The dancer Manaco became a breakout start 9 years ago following her dancing in a sailor uniform in the dance video to ‘Yo-Kai Taisou Dai-ichi’, the ending theme for the anime ‘Yo-Kai Watch’.
After its release, the video attracted more than 5 million total views on YouTube, was No. 1 on Nico Nico Douga (in the dance cover category), and among other activities, Manaco made numerous appearances on TV at the time. Owing to this success, she received comments such as, “That young woman in the sailor uniform is so cute!” and became famous as a mysterious young beauty. Now, 9 years later, a dance cover remake of the video that made her famous, ‘Yo-Kai Exercise Number One’, has been released.
Photo: Japanese Culture
On July 11th, leveraging the timing of the 10th anniversary of the ‘Yo-Kai Watch’ series, this video was released as the ‘2023 ver.’ of the popular dance routine.
The images used in the original video have been recreated in their entirety, the uniform worn is the same, and the filming sites and angles are also exact replicas. At the time of filming, Manaco offered the following comment, “It’s the 10th anniversary of the initial release of Yo-Kai Watch so we took the opportunity to do the dance again. It really made me think about how I have become an adult and reflect on the passage of time (Lol). It also took me back to the time of the original recording. I poured a lot of different emotions into this video so please be sure to check it out”.
Photo: Japanese Culture
In addition to the new release, the original ‘Yo-Kai Exercise Number One’ video from almost 9 years ago today has been posted to YouTube once again, so why not compare the new version to the original?
Manaco made her debut at the age 16 as part of the third generation of ‘DANCEROID’, a group that became famous for its ‘dance cover’ videos on ‘Nico Nico Douga’.
After that group disbanded, she became the main vocalist for the rock-dance group ’Q‘ulle’ in 2014.
In 2019, she made her major label debut as a solo artist under the name ‘Manaco’ with the album ‘On Blue’. She also released her first photo collection, ‘ONE’S WHOLE SELF’. In the fall of 2020, she began working as an actress and entertainer in earnest.
Manaco is a multi-faceted creative who is primarily active in the online space.
