Himitsu singing their winning piece. The group is composed of Jhonalene Sison, Dawn Morco, Pedro Angelo Besat, Julius Tasis and Kenneth Justin Alba.

An age-old axiom says that one of the greatest expressions of the human soul is through music. So what better way to express camaraderie and unity between two cultures than through songs?

This is what transpired last weekend when the Japanese Embassy and the Japan Foundation Manila held the annual grand finals for the J-pop Anime Singing Contest. This event aims to promote amity between Filipino and Japanese citizens here in the country.

Among the many that auditioned, only 10 lucky groups were selected. These were: Saigo no Tsuchi, Morning Star, A.J.A., XOR, Anibeat Rocks!, 4th Edition Family band, Himitsu, Seigen no Ihan, Nandarou Etto and ProjectM band. All ten graced the stage with their astounding performances, if not their colorfully-crafted costumes. Singing their chosen J-pop piece from an Anime series, all groups certainly did their best with both the goal to win and to express themselves.

The groups are not just from Manila. XOR, the group who sang “With You’’ from Inuyasha: Kanketsu-Hen, represents the Visayas region; Morning Star from Davao gave us their own rendition of “Shunkan Sentimental’’ from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

If one thought that every participant was from a school band, one should guess again. As already apparent in their name, the 4th Edition Family Band didn’t fit this criterion. Formed by a father who influenced his children to become musically-inclined, this group amazed the audience with their performance of “Love 2000’’ by Hitomi.

Champs

For many J-Pop fans, Himitsu’s triumph didn’t come as a surprise. They had already won Hero’s Choice and Toei’s Favorite. Last Saturday, with their smooth presentation of Yuragi Koto Nai Ai from Getbackers, their victory wasn’t much of a shock.

Himitsu first performed at the Otakuzine 2010. First called band Himitsu Reiki, the group is composed of Jhonalene Sison, Dawn Morco, Pedro Angelo Besat, Julius Tasis and Kenneth Justin Alba, the group admits that all of them are just self-taught musicians. Two of them are graduates and most of them come from FEU, UST and CEU. Himitsu names J-Pop icon Naomi Tamura as their inspiration.

Aside from using their prizes for their further enrichment of the Japanese culture such as a 24-hour Nihongo class, Himitsu also says that if there’s an opportunity to go professional someday, they would surely grab it.

The other winners are XOR (second); Anibeat Rocks (third); ProjectM Band (fourth), A.J.A (fifth), Morning Star (sixth), 4th Edition Family Band (seventh).

The winners brought home prizes from Japan Foundation Manila, HERO TV, Toei Phils, Toshiba, Canon, Panasonic, and Sony. Judges included Tomoko Dodo, director of Japan Information and Culture Center, Embassy of Japan, Tsutomu Suzuki, director of Japan Foundation Manila, Nestor Palabrica, general manager, Toei Phils., Carlo Landrito, channel producer, HERO TV, Mica Santeco of Center for Pop Music, and Kazuhiro Watanabe of Galaxy Records.

The “Name the Cat” winners were also announced and awarded during the Grand Final. Mr. Von Carlo Lasam whose entry “Torara” was chosen as the best name for the orange cat mascot of the J-Pop Anime Singing Contest. Ms. Laarnie Marilao’s entry “Popcat” and Mr. Francis Ian Quito’s entry “Torenji” won second and third place, respectively. The winners each received Doraemon items from Animation International Licensing.

Aside from the performance of the ten competing groups, the audience was also treated to an anime-making demonstration by TOEI, anime-showing at the HERO TV booth and got the chance to have their pictures taken with Doraemon and cosplayers.