Orangestar

Overview

Orangestar (born August 20, 1997) is a Japanese Vocaloid music producer and composer, also known as Mikansei-P (蜜柑星P). He writes original songs featuring VOCALOID vocals and uploads them to Niconico and YouTube. His best-known works include "Asu no Yozora Shōkaihan" (Night Sky Patrol of Tomorrow, feat. IA) and "DAYBREAK FRONTLINE" (feat. IA). He is married to the creator Kase (夏背).

His name comes from the word "mikansei" (未完成, "incomplete"), reworked as a wordplay on 蜜柑 (mandarin orange) and 星 (star). He frequently collaborates with illustrator M.B.

Career

Early life and first uploads

Born into a Christian household in Japan, Orangestar began attending church at an early age. His father encouraged him to learn piano, which he continued until finishing middle school. He then spent a year in the music course at Tsudanuma High School in Chiba, where friends introduced him to Vocaloid music and his father bought him DAW software such as Cubase. Inspired by producers like 40mP and DECO*27, he wanted to share his own songs. He also admires supercell and RADWIMPS for their message-driven lyrics.

He uploaded his first song, "Noraboku," on April 1, 2013. That summer he met M.B, a game illustrator and fellow member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, beginning a years-long partnership; M.B drew the artwork for "Mikansei Time Limiter" (February 2014).

2014–2016

In April 2014 he left high school and moved with his family to Utah to study English. That summer he posted "Earphones and a Chorus of Cicadas" and "Night Sky Patrol of Tomorrow," both of which drew attention, and his status as a high-school musician became a talking point.

His first album, Unfinished Eight Beats (Mikansei Eight Beats), was released on April 22, 2015 by Subcul-rise Record and reached No. 45 on Oricon's weekly chart. In 2016 he composed "Imagined Mirage" (Shinshō Shinkirō) for the arcade rhythm game Chunithm and released "未収録OSC" at THE VOC@LOiD M@STER 36 on November 5.

2017–2019

His second album, SEASIDE SOLILOQUIES, came out on January 18, 2017 (U&R records) and peaked at No. 26 on Oricon's weekly chart. In February 2017 he and n-buna premiered "Star Night Snow" at Snow Miku 2017 in Sapporo, their first collaboration despite long acquaintance; the two were often mentioned together as teenage producers of summer-themed songs. In April he played his first live show at Ueno Otoyokochō in Taitō, Tokyo. On August 11, the collection UNDEVELOPED FLOWER-PLANET, compiling rejected and unreleased older songs, was distributed via BOOTH by singer Mary (めありー).

After releasing "Kaisei" (Good Weather, 快晴) on August 31, 2017, as part of Hatsune Miku's 10-year anniversary album Re:Start, he paused his music career to serve about two years as a missionary in Riverside, California.

2020–2021

He returned in 2019, posted "Sunflower" on April 16, 2020 and officially resumed activity with "Henceforth" on May 21, 2020. On December 20, 2020 he announced his marriage to Kase, who wrote the lyrics, sang and drew the illustration for "Sunflower." He also wrote "Overseas Highway" for Wolpis Carter, chosen as an ending theme of the 2020 anime Digimon Adventure: — his first anime song.

On January 10, 2021, his original "Hare o Matsu" (Awaiting Clear Skies, 霽れを待つ) was added to the mobile game Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage!, together with a Sekai version video. In July 2021, "Surges" (feat. Kase & Ruwan) was featured in an Otsuka Pharmaceutical CalorieMate web movie, "Natsu ga Hajimaru," about student athletes whose practice is interrupted by COVID-19 and resumes in the summer; he published it on his own channel on August 12.

2022 onward

"Noctilucae" (ノクティルーカ, feat. IA) was released on February 20, 2022. On August 5, 2022 he held his second one-man live, "UNDEFINED SUMMER NOISE," at Tokyo Garden Theater, five years after his first; the venue was moved from the originally planned Toyosu PIT after ticket applications exceeded expectations.

His third album, And So Henceforth,, collecting singles such as "Henceforth," "Kaisei" and "Noctilucae," was released on August 30, 2023. On December 9, 2023 he appeared with Kairiki Bear, Mikito-P and others at the orchestra-and-band live "Trio Colors Odyssey" at Tokyo International Forum, with Kase and Ryoryo singing his songs.

On February 16, 2024 he contributed "Encounter" to Project VOLTAGE's Pokémon feat. Hatsune Miku, his first new song with a music video in about two years, with illustration by M.B and guitar by Ryoryo. On April 17, 2024, "Surges" won the YouTube Award at NexTone Award 2024. From June 28, he held his first Tokyo–Nagoya–Osaka one-man tour, "And So Henceforth," (ending at Tokyo Garden Theater in July), with the mini-album Postscript, sung by Orangestar, Kase and Ryoryo, sold as tour merchandise. In 2026 he composed "Petals" (opening) and "Hanaikada" (ending) for Shunkashūtō Daikōsha: Haru no Mai, both sung by Kase; the "Petals" music video, produced by WIT STUDIO and directed by Satomi Maiya, was released on April 12.

Musical style

Summer is the central theme of Orangestar's music. Born in summer and fond of Japan's summer, he fills his songs with elements such as cicadas, even though many were composed in the United States, where living abroad gave him a clearer sense of the Japanese summer. Other recurring motifs include pianos, stars, the sea, melancholy and loneliness.

He most often uses the IA voicebank rather than more popular ones such as Hatsune Miku, because it was the first he bought and he likes the transparency of her voice. His arrangements are typically simple, centered on piano and synthesizers, with occasional guitar. He has also written songs for Wolpis Carter, Sou, Mary and Kase.