I'm not the first to notice that Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and Aria not only have a similar slice-of-life:pretty style, but also both have music by Choro Club.
The second YKK OVA that is. The first YKK OVA had music by Gontiti.
Currently there is Amanchu, adapting another manga by Aria's Kozue Amano, which also has music by Gontiti. I'm starting to see a pattern here, and I'm trying to figure out how it came to be.
However, I haven't been able to find out how/why these two bands were chosen for these anime. There's an interview with Hitoshi Ashinano, YKK's mangaka, included with the first YKK OVA, in which he mentions that he's been a fan of Gontiti for a long time and, I think, that he wanted to use their music for YKK? I'm not sure I'm reading it correctly; my Japanese is terribly inadequate. An interview with Gontiti in the OVA's soundtrack CD booklet doesn't mention how/why they were picked to make the music for it.
There's no such interviews or information with the second OVA and its soundtrack though.
I've also checked all the interviews with director Junichi Satou on the Aria DVDs. There's even one about the music where two members of Choro Club are also present, but in none of these interviews do they give a reason for them doing the soundtrack. The Aria soundtrack CD booklet has a short bio of Choro Club, and it mentions they did the music for YKK before, but again no reason.
I can speculate that Gontiti's and Choro Club's music fits YKK because main character Alpha also plays a lute-like instrument, and that the creators of the Aria and Amanchu anime took inspiration from the earlier YKK anime, but I'd like to know for sure.
So, does anyone know of an interview or other source of information that explains how or why they came to do the music for these three anime?
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