is a Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

ian-born Japanese

Japanese people

The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

 vocalist known for singing anime theme song

Music in Japanese animation

Music in Japanese animation is often closely tied to the Japanese music industry, but is also a significant industry, and genre in its own right, with genre often referred to as "anison", a portmanteau of "animation" and "song", or "anime song"...

s in Brazil as well as collaborating with anison supergroup

Supergroup (music)

In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

 JAM Project

JAM Project

JAM Project is an anime music genre "supergroup" based in Japan, originally founded on July 19, 2000 by famous 1970s theme song artist Ichirou Mizuki...

 on their singles "GONG", "STORMBRINGER", and most recently "Shugojin-The guardian". He also wrote the Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 lyrics for the bonus track "NEO" off of Aquaria

Aquaria (band)

Aquaria is a symphonic power metal band from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The band was formed in 1999, and was originally known as Uirapuru, under which name they released two demos: Here Comes The Life and Flames Of Trinity. In 2005, the band released their debut album Luxaeterna through Scarecrow...

's album Shambala

Shambala (album)

Shambala is the second studio album by the Brazilian symphonic power metal band Aquaria, released in 2007.-Track listing:# "Hope" # "Heart of the Gods" # "Expedition" # "Into the Forest" # "Lost" # "Iara"...

and for "Sempre sonhando" ("Always dreaming"), a song from the JAM Project album "Get over the border". As a "part-time" member of JAM Project, he tours with the group in Latin America, acting as a translator.
Ricardo Cruz is also responsible for the Brazilian version of some anime songs such as Ohayo (Hunter X Hunter) and Megami no Senshi ~ Pegasus Forever ~ (Saint Seiya - Hades: Chapter Inferno).

Early life

In the mid 1990s to early 2000s, Ricardo worked as a musician in Brazil, his native homeland. He also worked as a journal writer, typically translating from Japanese to Portuguese and English. He speaks Portuguese and Japanese fluently. In 2003, he met JAM Project's current leader, Hironobu Kageyama

Hironobu Kageyama

is a Japanese musical artist prominent in the soundtracks for anime, video game, and tokusatsu productions. He is sometimes called Kami by his fans. Kageyama got his big break at age 16, as lead singer of the pop group Lazy. By the early '80s, the band split and Kageyama went solo...

 at the largest anime convention is Brazil, Anime Friends. Hironobu expressed interest in Ricardo's voice, and gave him a demo. The demo track later won him a position in JAM Project as a secondary member.

Career

Ricardo participated in the studio with JAM Project for the first time in 2005, starting with Neppu Cybuster Shippu!, followed by a second track on the same single, Meikyuu no Prisoner. In 2006, he performed as part of the group with the original leader Ichirou Mizuki

Ichirou Mizuki

, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese vocalist, lyrist, composer, voice actor and actor best known for his work on theme songs for anime and tokusatsu. For over 40 years, he has recorded over 1200 songs for Japanese film, television, video and video games. He is referred to by fans and...

 on another single, Stormbringer

Stormbringer

Stormbringer is the name of the infamous black sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. Created by the forces of Chaos, it is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes carved deep into its blade...

. Shortly after in 2007, he shared the stage for the first time on the group's 4th live concert, JAM Project JAPAN CIRCUIT 2007 Break-Out.

He wrote the lyrics for the song Sempre Sonhando ~Yume Oibito~ on JAM Project's 6th best album in 2006, Get over the Border. In 2009 he joined with Wada Kouji to produce a song in Japanese and Portugese. On September 17, 2010, Ricardo joined up with JAM Project once more for their Reunion concert, where the original members, Ichirou Mizuki and Eizo Sakamoto

Eizo Sakamoto

is a Japanese heavy metal musician who was born in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture. He is most famous for being the lead vocalist of 1980s band Anthem. In the 1990s he started up the band Animetal which performed heavy metal covers of anime and tokusatsu opening and closing themes. He also was...

 but without Rica Matsumoto

Rica Matsumoto

is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer who was born in Yokohama, Japan. Her name is also sometimes romanized as Rika Matsumoto. She was one of the original members of the popular vocal group JAM Project. After the way of the stage, she embarked on voice acting and a singing career...

, sang with the current members.

Ricardo will be expected to return to JAM Project in late 2011 and early 2012 for their "Go! Go! GOING!!" world tour.

Translation of Manga

• Bleach
  Bleach
  Bleach refers to a number of chemicals that remove color, whiten, or disinfect, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household chlorine bleach , lye, oxygen bleach , and bleaching powder...
  
  :
  1. Volumes 1-24

• Full Metal Panic

• Naruto
  Naruto
  is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become the Hokage, the ninja in his village who is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of...
  
  :
  1. Volumes 1-16

• Vampire Knight
  Vampire Knight
  is a shōjo manga and anime series written by Matsuri Hino. The series premiered in the January 2005 issue of LaLa magazine and is still on-going. Chapters are collected and published in collected volumes by Hakusensha, with eleven volumes currently released in Japan. The manga series is licensed in...
  
  :
  1. Volumes 1-2

Solo Work

• Anime Opening HunterxHunter
  1. Song: Bom Dia

• OVA's opening set of Saint Seiya: The Hades Chapter - Inferno.
  1. Song: Megami no Senshi ~ Pegasus Forever ~

Wada Kouji

• Disc: Kazakami no oka kara
  1. Topic: SEM BARREIROS Kegarenaki Jidai ~ I ~ feat. Ricardo Cruz

Discography

• Albums:
  1. Olympia ~ JAM Project BEST COLLECTION IV ~
  2. Big Bang ~ JAM Project BEST COLLECTION V ~
  3. Get over the Border ~ JAM Project BEST COLLECTION VI ~
  4. SEVENTH EXPLOSION ~ JAM Project BEST COLLECTION VII ~

• Singles:
  1. Meikyuu no Prisoner
  2. Stormbringer
  3. Rescue Fire
  4. Shugoshin - The Guardian
  5. Bakuchin Kanryou! Fire Rescue
  6. Transformers EVO

• Concert DVD:
  1. JAM Project JAPAN CIRCUIT 2007 Break Out
  2. JAM Project JAPAN FLIGHT 2008 No Border
  3. JAM Project Hurricane Tour 2009 Gate of the Future
  4. JAM Project 10th Anniversary LIVE Reunion

External links

• CROSS WORLD - Cruz's personal blog