Forum - View topicDo new anime fans (10-15years) turn away from native music?
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Alchemist449
 Posts: 341 Location: LED ZEPPELIN! nuf said |
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I noticed that recently a lot of anime fans (between 10 and 15 years) will forget about music that they can understand, instead opting for Japanese music. I used to be one of them and looking back now, well I must have been insane...
Just wondering if anyone else noticed this. |
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nxprime
Posts: 10 |
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The sophistication of Japanese music and just being 'new' is why people are like that. Everyone gets sick and tired of Bon Jovi, Genesis, Rolling Stones... ect played on the airwaves over and over again.
It's just more new & different. The Stripes - Loosey is a perfect example. It's tap dancing and rap. TAP DANCING AND RAP. And it works too! Funky 70's music & rap is good too for that one Yakitate song. There's so much craziness to thier music it's fun listening to agian and agian. Especially songs that start out with one set of instruments, then something totally different, and again, and again. American music is 'flat' in that what is at the start of the song, gets played through all the way til the end with mostly chit chat vocals that never stop so you can't actually hear the music by itself. Then it ends the way it began. I don't care for that crap anymore, they aren't putting any effort into the music part of it it. Guitar, drums, and maybe some keyboard sounds blasting over and over. I like violins, record scratches to rock & roll music, japanese oriented instruments, and just some hard pounding guitar riffs that nobody in America does anymore since 'singing' throughout the song is so cool right now. Btw, american singers can't sing so they 'chat' through the song discussing their daily oh boo-hoo problems. Reading translated lyrics for japanese songs shows more interest in mood than bashing about this person or that. It's just nicer to listen too. Am I making any sense here? :) |
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musashi8688
 Posts: 27 Location: Texas |
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I was one of those people once too. Looking back I guess it was because when I listen to anime songs in Japanese especially ones where the lead singer is a female I fall in love with the music. This would also explain why I would listen to the music on AZN, because the music seemed to be of a slightly better quality, but now I went back to my roots musically but when I get a chance I try to listen to Japanese music just notm as much as before. Peace out.
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Alchemist449
Posts: 341 Location: LED ZEPPELIN! nuf said |
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Are you telling me Japanese music is more sophisticated!? Where did you get this? Also, who put this little idea in your head, I have to throw rotten eggs at them. You want new creative American artists!? Fine: The White Stripes Streetlight Manifesto Queens of the Stone Age and many, many more. I don't mean to rant but I have yet to hear a Japanese rock band with the same depth as many bands out here in the US. In Japan they mix a lot of genres, let us use the manga Beck (a personal favorite) as an example. They have 2 singers, one mixes rap with a rock tune (Chiba) or is straight soft rock (Koyuki) neither of these is a straight rock tune. My biggest problem is that 90% of the music is pop tunes. There is one band that I listen to and consider the equal of the others I listen to, Asian Kung Fu Generation. After reading this... I may have overreacted... Last edited by Alchemist449 on Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:35 am; edited 1 time in total |
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nxprime
Posts: 10 |
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animenewsnetwork.com/bbs/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=230280&highlight=#230280
All that plus: Mika Nakashima - Best High and Mighty Color - Groover, Utada Hikaru - Single Collection Vol.1, Younha - Go ! Younha, Minami Kuribayashi - Overture, Maaya Sakamoto - Yunagi LOOP Saeko Chiba - Everything Ayumi Hamasaki - (miss) understood Ayumi Hamasaki - Rainbow Mikuni Shimokawa - 392 BEST SELLECION Mikuni Shimokawa - 39 Mikuni Shimokawa - Review Arai Akino - RGB Plus See-Saw, Fiction, FictionJunction, Ghost in the Shell SAC OST, Gundam Seed, Inuyasha Best Of collections 1 & 2, and Naruto. Yeah I *think* I know what I'm talking about. Too much 'pop'? Akiwa Nanase is pretty damn good too. But I like Pop. Guitars by themselves I've gotten bored with. Things need to be shaken up during a song or it just goes flat. |
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Alchemist449
Posts: 341 Location: LED ZEPPELIN! nuf said |
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I like some of those songs as well but I don't think that either type of music is more sophisticated than the other. IF I had to choose I would lean towards Japanese Pop over American but if it was between Japanese and American rock, America wins. Both have their strong suits and I might bee listening to more Japanese rock in a few years if the market changes.
