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…