Forum - View topicQuick questions about anime music
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jetz
 Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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I've been wondering about this for a while - Are anime songs (Opening/ending themes, insert songs, BMG) made specifically for the anime they represent, or are they just picked because the producers thought they would fit their anime well?
Also, have there been cases where certain music pieces are used in more than one anime? Are there at least 2 different series that use the same songs? |
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Kyuriko
Posts: 152 |
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While I don't know how opening and ending themes are selected nor whether or not they are used in more than one series, I do know that most of them are not written for a particular anime. The only exception I can think of is One Piece; if you can find translations of some of the music, many of the lyrics have a theme centering around treasure and adventure on the sea, and the song Kokoro no Chizu even has a line… bokura wa hitotsu ONE PIECE. Insert songs, background music, and character theme songs, on the other hand, are more often than not written specifically for the series.
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jack781217
 Posts: 24 Location: Plano, TX, USA |
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I believe (yes, believe, since I don't have evidence to back me up) that most of the time song is specific for a certain anime. Of course, in the case of OP and ED, the artists usually have their own single albums, which would usually contain that song plus one more that is not used in the anime. My guess is that when an anime is decided to be make, the production company makes a contract with a certain artist so that his/her company would release a song that is related to the anime, which is to be choosed as OP/ED.
For inserting song and BGM, there is little possibility that it could be not designed for a specific anime. Those tracks are only found in OSTs or other albums that are under the name of the anime.\ About the more than once usage of a specific song, I have never seen and think there will never be a case in which two different anime uses the same song. However, this could apply to two difference series of a single anime. If I remember this right, Tsubasa Chronicle must've use the song TSUBASA or Yume no Tsubasa in both series as inserting song so far. They also share some OST track too, but I doubt that this will be the case with OP/ED, though. |
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Amethyst Alchemist
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 312 Location: where it's always a good morning |
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I know at least some songs are made specifically for the show. I read in a movie booklet for Fullmetal Alchemist the Conqueror of Shamballa that they contracted L'arc for OP/ED for the movie. The first opening song they came up with wasn't exactly what they were looking, so they had them write another song, and thus we have Link (awesome song!, my favorite song ever, everyone should hear it!).
In other instances though, songs seem like they could be made for almost anything. They are so general and have such universal themes or sentiments they could fit with almost anything. I want to suspect these songs are often not made specifically for the show. |
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frentymon
Forums Superstar
 Posts: 2362 Location: San Francisco |
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Generally, OP/ED/Insert songs are series specific, and created specifically for the series, meaning the studio hires the artist(s) to create the song for them to use in the series. This benefits both parties because the studio gets an OP/ED/Insert song to use, and the artist(s) gets (A) paid, and (B) free advertisement so they can get even more $$ selling singles. But of course there are series that use existing songs as their OP/ED songs, ex. Texhnolyze (Guardian Angel by Juno Reactor), Ergo Proxy (Paranoid Android by Radiohead), Serial Experiments Lain (Duvet by BOA). From what I've seen if the song is Japanese more often than not it was specifically created for the series, while if it is in some other language usually it was already existing.
It was interesting with Lain; although Duvet had existed before it was used as the OP for Lain, it made BOA more popular (European band, not the Korean pop singer), and they eventually got so popular with anime fans that they performed at Anime Expo. |
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jetz
Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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Thanks for clearing that up guys - but can anime songs be used for anything other than anime (except for the artists' albums, of course)? Like are anime songs used for Japanese TV dramas or movies?
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Not sure what your question is here. Assuming an anime theme is not from a pre-existing album, one stands to reason it was written specifically for the said anime. Why would a TV drama or movie use that same theme (unless it's a spin-off, spoof or tie-in)? Maybe someone can prove me wrong, but I've never heard of that happening. Think for a minute and see if you can remember any US--or any other country's--movies using cartoon themes as incidental music (well, I guess Tarantino used the Green Hornet theme in Kill Bill and that's kinda close, but he's just crazy). Oh! This kinda reminds me of a strange Hong Kong drama I saw recently about the stock market that used all this BGM that I could swear is from the American film Ghost. And I thought I recognized music from other movies in there, too. I have no idea why. |
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jetz
Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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Just wondering if that's possible without getting into lawsuits or whatever. A few years back, I saw this Filipino show that used the ending theme of Fushigi Yuugi as their opening theme, but they just used the instrumental parts of it. As much as anime songs are made specifically for the anime they're used in, there's still the possibility of it being used in other ways, right? Sorry if you didn't get me Cloe. I'm not feeling well, and up to now I wasn't sure if I was making sense or not. 
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LuckySleven
 Posts: 426 Location: Refer to page 2 |
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Well one example is Gundam Seed where T.M.Revolution's song Invoke was a hit in Japan before the series aired. I believe that the creator liked it and asked if he could use it. I'm pretty sure that's what happened (article I read LONG time ago), correct me if I'm wrong.
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Cloe
Moderator
Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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No, you made sense. I guess as long as royalties and what-not are payed, there's nothing wrong with that; I was just wondering out loud why the live-action producer or whatever would think to do that. "Man, my show/movie is gonna be so hot--all it needs now to reach perfection are a few of my favorite anime tunes!" That's totally what would happen if an otaku somehow became a bigshot Hollywood producer. 
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jetz
Posts: 2148 Location: Manila, Philippines |
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That's good to know.. I was so packed with medicine I could barely post. I guess you're right though - I mean, why would someone use anime music for something not anime? But if this "something other than anime" had a storyline that matches an anime's soundtrack, I guess that would be alright too.
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linlinchan
Posts: 286 |
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T.M. Revolution has been very well known for... at least since I was in HS, so probably a decade in Japan. The song INVOKE, however, was written specifically for SEED, so more likely than not the directors liked the atmosphere of T.M. Revolution's music, and picked him to make the song for the show. |
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