Kōji Wada

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Kōji Wada (January 29, 1974 – April 3, 2016) was a Japanese pop singer famous for singing many Digimon anime themes. He was nicknamed the “Immortal Butterfly Anisong Singer” for his lasting impact on anime songs.

Wada was born in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto, Japan, and sang mainly J-pop and anime music. He released his debut single in 1999, the iconic Digimon theme “Butter-Fly,” which helped launch his career with the Lantis label.

Throughout his career he released several albums, including All of My Mind (2003) and The Best Selection: Welcome Back! He also issued mini-albums such as Ever (2008) and the Kazakami no Oka Kara release around 2010 to celebrate ten years in music.

Wada contributed songs to six of the seven Digimon series, and he sang many openings for the first five. He also performed ending themes for Digimon Frontier and other Digimon songs, as well as the theme for Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

He performed internationally, with shows in Brazil (Anime Friends, 2007), Chile (Anime Festival XL, 2007), and Mexico (Dengeki Live, 2010). In 2011 he put his career on hold due to metastatic cancer. He died on April 3, 2016, from nasopharynx cancer, leaving behind his last single “Seven〜tri. Version〜,” released five days before his death.

Tributes followed, including the 2016 CD Digimon Song Best of Koji Wada and the 2017 Koji Wada Digimon Memorial Best. In the Digimon world, a butterfly-themed Digimon named Hudiemon and the hacker group Hudie were created in his honor.