This year, Anime Expo 2005's headlining Guest of Honor was none other than talented singer and seiyuu Sakamoto Maaya. Soft-spoken and shy, this petite star confessed to members of the press before her concert that she was nervous and afraid she wouldn't be able to fill the main event hall at Anime Expo 2005 because no one in America would know who she was.

Despite her fears, Sakamoto Maaya fans packed the hall. Performing on an otherwise empty stage except for a background screen and without need for theatrics, Maaya's soft, sweet voice delighted fans as she sang well-known favorites from various anime. Between songs, she spoke with hesitant but clear English, responding to fan's declarations of love with, "I love you maybe, too!" After leaving the stage for the first time, Maaya returned promptly when called upon for an encore. Performing Kaze ga Fuki Hi from Vision of Escaflowne, she said that singing the song made her feel happy and hoped that hearing it would make the audience feel happy, as well.

Though scheduling around her was kept fairly tight to allow Maaya time to relax, Geneon was gracious enough to allow me the opportunity to have a few minutes to speak with Sakamoto Maaya one-on-one:

AA: This was your first concert in the United States, and you'd said that you were very nervous before you went on stage. How do you think that it went?

Maaya: I messed up the lyrics on the first song, so that kind of gives you an idea of how nervous that I was.

AA: Do you think anyone noticed that you messed up the lyrics?

Maaya: Did you know?

AA: No.

Maaya: (laughs) The song that probably most people know is that first song, the song from Escaflowne, so I thought maybe a lot of people would notice that I'd messed up and after the concert I was reflecting on that.

AA: I think everyone was just very excited to see you.

Maaya: Thank you.

AA: Were you excited to have so many fans here to see you?

Maaya: I received a lot of encouragement and energy from the American audience, and all of the stuff that I was nervous about just went away with everyone's support, so I was very happy.

AA: Are you happy to be performing in America?

Maaya: Yes!

Maaya: It's a collection of all the openings and endings from anime that I've sang, so there's a lot of songs on there that hopefully people will know. The collection will also include English translations of all the lyrics so that people will know what the songs mean, and hopefully American audiences will listen to it over and over again.

AA: During your concert, you spoke in English to the audience. Is it important to you to be able to communicate with American audiences as much as you communicate with Japanese audiences?

Maaya: (in English) I want to say directly with my audience. My English is very slowly and my vocabulary is very little so I can’t speak. (in Japanese) I want to speak as much as possible directly to my audience, but I don't have the vocabulary in English. I can't express small things very well. But a lot of the audience yesterday probably knew a little bit of Japanese, so I kind of mixed them all together. But I want to be able to speak in my own voice to them.

AA: What's the hardest part about performing in a foreign country?

Maaya: This is my first performance abroad, I've only done concerts in Japan before and so the biggest thing was that I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know how the fans would react and I couldn't picture myself even on stage somewhere else, so that was the most difficult part of it all.

AA: Now that you've performed here, would you like to see your other albums released here, as well?

Maaya: There aren't any plans for it right now, but if I had a chance it would definitely be something I'd look forward to.

AA: Your debut voice acting role was as Hitomi in Vision of Escaflowne, and you also performed the theme song for the series. Were you primarily at that point interested in acting or singing?

Maaya: At the time, I was doing the role of Hitomi first and the song came later, so I didn't really consider myself as much of a singer as an actor. It was something that was decided on later on.

AA: What was it like to start working in the entertainment industry at such a very young age?

AA: You've been a voice actor in a fairly large number of anime series. Which was your favorite to work on?

Maaya: (in English) I can't choose... everything (laughs). (in Japanese) I like them all, I can't really choose. Hitomi was something special. There are a lot of memories tied into that role.

AA: You recently performed as Eponine in Les Misérables, and you mentioned before that your father worked as a lighting producer for the stage, so you've been around the theatre all your life. Was this your first time on stage as an actor?

Maaya: This wasn't the first. I've had other roles on stage, as well.

AA: You work a lot with Kanno Yoko, whom is well known as an outstanding composer. How did the two of you start working together? Was Escaflowne your first project working with her?

Maaya: Yes, I met her while working on Escaflowne.

AA: You mentioned before that in your next project, you won't be working with Kanno Yoko. What direction are you going in your next album?

Maaya: (in English) My last single, Loop, was with Wada Hiroki. He is Escaflowne's ending musician... you know Mystic Eyes? (in Japanese) Wada-san worked with me on this last single, and there are a number of people who are working with me now.

AA: Now that you've performed in North America, do you plan on returning for future projects or concerts?

Maaya: In September, there is an event in Texas that I will be performing at, and I'm very much looking forward to it.

AA: In the future, can we be expecting to hear your voice in any new anime?

Maaya: (in English) Gundam Seed Destiny, Tsubasa Chronicle, do you know? (in Japanese) They're airing in Japan, so they'll probably be in America sometime soon. And Gunbuster II.

AA: Thank you very much for your time. It has been an honor to meet you.

Maaya: Thank you.