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Keonyn
 Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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I've rarely been to interested in music I've heard for Japan. I have a few anime OST's, but as far as soundtracks go I have far more domestic releases and it's not due to lack of exposure. I think anime fans do turn away from domestic music though, from my experience with anime fandom a great many of them turn away from a great deal of their own culture whether due to fascination or obsession, not just their own culture but other unrelated cultures that have just as much depth and intrigue if not more.
A lot of it comes from the fact that they love anime, and that which is related becomes familiar so it's easy to get wrapped up in it since they're already wrapped up in something so closely related. I try to judge everything individually on its own merits, I think anime is great and overall I enjoy far more of it than animation produced elsewhere, that's not to say animation produced anywhere else is inferior, there are plenty of gems produced outside Japan's borders. Music on the other hand is the opposite, I simply enjoy far more music produced locally or from european artists than I do from artists in Japan, doesn't mean I dislike Japanese music as find it inferior. I think much of the problem exists because everyone finds a need to categorize and segregate everything. As much as I love anime I find just as much enjoyment from shows produced elsewhere, while the majority of the animation I find it enjoyable is from Japan I've rarely found live action movies from Japan enjoyable. They're really just statistics and while they do point out trends I never let that impair how I judge any title, song or whatever from any nationality. A composer or animator or studio or artist anywhere in the world can create something beautiful and I won't discredit it simply because it either is or isn't from Japan. I think people need to look less at the "Made in..." labels and start seeing things for what they are. |
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shirokiryuu
Posts: 714 Location: Northern California (SF Bay Area) |
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speaking as a 14 year old, i think it's fine, but then again i'm sorta weird...
I think what also got me into japanese music versus american music was i was always inclined to stay away from american music because my friends are avid fans of certain bands and groups that they will contantly bash others. I've been always famous with my friends for having no musical preference (until now). So i felt that staying in somethign that they don't know will prevent that. But after doing that i got addicted to japanese music because i'm so used to it. I feel that because i've always watched anime, i'm used to japanese music. Japanse music doesn't bother me at all, in fact i'm a japanese music fan because of the music that integrated into me when i watch anime op and ed. Then i went exploring around, downloading and sampling music (i admit illegally) and found music and didn't like. Just like anime, it just happens that i got into different things than my friends. It's not a matter what's better or not, it's just a personal opinion ironically i still see that same type of bashing in the japanese music world as well |
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Bl00dHoUnD
Posts: 95 |
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I'm 15... as soon as i started watching anime (when I was 14), i started listening to anime music (ops, eds, instrumentals)... more and more of it, until now, I listen to two groups of music mostly:
American rap Japanese pop/rock I dunno, Japanese music is more enjoyable to listen to, and i don't know what they're saying, so if the lyrics are crap, the music is still very musically intelligent. It flows well together, usually, and the only anime song with words I haven't liked so far was the op for Honey and Clover, with a terrible singer. But other than that, I find Japanese music very, very good. I still listen to rap a hell of a lot though. Japanese music is just like new and not overplayed (which is a damn good thing), so i can enjoy it a lot more. And yes, I have no idea what theyre saying, unless its an OP and I can read the translation 
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Haru to Ashura
 Posts: 617 Location: Termina |
