Nana Mizuki

Biography

Nana Kondō (近藤 奈々, Kondō Nana; born January 21, 1980), better known by the stage name Nana Mizuki (水樹 奈々, Mizuki Nana), is a Japanese voice actress, singer, and narrator. She is represented by the agency StarCrew. Mizuki was trained as an enka singer, releasing one single under her birth name in 1993 and made her debut as a voice actress in 1997. Her prominent roles include Hinata Hyuga in the long-running ninja series Naruto as well in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Tamao Tamamura in Shaman King 2001 and 2021, Colette Brunel in Tales of Symphonia, Fate Testarossa in Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Tsubasa Kazanari in Symphogear, Moka Akashiya in Rosario + Vampire, Tsubomi Hanasaki (Cure Blossom) in Heartcatch Precure! and Ann Takamaki in Persona 5. She also had official dubbing roles in live action version of Itazura na Kiss from Korea and Taiwan, as well in Hunger Games film series as Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence). She is also known for dubbing Ariel Lin's roles.
Mizuki released her first single, "Omoi", under the King Records label in 2000. One year later, she released her debut album, Supersonic Girl×supersonic girl5 December 2001 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Love's Wonderland4:062The place of happiness3:443supersonic girl4:114Heaven Knows ～Brave edit～4:175想い ～Pedigreed mix～4:356Look Away ～All together version～4:197TRANSMIGRATION5:048LOOKING ON THE MOON3:519真冬の観覧車4:5210NANA色のように ～Special album version～4:3411水中の青空3:4512WINDOW OF HEART4:45, in 2001. In the years that followed, Mizuki enjoyed modest success that concluded with the release of her single "Innocent Starter×innocent starter6 October 2004 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1innocent starter4:412Open Your Heart4:243それでも君を想い出すから-again-4:474innocent starter (Off Vocal Version)4:415Open Your Heart (Off Vocal Version)4:246それでも君を想い出すから-again- (Off Vocal Version)4:46", which reached the top 10 Oricon singles chart, charting at No. 9. Since then, Mizuki's releases have charted steadily higher in Japan, establishing her as a successful singer in the country. In 2009, her album Ultimate Diamond×ULTIMATE DIAMOND3 June 2009 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11MARIA&JOKER4:132悦楽カメリア3:493PERFECT SMILE3:234Trickster3:485Mr.Bunny!4:346沈黙の果実3:537Brand New Tops4:348少年4:429Gimmick Game4:2310Dancing in the velvet moon4:3311ray of change4:2212深愛4:5613蒼き光の果て-ULTIMATE MODE-4:2814Astrogation4:3415夢の続き5:16Disc 21歌姫華仕置 疾風の奈々参上！56:362メイキング6:44 reached #1, her first release to do so; while her single "Phantom Minds×PHANTOM MINDS13 January 2010 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1PHANTOM MINDS3:432Don’t be long4:403Song Communication4:314十字架のスプレッド4:14", released in 2010, also charted at #1. Mizuki is the first voice actress to top the weekly Oricon albums chart and the weekly Oricon singles chart since its inception in 1968.

Early life

Born in Niihama, Ehime, she began to train singing enka when she was five years old. In 1993, she released a Compact Cassette single "Tsugazakura" (つがざくら; lit. 'Phyllodoce Nipponica') as Nana Kondō. However, she passed the audition of game Noël: La Neige and became a voice actress in 1997.

