Thai anisong1 singer MindaRyn has made her long-awaited return to the Philippines with ANISAMA WORLD 2025 in MANILA.
Known for her hit songs “Like Flames,” used as the second opening of the anime That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, and “Daylight,” which was the opening of the anime Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, she had her humble beginnings on her YouTube channel, which currently amasses over a million subscribers. She made her official debut in 2020 with “BLUE ROSE knows,” the ending theme of the anime By the Grace of the Gods.
Dumpling Box had the opportunity to sit down with her ahead of her Manila performance to talk about ANISAMA, the Philippines, and her passion for music.
Please introduce yourself and tell us what your charm point is!
My name is MindaRyn. I am an anisong singer from Thailand. My charm point? Not sure about that, but maybe it’s ‘because I’m a foreigner?’ It’s easier to connect with people around the world, and I can speak 3 languages, which are Thai, English, and Japanese.
MindaRyn, also named Mind, started out with a YouTube channel doing covers of anisongs over 9 years ago. Since then, her channel grew exponentially, before she made her debut in Japan 5 years ago.
Her music taste goes beyond the genres that she works in—citing that a song that represents her is “Queendom” by the Norwegian artist AURORA. “It’s a song about creating your own queendom, creating your own world and places, and she wants people to live in her queendom—which is quite free. The song describes me; I don’t want to be like anybody, I’ll just be me.”
Her discography spans multiple genres, from rock to ballads. She particularly recommends “Like Flames” to new listeners. “It’s rock, but it also includes a lot of English words, so it’s gonna be easier for people to understand.” She notes that it’s quite her style—hence the recommendation.
Are there any songs that fans overseas particularly love or request when you perform live?
From my songs, of course, it would be “Like Flames,” because it’s the most famous one! Recently, we’ve also been trying to expose ourselves or connect more to the people in the world. We try to promote our beloved label, Lantis [under Bandai Namco Music Live], so we have a small section in every single one of my overseas concerts where we have a cover of Bandai Music Live songs. So every time that I perform and get a good reaction from people, it’s “God Knows…” [by Haruhi Suzumiya (C.V. Aya Hirano)], and we hope to perform more covers.
If you could be any anime or manga character for a day, who would it be and why?
There’s a character I really love, Killua. He uses nen—a lot of characters in Hunter X Hunter use nen, but I especially love Killua, so I want to be Killua and use his electric nen, the power he has.
Do you have any dream anime or game you would love to sing for in the future?
I appreciate all the opportunities that come to me, but I really adore the NieR series. It’s a game that has a really beautiful song, and I am a big fan of the game, so maybe someday. And it also has an anime version that came out last year, too, so one day, if they have another season of NieR: Automata, I hope I can be a part of it.
She adds that if given the chance, she would love to collaborate with AURORA, an artist she’s recently gotten into. She notes that AURORA’s music is very far from her own, which helps her relax when times get difficult for her. She adds, “Being an anisong singer in Japan, of course, is my dream, but it’s not everything that I thought and I get stressed, and when anisong becomes work, the relaxation when listening to anisongs goes down a little bit because it’s work and you have to analyze what you’re listening to to learn.”
In the world of anisongs, she wants to collaborate with the songwriter and composer Yuki Kajiura. Yuki Kajiura is the mastermind behind the OST of the anime Tsubasa Chronicles and much more. She utilizes a unique melody of strings, akin to an orchestra style, which is also the very genre MindaRyn wants to do more of. She emphasizes that she has only one orchestra-style song, that being “SEKIDEI.” She also hopes to have an OST for games, citing that she’s done songs mostly for anime only.
What is something you do to keep yourself in the game, motivated, or excited when pursuing bigger stages?
Actually, I’m the very nervous type, so I don’t have any advice, because every time, I’m nervous. But I just keep practicing until you think even though you’re nervous, you’re not gonna mess it up. I have a lot of advice from my senpai that comes with me, like be relaxed and enjoy.
Standing on a stage as big as ANISAMA is quite the feat—but artists like MindaRyn still need the audience to bring their performances to life. “I also have the audience. If the audience sends me a lot of good energy and I’m going to absorb it and reflect it back to them,” she states.
But MindaRyn is no stranger to the Philippines, having already gone to the country in October 2022 for a cosplay event, where she had performed as well. “First of all, I’m very glad to be back,” she says, “because it was my first time then, it’s been two years since I’ve been here. Everyone here in Manila is so adorable, and they very warmly welcomed me. I really feel the energy from the crowd, their love for anime, and I was hoping they would hold it here, and it came true.”
