Anime Music (Part 3)

By: Brian Mah

Recently, a number of foreign and Japanese artists composed lyrics for the Osamu Tezuka inspired anime music video, Ravex. Some well-known Japanese artists, such as Anna Tsuchiya, Namie Amuro, and Yuuko Ando contributed some music. In addition Monkey Majik, DJ Ozuma, BoA, and Lisa were some of the foreign musicians who added their own musical styles into this CD. The basic premise behind the Ravex story focused on three musicians (Fantastic Plastic Machine, Shinichi Osawa, and Taku Takahashi) who try to revive a fallen comrade to help fight the citizens of Tezuka's world from an evil alien race. Some of Osamu Tezuka's greatest creations, for instance Astro Boy, Black Jack, and Princess Knight aided the three musicians.

Puffy is a perfect example of how popular Japanese groups have broken into the US market and had some success to get a wider audience. Tokyo born Ami Onuki and Osaka born Yumi Yoshimura have created catchy tunes in Japan since 1996. They haven't been renown in the US until they got a chance to sing the theme song for Cartoon Network's Teen Titans. In response to the popularity of the Teen Titans song, Puffy was given a chance to acquire their own TV series. The series was called Hi! Hi! PuffyAmiYumi. The series centered on the cartoon adventures of Ami and Yumi on their road trip across the US. The series can also be seen on Cartoon Network's sister station in Japan.

Hikaru Utada made her name in the Japanese music scene in the early 1990's with her New York-influenced music. Ms. Utada is perhaps most familiar among anime fans for singing the opening song "This is love" for the OAV (Original Animated Video) Freedom. Katsuhiro Otomo, the famous creator of Akira, produced the OVA.

Mari Iijima is perhaps most recognized among anime fans as the voice of Lynn Minmay of the hit anime series Macross. Ms. Iijima is currently an independent musician in the Los Angeles area. She reprised her role as Minmay for the English dubbed version of the Macross series. She is currently writing music and performing in the LA area.

Many of these musicians have acted as bridges to help spread Japanese popular culture to many fans around the world. Through their hard work and dedication many of the anime series have found a voice in these talent musicians.