Tag: japanese

the art of the anime opening song

Series: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure-Stone Ocean
Title: Stone Ocean
Music: ichigo from Kisida Kyodan & The Akebosi Rockets
One cant say enough about the JoJo series – a 133 volume action/horror/adventure/comedy/fantasy manga thats been running for nearly 40 years and in which “bizarre” is the vastest of vast understatements. Part of its charm is that the hundreds of characters are named after 1970s, 80s and 90s rock groups, musicians and songs. Its a music fans dream show. David Production has done stunning work of adapting it to an anime yet keeping all the comic-book feeling visually. Kisida Kyodan & The Akebosi Rockets are a rock band known for writing songs for popular anime series or as the genre is called in japan “Anison” (animation songs).

Series: Zom 100-Bucket List of the Dead
Title: Song of the Dead
Music: Kana-Boon
How do you take the zombie genre and make it fun and upbeat? Well just watch. A refreshing take on a tired subject! Great video with zombie choreography : ) Netflix made a live action version of this of 2023 but i really didnt think it lived up to the anime, not nearly as funny. The band Kana Boon although i dont know them, have racked up 287 million views on just one video alone

Series: Concrete Revolutio
Title: The Beginning
Music: Yamamoto Yosuke
A strange sci fi anime from Bones studio, the story is a postmodern take on Cyborg 009, a classic anime from the 60s, in a world set in an alternate 1962 where superheroes are suspect, similar to the Watchmen series in the US. Very unique animation and powerful music.

Series: Gankutsuo (The Count of Monte Cristo)
Title: We Were Lovers
Music: Jean-Jaques Burnel
Major animation studio Gonzo adapted Alexandre Dumas’ classic french novel to a sci fi setting, and to go with the watercolor-like impressionist artwork and actual costume designs by Anna Sui, they hired Jean-Jaques Burnel from The Stranglers to do the soundtrack music.

Series: Peeping Life
Title: HOTEL Alien
Music: Bradio
Bradio are a funk rock band signed to Warner Brothers Records. Theyre quite good! Very party-oriented music. Peeping Life is a animated-in-real-time improv sketch comedy series, this season here doing sketches based on classic 1960s and 70s anime characters like Astro Boy, Black Jack and Time Bokan.

Series: Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Title: D City Rock
Music: TeddyLoid feat. Debra Zeer
Gainax is one of the worlds most successful and innovative anime studios (they made Evangelion, widely considered the greatest ever anime). They decided to send their staff to America for 6 months and absorb the culture and especially watch as many american cartoons as possible, and on return created “Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt” based on what they learned. Tons of sex, foul language, extreme violence and rude and disgusting purile gags, all that look vaguely similar to american animation but just so extreme that the satire will shock and offend the staunchest cartoon fan. Its funny yes, but absolutely NOT safe for US television.

japanese music you should be listening to – part 4

Plasticzooms – Personal Communication
wearing an einstürzende neubauten and spacemen 3 shirt in your music video is a great way to have me instantly like you. Plasticzooms are a japanese postpunk band currently living in Berlin.

Scanch – うそつき天国 (Liar Heaven)
Hard rock and glam rock mainstays since 1982, Scanch is fronted by Rolly Teranishi, (seriously watch that link) a major celebrity now doing TV and Film appearances as well as anime voice acting. He’s basically Japan’s Marc Bolan/David Bowie/Mick Jagger/Rip Taylor rolled up in one. He played Frank n Furter in japanese productions of The Rocky Horror Show and is known to cult movie audiences as the psycho bowling alley serial killer in Sion Sono‘s horror film “Suicide Circle“. I have to remember which Scanch video it was where the keyboard player caught on fire from an accidental flash pot explosion but they kept the camera rolling anyway.

Ningen Isu – Farewell to the World
Their name translates as “The Human Chair”, the name of a creepy short story from Japan’s literary master of horror Edogawa Rampo, the band started in 1987 and are masters of their brand of intellectual heavy metal, and big fans of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson and KISS. I also speculate they may have been the inspiration for the popular heavy metal comedy manga “Detroit Metal City“.