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Calm down, relax. :) And beware the long post, oh noes! The problem is, fans here are genereally only exposed to Japanese music directly related to anime, which is, of course, an incredibly limited spectrum. I'm very interested by Japanese (also Korean) music, but most of the bands I listen to these days have /had very little or nothing to do with anime at all. Personally, in this decade I'm more interested in foreign music. The American industry is in a terrible, terrible slump. Record sales are appaling, and as much as companies will blame all of their losses on pirating, the new bands that are out just aren't as good as bands from decades past. Are Queens of the Stone Age good? Yeah, they're pretty good. Are they up there with The Beatles, Bon Jovi, and U2? Not a chance in hell! Is Modest Mouse a good-sounding band? Yes, yes they are - but The Flaming Lips have been at it for decades. It's nothing new, it's nothing unique. Perosnally, I think American rock is in a very yucky slump, where all bands sound the same and amazing talent is lost to generic grunge/emo/scremo/punk/alternative/scream-core/whatever you want to call it rock. Seriously, when was the last time you heard of some young rock star who could play like Hendrix, or Santana? At least half of America's young artists are neither creative or new. Rock and roll has exsisted in America since the 50's, and it's starting to hit a slow faze, the bubble burst quite some time ago. Whereas Japan is different. Rock, metal, all that good stuff really started in the 80's in Japan. The genre is still new and fresh, and is pumping out some new talent. Japanese rock bands from the 90's are AMAZING, and here's the reason why: competitive market. In America, it's pretty damn easy for any half-talented rock band to get singed, because record labels have years and years of experience in marketing mediorcre bands to a predictable fan base. (I mean, c'mon. If Good Charolette became popular, then anything is possible, unfortunately.) In the early 90's in Japan, the rock market was still taking baby steps, the producers did not have the experience, and the fans were new and far inbetween. Producers aren't dumb, they want to make money. They're not going to risk their neck on a mediocre band in that sort of situation - they'll only risk enough to sign the cream of the crop, something they know is good enough to sell regardless of a pre-exsisting fan base. Anyway, that's my theory at least, and that's why golden era J-rock bands are my favorite musicians. I currently like Japanese rock over American, for merit of originality and talent. Personally, I'm also a percussionist, and Japanese rock bands tend to focus more on the drums than American bands, who focus entirely on guitar chords - yuck city. And comparing my import cds to what I hear on the radio, the vocalists are just SO much better...they're actually trying to sing, which is something you can't say about American alt. bands these days. Anyway, that's my opinion. My opinion, mind you, just a persoanl opinion. And that opinion doesn't only apply to Japan, but other countries as well. As for your stance on American rock...don't be so stiff-necked, you need to look beyond language barriers. And remember: after all, half of America's greatest musicians aren't American to begin with! :D Oh, and here's a list of really, really grade A, top-list Japanese bands. Anime theme music is, in all honestly, generally medicore and toned-down. But these guys are in a leauge of their own. B'z - Internationally, the 5th best selling band of all time. They've released 15 albums and over 30 singles. X-Japan - Stapple J-rock and J-metal, and the grand-daddys of visual kei. All of X's members were incredibly talented, but Yoshiki (drummer and piansts and composer) pretty much takes the cake. Hide was also a member of X-Japan. Disbanded in 1996. Luna Sea - They disbanded in 2000, but were insanely popular during their era. Famous guitarist Sugizo went on to lead some solo projects and is curently in a great band called The Flare. Famous vocalist Ryuichi is now leading Tourbillon. 2nd guitarist Inoran went on to co-create a J-rock that's particulary popular among American fans called FAKE? and is currently also in Tourbillon. Kuroyume - They weren't together very long, but Kuroyume's soothing, experimental rock is still selling to this day. Famous signer Kiyoharu also sings for SADS and does solo work. And then people say that L'arc~en~Ciel is staple J-rock....but *cough* I'd replace them for La'cryma Christi anyday. :3 End rant. (edit) Fyi, I'm not in your specified age range. |
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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The problem with the American music industry isn't that it's stale or unoriginal or pathetic, it's that what gets marketed and thrust out there to the audiences on the radio waves is the stale, unoriginal and pathetic mass marketed garbage.
