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musical cliche in cyberpunk anime? (can you help me out?)




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breezy89



Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2011 2:43 pm Reply with quote
hi everyone my name is iain i'm a music student and i'm doing a dissertation all about the music in cyberpunk anime. i was hoping i could put out a few questions and you all could have a a good chat about them Smile the answers don't have to be super academic or anything like that and please feel free to talk about any aspect of the topic that comes to mind, just as if i had just raised the questions in casual conversation. please answer/discuss any or all the questions that you feel like. so anyway the questions are:

what do you feel are the musical cliches within cyberpunk anime?


how do you feel the music in cyberpunk anime contrasts with other examples of the cyberpunk genre from outside of japan?

have you noticed a greater contrast in the music of japanese cyberpunk anime and the music in cyberpunk in the rest of the world when the production values of the projects are higher?


thanks everyone!
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P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Mon May 02, 2011 6:21 pm Reply with quote
Probably the first anime that comes to mind when someone says cyberpunk (at least for those of us from the classic era of anime) is Bubblegum Crisis. What is even more pertinent is the fact that Bubblegum Crisis has among one of the best anime rock soundtracks ever made, if not THE best period.

So with that OAV series in mind, I think it has the quality of defining what is the staple or standard in cyberpunk anime: rock music. But Bubblegum Crisis was made in the 80's and rock was big then so I think it expressed the common notion from that era of prosperity and nonchalance that rock would live forever. Therefore in the future, which most cyberpunk shows take place, rock would still exist and still be the representative genre of popular music.

Another cyberpunk title that expresses this rock immortality is Megazone 23
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breezy89



Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 11:20 am Reply with quote
yeah i noticed that bubblegum crisis features loads of original songs. is that a trend you've noticed elsewhere?
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vashna



Joined: 19 Feb 2010
Posts: 1313
PostPosted: Tue May 03, 2011 12:31 pm Reply with quote
At the risk of starting an argument, is there anything really to say that rock music won't be around in the future?

Then again, in today's world, we can find most styles of music from the past. It's not hard, for instance, to find an impressionist work of Debussy.
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breezy89



Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Wed May 11, 2011 11:18 am Reply with quote
hey guys since i posted i've got a few more questions

do you feel cyberpunk anime can be broadly split into two categories action ( e.g. bubblegum crisis, battle angel) and hardcore (serial experiments lain, ergo proxy) and that those two categories usually have different musical styles?

furthermore do you feel that the film Akira had a significant impact on the music of cyberpunk anime and that post Akira the music of cyberpunk slowly got darker and more distinct from other action orientated genres (e.g. Mecha)?

do you feel that any other films/series had a similar impact?

is their a contrast in the music between cyberpunk anime and cyberpunk animation from outside of japan? if so what factors affect this contrast (e.g.movie or tv ,productions values etc.)

what style of music do you feel has had the biggest impact on the music of cyberpunk anime?

lastly have you noticed any of the following in cyberpunk anime

a higher prediliction for synthetic sound, than the rest of the world?

little or no use of an orchestra/strings/brass?

a greater use of atmphospheres and ambient textures than the rest of the world?
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Mohawk52



Joined: 16 Oct 2003
Posts: 8202
Location: England, UK
PostPosted: Sat May 14, 2011 3:28 pm Reply with quote
What do you mean by "rest of the world"? Who else in the world has ever produced a "cyberpunk" animation to compare it too? Usually the BGM used in any production like "cyberpunk" would have been whatever was the trend of musical genre at the time of production. I'll add the original Armitage III OVA and the first ever Ghost in the Shell movie to your list to compare with. They were all done in the late 80's early 90's when progressive rock had evolved into what is called heavy metal and the spin-offs from that as well. Yoko Kanno comes to my mind as the composer who has written and produced various music for a few cyberpunk type anime, but no two are alike. It also boils down to what ever the Music Director for a title requests of the artists/ composer. Listen to the music of RahXephon, or Cowboy Bebop, or the GiTS SAC TV series and you'll hear what I mean. In short, it depends on the musical flavour of the time of production. Personnal I'm waiting for the first opening and closing music featuring one, or two of the Vocaloids. so that should give you an idea of where synthetic sound will come from. However this is all academic anyway as the appitite for cyberpunk died with the rise of moe/lolicom which seems to be dominating the industry output for the forseeable future, so your guess is as good as ours. Hope this is useful to you. Wink
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breezy89



Joined: 02 May 2011
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 4:20 pm Reply with quote
what is it they say better late than never?
well thanks for all your help guys
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