everybody's Lonelyand No Limit in English, then Airmail from Paris,
Mari'n, and ai oboeteimasuka in Japanese--she sang all those songs while playing the
piano. She finished by singing More than yesterday with recorded music.
After ai oboeteimasuka, she asked the audience if they wanted her to sing one more song--the answer
was a resounding "Yes!" While she was getting the music for More than yesterday, she
asked if she had done okay--everyone cheered loudly.
At the end of the concert, the audience gave Mari a standing ovation. This was definitely one of the more enthusiatic
convention audiences!
Friday Autograph Session
The autograph session on Friday began immediately after Mari's concert. The line was very long, and a couple of
times after the line was gone, additional groups of people came up wanting autographs and CDs.
Macross Panel
Mari was on the Macross panel on Saturday at 11 AM. Also on the panel were Robert Woodhead, president of
AnimEigo, and Neil Nadelman, a translator (who didn't say much). AnimEigo will be releasing the
original Macross TV series with English subtitles on VHS and DVD.
Some of the questions were directed at Robert Woodhead, but I won't cover them thoroughly.
Here's what Mari had to say:
It would be great if people like Minmay's singing and then get interested in Mari's work. She is sure nobody will
call her "Minmay" on the street in America. It's exciting that Macross is going to be released in
America.
The convention has been great. People have been really nice and organized. It's not huge, but good sized--she's
sure it will be bigger in the future. She liked it because there was no chaos. She would go back again if she is
invited.
She kept in touch with the voice actor who played Hikaru in the original Macross series--he was like
a younger brother to her (unfortunately, he is dead now). She also met Noburo Ishiguro at Anime Expo, and
that was a nice reunion--she was really touched.
When she was making the Macross series, she was having fun--everybody was like a family. It was her
first experience at voice acting, so she tried to do a good job and act natural.
She didn't follow the Macross stories after the work that she did. The same person can't always be the
main character, so she's okay with Shoji Kawamori writing the original main characters out of the story.
She doesn't think he's being mean or anything.
If she had an offer to do more voice acting, she would be willing to do it.
She has been living in Los Angeles for ten years. She will stay in Los Angeles forever. If something special
happened that she had too move for, maybe she would. But, she's raising her children in Los Angeles and plans
to stay here.
She liked Toronto. It's a beautiful and clean city--she wishes she could have done more sightseeing.
She didn't have anything to do with Flashback 2012.
She came to America because she married an American. She has twin boys, nine years old. She is a single
mother now.
This is the sixteenth anniversary of her music career. She goes back to Japan for a short concert tour once
a year. Now she is aggressively trying to break into the American market, with her independent English CD.
She hears negative opinions when she tries to break into the American market, maybe because people have
so much stress in their lives and take it out on her. She is trying to be strong and keep going until she
reaches her goal.
When she is giving a concert with her band, she doesn't play an instrument--she concentrates on singing.
However, she always has a 15-20 minute break from the band where she plays the piano while she sings.
That way, her fans can enjoys her voice without the loud band.
She would like to do a concert tour in America--she is meeting the manager of Metallica very soon.
She is looking for a manager who can take care of tours and everything in the United States. She doesn't
have anybody yet, but she will try.
She said that if people email her with just a few songs they want to have translated into English, she might
translate them. She recently translated her English songs to Japanese for her Japanese fans.
She doesn't separate work from her home life. It's not very hard for her, because she has so much energy.
Someone in the audience suggested that AnimEigo include a copy of No Limit with the Macross
box set, and Mari said that she was thinking she could write a song about "I finally came to America"
(from Minmay's point of view).
Mr. Woodhead was asked if Mari would be doing an intro or something for the subtitled Macross release. He
said that they hadn't talked yet, but they would like to do something.
Someone asked Mari to sing something as soon as she arrived, so at the end of the panel she sang part of
ai oboeteimasuka a capella. After the song, the audience applauded loudly and gave her another
standing ovation.
Saturday Autograph Session
The autograph session on Saturday began after the Macross panel. The line seemed a bit shorter than the previous
session, but again more people kept coming along when the line thinned out. Maybe they were making trips to the ATM
so they could buy CDs...
