- Born
- Nickname
- Marin
- Mari Iijima was born on May 18, 1963 in Tsuchiura, Japan. She is an actress, known for Macross: Do You Remember Love? (1984), Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982) and Cy Girls (2004). She was previously married to James Studer.
- SpouseJames Studer(September 30, 1989 - February 7, 2001) (divorced, 2 children)
- Is a singer & songwriter, composer, pianist.
- Moved to Los Angeles, California in 1989.
- Released her debut album "Rose" in 1983.
- Plays the piano.
- Fluent in Japanese and English. In 1999, Mari released her first all-English independent album "No Limit".
- On idol culture: I think Minmay kind of started that. We were like the pioneers of the "anime character sings and becomes a star in the story". I feel like if there was no Minmay, maybe that wouldn't happen, or it would have happened much later. I haven't actually seen those idol groups, I've just heard things about them, but even Miku Hatsune, I think Minmay had so much of an effect on her. If there was no Minmay, then maybe she wouldn't have been born? I don't know.
- Minmay is always, to me, the cutest. You know, the most beautiful. She's like an eternal character. I love Minmay, and she's always somewhere in my system, so in that sense I sing my Macross stuff with more happiness and depth because I always feel like Minmay's helping me. I want to keep so much respect alive for Minmay, you know? She's like a forever singing princess.
- The Macross music, I was only like a teenager and they gave me the songs and I sang the whole thing in like maybe one or two hours, quickly. Of course I worked hard on it, but I didn't consider music as my job or anything. At that time, I was just a kid. Maybe that's the reason why it was so free. I wasn't aiming for anything grand, I didn't think about how this was going be a hit, I actually had no idea because I didn't jump into the industry to be an anime actress or singer. I was signed as a singer/songwriter. I had no expectation from the Macross stuff, so it was a huge surprise when it became a hit.
- On Macross music: I changed because a lot of time passed, but I don't think the music itself aged. I'm sure it brings people some childhood memories and stuff, but maybe even when some young people listen to it, I think they will feel the same: perkiness, giddiness, happiness. And of course Kentarô Haneda, the composer for Macross, his composition and orchestration were very wonderful. That's why I think the whole thing is very classic.
- I'm very honest. I'm a very honest person. I hope that shows through my music.
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