LiSA ASiA TOUR 2026: J-Rock Icon LiSA Shares Her Love For Malaysian Fans In Exclusive Interview

Fresh off the heels of an explosive night in Kuala Lumpur for the opening leg of her LiSA ASiA TOUR 2026, LiVE is Smile Always～15～, Japanese rockstar and anime music royalty LiSA met with members of the press. Amid the whirlwind of her milestone 15th-anniversary tour, the beloved singer-songwriter shared her reflections on her evolving musical identity, the collaborative spirit driving her artistry, and her triumphant return to the Malaysian stage. Read on for the highlights from the collective media Q&A session.

Hello, LiSA. You have toured Asia before, but this 15th anniversary feels a bit different in scale. When you perform in Southeast Asia, these are markets that discover you largely through anime rather than traditional radio or television. Does the crowd in Malaysia and Southeast Asia in general feel different or special to you?

LiSA: Singapore was actually the very first Southeast Asian country I ever visited. At the time, I was incredibly surprised by the vibrant anime community there, and deeply moved by how many people overseas knew about anime and my music. Since then, I have performed in many different countries across Asia.

Yesterday, I was finally able to perform my very first headline show in Malaysia. It was an exceptionally great performance, and I feel profoundly grateful for it. It made me incredibly happy to hear the audience singing along to my songs, such as Crossing Field, Oath Sign, and my tracks from Kimetsu no Yaiba. Regardless of which era a song is from, everyone sang along in unison. It was truly a magnificent moment for me.

Before this concert in Kuala Lumpur, you last performed in Malaysia at the Penang Anime Matsuri in 2016. How does it feel to be back again and holding your first solo concert in the country?

LiSA: I feel completely “powered up” as a singer and a musician. Crucially, it is not just myself; the crowd has also evolved and powered up in tandem. The energy in the venue was outstanding, and I was overjoyed to exchange that intense energy directly with the audience.

This is your first headline concert in Malaysia, and the tickets sold out very quickly. How did you feel when you received this news?

LiSA: I actually could not fully believe the news until yesterday. Seeing the massive crowd waiting for me the moment I stepped onto the stage was incredible, and it inspired me to go all out right from the very beginning of the performance!

Malaysia is a multicultural country. During the concert, many fans in the audience do not speak Japanese in their daily lives, yet they perfectly captured every emotion in your voice. When language is no longer the primary bridge, what kind of “super-sensory” channel did you use on stage to make that rock energy flow directly into the hearts of your Malaysian fans?

LiSA: It is a sentiment that is somewhat difficult to articulate in words, but the one thing I could tangibly feel yesterday was absolute love. There was an overwhelming presence of love filling the venue. I believe that because every single person attended the show with a shared mindset of wanting to support the performance and listen to the music, a beautiful synergy was born. I brought my own soul to the stage with the singular desire to make everyone happy. Those unseen individual energies fused into a collective power, creating a lovely and precious moment.

You have chosen music as your lifelong career path. What was the turning point or moment of inspiration that made you realize this is the journey to which you wanted to dedicate yourself?

LiSA: I have aspired to be a singer ever since I was a young child. However, the precise moment I realized I would dedicate my life to being a professional musician was when I performed for an anime series for the first time, which was Angel Beats!. I provided the singing voice for the character Yui, and I felt a profound realization that so many people were listening to my voice and my singing through her. That was the moment it became real to me—the understanding that my singing could truly reach and deliver messages to people. That was when I knew I wanted to live my life as a vocalist.

LACE UP is your first album in a few years, and it lands right on your 15th anniversary. Did you feel like you were closing a chapter with this record, or opening a new one? What is different about how you approach making music now versus the person who put out Letters to U?

LiSA: This album serves as a bridge that connects my past to my upcoming career. In a sense, it represents a conclusion, but it simultaneously signifies the beginning of a new chapter for the future.

For instance, there is a song I performed yesterday called Patch Walk. If you observed the monitor during the concert, you might have noticed that for the first portion of the song, the visuals feature footage from a concert in Japan, showcasing my Japanese fans. However, toward the end, the video transitions to the moment I landed in Malaysia. Through this, I wanted to express that this song connects my entire career journey in Japan all the way to my presence on stage yesterday. This album is designed to show that everything is beautifully summed up and connected from the past to the future.

When I wrote songs in the past, such as for Letters to U, my primary focus was simply to deliver my own feelings independently. I poured whatever I was experiencing directly onto paper to express my internal thoughts. Today, I recognize myself much more consciously as a seasoned artist. It is no longer just about me; I am surrounded by a wonderful team. I must always keep in mind how the public perceives LiSA, both visually and artistically now.

Your Netflix documentary highlights “Another Great Day” as a personal catchphrase and a core motivation as a performer. With that spirit in mind, what were some of the biggest challenges you faced in planning this tour?

LiSA: Curating the setlist! (Laughs) Over the past 15 years, I have written between 100 and 150 songs, making it incredibly difficult to narrow down the tracklist for this specific tour.

I am immensely grateful to my band members, who supported me completely in bringing this creative vision to life. Furthermore, we incorporated anime visuals into the production, and I find it wonderful that the respective anime committees granted us permission to use that material. I believe it is because of my 15-year career that the community and the band were able to unite so seamlessly to support this vision.

We saw you rocking the stage with your signature, explosive energy and high-intensity movement during the show. After such an intense performance, what was the very first thing you did after returning to the hotel to unwind and find your calm?

LiSA: Dive into bed! (Laughs) However, right before that, I make it a point to update my social media while my feelings are still immersed in the mood of the concert. I type out everything I wish to convey, and then I ask the local team to translate some of the words before I publish the posts. After that, I finally dive into bed!

The reason I prioritize updating my social media is because it allows me to instantly deliver and share my excitement with people overseas and all around the world. It extends the experience, allowing me to connect with the audience through their immediate reactions and comments.

Growing up, what were your biggest musical influences, and how have they shaped your style today?

LiSA: The very first musical group to influence me was the Japanese pop group SPEED. I listened to their music when I was very young. They were a dance and vocal group composed of elementary and junior high school students, and because I was roughly the same age as the members, watching them achieve such immense popularity was fascinating to me.

Following that era, I transitioned into listening to punk music, particularly Avril Lavigne and bands like Green Day and Blink-182 before diving deeper into heavier subgenres like hardcore rock and emo. Concurrently, I was also influenced by the distinct world of J-pop idols. Ultimately, my current musical identity is an amalgamation of these diverse roots—spanning idol pop, punk rock, emo, and hardcore music.

Would you consider including Malaysia as a stop on your future tours?

LiSA: For my Malaysian fans? Of course! I absolutely must return. How could I possibly stay away after witnessing the incredible energy from yesterday? The audience gave me an immense amount of strength. Let us definitely make another Malaysian tour stop happen in the future!

A translated Malay version of this interview can be found on Aksiz.com.

Concert photos courtesy of Viola Kam (V’z Twinkle).