Music in Japanese animation - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Music in Japanese animation
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

is often closely tied to the Japanese music industry, but is also a significant industry, and genre in its own right, with genre often referred to as "anison", a portmanteau of "animation" and "song", or "anime song". It is common for television and original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

series to be accompanied by soundtrack album

Soundtrack album

A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...

s, which may include the opening ("OP"), ending ("ED") and insert songs ("IN"), incidental music

Incidental music

Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, film or some other form not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as the "film score" or "soundtrack"....

, original songs ("image song

Image song

An image song or character song is a song on a tie-in single or album for an anime, game or dorama that is usually sung by the seiyū or actor of a character, in character...

s") and drama tracks (short plays featuring the show's voice actors). Established Japanese musical acts often perform songs featured in animation series or movies. Likewise, it is not uncommon for voice actors ("seiyū

Seiyu

Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...

") from anime shows to have a music career in their own right; Megumi Hayashibara

Megumi Hayashibara

is a Japanese voice actress, singer, radio personality, and lyricist from Tokyo. She is currently affiliated with Aksent. Her nicknames include: Megu-san, Megu-nee, Bara-san, Kakka, and Daijin...

, Yui Horie

Yui Horie

is a popular Japanese singer and voice actress. She is sometimes affectionately nicknamed by her Japanese fans.She hosts a radio show called and is the founding member of the singing group, Aice5. She is also a member of the band Kurobara Hozonkai, with the name YUIEL...

, Nana Mizuki

Nana Mizuki

is a popular Japanese singer-songwriter and voice actress. She was born and raised in Niihama, Ehime, Japan, Mizuki was trained as an enka singer. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1998; however, she released her debut single "Omoi", under the King Records label on December 6, 2000...

, Maaya Sakamoto

Maaya Sakamoto

is a Japanese singer-songwriter, actress, and voice actress. She made her debut as a voice actress in 1992 as the voice of Chifuru in the anime series Little Twins, but is more well known for her role as Hitomi Kanzaki in the hit anime series The Vision of Escaflowne...

, and Aya Hirano

Aya Hirano

from Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is a Japanese voice actress and J-pop singer who has had roles in several anime, visual novels, and TV commercials in Japan. She was contracted to Space Craft Produce, a branch of the Space Craft Group, for her voice acting career, and for her singing career,...

are among numerous seiyū who have also recorded music independent from anime.

There are also vocalists who have dedicated most of their careers to the performance of theme songs, including Ichirou Mizuki

Ichirou Mizuki

, better known by his stage name , is a Japanese vocalist, lyrist, composer, voice actor and actor best known for his work on theme songs for anime and tokusatsu. For over 40 years, he has recorded over 1200 songs for Japanese film, television, video and video games. He is referred to by fans and...

, Akira Kushida

Akira Kushida

, is a Japanese vocalist who is well known for his work in the soundtracks for anime and tokusatsu productions, most notably Taiyou Sentai Sun Vulcan, Kinnikuman, and Uchuu Keiji Gavan. His nickname from his fans is...

, Mitsuko Horie

Mitsuko Horie

is a Japanese seiyū and singer. She was born on March 8, 1957 in Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan. She has voiced several characters throughout her career, such as Sailor Galaxia in Sailor Moon: Sailor Stars and Remi in the Nippon Animation World Masterpiece Theater series Remi, Nobody's Girl...

, Isao Sasaki

Isao Sasaki

is a Japanese seiyū, actor, and vocalist. He has had voice roles in anime such as Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Space Battleship Yamato, and Gatchaman. He has also performed the opening themes for anime such as Yamato, Star of the Giants, Getter Robo, Casshan, Grendizer, Gaiking and tokusatsu...

, and many others.

See also