Japanese-American singer NANO sat down with us for an exclusive interview during the artist’s visit to the German convention DoKomi 2026. NANO, who performed at DoKomi’s first edition, returned alongside STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION, co-producers and performers of “Dream Big,” the first official DoKomi song.
During the final day of the convention, NANO took the stage with guitarist SHIN and delivered the best of her repertoire. The singer later joined STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION to perform “Dream Big” and announce the song’s anime music video.
NANO’s catalog also includes themes for anime such as Btooom!, Arpeggio of Blue Steel -Ars Nova-, Magical Warfare, Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas, Shadowverse Flame: Arc-hen, The Fruit of Evolution, and New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, to mention a few. Among her recent projects outside anime, NANO released the EP “aИomaly,” available on digital platforms.
We are presenting this interview as a two-part series. For this first installment, we focused on the production behind “Dream Big” and NANO’s inspiration from anime conventions. We’ve also included photos from NANO’s concert—an experience we truly recommend!
Q: How do you feel about doing the first DoKomi song, considering you have performed in the first edition of DoKomi?
A: My first time in DoKomi was 13 years ago, which was my first time ever performing in an international convention. That’s why DoKomi has always been a very special place for me. Being able to come back here and perform the official song is very emotional for me. I put a lot of my own happiness into the lyrics and the creation process in general. The song is both personal for me and for DoKomi.
Q: How did this project come to be? Did the DoKomi organization have any special requirements for you?
A: That’s a very good question! First they contacted RON (STEREO DIVE FOUNDATION). They thought I’d be a good vocalist for the song, so I felt blessed when RON contacted me through his management team. RON and I had originally met elsewhere so we were already friends and had good chemistry together. I was happy to collaborate with someone that I was already friends with.
Q: When you started this project, what were the feelings you tried to convey? Did it change during the creation process?
A: At first, RON and I had lunch together and talked about what kind of image we had for the theme song. It was just brainstorming with nothing set in stone yet. It was just “what about this,” “what about that,” but then we realized we had similar images for the song. We wanted it to have our distinct essences, but we knew that it wasn’t supposed to be a NANO or RON song. We were going to hand it to DoKomi. Even if we are not there to sing it, it won’t belong to us anymore: it would be a DoKomi song.
It was the first time we had to think like that. The song would have to be about the future of the convention. We wanted to make it futuristic, with the sense of many possibilities, something that DoKomi fans would love to continue singing in the future. We considered that DoKomi has grown so much over the past years. Dokomi will keep going, that’s why it’s named “Dream Big”: keep going, dream big for the future.
Q: Why do you think conventions are special for otaku communities?
A: In Japan, anime is a daily thing. It’s not necessarily “special” since it’s always there, it’s a part of life. But when you go to conventions around the world, you notice how anime and Japanese culture is a special thing for otaku communities. You feel the excitement, the happiness, in a way that you don’t necessarily feel in Japan.
For Japanese artists like me, coming to overseas conventions is such a good experience, which helps us understand that Japanese culture creates so much happiness around the world. I’m the type of singer who values conventions around the world and who doesn’t only stay in Japan. I hope that more and more Japanese artists will be more confident about coming to wonderful conventions like DoKomi.
Q: Was it hard for you to write a song specifically for a convention’s attendees, rather than to write a song for people in general?
A: A little bit. We did want to include things that were very DoKomi-related, and not just something that “could be for anybody” or it wasn’t special enough. But at the same time, it was not hard because RON and I already experienced DoKomi in the past, interacted with staff members, and met with the fans. If we had never come here before and we had been asked to create the DoKomi song, it would have been more difficult.
Q: When I listened to it for the first time, if I hadn’t known it was for DoKomi, I would have thought it was an anime song. Was it intentional?
A: Of course, you know anime is one of the strengths of RON and me. We love both anime and DoKomi. We thought that the anime vibe is a very happy one, we love it, it’s our passion, and we kind of imagined the song as an anime opening.
Q: For many otaku, conventions are a way to express ourselves freely. Was that in your mind when you wrote the lyrics?
A: I have always been an otaku at heart. The word ‘otaku’ has a deeper meaning. It means someone who has a very strong passion but does not necessarily share it with the world. Sometimes you feel lonely because you have such a passion that not everyone understands.
But when you come to a convention you realize that there are many people with the same passion as you. The first time you attend one, you probably are shocked by the number of people that share your same taste, even if it’s niche. When I walk around a convention and see people doing cosplay of series that are not that popular but I know, I’m very happy.
In America, I grew up as a minority because I was Japanese and in my community there weren’t many Asian people. It was very painful for me that I couldn’t share my pain with others. All my songs in the past talked about being lonely, trying to find my place in the world. But I was positive that if I keep fighting I would find my place in the world and I would find the right people.
I ended up doing that: I found my place in the world, became a singer, and met all these amazing people that share similar passions. It all comes together in the end.
Don’t miss out on the second part of this interview, in which we discuss NANO’s experience performing outside Japan, her takes on the music industry, and a special bonus for anime fans.
If you are also interested in attending DoKomi’s next edition, the event will take place from July 9 to July 11, 2027.
Photos by @cdecasa_s (me).
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