Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - J-Pop vs. America
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Chester McCool
 Posts: 322 |
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Not to be rude, but I imagine the fact Puffy and The Pillows aren't popular in Japan is a big factor. The Pillows are literally just known for FLCL, which isn't that big in Japan like it is here, which is why they only played FLCL songs at the concert. Their music has never topped the Oricon charts. Puffy did back in the 90s, but by the time the Teen Titans cartoon came out, they were kind of over, and they were only a fad here because they did a theme song for a cartoon. Also given the fact that the top sellers in Japan are generally Johnny's singers like SMAP and Arashi, and their female idol counterparts, they probably don't see the value in the American market much to bother pushing for it. |
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5527 |
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Okay, for the 100th time the pillows is supposed to be lowercase! It's honestly disrespectful to keep capitalizing it when they've clearly intended their name to be lowercase. It's stylized for a reason. http://pillows.jp/s/disco/19980221/ It's literally their logo.
That aside, FLCL fans are some of the biggest posers that I've seen lately. I really hate seeing them claim to be fans of the pillows and be excited for "new music from the pillows after over a decade". the pillows have released new music almost yearly. any TRUE fan of the pillows knows this. so it's just a bunch of weeb posers. @xchampsion there's no hyphen in X Japan. Most Japanese artists I've discovered through the Oricon charts, tbh. At first it was through video games, then anime second. But after a few years I took my own initiative to see what was popular. From there I realized "what's popular" is pretty bland no matter what country you're in and dug deeper to discover the better J-Rock world of bands like BUMP OF CHICKEN, 9mm Parabellum Bullet (before their anime stuff), Radwimps (before their anime stuff), Tokyo Jihen, and many great others. Japan is loaded with fantastic musicians. |
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Kougeru
Posts: 5527 |
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Yeah. this isn't even remotely true at all. the pillows (which is supposed to be LOWERCASE), are known for their non-anime music more than they are for FLCL. They're a pretty popular band overall, almost consistently charting in the top 20 oricon on almost every release for the last 20 years. They're not the most popular group ever, but they're very popular in Japan. Just checking Generasia and clicked a bunch of random singles and albums, and it's hard for me to find one for Puffy that went higher than 20 on the oricon chart, after the year 2000. I would even argue the pillows are more popular than PUFFY is now, based on the last few albums' sales. |
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Ouran High School Dropout
 Posts: 440 Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA |
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Funny that Mike used that particular Yoko Ishida album cover--I have one just like it!
 Also, I got the chance to see her perform live at Anime Boston 2005 (where have the years gone...)
As for the rest, I've developed the (unfortunately expensive) habit of buying Japanese CD maxis of my favorite OP/ED tracks, and series soundtracks when I can. CD Japan is my friend... |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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It can only be assumed that the lower fees charged for a single use of a given song—a fact I presume is implicit here—allowed Anime Limited to release A Silent Voice with its original opening theme intact. |
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Shar Aznabull
 Posts: 236 |
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Discovered Susumu Hirasawa through Berserk and his Satoshi Kon collaborations, now he's one of my favorite artists for how unique his music is.
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CorneredAngel
 Posts: 854 Location: New York, NY |
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Given that The Delgados also had an insert song in that series - Woke From Dreaming - was it - makes me think that someone at Madhouse was already a fan, and was, like, let's see if we can make this work! Hey, got me to buy all of their CDs! |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11349 |
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Well, you can't talk about anime music without mentioning L'Arc~en~Ciel. They even played Madison Square Garden a few years ago, getting write-ups in Billboard, Forbes and even the Wall Street Journal of all places. I don't think they have the most anime OP/EDs, but they're certainly near the top of the list. Was it JAM Project that has the record? Seems like there was an article about the most prolific bands for anime awhile back. My google-fu is too weak to find it though.
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Jeff Bauersfeld
Posts: 109 |
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Definitely JAM Project for me. Discovered them through, of all things, the ED of Kamen no Maid Guy by Fukuyama Yoshiki. Looked around for what other stuff he'd done, saw he was in a band called JAM Project, then saw how prolific their catalog was. Been a fan ever since; just love the energy. The generous use of English didn't hurt either.