The american music industry is still producing plenty of great bands and titles, problem is they're obscure and you have to know where to find them. Generally best places are satellite radio stations and net broadcasts, and the reality is they're just as obscure as anime music but in this case it's the anime music people are exposed to. I still maintain that centralizing your preferences to a single type of music based on something as miniscule in musical art as culture and geographical origination is greatly limiting ones scope on music as a whole for an incredibly ludicrous reason. I think anyone listening to Japanese rock over American just isn't listening to the right thing. Sorry, but there's just no shortage of diversity in the american music world still and to write it off so easily really makes me wonder if you're even trying. Your judgemental attitude towards American rock really demonstrates how limited your view of the music industry and the more I read your rant the more it's apparent just how judgemental you're being to the point of horrible generalizations. Reality is, music is music and there's great diversity to be found from any country in the world. You base your preference on culture and geography alone then you're limiting your view of the art as a whole for something that really barely even applies to the art, especially in this day and age. The degree to which people continue to segregate based on geography and culture is frightening, not to mention the obvious degree people judge something based on limited exposure of mass-marketed material while ignoring the vast underlying music culture that goes beyond the mass-market. If it's overplayed, you're listening to the wrong source. If the scope is limited then it's because your source is limiting it. If it's too obscure for you then you have to remember that J-rock here is already obscure so that doesn't fly either. I listen to just about anything that isn't rap and r&b, from country to rock and metal to classical and scores. I listen to music from around the world and a good deal of american groups and while I must admit very few Japanese artists make the top grade to me I still enjoy plenty of music from Japan and in no way disregard it based on where it comes from. Japan produces plenty of decent titles and while I haven't heard many scores that I would rank amongst the best from Japan I'd say their lighter music certainly ranks up there, especially with vocal artists. In the end though, I'll rank what I hear based on what I hear, not based on where it came from as generalizing based on geography and culture is practically racism or nationalism. Seems to me that at this point in our worlds progress we should be trying to promote global integration rather than promoting segregation and prejudice. |
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Digital Dreamer
 Posts: 287 Location: Sydney, Australia |
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It sort of died down a few years after collage. Mainly because of work. However I did have one 2 of house mates kill listening to anime music for me back in 2002/3. One was playing all various remixes of the Noir theme to the point of nausium. I just can not stand the song now down to the point where i refuse to watch the anime (did not help that I had some one else kill the anime for me around about the same time) . And there was my other house mate our was a Transformer's fantinatic would sign transformers theme songs (both in japanese and english) in the shower. And finally there was another on of my freind that would alway bring various collections to our RPGs nights for some background music. We did not mind this at first, however when these CDs started to include some really weird off sounding stuff Eg. Neai Under 7 themes, we ejected both his CD and HIM from the gaming table. Now day, i listen to a little bit if I really really really like it. However i find the idea of listening to an anime intros and sound tracks is like listening to the orginal 1989 intro from the TMNT cartoon and head banging to it ; JUST PLAIN CHILDISH in a few words. Over all, I look back, and it was a craze i pass through. Just like all of my other music tastes over the years. |
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Haru to Ashura
Posts: 617 Location: Termina |
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Limited? No, I have to disagree with this. I listen to obscure bands all the time. I go to tiny shows regularly, listen to numerous genres, have been a musician for over 5 years. I have plenty of American artists that I love and listen to regularly. This is a mature arguement - you need to attack back at reason, not personal jabs and accustations. How would you know if my view of music is limited or not? I developed my view of the inudstry from personal experience listening to American music for many, many years and keeping up with the news. And though I critisize, I still listen to American music regularly. I judge on what I've seen, heard, and know, not on generalizations. I wouldn't waste my time writing that rant if I didn't know who those musicians were or what they can do.
Since when do you even have a right to dispute someone else's tastes? This is a public forum where everyone should be able to fairly express their opinions. I wrote that rant only to explain why some people are fans of the asian music front, not to proclaim it as holy. If I wanted to convert you, I'd spend more time talking about my favorite musicians, not inudstry trends. I listen to what I like, end of story. I only try to explain why myself and others prefer it. I clearly wrote that that entire post was only my personal opinion. You have no right to get huffy about that.
Talent doesn't apply to the art of music these days? I plainly said that I listen to those bands because I'm impressed by the musicians' abilities. And if that doesn't apply to music, then this is a sad little world where any idiot can pick up a guitar, play 3 power chords and start whining about how his pop didn't get him a Mustang for his 16th birthday, and bam, it's "quality music."
You missed my point. I wasn't ragging on big-name, well-known bands. I was ragging on little bands, the so-called obscure ones, that are basically clones of big name bands. Notice how whenever you find a new band you like, you can find at least 2 other bands that sound too similar for comfort? That's what I'm getting at.
Wait...then aren't you limiting your scope? You don't listen to that because you don't like how it sounds, right? Aren't you doing the exact same thing that I'm doing? Yes, yes you are. You don't listen to something you've heard before, know about, and dislike; I don't listen to something I've heard before, know about, and dislike. Now...basing preferences on culture? What's wrong with that? All the races of the world have unique, beautiful, interesting cultures, and to say that we should integrate and destroy our heritages is a crime. What's wrong with liking certain aespects of other cultures, liking certain aespects of your own culture, disliking certain aespects of your own culture, and disliking certain aespects of other cultures? Overall...this arguement is, at it's core, probably just a big difference in taste.
