In the mid to late 00s there has been an anison boom. The question is has it cooled since 2010? With the 8th Animax Anison Grand Prix canned this year, what do we make of it? How about Love Live S2 OP sales breaking records? Or the way different anison artists “being dropped” by different things? It’s intriguing.
Thankfully, someone already wrote it up, so I don’t have to.
My own opinion of this is that, like all musical artists, the way people make a living vary depending on where you are at on the chain. As a “live lover” I appreciate solid acts and people who can put on a good show. Thing is, a lot of anison artists during the boom are hardly that different than the seiyuu idols themselves that are now replacing them, in terms of exactly that–their live abilities. Then there are those who are notably better, invariably because that’s their bag to begin with; they are the Angela’s and LiSA’s of the bunch; the super robot singers (because seiyuu are not quite there yet?); and the singer-song-writers (which includes bands like Angela too, but also Nano.ripe, Ali Project and Yousei Teitoku. And the occasional ZAQ).
I’m not sure if we can make a distinction between the seiyuu idols who are now more like regular artists versus “idols” who are seiyuu, like StylipS or Sphere for example. I mean I enjoy all their shows, but the way I enjoy say a Nana Mizuki live is not going to be the same as how I enjoy IM@S. It’s harder to get that drooling, wallet-opening fanbase going if you are Maaya Sakamoto versus the newly debuting Azusa Tadakoro. You know?
But I’m not really worried. I think anison is no different than other categories of music as far as market and culture is concerned. It might contract or expand in cycles like everything else, and we’re probably just seeing that play out. Maybe this is why when JAM Project tours the world, their message to us is that they want the anison base to expand. So it can accommodate more artists?
So. How about that I’VE SOUND 15th Anniversary?
Maybe meg rock should tweet more in English…
May 3rd, 2014 at 1:35 am
What about I’ve sound’s 15th anniversary? New compilation album? Concert?
May 3rd, 2014 at 10:03 am
Concert
May 3rd, 2014 at 2:11 am
If anison is the same as other categories, it’s a worrying possibility. I am too familiar with the death of jazz. It can be at best described as “imminent”, when you go to a concert and 95% of listeners are over 65.
May 3rd, 2014 at 10:04 am
I think it’s not quite like jazz in the sense that anison is well-understood in the mainstream as a specific kind of use case. So that aspect of anison will probably stick around for a very long time. As long as anime exists, for that matter.
The “scene” however, is another story.
May 3rd, 2014 at 1:00 pm
I do wonder how much of this ties into the anime industry, generally, coming across as even more aggressively character orientated than it was 10 years ago. It’s not like the market hasn’t always been big on character goods – particularly since Eva in the mid-90s – but I think there are a lot fewer (major otaku) shows around these days which don’t mostly come across as being about selling character-specific goods now than there maybe were 10 years ago. Shows in that Valkyria middle-ground between nerd and mainstream that might merit non-VA musical artists, you know?
Although now I’m just randomly possibly correlations – I’m sure the recent super-media-mix franchises like Love Live, iM@S or WUG don’t really help, nor would the downturn in Gonzo-esque “made for export” shows where building character obsession might have been less of a concern.
But, meh, I don’t really follow the scene closely enough to build any fruitful conclusions on such a matter, even if there is such a thing to be made.
May 4th, 2014 at 10:30 am
I don’t see that being really too different. Unless you’re telling me Mushishi S2 is more moe for Ginko than S1 for example.
What are some major otaku shows back then that isn’t big on character merchandising? I honestly can’t think of one.
May 3rd, 2014 at 7:33 pm
Do you think it is due to the rise in idol culture and that the mindset of looking for that 2.5D connection spilled over to how people consume anisong media?
May 4th, 2014 at 10:31 am
Honestly I don’t know…but you are probably on the right track in that the audience is what is changing.