As the anime loving community increases in the United States, there has been a recent increase in the travel of artists and personalities from Japan coming to major cities in the US to perform and work. Reni Chan, now a growing star in the NYC Otaku Community. is gaining a lot of popularity through her performances around NYC and at the NYC Anime Convention every year, plus social networking sites like Youtube, Facebook and other social media sites that allow her to connect with new people. I had a chance to interview Reni and was happy to find out more about how she came to the US to perform and become a part of the growing Otaku Community.

Here is a short version of her biography:
Reni Mimura Bio (Medium Version):

      Reni, born and raised in Japan, currently resides in New York City and specializes in Akihabara style performances, a genre that emphasizes the cute look of Japanese pop-culture with the hip appeal of Japanese animation. Through her singing and dancing she creates an adorable, peaceful, yet exciting mood. Her first Japanese CD, released in 2006, was produced by Takahiro Yamautsuri, who composed the music for one of the Pokemon movies. In 2009, she began her regular monthly Japanese 'Maid' Show events in NYC, and has been invited as a guest performer to Japan Society, Otakon and NY Anime Festival. Reni offers the most fun and authentic Japanese pop experience without ever having to travel to Tokyo. Reni is quickly winning over the hearts of many new local fans, thanks to her pretty stage costumes, upbeat personality, and her outstanding singing talent.

(Interview questions and my responses are listed in Italics)
 
 Do you think the travel of things like cosplay, anime and manga are shaping a new community of people in the US?

      Yes! It is great to see! This is largely a result of the Internet society.
I think the community will grow bigger and bigger to overcome stress and isolation in society.

Why did you come to the United States?

     The internet has made our life very convenient, but people need to make places to interact socially and physically more actively and consciously. I am here as an artist, committing myself to create the kind of environment focusing on communications among people through entertainment. I would like to play an active role not only in Japan, but in the world. To do that I thought it might be better living in the U.S. than in Japan.

Do you enjoy living in New York City? Have you found yourself a part of a new, vibrant community there?

      I enjoy it very much. I see many different people, cultures, lifestyles, expressions, but I also see the similarities we share as human beings. Things like being lonely, happy, and in love are shared around the world. NY makes me feel like I am a baby again because it is so new to me. I am curious about so many things.

As a cosplay singer, what does your average day involves?

      I take dance lesson everyday, train my voice, image and plan the future performances, have a meeting with staffs. I always think about my fans (I call them friends and angels). How they like to enjoy my shows, what idol they want to be, and so forth.
      I get lonely sometimes, but angels give me energy and keep me moving.

Do you find that you get a lot of enthusiasm from fans who are very interested in cosplay and anime culture? What does that enthusiasm mean to you?

     I feel It is very important, for my style of performance, that the entertainment has to be easy to be enjoyed by people in the culture. Japan has different style of entertainment from the one in the U.S.
      Doing shows in the U.S. and getting a lot of reactions and suggestions from friends (fans) are precious resource that I have in order for me to grow as a better artist.
      So I will never forget these fans. Of course, Jessie, you are the one too (^ ^)/

Why do you think cosplay has been growing so much in the US and around the world in recent years?

      Cosplay can transform you to different personality. For example, by wearing different costume from usual, it might make you speak to other people easier and more friendly, The other example is for a couple doing cosplay - through it their relationship might be refreshed. You can be a main character or anything you like. We can have a lot of fun with it, and make people happy at same time. I think this is very futuristic thing to do. It's like a game in real life!

And Last Question: What would you like most to achieve in your career in the cosplay media industry?

     I would like to communicate with people by actually meeting and seeing them in person, and looking at their eyes. I would like to focus on finding out what we lose from the heavy use of the internet, and be one who is participating to solve those problems. I would like to see people with no scary feelings toward each other, no lonely hearts, and see them having happy lives together in peace.

Thank you so much (^ ^)

And Thank you Reni Chan! I look forward to more of your performances on Youtube. Since I am in Japan I currently keep up with Reni through her youtube videos. You can see some of her performances below and on her youtube channel.
 
Find Reni's blog at http://www.renireni.com/ and listen to her new album at http://www.dfjamsstore.com/index.php?target=products&product_id=1360
 Join Reni's facebook fan page here.