Eir Aoi

Overview

Eir Aoi (藍井エイル, Aoi Eiru) is a Japanese singer born on November 30, 1988 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. After being discovered through the video site Niconico, she made her major debut in 2011 with "Memoria", the first ending theme of the anime Fate/Zero. Her songs have been featured in Sword Art Online, Kill la Kill, Classroom of the Elite and The Heroic Legend of Arslan, and she has performed at anime conventions across Asia, Europe, North America and South America. She is known for energetic, rock-band-style live performances, including headbanging.

Career

Early life and discovery

She grew up in a music-loving family, learned guitar in junior high school and formed a band in high school, initially as guitarist before moving to vocals at her own insistence. At one point she considered becoming a nurse, but chose to keep pursuing her dream and posted singing videos online. Her cover of Pico's "Story" led to an introduction to composer Fumio Yasuda, and "Frozen Eyez" was included under the name Eir on the bonus CD of LisAni! Vol. 5 in April 2011.

Major debut and rise (2011-2015)

She debuted under SME Records on October 19, 2011 with "Memoria". At first she hid the lower half of her face in promotion, revealing it with the announcement of her second single "Aurora" (September 5, 2012), the fourth opening of Mobile Suit Gundam AGE. The mini-album Prayer (April 11, 2012) contained seven image songs for Fate/Zero, and "Innocence" (November 21, 2012) became the second opening of Sword Art Online.

Her first full album Blau (January 30, 2013) peaked at No. 4 on Oricon's weekly chart. She appeared at Sakura-Con in Seattle in March 2013, then released "Cobalt Sky" (June 26) and "Sirius" (November 13), the first opening of Kill la Kill; its coupling song "Sanbika" served as an insert song. In 2014 came "Niji no Oto" (January 1), the album Aube (January 29, No. 6), "Ignite" (August 20, first opening of Sword Art Online II) and "Tsunagaru Omoi" (November 12, opening of TBS's Rank Okoku).

In 2015 she released "Genesis" (February 18, ending of Aldnoah.Zero 2nd Season), the digital single "Cynthia no Hikari" (March 25, opening of the game Sword Art Online: Lost Song) and "Lapis Lazuli" (April 22, ending of The Heroic Legend of Arslan). She appeared at Kawaii Kon in Honolulu in March, and on May 8 made her first Music Station appearance alongside LiSA, performing "Ignite". Her third album D'Azur (June 24) peaked at No. 4 and charted for fifteen weeks. She was hospitalized with aspiration pneumonia in late August and missed Animelo Summer Live 2015, but later performed in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. "Shoegazer" followed on October 28.

Hiatus and return (2016-2018)

"Accentier" (March 2, 2016) was the opening of the game Digimon World: Next Order, and "Tsubasa" (July 20) opened The Heroic Legend of Arslan: Dust Storm Dance. To mark her fifth anniversary, she released the best albums Best -E- and Best -A- on October 19, 2016. Due to poor health, she announced a hiatus in August, and on October 14 announced an indefinite hiatus following two concerts at Nippon Budokan on November 4 and 5.

On February 8, 2018 she announced her return. Her 14th single "Ryusei/Yakusoku" was released in June, and in August she held her first post-return tour at Nippon Budokan. She also appeared at Animelo Summer Live 2018 and the ABU TV Song Festival in Turkmenistan.

2019 onward

On March 1, 2019, "Memoria" was selected for the Heisei Anisong Award's Artist Song prize (2010-2019). That year she performed at MadFest Sydney, SACRA MUSIC FES.2019 and Animelo Summer Live 2019, among others. On April 22, 2021 she joined the pro gaming team "Gyogun" as a streamer, leaving on April 8, 2024.

In 2022 she released "Phoenix Prayer" (January), "Hello Hello Hello" (July), "Shinzo" (October) and "Answer" (December); the album Kaleidoscope appeared in January 2023. On January 19, 2023 she announced another hiatus due to poor health, and on December 31, 2023 announced the end of her contracts with her agency Guambaru and the label SACRA MUSIC, releasing "Aoku, Aoku" the same day.

On May 1, 2024 she entered a business partnership with MONSTAR design, releasing "Beyond Gaze" (May), "Sora no Katachi" (August) and "Polyhedra" (November). On March 1, 2025 she held the fan-club-only concert "BLUE FLAiR" at EX THEATER ROPPONGI, and on April 6 appeared at anitopia SAPPORO 2025 at Zepp Sapporo. She signed with Lantis on February 23, 2026, and on April 22 released "MONSTER", the opening theme of Classroom of the Elite Season 4 (Second-year, First Term).

Musical style

Although much of her catalog consists of anime and game tie-ins, her sound is rooted in J-pop and J-rock. She cites her love of anime and artists such as Evanescence, Slipknot and Do As Infinity as influences, naming Do As Infinity's Tomiko Van as the vocalist who most shaped her singing. Playing in a band as a student led her to punk music. Her live shows feature headbanging, glow sticks and jumping, in the manner of a rock band. She continues to use the name Eir in songwriting credits, and as a gamer she performed the theme song for Drakengard 3. She is close friends with LiSA and also friendly with Kalafina, Nanase Aikawa and Luna Haruna.