Histujibungaku – Addiction
major label alt-rock trio from Tokyo, founded by the singer when she was in junior high school. Their name translates as “Sheep Literature”.

its the most wonderful time of the year

Here are a few of my favorite xmas songs:

Akim & Teddy Vann – santa claus is a Black man (1973)

The Royal Guardsmen – Snoopy’s Christmas (1967)

Nat King Cole – The Christmas Song (1961)
Really, the only xmas album you need ever is Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Album. Just play it on infinite loop all December.

Bing & Bowie – The Little Drummer Boy (1977)

Tommy Heavenly6 – I love Xmas (2006)

Love Psychedelico – Happy Xmas, War Is Over (2011) (John Lennon cover)

Elton John – Ho Ho Ho (Who’d Be A Turkey At Christmas?) (1973)

japanese music you should be listening to – part 2

0.8syooogeki – Arishima Machine Gun
translated as “0.8 Seconds and a Crash” the band released 5 albums between 2009 and 2017

Midori – Doping☆Noise Noise Kiss
prog/jazz/noise/punk quartet Midori are a genre all to themselves. Manic and yet cohesive. They released 3 albums before lead Mariko Goto went solo as seems to happen to many japanese bands.

Jun Togawa – Suki Suki Daisuki
1980s avant garde new waver Jun Togawa is kinda sorta like the japanese Kate Bush, but so much weirder. Between her solo works and collaborations and her bands Yapoos and Guernica, she paints a very broad canvas of diverse musical colors and poetically profound and disturbing lyrics. The song represented here is a manically happy love song about a Yandere girl, the kind of psychopath who’s love for you may end in murder. (youll want to turn captions on for the english lyrics!)

Fra-Foa – aojiroi tsuki (pale blue moon)
On the periphery of the japanese late 90s indie rock boom, Fra-Foa were amongst the heaviest and most dynamic grunge-inspired bands. With a massive sound and near psychotic vocals from frontwoman Chisako Mikami, they were a powerhouse small club band but never achieved great fame but released two superb albums before Chisako went solo. The video here is her singing about her deceased brother and the intense emotion is breathtaking.

japanese music you should be listening to – part 1

Kinoko Teikoku – Spring and Carnage
in-your-face indie rock, technically labelled as shoegaze group but much more down to earth in my opinion. The bands name translates as “Mushroom Kingdom”.
move the video around using your phone for 360 degree view

Lovely Summer-chan – Part-Time Robot   (in 360 degree video!)
The pseudonym and solo project of of Aika Imaizumi, ex-vocalist for shoegaze band For Tracy Hyde, She self produces as a one-woman band.

She In The Haze – Doubt
considered rising stars in the late 2010s, this band who also shoot their own videos and do their own production, did a european tour to some acclaim but then mostly disappeared

Esrevnoc – Bijin
riding the japanese indie rock boom, this major label girl-rock power trio encapsulated the fun 1990s sound

japanese music you should be listening to – a prelude (updated jan 2025)

Sheena Ringo – tsumiki-asobi (playing with blocks)
Japan’s avant-pop, psychedelic-jazz uber-diva Sheena Ringo started out in the 90s as a grunge rock firebrand during Japan’s indie rock boom era. For more superb 90s alt-rock check her first 2 albums Muzai Moritorium and Shouso Strip. For an update on her latest music see my blog post here.

Perfume – Edge (triangle mix) Live 2020
Its believed that Perfume are not actually just 3 girls from Hiroshima but in fact 3 girls time traveling from the future to show us how pop music will be done 100 years from now. Not just Japan’s biggest technopop idol band for the past 20 years but a collaboration between Shibuya-kei era band Capsule‘s songwriter and producer Yatsutaka Nakata, the group themselves, their high tech choregrapher Mikiko and a vast army of lighting, video, animation and stage mechanical technicians. The end result is a string of lush and catchy albums and live shows that would surpass even Pink Floyd’s fever dreams.

Expand to full-screen for best effect!

NiNa – Happy Tomorrow
Late 1990s supergroup consisting of Kate Pierson (B52s), Yuki (Judy & Mary), Mick Karn (Japan) and the founding members of Plastics. They made just one album together and its essential listening. Infectious soaring pop!

bothneco – choco-mint flavor
Vocaloid dreampop at its absolute dreamiest from a mysterious anonymous composer known only as bothneco. No information anywhere about who they are, but a playlist of wonderful songs are up on youtube.