"What I'm about to tell you is going to make you think that I'm a really really big nerd. As if you didn't already think that."
— Laura Shigihara, in regards to her World of Warcraft machinima
Best known as the voice of the Sunflower who sung the credits theme for Plants vs. Zombies, Laura Shigihara is a singer, songwriter, artist, and video game developer who found her calling for music creation while attending university for a degree in something completely different* .
She went on to create music for several video games and fan projects before developing her very own video game, Rakuen, an indie RPG starring a young Boy and his Mom who use a magical book to help everyone come to terms with their fates.
For a complete list of her works and contributions, check out her website and Youtube channel.
Video game songs performed by Laura Shigihara:
- U.S.G. ~ A New Beginning credits theme: "Starshine (new beginnings)"
- Quintessence credits theme: "Drift"
- Plants vs. Zombies credits theme: "Zombies On Your Lawn"
- Celestial Mechanica trailer theme: "Celestial Beings"
- The To the Moon series:
- To The Moon: "Everything's Alright"
- Finding Paradise: "Wish My Life Away"
- Aether: "Aether"
- High School Story trailer: "First Day"
- Cosmic Star Heroine: "Lauren's Song"
- The Rakuen series:
- Rakuen:
- "Searching My Life" (trailer theme)
- "Lights"
- "The Lonely Tree"
- "Walking Through The Night"
- "Build A Little World With Me"
- "Jump" (credits theme)
- Mr. Saitou: "Tea Party"
- Rakuen:
- Deltarune credits themes:
- Chapter 1: "Don't Forget"
- Chapter 2: "Until Next Time"
- Meg's Monster opening theme: "Wishing Star"
Video games created by Laura Shigihara:
- Melolune (demo only)
- Rakuen
- Mr. Saitou
Songs performed by Laura Shigihara for various fan projects:
- World of Warcraft machinima: "Blood Elf Druids"
- Minecraft fan animations by Slamacow Creations:
- "Cube Land"
- "From the Ground Up"
Tropes associated with Laura Shigihara's works:
- Author Avatar: Laura's avatar is a chibi girl nicknamed Shigi wearing a big eared Leeble hat. She appears in the secret village in Rakuen and at the end of the demo of Mr. Saitou.
- Fictionary: Laura created a fictional language for some of the songs she has sung for her projects, which can be heard in "Aether", the ''Celestial Mechanica'' trailer, several ''Rakuen'' tracks, and the opening theme of ''Meg's Monster''.
- Machinima: Inspired by her desire to play as a Blood Elf who can fly like a Druid so she could stop dying from fall damage in World of Warcraft, Laura decided to argue her case for the creation of a Blood Elf Druid class in the form of a music video that explains how the class could fit into the WoW lore.
- Promoted Fangirl: Laura is a huge fan of Chrono Trigger franchise, showing her love for the series by creating several fan covers for its sound tracks and peppering Rakuen with all sorts of references to the games. In 2015, she was invited to collaborate with Yasunori Mitsuda for the official Square Enix Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross 20th Anniversary Album.