Career

Mizuki released an image song single titled "Girl's Age×Girl's Age20 March 1998 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 2 tracks1Girl's Age4:592Message from CHISATO3:29" under the name Chisato Kadokura in 1997. When she performed her first concert at the age of 20, she was scouted by the Japanese record label King Records, after the music producer of King called Akio Mishima went to her concert. Her debut single as Nana Mizuki, "Omoi", was released on December 6, 2000. Her 2004 song "Innocent Starter×innocent starter6 October 2004 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 6 tracks1innocent starter4:412Open Your Heart4:243それでも君を想い出すから-again-4:474innocent starter (Off Vocal Version)4:415Open Your Heart (Off Vocal Version)4:246それでも君を想い出すから-again- (Off Vocal Version)4:46" became her first Top 10 single and her 2005 single "Eternal Blaze×ETERNAL BLAZE19 October 2005 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1ETERNAL BLAZE5:092RUSH & DASH!3:263Inside of mind4:42" reached No. 2 position on Japanese Oricon weekly single charts.
Mizuki won the "Best Musical Performance" award for her song "Justice to Believe" in the first Seiyu Awards in 2007. Since her seventh album Ultimate Diamond×ULTIMATE DIAMOND3 June 2009 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 17 tracks · 2 discsDisc 11MARIA&JOKER4:132悦楽カメリア3:493PERFECT SMILE3:234Trickster3:485Mr.Bunny!4:346沈黙の果実3:537Brand New Tops4:348少年4:429Gimmick Game4:2310Dancing in the velvet moon4:3311ray of change4:2212深愛4:5613蒼き光の果て-ULTIMATE MODE-4:2814Astrogation4:3415夢の続き5:16Disc 21歌姫華仕置 疾風の奈々参上！56:362メイキング6:44 debuted at the No. 1 position on Oricon weekly album charts during the week of June 15, 2009, she became the first voice actress to reach the No. 1 position on the Oricon weekly album charts since its creation in 1968. Ultimate Diamond sold over 74,000 copies in the first week. In addition, her 21st single, "Phantom Minds×PHANTOM MINDS13 January 2010 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1PHANTOM MINDS3:432Don’t be long4:403Song Communication4:314十字架のスプレッド4:14", became the first voice actress single to top the charts, debuting at the No. 1 position on the issue of Oricon weekly single charts dated January 25, 2010.
On November 23, 2009, NHK announced that Mizuki would take part in the 60th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen of New Year's Eve. It was Mizuki's first time appearing on the show. Nana chose her song "Shin'ai" for her performance.
She is well known for voicing female characters who are very shy yet kind-hearted and gentle, and many of the characters she has voiced were initially very shy/soft-spoken (however, after interactions with other people, they gradually opened up (e.g. Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Nyamo from Love Hina, Hinata Hyūga from Naruto, Wrath from Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) and Tsubomi Hanasaki from Heartcatch Precure!). She is also well known for voicing females with romantic affection for protagonists, as six of her characters have romantic feelings for the main characters (Oboro from Basilisk, Hinata Hyūga from Naruto, Colette Brunel from Tales of Symphonia, Tamao Tamamura from Shaman King, Moka Akashiya from Rosario + Vampire and Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha), some of her characters craved maternal attention (e.g. Fate Testarossa from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its sequels A's and StrikerS, Wrath and Maria) and she was also part of the voice actress quartet "Prits", alongside Yumiko Kobayashi, Natsuko Kuwatani and Hisayo Mochizuki (all four voiced characters in the anime Sister Princess). Nana Mizuki voices Microsoft's Japanese Windows 7 unofficial "OS-tan" mascot, Nanami Madobe. The mascot's name uses some wordplay on Mizuki's own name as well as the operating system ("Nana" = "seven").
In the middle of February 2010, Mizuki was named her hometown (Niihama, Ehime)'s First Tourism Ambassador. The news was broadcast during her Live Academy 2010 tour, held in Kanagawa, Osaka, Aichi, Miyagi, Fukuoka, Ehime Prefecture Niihama Cultural Center's Hall. There were 7 lessons in total. In 2010, Mizuki won the Tomiyama Kei Award in the 4th Seiyu Awards for her news hook in the year 2009. In 2010, she also participated in 61st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen singing "Phantom Minds", the single which had topped Oricon Charts.
On January 21, 2011, she released her first autobiography, titled Shin Ai, to commemorate the 10th anniversary of her singing career. Mizuki won Top Pop Artists award in Billboard Japan Music Awards 2010 on February 6, 2011, together with 4 other artists: AKB48, Nishino Kana, SID and Exile.
Mizuki has participated in the 60th (2009), 61st (2010), 62nd (2011), 63rd (2012), 64th (2013) and the 65th (2014) edition of the Kōhaku Uta Gassen produced by Japanese public broadcaster NHK. On December 3–4, 2011 she had a two-day concert at Tokyo Dome. She became the first voice actress and 8th Japanese female solo artist to hold a concert at Japan's largest concert hall. On March 3, 2012, Mizuki won Animation Artist of the Year 2011 award in Billboard Japan Music Awards 2011.
On November 10, 2013, Mizuki performed Preserved Roses, Kakumei Dualism and Heart of Sword -Yoakemae- in her first overseas performance as a guest performer for T.M.Revolution at Anime Festival Asia, Singapore, Valvrave night. On November 23–24, 2013, Mizuki held her first solo concert outside Japan, in Taiwan.
In March 2014, at the 64th Annual MEXT Art Encouragement Prizes Nana Mizuki was recognized as Rookie of the Year in the Popular Entertainment division.
She held her second overseas solo concert in Singapore (September 27, 2014) and Taiwan (October 4–5, 2014) entitled "Nana Mizuki Live Flight 2014+".
On September 22, 2016, she held a concert at Koshien Stadium, Japan's oldest stadium, becoming the first voice actress and the first solo artist to hold a concert at the venue.
In July 2017, Mizuki made her debut as a stage actress in a Japanese production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in the title role of Carole King.
On September 30, 2017, she performed in the opening ceremony of 72nd National Sports Festival of Japan, held at Ningineer Stadium in Ehime, in front of Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko and approximately 20,000 attendees.
In January 2018, Mizuki held a 7-day long concert series at the Nippon Budokan.
She held her third overseas solo concert in Taiwan (September 29, 2018) and China (October 13, 2018) entitled "Nana Mizuki Live Island 2018+".
Starting in July 2022, she embarked on her first live tour in three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving her goal of visiting all 47 prefectures at her performance in Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture on July 30.
On October 9, 2022, she sang the national anthem in the final race at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix of Formula One held at Suzuka Circuit.
She held her fourth overseas solo concert in Hong Kong (February 15, 2026), South Korea (March 21–22, 2026) and Taiwan (April 11–12, 2026) entitled "Nana Mizuki Live Vision 2025–2026+".

Personal life

Mizuki announced her marriage to a person in the music industry on July 7, 2020, on her blog. On November 6, 2020, she announced on her blog that she was pregnant with her first child. On March 16, 2021, Mizuki announced on her blog that she'd successfully given birth to her first child. On April 23, 2022, she tested positive for COVID-19 but later recovered and returned to work.

Dubbing roles

† Year of original release‡ Year of Japanese release