If you’ve been a casual otaku or weeb, you must have heard a lot of anisongs ranging from LiSA’s Crossing Field to Yui’s Again. There are a lot of anime openings and endings that will forever be stuck in our heads. Especially from various artists that are known mostly for their hit songs. Today we will feature the industry’s well-known artists whose popular songs were featured in a lot of anime shows. Some of the most popular songs that were used as anisongs are Irony, Connect, and Hitorigoto. Here is the story of ClariS.
The Beginning
ClariS is a Japanese pop duo with singers Clara and Alice, that was from Hokkaido which was formed in 2009. The pair were in junior high school at the time, and they began singing covers and uploading them to Niconico. (a Japanese video-sharing service on the web) between 2009 and 2010. The two have been singing since they were in kindergarten when they started taking lessons at the same music school. Where they met as classmates. Months later ClariS signed to SME Records and finally released their debut single “Irony” in October of 2010.
ClariS is a portmanteau of their names and it was the character, Clarisse, from the anime film, The Castle of Cagliostro. As listed on their website. “ClariS” also means “clear” and “bright” in Latin. But the right way to spell it was Clarus. ClariS never revealed their faces or did not upload any pictures of themselves was because they want to put their schoolwork into priority.
(Fun Fact: Clara can play the piano)
Three more singles were released in 2011, followed by “Birthday” which was their debut album. The album was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year and then six more singles were released between the year 2012 to 2014, those singles were also featured on their second album “Second Story” in 2013 and “Party Time” in 2014.
2009 – 2012
Before their big debut, ClariS was known their names “Alice and Clara” as first-year junior high school students. ClariS submitted a cover of a Vocaloid song “Step to You” in Niconico on October 10. 2009. Afterward, they also released seven more covers in the same year. On April 24. 2010, the publisher Sony Magazines under Sony Music Entertainment Japan launched the anime music magazine LisAni! with a CD attached to the original with the song “Drop” composed by Kz and sung by ClariS. However, since that year they have released five more covers, with the song “Listen!!” from K-on! as their 13th cover. Then, at Comiket 78 on August 13, 2010, they released the two songs.
ClariS was signed to SME Record by September 2010, much to the surprise of the two, Alice would later remark that she had suspicions about it and wondered if they were somehow being tricked. On October 20. 2010, they officially released their first debut single “Irony” that debuted at no.7 on Oricon’s weekly singles chart and was used as the opening for Oreimo.
Junior High School
Back then there was some disbelief whether they are actually girls that are in Junior high, there were some numerous comments about their adult-sounding voices, despite this, Clara and Alice were described as normal junior high school girls. Kz on the other hand felt much of their appeal came from them being in junior high school, he also felt their future potential played a part in it.
In February 2011, ClariS released their next single “Connect” which debuted at no. 5 at Oricon’s Weekly Singles Chart and it was also used as the opening theme for Puella Magi Madoka Magica. Connect was awarded the Gold Disc by RIAJ in January 2012 for exceeding 100,000 copies sold in a single year. February 1, 2012, ClariS released their fourth single, Naisho no Hanashi, and it debuted at No. 2 on Oricon’s weekly singles chart, and it was used as the ending theme for Nisemonogatari.
Nendoroids
In January 2012, Good Smile Company released a Nendoroid petit set of ClariS based on the illustrations of them by Hiro Kanzaki for “Irony”, and with the release of the album “Birthday” the limited edition has a bundle of two Nendoroid figures of ClariS based on the illustrations of Clara and Alice by Ume Aoki for “Connect”, and a bonus CD with two Nendoroid theme songs.
2012-2014
Clara and Alice finally graduated from Junior high in March 2012. On April 11 of the same year, ClariS released their debut studio album “Birthday”. The album was awarded a Gold Disc by RIAJ in May 2012. On August 15. 2012, they have released their fifth single “Wake up“! that was also used as the opening for Moyashimon Returns, and their sixth single “Luminous” that was used as the opening for the first two Puella Magi Madoka Magica films. April 17. 2013, the song Reunion that was also used for the second season of Oreimo, was released.
On January 5, 2014, ClariS made their first live performance at Zepp Tokyo where they performed Reunion at a sold-out event behind a curtain and only visible silhouettes. The anime adaptation of the hit manga series, Nisekoi also used their 9th single, Click. Before departing, Alice released their third album”Party Time” as her last contribution.
Present
After Alice’s departure, Clara denied all of the rumors that ClariS would disband. On November 8, 2014. in a Magazine, a CD was attached and it was the original song Clear Sky, now performed by Clara and Karen. In early 2015, they released their 11th single “Border”, the song was also used for Tsukimonogatari, and on January 25, they performed live at the LisAni! Live-5 Concert at the Nippon Budokan. Then in March both of them graduated from high school and released their first compilation album, ClariS: Single Best 1st. Following the success of the single. they also performed at Zepp Tokyo on July 31, 2015. The duo and the famous Garnidelia did a collaboration for the song “Clever” that was used in Qualidea Code. Following their success as a duo, they became less strict about concealing themselves.
At their first Budōkan concert in Tokyo, Clara and Karen reportedly revealed their full faces at the stage! And then the long-awaited time came! During their final song at the recent performance at the Claris 2nd Hall Concert, they have given what the fans are longing for, they revealed their beautiful faces! and only the people who attended the concert are the only ones who saw their faces. But don’t worry! As of Oct 21, 2020, they have officially shown their faces at the online concert!
ClariS songs in Anime
Irony – Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai
Reunion – Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai 2
Hitorigoto – Eromanga-sensei
Connect – Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Luminous – Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Movie 1
Colorful – Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica Movie 3
Naisho no Hanashi – Nisemonogatari
Border – Tsukimonogatari
Shiori – Owarimonogatari Second Season
Click – Nisekoi
Step – Nisekoi
CheerS – Hataraku Saibou
Wake Up – Moyashimon Returns
Anemone – Classroom Crisis
Gravity – Qualidea Code
Clever – Qualidea Code
PRIMALove – Beatless
Alethea – Magia Record
You can listen to their hit songs below!
For more information about ClariS visit their official websites below!
Sources: ClariS Official Website, ClariS Offical Twitter, ClariS NicoNico Account
Thumbnail From: ClariS Album Covers and Anime Key Visuals, Including ClariS Illustrations.
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