When she took the stage at ANISAMA, the crowd cheered for the opening footage, which introduced her onstage. She started her set with “Like Flames,” with fans chanting loudly, showcasing their bright energy. She maneuvered around the stage, bringing attention to different parts of the audience, encouraging them to cheer loudly during intervals in her song. She relied on the audience to raise the energy, which she reflected back—like she mentioned earlier—as she sang the bridge of “Like Flames,” which showcased her vocal prowess.
The sea of penlights turned blue under her watch as the video of Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion played behind her as she started her second song, “Fireworks,” a full English track, which had the crowd screaming in surprise. Her soft voice for the ballad song complemented the scene for which it was made. “It’s the special ending song for Episode 6, played at the very special scene where Noah and Raeliana talk about something very important, and they were in the festival, so up in the sky, there were fireworks, hence the title,” she had shared during the interview.
She started her MC with a cheerful greeting, “Magandang araw!” (Good day!) before introducing herself in Filipino. She checked her cheat sheet on her hand, expressing her love for Jollibee. She repeatedly asked the audience if they were doing well, commending them for their good energy.
“On ‘Fireworks,’ there was a part where I had to stretch out my hand, very emotional, but it was…” she said, referring to her cheat sheet scribbled on her hand. “Is that why you guys laughed?”
She added how happy she was to come back to the Philippines, asking the audience if they were enjoying it as well. “ANISAMA is not only about us who are singing on this stage, but it’s about all of us becoming one. So you and me, everyone here in New Frontier Theater today, we are ANISAMA.”
She ended her set on a high note with “Voltes V no Uta,” a crowd favorite in the Philippines, noting that it is a very special song. Upon announcing the anime the song was from, the crowd erupted in cheers. She added a fun touch in preparation for her final song, asking the audience to do a call and response with her, where she would start with “Let’s” and the audience would follow with “Volt in,” a homage to the rallying cry of the show. The audience sang along to every word until the end, still with energy to cheer for her as she said her goodbyes for now with Salamat po! (Thank you!)
But that wasn’t the last the audience would see of MindaRyn. She later returned for a collaboration stage with Hiroshi Kitadani, where she sang “Bokura no Spectra” together with him, in an effort to promote the Ultraman series, particularly of Blazar, where the song had come from. Her vocals blended effortlessly with the senior singer’s, lighting and firing up the stage. They were later joined by Mayu Maeshima, who joined MindaRyn as the chorus to “UUUUUS!“ as Hiroshi Kitadani took center stage for the song. MindaRyn joined the rest of the ensemble once more for “GO!!!” where they all jumped around and had fun onstage before ending with Animelo Summer Live 2024 -Stargazer-’s theme song “Stargazer,” which featured duets among the artists, with MindaRyn singing together with Toshiya Miyata (Kis-My-Ft2).
Is there any Filipino food you want to try, or places in the Philippines you would like to go to?
I’ve been here for a day already so today, I went to eat adobo, laing and the soup with the pork inside (sinigang).
She further added that she had also eaten Bicol Express, sisig, and mango crepe. “But one thing I have to eat every time I come here to the Philippines still haven’t, is Jollibee.” She said she intended to wait after ANISAMA to have Jollibee, though she stated on her SNS that she missed the chance to get the famous local delicacy.
She continued, saying that she wanted to go see the Philippines’ beaches. With the local Dumpling Box staff suggesting Zambales and Batangas, unfortunately, as it was quite far from Manila, she couldn’t go this time. She jokingly added going to Okada Manila just for the Jollibee, even noting that Japan doesn’t have a Jollibee franchise yet. Her love for the local brand overflowed during her stay in Manila, which also showed during her performance. “You have Jollibee, why go to another brand?” She joked during the interview.
Lastly, a Message for Filipino fans?
ANISAMA is a very big anisong event in Japan, and now we’re trying to deliver it all around the world. We’re very happy to do ANISAMA WORLD in the Philippines for the first time. We hope we will have a great time. We have a lot of surprises waiting for you at the concert. I’m gonna do my best!
She also asks her fans and readers to tune into her new song “Missing Link,” which features ASH DA HERO’s ASH and will be used as the ending theme of Ultraman Omega. The tokusatsu2 show started airing on July 5, Saturday, while the collaboration track was officially released on July 21.
Check out more MindaRyn
Photo assets used with permission.
- An anisong singer (or anison singer) is an artist—either a solo singer, voice actor, or band—who specializes in performing songs tied to anime, visual‑novel games, and other related media. ↩︎
- A tokusatsu show refers to shows which make use of special effects that have superheroes and giant monsters, such as Ultraman, Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. ↩︎