Introduction
What's an "Anime"?
- Old Man Mcgucket
Anime is a Japanese animation style (NFI Team, n.d). Japan labels all cartoons and animation as anime while the outside world labels any animation from Japan as anime (NFI Team, n.d). Anime characters are often drawn with large eyes, unique hairstyles, lengthy limbs and arms (NFI Team, n.d). This exaggerated design allows anime characters to convey their emotions more freely and expressively. The large eyes in animes are a cultural reference as Japanese people often view it as the window to the soul (Britannica, 2023). The background of animes will often employ vivid lighting and brilliant colours to contribute to the atmosphere of the scene (NFI Team, n.d).
Anime often deals with fantasy-like stories with themes ranging from sci-fi to the supernatural (NFI Team, n.d). Each anime has its own niche that caters to a specific audience. One of the most famous examples is Pokemon due to how popular it is with children. Another example would be the story of Violet Evergarden which follows an orphaned child soldier named Violet Evergarden who takes on the job of an “Auto Memories Doll”, which is an occupation that writes letters (Zahratunnisa, 2023). She does this to better understand what emotions are and what the phrase “I love you” means because she was raised as a killing machine (Zahratunnisa, 2023).
As Violet begins to develop empathy and emotions through her interactions with customers, she also begins to feel regret for all the lives she had taken in the war and develops PTSD (Zahratunnisa, 2023). Interestingly, two American combat veterans commented on the anime (Animarchy History, 2019;Ketsuke, 2018). Both noted how the anime accurately portrays certain aspects of a soldier’s life and the problems they have to deal with such as PTSD and adjusting to civilian life.
Anime Openings and Endings
The consensus regarding the definition of anime music is that it either has to be created or featured in an anime to qualify as such. Anime openings and endings are what most people think of when they hear the term anime music. Anime openings can be seen as theme songs for the show and Anime endings are played during the credits. The songs that are used are often carefully selected to fit with the story. Both Anime openings and endings serve several purposes.
Anime Openings often set the tone of the series, hype the series, introduce characters, foreshadow/preview the story, introduce recurring themes or motifs, and create a positive first impression of the anime.
Anime Endings allows viewers to reflect on the story, add additional content, and allow for new ways of expression through the use of different animation styles.
Anime openings and endings typically adhere to specific rules or song structures. While not obligatory, many conform to these conventions resulting in songs that sound similar and predictable. Anime openings have to be cut and edited from their full-length song to just one minute and thirty seconds (ANIMYZE, 2020).
Animation studios would often reach out to artists to ask them to make music specifically for them (Anime Culture Corner, 2021). In other cases, they may acquire the rights to a preexisting song which is cheaper (Anime Culture Corner, 2021). These songs are associated with their respective animes thus creating a bond (Anime Culture Corner, 2021). At the same time, the artist may become associated with the anime they write music for.
The Royal Road Progression
Anime music and J-pop mostly follow the Royal Road Progression. This chord progression is defined as IV-V-iii-vi in a major key and VI-VII-v-i in a minor key (Ramage, 2023, p. 239). Other variations include IV-V-vi, IV-V-vi-I, IV-V-vi-vi, and IV-V-vi-iii (ANIMYZE 2021). The use of this chord progression is very popular in Japanese music.
Anime music does not exclusively adhere to the Royal Road Progression or reject Western chord progressions. Instead, it frequently combines elements of both and incorporates various adaptations of each.
Anime Piano Music
As anime becomes increasingly popular, so does the music. People started creating piano arrangements of their favourite anime songs resulting in the creation of Anime Piano Music.