I've Sound

History

I've was founded in 1998 by members of the six-member Takase Fight, initially producing music for tsushin karaoke and adult game brands based in Hokkaidō. They contributed two tracks to the Dancemania series, "If You Were Here" by Jennifer and "Is This The Way You Kill A Love" by Gina, both featured in Dance Dance Revolution. The name "I've" was first used while working on the eroge Lips: egao no yukue in autumn 1998, though that game was later cancelled; during this period they established ties with Visual Art's, a computer game and software maker under which most of I've's subsequent works were released. The first game I've produced music for was Hakidame: Trash, released in February 1999 by Zero (a brand of Visual Art's), where they were credited as I've Sound; it included the songs "Fuck Me" and "Utsukushiku Ikitai". Their big break came with the 1999 release of the PC game Kanon by Key, featuring theme songs "Last Regrets" and "Kaze no Tadoritsuku Basho", both arranged by I've, which later appeared in Kanon's 2002 anime adaptation and its 2006 remake. Their first compilation album, Regret, was released in December 1999. In 2002, I've was hired to produce music for their first anime series, Please Teacher!, expanding their exposure internationally. In April 2004, vocalist Kotoko made her major debut with the album Hane, followed by Mami Kawada's major debut single "Radiance" in February 2005, and Eiko Shimamiya's Ulysses album in April 2005. Mell and sound creator C.G mix made major releases in 2006 (Red Fraction single and In Your Life album respectively), and Kaori Utatsuki joined with the single Shining Stars Bless in August 2007. I've held their first concert on October 15, 2005, at Nippon Budokan. In 2012, Mami Kawada released her fourth album, Square the Circle, including her last singles used as theme songs for A Certain Magical Index and the third season of Shakugan no Shana; Larval Stage Planning released their second single, used as the opening for High School DxD; and a new volume of the Girls compilation series was released, with vocalist MAKO, a guest singer from twelve years prior, making a return.