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Keonyn
Subscriber Posts: 5567 Location: Coon Rapids, MN |
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And I base my own experience on what Isee, hear or know as well. Now, we both seem to have come to very opposite conclusions about the music. There's yours which states that generally Japanese music is better and there's mine that states neither is better and that there's talent in both to a significant degree, not just in both but internationally across the world as well. I'm not trying to say American is better, I'm not trying to say Japanese is worse, I don't believe geography plays a role and I see capable musicians anywhere in this world as people are people and they are all capable.
In retrospec I could have worded that differently. The point I was making is that more or less limiting your scope based on geography isn't really directing your ear the right way, geography doesn't play a significant role in music, genre and style do perhaps but geography is little more than where it came from and the role of it in music isn't that significant.
Talent does, but people don't magically get more talent for being born in Japan. Not to mention the end generalization of American music really only reflects how limited that scope is as there's about 100 bands not heard on the air waves that don't sound like that for every 1 you do hear on the radio.
There's some clones, yes, but even those are few. There's always going to be some similarities, some are major and some are not, but there's the thing called genre which represents style and performance much the same way that oil paintings and watercolor paintings are both paintings but differ greatly in appearance. Either way, there's still no shortage of good sounding new or obscure bands that don't clone, you're still generalizing at this point, even more so now.
Generally, somewhat, but genre does apply as it applies to how the music is made and how it sounds where as the obvious lesson from listening to music from around the globe is that genre is pretty much international and for every Japanese rock band I can find another band elsewhere with pretty much the same sound. That said, there is rap and R&B I have heard that I've liked and while I don't go out of my way to listen to it and I admit I don't like most I hear there are still those I can appreciate.
Because culture doesn't much apply to music significantly, especially not in the rock and pop genre, especially since those genre's are already western to begin with and simply adopted by eastern cultures. If anything such music making its way to those cultures could be seen as more "damaging" such a culture than promoting it if you really want to look at it that way. There's nothing wrong with liking aspects and disliking aspects as long as it's done objectively, but in the end in most styles of music culture doesn't play much of a role anymore, especially pop and rock and rap. Ethnic music perhaps, and I could see the debate there, but even then there's a lot of talented European and American artists who are capable of producing very authentic and well done songs based on ethnic Japanese music. Same as there are Japanese artists who've done quite well in producing authentic sounding European ethnic music, the soundtrack of "Haibane Renmei" is a testament to that. It is all about differing tastes, you prefer to like something based on where it came from, and I simply believe limiting ones scope based on geography, whether it's American or Japanese originated, is far too limiting in a world and art where those borders just don't mean much anymore. Believe it or not, there is a vast world beyond the confines of those islands and this country, and as much as you might not like it there are talented people amongst those billions that are just as good as anything we have here or they have in Japan. |
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Haru to Ashura
Posts: 617 Location: Termina |
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Okay, here's where we're confused. That is not even remotely close to what I said. (Please don't put words in my mouth!  Thanks.) I said that I currently see more talent in Japan because of the infancy of their inudstry, in comparison to ours. Tougher competition means tougher competitors. Hundreds of American rock bands get signed every year, whereas in Japan, record labels that sign rock bands aren't as plentiful and experienced. This has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with business. (You might argue that business has nothing to do with music, but in all honestly, music is strictly marketed, and we all know it.) I predict we'll see some better American bands in five to ten years, after the inudstry's progressively smaller yearly profits cause major labels to make some spending cuts.
First off, rock, like pretty much every genre of music, has it's roots in African music, not western society. Secondly, culture has plenty to do with music! Obviously there's language, first and foremost. Different languages sound beautiful in different ways. (For example, I generally never like english r&b, but give me r&b in Korean or Arabic and I'll listen to it all day long. What sounds gritty in your language might sound soothing in differnet languages.) Secondly, artists can use their culture to create their own unique sounds within the rock genre. Anyone who's heard the band Kagrra will know what I'm talking about. Or what on earth would Flogging Molly be without their Irish roots? Culture still exsits in modern music.
Again with the words in my mouth... Last edited by Haru to Ashura on Tue Jan 03, 2006 9:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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