Nana Kitade (北出菜奈, born May 2, 1987 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan) is a Japa… Read Full Bio ↴Nana Kitade (北出菜奈, born May 2, 1987 in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She is particularly famous for dressing in and designing Gothic Lolita fashion, something that many of her fans have in common with her. Many of her songs were used as anime, TV shows, doramas and movie opening/ending/image themes.

As a child, Kitade wanted to be a singer. She started learning the piano at the age of three and wrote her own lyrics at twelve. In junior high school, she became a fan of Ringo Shiina and learned to play the guitar, traveling frequently to Tokyo for singing lessons.

In February 2002, Kitade passed a Sony Music Japan audition, so she was chosen as the Sapporo area representative and was given the opportunity to debut as a singer.

In March, 2003, the demo which she submitted caught the attention of Susumu Nishikawa, session guitarist and Ringo Shina's sideman at the time of the debut. She signed a deal with SME Records, a subgroup of Sony Music Japan. In August 1 2005 Nana Kitade participated in the Hong Kong Comic Festival 2005.

On October 29, 2003, she debuted with the single Kesenai Tsumi, which was used as the first ending theme song of the popular anime Fullmetal Alchemist. The single was a success, gaining the #14 spot on Oricon and stayed on the charts for twenty-two weeks. With the success of Kesenai Tsumi, Kitade then released Kesenai Tsumi ~raw "breath" track~, which was a slower version of the song which charted the Oricon charts and peaked at #87. Kesenai Tsumi is to date her most successful single yet.

After Kitade's debut single, her CD sales began to steadily decline on the Oricon charts. However, her first album 18 -eighteen- sold fairly well reaching the #15 spot and charting for five weeks. Following the release of her album she released Nana Kitade: -18MOVIES-, which contained videos of all her singles from her album, and live performances from her 1st One man Band Show, Showcasing her album.

After the release of pureness/nanairo (Pureness was used as the ending theme for the anime series Beet the Vandel Buster), Kitade's clothing style began to slowly switch to Gothic Lolita. Her new image was fully revealed with the release of KISS or KISS single, which is her highest ranking single, reaching #11. During the releases of KISS or KISS and Kanashimi no Kizu (ending theme song for PS2 game Fullmetal Alchemist 3 -Kami wo Tsugu Shoujo- her Gothic Lolita clothing was more subtle, but then changed drastically with the release of her eighth single, SLAVE of KISS, which contained a cover of Princess Princess' KISS song, and an English version of her 5th single KISS or KISS.

Although by this time Kitade's popularity had dwindled, interestingly, she developed a small fan base in areas such as The United States, France, Germany, China and Tokyo, gaining the interest of Lolita clothing companies such as BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT, of which she has repeatedly stated to be her favorite brand. Other than BABY, THE STARS SHINE BRIGHT, Kitade is a regular model in the magazines KERA and the Gothic & Lolita Bible. She has become a fashion icon for many teenage girls and is popular among those of Lolita subculture.

In August 1, 2005 Nana Kitade participated in the Hong Kong Comic Festival 2005.

Beginning on April 27, 2006, Kitade released 13 singles in a row. These were available exclusively via cell phone downloads, each for 100yen. Each single was released on the 7th, 17th, or 27th of each month until August 27th, 2006. Most of the songs were covers of 1980's hit song, but a few tracks were new. In July 2006, Kitade released a her first mini cover album Cutie Bunny, containing six of her recent cell phone singles, including Moonlight Densetsu (opening theme for the popular anime series Sailor Moon) and Lum no Love song (from the anime series Urusei Yatsura).

She was one of the musical guests at Otakon 2006 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her album 18 -eighteen- was also released in the United States through Tofu Records on July 11th 2006 with the bonus track KISS or KISS (English Version).

The end of 2006 brought about Kitade's second album, I scream which contained the single Kibou no Kakera (Opening theme for the anime series Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z) and SLAVE of KISS A-side track sweet frozen kiss as well a remake of Greenday's Basket Case. The album had a more punk-rock feel on it than her previous work and the music for this record was more complex and elaborated than previous one, with a more dark, loud, and lively tune, but due a low promotion and publicity, the album did not do well (in the terms of markenting), only charting for a week, peaking at #150 on the oricon chart.

In 2007, Kitade found herself in the spotlight again, releasing her 9th single Antoinette Blue (Ending theme for the anime serie D.Gray-Man) which gained moderate success and reached #34 on the Oricon charts. The single lead-up to her first best of album entitled BERRY BERRY SINGLES which featured all of her singles including remakes of Kesenai Tsumi and Alice and a remake of Daisy Chainsaw's Love Your Money, which were all composed by ex-Megadeath member, Marty Friedman. The album was not promoted that much and only peaked at #95 on the Oricon chart. In France, Kitade has also performed at Japan Expo9, which took place in Paris in 2007. Her best-of album BERRY BERRY SINGLES includes footage of her travel and performances there and was later released in Europe on March 5, 2008.

The Year 2008 found Kitade releasing the singles SUICIDES LOVE STORY (ending theme for the anime series Persona -trinity soul-), Siren (theme song for the Japanese version of the Canadian series Ruby Gloom), which was composed once again for Megadeth's former member Marty Friedman with a fast, funny, metal-rock-pop sound, and PUNK&BABY's, which were all charted lower than #60 on the Oricon chart. On July 23, 2008 a cover of Cyndi Lauper's 1983 hit "She Bop" was featured on We Love Cyndi - Tribute to Cyndi Lauper album, track # 9. In August 2008 Kitade was featured at the 10th anniversary of Animagic Convention in Bonn, Germany. Recently Kitade's song 月華-tsukihana was featured as the opening theme for the anime series Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae by Aniplex which charted at #27 on the oricon chart, her highest in two years. Nana Kitade is set to Release her Third Full length album Bondage (album) which debuted at #85 on the oricon weekly charts which is higher then her previous releases.

On October 2nd 2009 it was announced on Kitade's official website that she would make her return as the vocalist of her new band, Loveless, though the official Loveless website had been open beforehand with a personal message from Kitade. She showcased live as "the eve" of her revival on the same day. Bassist HIROKI who is known as a tour member of bands, such as Penicillin and guitarist TAIZO (ex-Feel), and so on participated in this band. Currently TAIZO is the only member other than Kitade not listed as "Live support". Kitade held the revival live, titled the "Birth festival", at Shibuya eggman on October 7th. On October 11th a message on Loveless' site announced Kitade's contract with SME Records had come to an end. Loveless also participated in the large Visual kei festival, "V-ROCK FESTIVAL09" on October 25th. She performed and modeled during a fashion show.