yanaginagi

, stylized as , is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Osaka Prefecture who is signed to NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan. After becoming interested with music in her childhood, she began singing and writing original songs. In 2006, she began uploading her music to Niconico and other websites, gaining the attention of the J-pop band Supercell, who featured Yanagi as the guest vocalist from 2009 to 2011.

Yanagi made her solo debut in February 2012 with the release of the single "Vidro Moyō", which is used as the ending theme to the anime Waiting in the Summer. Her music has been featured in anime series such as My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected, Jormungand, Seraph of the End, and Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea. She has also performed at overseas events in Southeast Asia, China, and Europe. In 2012, Yanagi collaborated with composer Jun Maeda of Key to produce the original concept album Owari no Hoshi no Love Song, which finished 6th on the Oricon charts, marking her first album to chart.

Yanagi has written the song for 2014's Kamigami no Asobi. Aside from singing and songwriting, Yanagi served as the music producer of the 2017 anime series Just Because!. She announced her marriage on her official blog on August 5, 2019.

Early life Yanagi was born in Osaka Prefecture on May 31, 1987. From an early age, she had become interested in music, playing with an electronic keyboard her neighbor originally intended to throw away.

Career

2006–2011: Early career and Supercell Yanagi began posting cover versions of songs online in 2006, and started producing original dōjin music under the name CorLeonis. She released four studio albums individually: EN (2006), Leonis (2007), Freirinite (2008), and (2010). Leonis was only released online via Yanagi's website. Two more releases followed in 2011: the single and the best of album . In May 2006, she formed the music duo Binaria with female singer Annabel. Between 2007 and 2011, Binaria released two mini-albums (Alhaja (2007) and Forma (2007)), one best of album (Sonido (2010)), and four singles ("Epoca" (2008), "Alba" (2009), "Delightful Doomsday" (2010), and "Nachtflug" (2011)). Yanagi sang and composed ending song "~Tsuki no Terasu~" for the dōjinshi visual novel released on July 31, 2007.

As early as 2007, Yanagi began submitting cover versions of songs to the Nico Nico Douga video sharing website under the name Gazelle. Roughly the next day after Supercell's songwriter Ryo uploaded the music group's first song "Melt" in December 2007, Yanagi uploaded a cover of her singing the song. Yanagi, who was herself a fan of Ryo's music, contacted him and the two talked about someday collaborating. Ryo, who had been a fan of Yanagi's voice even before uploading his own songs to Nico Nico Douga, approached her to sing the vocals for Supercell's debut single "Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari" (2009). Yanagi continued as the vocalist of Supercell until 2011, and in that time provided vocals for two more singles in 2010—"Sayonara Memories" and "Utakata Hanabi / Hoshi ga Matataku Konna Yoru ni"—and Supercell's second studio album Today Is A Beautiful Day (2011). Later in 2011, Yanagi sang two songs on the original soundtrack for Key's visual novel Rewrite. Yanagi made her solo debut signed to Geneon and Alfa Music with the single released on February 29, 2012. "Vidro Moyō" is used as the ending theme to the 2012 anime series Waiting in the Summer. Yanagi's second single "Ambivalentidea" was released on June 6, 2012; the title track is used as the ending theme to the 2012 anime series Jormungand. Her third single was released on November 7, 2012; the title track is used as the ending theme to Jormungands second season Jormungand: Perfect Order.

Yanagi released her fourth single "Zoetrope" on January 30, 2013; the title track is used as the opening theme to the 2013 anime series Amnesia. Yanagi released her fifth single on April 17, 2013; the song is used as the opening theme to the 2013 anime series My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. Yanagi's solo debut album was released on July 3, 2013. Yanagi released her sixth single on November 20, 2013; the song is used as the first ending theme to the 2013 anime series Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea. Her seventh single was released on February 19, 2014; the song is used as the second ending theme to Nagi-Asu. Yanagi's eighth single was released on June 4, 2014; the song is used as the ending theme to the 2014 anime series Black Bullet. The third song of the single is used in the Z-kai Group promotion video in collaboration with Makoto Shinkai. She made an appearance at Anime Festival Asia Singapore in November 2014.

Yanagi's second solo album was released on December 10, 2014. Her ninth single "Sweet Track" was released on December 24, 2014. Her tenth single "Foe" was released on March 18, 2015. Yanagi's 11th single was released on June 3, 2015; the song is used as the opening theme to the second season of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. In July 2015, she made appearances at Japan Expo in Paris and Hyper Japan in London. She also made an appearance at SMASH! in Sydney in August 2015, and later at Anime Festival Asia Indonesia in September 2015. Her 12th single was released on December 9, 2015; the song is used as the ending theme to the 2015 anime series Seraph of The End: Battle in Nagoya. Her 13th single was released on February 24, 2016; the song is used as the opening theme to the 2016 anime series Norn9; Yanagi also played the role of Aion in the series. Yanagi's third solo album Follow My Tracks was released on April 20, 2016. Yanagi's 14th single was released on August 31, 2016; the song is used as the ending theme to the 2016 anime series Berserk. She appeared at Animax Carnival Malaysia in March 2016, and at Animax Carnival Philippines in October 2016.

2017–present: Professional expansion Yanagi collaborated with Yoshino Nanjō in performing the song released on May 17, 2017; the song is used as the ending theme to the second season of Berserk. Her 15th single was released on August 2, 2017; the song is used as the ending theme for the 2017 anime series Chronos Ruler. Yanagi's 16th single "Over and Over" was released on November 1, 2017; the song was used as the opening theme for the 2017 anime series Just Because!, where she also served as the music producer. Her 17th single "Here and There / was released on November 1, 2017; "Here and There" and "Satōdama no Tsuki" was used as the opening and ending themes to the 2017 anime television series Kino's Journey – The Beautiful World.