I've seen them a few times as a band or individuals at a few East coast anime events, though their appearance at the Otakon Music Festival in Baltimore definitely was my personal favorite. A small venue packed(-ish) with 20, 30, and 40 somethings screaming out the lyrics to Cha-La, GaoGaiGar and the like was an experience. |
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CatSword
 Posts: 1489 |
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I discovered ALI PROJECT through their fantastic Noir and Shigofumi OPs.
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David B. Rockin
Posts: 4 |
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Bands I've discovered through anime: SCANDAL,UVERworld,Unison Square Garden,Judy And Mary,SIAM SHADE,FLOW,L'Arc ~ en ~ Ciel,ViViD,SID,NIGHTMARE,abingdon boys school,JAM Project,BREAKERZ,MAKE-UP,THE YELLOW MONKEY,Lenny Code Fiction,Boa (Fact:Jasmine and Steve are related to Paul Rogers from Bad Company)
Band I discovered through teen titans: Puffy(Fact: Yumi was married to TM Revolution) Singers I've discovered through anime: TM Revolution,Nami Tamaki,NoB, Miki Matsubara ,MIO,LiSA,Eir Aoi Singers I've discovered by myself: ZARD,Miyuki Nakajima,Sheena Ringo,Ayumi Hamasaki,Nanase Aikawa Bands I've discovered by myself: LUNA SEA,La'cryma Christi(very similar to classic rock bands from the 70sprog/hard rock),GLAY(Fact: Teru is married to Ami from Puffy),DEAD END,EARTHSHAKER,Plastic Tree,FEEL,PENICILLIN,WANDS,VAMPS,Kuroyume, Laputa,ROUAGE,Raphael,Janne Da Arc. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11349 |
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More thoughts on singers discovered through anime...Valshe and B'z, via Detective Conan; Bradio via Death Parade; Bump of Chicken via Blood Blockade Battlefront; Buck Tick via...a bunch of different vampire anime
 ; Origa via Fantastic Children.
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Violynne
Posts: 128 |
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Anime has lead me to some interesting J-Pop bands (outside of anime marketing).
A few years ago, I was watching an older series (can't remember now), and I enjoyed one of the songs in the show. I started an internet search, and found myself finding this group: Babymetal From this, other "pop metal" groups. I've been stuck with this genre for years, even though it's kind of dead. Perhaps anime can help revive it. As they say, "only in Japan". |
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Beansprout Midget
Posts: 145 |
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I used to listen solely to anime OP/EDs, but now I listen to more J-rock that anisongs.
I found ONE OK ROCK by chance on iTunes, ironically. Didn't know that they sang for the Kenshin movie till much later. Been listening to the band for four years now; love'em to death. UVERworld and nano have also been a part of my playlist for years. lenny code fiction just jumped on as well. Lots of music associated with Hiroyuki Sawano's artists (Aimer, Tielle, Gemie, etc.) Also glad to see Survive Said the Prophet finally getting their own OP with Banana Fish this season too. Curious, has anybody listened to My First Story? They did a song for Nobunaga Concerto (how I found them), and found out the lead singer is related to the lead singer in ONE OK ROCK. I have about half of their songs on my playlist. Two other smaller bands I follow are The Winking Owl (a good balance between slower and faster paced songs; can get a bit repetitive) and vivid undress (very catchy) |
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crosswithyou
 Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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ONE OK ROCK did the theme song for all three RuroKen live-action movies, not just the first one. Also, their song American Girls from Ambitions (only recorded on the international ver., not on the Japanese one) is played on SiriusXM's Hits 1 station. No local radio play, unfortunately. The thing with ONE OK ROCK is that they seem to be avoiding anime tie-ups, likely because they are targeting a mainstream audience and not anime fans. I think they want to make it in the U.S. without riding on the back of "Cool Japan." They were supposed to tour with Linkin Park in both the U.S. and Japan but unfortunately Chester passed away. Had they had the chance to tour with LP as planned, I think their situation in the U.S. would be a lot different right now. OOR is my favorite band so I really hope to see them find success in the States like BTS has. |
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