Puffy AmiYumi

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Puffy AmiYumi
Yoshimura (left) and Ōnuki (right) performing as PUFFY at the 2009 Japan Expo at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre
Background information
Also known as	PUFFY
Origin	Tokyo, Japan
Genres	Pop rock power pop pop punk dance rock
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Epic Ki/oon Music Warner Music Japan Bar/None Tofu
Members	Ami Ōnuki Yumi Yoshimura
Website	Official web-site

Puffy (sometimes stylized in all-caps), also known as Puffy AmiYumi in the US, are a Japanese pop rock duo formed in Tokyo in 1995, consisting of singers Ami Ōnuki and Yumi Yoshimura. In the United States, they adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, who also performed under the name Puffy. The duo sings in Japanese as well as in English and in Mandarin Chinese.

Both Ami and Yumi were scouted by Sony-affiliated talent agencies and put together in the mid-1990s. Most of their work was produced or co-written by Okuda Tamio and Andy Sturmer, formerly of the bands Unicorn and Jellyfish, respectively.^[1][2]

The duo's first single, Asia no Junshin (1996), sold one million records. They gained mainstream success in Japan in 1998 following the release of their album, Jet and continued with several more full-length releases (totaling 15 million sales in Japan).^[3]

In 2004, an animated series featuring animated versions of themselves, Hi! Hi! Puffy AmiYumi, premiered on the US's Cartoon Network. Although their characters were voiced by different voice actresses, the singers portrayed themselves for short live-action segments taped in Japan.