Riyu Kosaka

Infobox musical artist |
Name = Riyu Kosaka


Img_capt =
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Alias = Miki Roberts
Born = birth date and age|1985|1|17
Origin = ,
Japan
Genre = Japanese Pop, JRock, Trance, Eurobeat, Techno
Occupation = Singer
Years_active = 2000-present
Label = Konami / avex / Toshiba-EMI
Associated_acts = BeForU
URL = [http://www.riyu.tv]

Biography

Discovery by Konami

On November 20th, 2000, Konami and Toshiba-EMI staff held auditions to form a J-pop group, which would eventually become BeForU. A good many people auditioned, and Kosaka, who was then fifteen years old, was one of four who went on to join the group. [http://www.konami.jp/am/AM/DDR_ad/v_report4.html] [http://www.freewebs.com/beforu/b4uhistory.htm] The group, produced by Naoki Maeda, originally made songs specifically for Bemani games -- their first song, "DIVE", was promoted intensely in the time leading up to the release of Dance Dance Revolution 5thMIX. [http://www.konami.jp/am/AM/DDR_ad/v_report5.html]

"true..."

After "Dive's" success in 5thMIX, BeForU produced more tracks for inclusion in , including "Dive ~more deep and deeper style~" and "Firefly". [http://www.konami.jp/am/AM/beforu/disco.html] This is where Kosaka got her first solo track, "true...". Two different versions were included in the game, "true... (radio edit)" and "true... ~trance sunrise mix~". [http://www.konami.jp/am/AM/beforu/disco.html] For the first time for any member of BeForU, a physical CD single was released. including a long version of both the radio edit and the trance sunrise mix, as well as a remix of a solo performance of "Dive", renamed "Dive to the Night". [http://www.konamistyle.jp/ecitem/item15581.html] "true..." was a success in the DDR community, and Kosaka continued to release other songs for use in Bemani both with BeForU and as a solo artist.

Breaking out from Bemani

While they continued to make music for Konami, BeForU began to put more emphasis on themselves as legitimate musicians, and this included Kosaka. In 2004, the band's first CD was released, containing some solo work by Kosaka; in the same year, her first full solo album, "begin", was released. [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_album.html] "Begin" contained three original songs, as well as eleven re-recorded Bemani songs, some of which were covers of other artists. A year later, she released "Riyu Kosaka First Live at O-EAST 2005", a CD+DVD set of her first full-blown concert. (This cannot actually be considered her first live performance, as she did limited performances to promote her single "true...". [http://www.konami.jp/am/AM/AMshow39/report/live/center.html] ) Since that time, Kosaka has released a number of singles both on her own and with BeForU, as well as a new album with BeForU.

In 2005 and 2006, she also collaborated with Ryo Horikawa as a radio personality for Pakedio Channel, waybackdate|site=http://www.pkdio.jp/pc/|date=20051023002740 and her song "Little Wings" is available on the album "Pakedio Channel Vol. 1". [http://www.ongen.net/search_detail_album/album_id/al0000040731/]

In 2007, Riyu Kosaka recorded a song for the film Kamen Rider The Next, "Platinum Smile". The song is an insert song for the movie with Kosaka providing the singing voice for Erika Mori, who portrays Chiharu Kazami, the younger sister of Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider V3.

Discography

"This is a discography of Kosaka's solo work outside of Bemani. For her complete discography see BeForU discography."

ingles

* "true..." (2001)
* "大和撫子魂" (2006) ("Yamato Nadeshiko Spirit" or "Perfect Japanese woman spirit") [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_single.html]
* "断罪の花 ~Guilty Sky~" (2007) ("Danzai no Hana" or "Flower of Conviction", for the anime Claymore) [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_single.html]
* "Dober Man" (2007) [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_single.html]
* "Platinum Smile" (2007) [http://bmf.i-revo.jp/beforu/information.html#20070816]
* "ココロの跡" (2007) ("Kokoro no Ato" or "Traces of heart", for the anime Mokke)

Albums

* "begin" (2004) [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_album.html]
* "every struggle" (2008)

Other CDs

* "Baby's Tears" (2006) (as part of the Sky Girls Original Soundtrack) [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_album.html]
* "i-revoミュージックICE限定配信曲" (2006) (available for download only from BeForU's i-revo homepage, this digital album is referred to by fans as "Little Wings" or "Startup".) [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_dl.html]
* "Platinum Smile" (2007) as featured on the Kamen Rider the Next original soundtrack) [http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B000VDKXDU]

DVDs

* "Riyu Kosaka First Live at O-EAST 2005" (2005) [http://beatrevolution.i-revo.jp/beforu/disco_dvd.html]
* "Riyu's Summer Vacation" (2007)
* "BeForU / Four Piece Riyu Kosaka / Live 2008" (2008)

References

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External links

*ja icon [http://www.riyu.tv/ Riyu Kosaka's official website]
*ja icon [http://www.beforu-official.com/riyu_sp Riyu Kosaka's page on the BeForU Official Website] deadlink|date=August 2008
*ja icon [http://www.avexmovie.jp/lineup/kosaka/ Riyu Kosaka's page at Avex]
*ja icon [http://blog.livedoor.jp/riyu3303/ Riyu Kosaka's personal blog]
* [http://www.animelyrics.com/dance/kosakariyu Lyrics]
* [http://vgmdb.net/artist/3271]