Kimeru

Kimeru (キメル) is a J-pop musician most famous for his work with The Prince of Tennis.

Biography

Kimeru (most often written either in Romanji (Kimeru) or with Katakana (キメル), but has been written as (きめる) [hiragana] and (決) [kanji]) was born June 17, 1980 in Kumamoto-ken in Japan. After graduating from high school, Kimeru originally became a Mail man because of his love of correspondence. But he decided to pursue a career as a singer, and took on the stage name Kimeru, which means "to decide" in Japanese. Kimeru's birth name is unknown.

On December 5, 2001 Kimeru released his first single, You got game? with Absolute Productions/Birdie House Inc. The song was used as the first ending song for the anime テニスの王子様　(The Prince of Tennis, commonly called "TeniPuri" or "AniPuri"), which was based on a manga by the same name created by Takeshi Konomi. He followed up this release one year later with Make You Free, which was also used as an opening song for later episodes of TeniPuri.

In the spring of 2003 Kimeru was cast as Shusuke Fuji in the musical production of TeniPuri (commonly called Tenimyu). With the rising popularity of the musical brought rising popularity to his music, and on November 27, 2003 Kimeru released his first mini-album, The Beginning.

The end of 2003 also brought tragedy to TeniMyu. The actor cast for the main role, Yanagi Kotarou, was struck by a car and was in critical condition for some months. Because the second musical's rehersals were well underway and dates already set, Kimeru had to step up into the role of Echizen Ryoma. Kimeru was struck hard by his friend's accident, and when he released his third single, OVERLAP (a theme song for the anime Yu-Gi-Oh!), he dedicated its coupling song, OATH IN THE STORM, to Yanagi. Kimeru returned to his role of Fuji once a temporary replacement for Echizen was found.

In late April/early May of 2004, Kimeru went on his very first tour, OVERLAP. With only three dates (one in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo), it was his stepping stone into real touring as a professional singer. On August 25, 2004 he released his fourth single, Be Shiny, as well as his first DVD with live footage and music videos. To celebrate the release of his new material, he went on another tour in September and November of 2004.

In the winter of 2004, Kimeru was graduated out of his role as Fuji in TeniMyu. Not losing any steam, Kimeru released his fifth single The Pleasure of Love, as well as toured yet again, adding two new stops to his route (Sendai & Fukuoka). Kimeru's popularity was growing, and on May 21 2005, he performed in his first seated live house (Shibuya Public Hall in Tokyo). This live was later released on DVD.

In the summer of 2005 Kimeru was officially signed onto the Nippon Crown (Crown Records) label under "Crown Gold". Being signed onto a larger and more well-known label proved beneficial for Kimeru, and with the release of his sixth single Answer will come, he put on his special Kimeru-Land☆SUMMER ERUPTION 2005 tour, complete with games and selling of old merchandise. He added an extra stop in Hiroshima as well as performed on two different days for Nagoya and Tokyo.

Winter of 2005 brought even more success to Kimeru. After the release of his seventh single, LOVE BITES, he releases his first ever full length album, glorious. At the start of 2006 he did yet another tour to promote glorious, and also won an award at Nippon Crown for "Rookie of the Year".