Yanagi's fourth solo album was released on January 17, 2018. Her 18th single was released on February 21, 2018; the song is used as the first ending theme to the 2018 anime series Hakyū Hōshin Engi. Her 19th single was released on May 30, 2018; the song is used as the second ending theme to Hakyū Hōshin Engi. Her 20th single was released on October 31, 2018; the song is used as the ending theme to 2018 anime series Iroduku: The World in Colors. She was released two compilation albums titled Yanagi Nagi Best Album -Library- and Yanagi Nagi Best Album -Museum- on January 9, 2019. In August 2019, she performed in North America for the first time at Anime Revolution in Vancouver.

Her 21st single was released on February 19, 2020; the song is used as the opening theme song to anime series The Case Files of Jeweler Richard. Her 22nd single was released on July 15, 2020; the song is used as the opening theme song to the third season of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. Her 23rd single / "Goodbye Seven Seas" was released on October 28, 2020; "Kimi to Iu Shinwa" and "Goodbye Seven Seas" were used as the opening and ending themes to the 2020 anime television series The Day I Became a God. Her 24th single was released on November 3, 2021; the song is used as the ending theme song to the first season of the anime series The Faraway Paladin. Her 25th single was , and her 26th single was , which was used as the opening theme of the second season of The Faraway Paladin. On March 20, 2024, she released an album . On April 15, 2025, she was signed to Jay Chou's record label, JVR Music.

Artistry

Influences Yanagi cites Akino Arai, Yoko Kanno, and Maaya Sakamoto as well as the 1996 song "Flower Crown" by the musical unit Goddess in the Morning as some of her musical influences; early on, she decided that she wanted to write music "just like Arai".

In an interview with Entertainment Station, Yanagi discussed her role as music producer of the anime series Just Because!, and the making of the series' opening theme "Over and Over". It was the first time that she served as a music producer for an anime series, so she would discuss ideas with anime staff. As Just Because! is set in a high school, she set out to write music that would fit scenes, deciding when instruments such as the piano or guitar would be used depending on the scene. She used picture stories as references in making the soundtrack; she also used high school baseball cheering songs as references in writing a track for scenes involving baseball. The intro of "Over and Over" was influenced by two of her earlier songs "Yukitoki" and "Harumodoki", which were both used in My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. For the song, she wanted to incorporate the series plot point of transferring schools; she aimed for the song to have a happy feeling, but she took time finding a way to express it.

Filmography Anime

Discography Albums Studio albums Year Album details Peak Oricon chart positions 2006 EN Released: August 13, 2006 Label: CorLeonis Format: CD — 2013 Euaru Released: July 3, 2013 Label: Geneon (GNCA-1376, GNCA-1377, GNCA-1378) Format: CD, CD+DVD, CD+BD 4 2022 Branch Released: December 23, 2022 Label: Geneon (GNCA-1634, GNCA-1633) Format: CD, CD+BD — 2024 White Cube Released: March 20, 2024 Label: Geneon (GNCA-1657, GNCA-1656) Format: CD, CD+DVD, CD+BD 28 2025 ENcore Released: June 25, 2025 Label: CorLenios Format: CD 32 "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Compilation albums Year Album details Peak Oricon chart positions 2011 Ame no Umi Released: September 6, 2011 Label: CorLeonis Format: CD — 2019 Yanagi Nagi Best Album -Library- Released: January 9, 2019 Label: Geneon Format: CD, CD+BD 11 2022 Yanagi Nagi 10th Anniversary Selection Album -Roundabout- Released: February 23, 2022 Label: NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan Format: CD, CD+BD 34 "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Singles Year Song Peak Oricon chart positions Album 2011 "Hyōka no Kuni" — "Killer Song" — Owari no Hoshi no Love Song 2012 "Vidro Moyō" 11 Euaru "Ambivalentidea" 23 "Laterality" 20 2013 "Zoetrope" 13 "Yukitoki" 17 "Aqua Terrarium" 22 Natte 2017 "Jikan wa Mado no Mukōgawa" 58 "Over and Over" 30 "Here and There / Satōdama no Tsuki" 25 2018 "Madōi Mirai" 59 Yanagi Nagi Best Album -Library- "Mukei no Outline" 54 "Mimei no Kimi to Hakumei no Mahō" 31 Yanagi Nagi Best Album -Museum-2020"Hōseki no Umareru Toki"48 Emeraro Type"Megumi no Ame" 7 2021 "Shirushibi" 45 2023 "Yukiharuame" "—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Digital singles Year Title Album Ref. 2022 "Branch" Branch "dream puff" "Echo" "more than enough" "For good"

Collaborations

Other album appearances Year Song Album Notes Ref.2007"~Tsuki no Terasu~"Moonshine Original SoundtrackEnding song of dōjinshi visual novel Moonshine. "Koibumi""Itsuwaranai Kimi e" Rewrite Original Soundtrack Soundtrack to Key's visual novel Rewrite. The songs are in original and short versions. "Little Forest""Reply" Branch Remix album to tracks from Rewrite 2012 "Dr. Schrodinger, tell me please? (Mikoto's Theme)" Time Travelers Original Soundtrack Soundtrack to Level-5's video game Time Travelers; composed by Hideki Sakamoto. "Koibumi""Itsuwaranai Kimi e" Circle of Fifth Compilation album of songs composed by Shinji Orito. "Koibumi" Dye Mixture Remix album to Key's visual novels Rewrite and Rewrite Harvest festa! 2020 "re:fruition" Frontiers Fifth studio album for jazz fusion band Dezolve 2022 "Rhythm Emotion" Two-Mix Tribute Album: Crysta Rhythm Tribute album for the band Two-Mix. "Rhythm Emotion" is a cover of Two-Mix's 2020 digital single.