MARiA

MARiA (pronounced Meiria, or ﾒｲﾘｱ), formerly known professionally as Mai Mizuhashi (水橋舞, Mizuhashi Mai), is a singer-songwriter and known for her strong, mature, and clear yet slightly sultry voice. She first started singing professionally at the age of 13, and as such she is a very strong singer technically; possessing a wide vocal range and a firm hold on pitches and tones.

Although in recent years she has become more well known for being the lead vocalist of the doujin music group GARNiDELiA with professional music producer Yoshinoli Abe (more popularly known among Vocaloid fans as TokuP), she first became a professional singer in 2005 as the youngest member of the vocal group Harajuku BJ Girls (who changed their names to Chix Chicks in 2007). The group gained initial fame for being a girl group that performed retro pop, jazz and Motown rather than the expected bubblegum pop, releasing several albums and singles before disbanding in 2010 to allow the members to pursue solo careers.

She was signed under Newcome Inc. (a subsidiary of Sony Music Japan) as a solo artist, and as Mai Mizuhashi she has sung many opening and ending themes to various anime series, including the fourth ending of Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl, "Kaze no Message". The first theme she performed as MARiA, however, was the opening theme of the anime Freezing - "COLOR", originally composed by TokuP.

Her debut cover, first foray into utattemita, and eventual namesake was her cover of TokuP's "ARiA". It remains her most popular solo cover to date, with 387K views and 20.5K mylists as of March 2013. She also occasionally moonlights as an odorite, as seen in her song and dance cover of "Girls" with Miume and Kamen Rider 217.

Affiliations and collaboration projects

 * 1) Member of Chix Chicks (formerly Harajuku BJ Girls)
 * 2) Member of Miraku with Mayu Kudō and Fumika Iwaki
 * 3) Member of GARNiDELiA with TokuP
 * 4) BJ ONE! (Chix Chicks album) (Released on April 29, 2005)
 * 5) BJ TWO! (Chix Chicks album) (Released on September 25, 2005)
 * 6) BJ Three. (Chix Chicks album) (Released on August 23, 2006)
 * 7) ELECTRO CHIX (Chix Chicks album) (Released on June 21, 2008)
 * 8) BIRTHDAY EVE (Chix Chicks album) (Released on November 23, 2008)
 * 9) RE:ELECTRO CHIX Greatest Artists & Melodies (Chix Chicks album) (Released on January 21, 2009)
 * 10) Break up to make up / Miracles (Chix Chicks album) (Released on August 19, 2009)
 * 11) Retro Soul Revue (Chix Chicks album) (Released on November 11, 2009)
 * 12) ONE (GARNiDELiA album) (Released on December 31, 2010)
 * 13) Prayer (GARNiDELiA single) (Released on May 01, 2011)
 * 14) Super Vocalo Beat (Released on June 01, 2011)
 * 15) The Waltz of Anomalies (Nanou's album) (Released on September 29, 2011)
 * 16) VOCALO TRANCE BEST (Released on October 05, 2011)
 * 17) PLUSLIGHTS -21248931- (GARNiDELiA album) (Released on August 12, 2012)

Commercially Featured Works

 * "Brand New Morning"
 * Opening theme of the TV anime Kamisama Kazoku
 * Began airing on May 18, 2006
 * "Toshokan de wa Oshiete Kurenai, Tenshi no Himitsu" (with Miraku)
 * Ending theme of the TV anime Kamisama Kazoku
 * Began airing on May 18, 2006
 * "Smile"
 * Ending theme of the TV anime Hitohira
 * Began airing on March 28, 2007
 * "Yumemiru Otome"
 * Ending theme of the TV anime Dōjin Work
 * Began airing on July 04, 2007
 * "Kaze no Message"
 * Fourth ending theme of the TV anime Pokémon: Diamond and Pearl
 * Began airing on January 10, 2008
 * "Soul Mate" (with Chix Chicks)
 * Theme song for the live action movie Onpu to Konpu
 * Premiered on January 26, 2008
 * "Blue Love Letter" (with Chix Chicks)
 * Insert song for the live action movie Onpu to Konpu
 * Premiered on January 26, 2008
 * "Foundation of You (DJ Command mix)"
 * Playable song for the arcade game Pop'n Music 18: Sengoku Retsuden
 * Released on January 20, 2010
 * "COLOR"
 * Opening theme of the TV anime Freezing
 * Began airing on January 08, 2011

Trivia

 * She participated in the stage production of "Atom With A Lonely Heart" (心は孤独なアトム, Kokoro wa Kodoku na Atom) from March 20-23, 2008, playing the lead character Motoko/Atom.
 * She appeared in the first episode of K-Pop group GLAM's Real Life Drama alongside TokuP.
 * Her hobby is Twitter, and she claims to have a scent fetish.
 * Her favorite food is mint chocolate chip ice cream, while her least favorite foods are green peas and oysters.
 * Her favorite manga is Naruto.
 * Her favorite colors are pink and light blue.
 * She is at her happiest when performing in concert.