2009 in Review: Anisong & OSTs
Looking back at anisong and soundtrack releases in 2009 and picking out the highlights.
Anisong in 2009
K-ON! was obviously the runaway anisong success of the year, which would be OK by me if the music wasn’t quite so bad. Barring Don’t Say “Lazy” (actually, it was really just Sweet Bitter Beauty Song that appealed to me), the music from the show was pure otaku fodder and barely listenable. At least when it was Haruhi all over the charts a couple of years ago I could nod and go ”Yeah, those songs were good” (referrring to God knows… and all the rest of the chara stuff). Oh well, I guess the only consolation is that the music in K-ON! is better than the trash heard in Lucky Star.
Sales-wise it was a decent year – 8 anisong albums cracking the 100k mark is pretty good though the success of Gintama and BLEACH boils down to the fact that both series are Sony-backed, hence you get all the big name acts like Base Ball Bear, Aqua Timez and Sambomaster contributing tracks as theme tunes.
The success of supercell and fripSide after moving to major labels was also a notable talking point, though both acts still have plenty to prove and the true measure of success will be when both release follow-up singles in 2010. They’re signed to Sony and Geneon Universal respectively.
Interestingly, while we’re still on record labels and stuff, I’d like to point out my amusement at the general lack of Lantis releases on either chart. Pony Canyon was the obvious winner with K-ON!, while Frontier Works (with Media Factory) saw a good return on the Hetalia! CDs, King as usual relied on Mizuki Nana and Victor/flying Dog scored big with every Macross release. Lantis’ biggest selling artist? Hirano Aya.
Charts for the Oricon calendar year (2008/12/22～2009/12/21)
Top Selling Anisong Singles
(position-total sales-title-artist)
*1 169,388 Don’t say “lazy” / Sakurakou K-ON BU
*2 150,458 Cagayake! GIRLS / Sakurakou K-ON BU
*3 *81,491 Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari / supercell
*4 *80,696 Fuwafuwa Jikan / Sakurakou K-ON BU
*5 *61,078 Shin Ai / Mizuki Nana
*6 *60,088 Mugen / Mizuki Nana
*7 *55,642 K-ON! Image Song Akiyama Mio (Heart Goes Boon!!) / Akiyama Mio (Hikasa Yoko)
*8 *55,432 only my railgun / fripSide
*9 *53,637 K-ON! Image Song Hirasawa Yui (Gi-ta ni Kubittake) / Hirasawa Yui (Toyosaki Aki)
10 *50,669 Hetalia Character CD Vol.4 England / England (Sugiyama Noriaki)
11 *43,588 Shuketsu no Sono e / Hayashibara Megumi
12 *38,448 Super Driver / Hirano Aya
13 *38,316 pink monsoon / Sheryl Nome starring May’n
14 *38,216 Hetalia Character CD Vol.3 Japan / Japan (Takahashi Hiroki)
15 *35,963 K-ON! Image Song Nakano Azusa (Jajauma Way To Go) / Nakano Azusa (Taketatsu Ayana)
16 *33,078 K-ON! Image Song Tainaka Ritsu (Girly Storm Shisso Stick) / Tainaka Ritsu (Sato Satomi)
17 *31,831 K-ON! Image Song Kotobuki Tsumugi (Dear My Keys ~Kenban no Mahou~) / Kotobuki Tsumugi (Kotobuki Minako)
18 *31,184 Hetalia Character CD Vol.5 France / France (Onosaka Masaya)
19 *28,237 Let’s! Fresh Precure!/You make me happy! / Moie Mizuki & Hayashi Momoko
20 *27,137 Honjitsu, Mankai Watashi Iro! / Katsura Hinagiku with Hakuo Gakuen Seitokai Sannin Musume starring Ito Shizuka with Yahagi Sayuri & Nakao Eri & Asano Masumi
Top Selling Anisong Albums
*1 186,116 Gintama BEST
*2 117,501 BLEACH BEST TUNES
*3 117,132 Macross F VOCAL COLLECTION Nyan-tama / Kanno Yoko (Total Sales) 203,582
*4 110,349 Houkago Tea Time / Houkago Tea Time
*5 106,136 Studio Ghibli Songs (Total Sales) 148,848
*6 105,717 supercell / supercell feat.Hatsune Miku
*7 100,970 ULTIMATE DIAMOND / Mizuki Nana
*8 100,526 GUMDAM00 COMPLETE BEST
*9 *85,319 CODE GEASS COMPLETE BEST
10 *75,583 Universal Bunny / Sheryl Nome starring May’n
11 *58,826 Evangelion Movie Soundtrack
12 *53,246 Kazeyomi / Sakamoto Maaya
13 *51,100 Hatsune Miku Best ~impacts~
14 *47,163 Hatsune Miku Best ~memories~
15 *38,316 Rai Chikyuu Kinen Collection Album Space Bio Charge / YOKO KANNO & SEATBELTS
16 *37,503 May’n Street / May’n
17 *36,934 Keikan Shijin SINGLE COLLECTION PLUS / ALI PROJECT
18 *35,209 Seventh Heaven / Kalafina
19 *33,415 EXIT TUNES PRESENTS Vocalostar feat.Hatsune Miku / Super Producers feat.Hatsune Miku
20 *31,438 Styles / May’n
Personal Highlights
Pretty good year for anisong, or so it seems to be judging by the amount of CDs stacked up high on my bedroom table! I’m sorry I haven’t covered anime music much in the last quarter of the year due to my packed work schedule, which is a shame as there were many great releases. Nevertheless, here’s my picks for the best of 2009’s anime music releases.
Hatsukoi Limited. Original Soundtrack. Nijine
I have a weakness for soppy (poignant?) piano/violins soundtracks, and Hatsukoi’s is the best I’ve heard this year – marginally beating out the Manimani OST by CooRie & Okubo Kaoru. Nijine’s work here recalls parts of Nanase Hikaru’s work on the Da Capo series, and although this isn’t revolutionary stuff it’s still a pretty damn good listen.
Matsumoto’s heady mix of funk, jazz, electro-rock and ambient is fresh and unique – despite being all over the place music-wise it gels together well. The mark of a great soundtrack is being able to stand on its own without the aid of the visuals, and One Outs succeeds, with plenty of b-ball style.
Muramatsu follows up the splendour of the kure-nai music with another potential masterpiece. Although there are plenty of similarities between the two soundtracks, his approach in arranging each of the main themes in 3-4 different ways brings a new dimension to the songs.
Bossa nova supergroup consisting of guitarist Sasago Shigeharu (Choro Club), violinist Eto Yuki and clarinetist Kurokawa Saeko craft fantastic chill-out soundtrack, music to relax to with a cup of coffee while watching the world go by. Vocal tracks by Komine Lisa and Kiyoura Natsumi complete the lovely lounge experience. Not quite the usual sort of anime soundtrack fare but if (the hotchpotch of) names like Gontiti, Baden Powell and Astrud Gilberto set your pulse racing, then musica paradiso is one for you.
China Kibun de High Tension!!. Takagaki Ayahi (CANAAN insert)
The first time I can truly say I enjoyed Ayahi’s singing, and it has to come for a bunch of joke songs! Nene is a legend, and my only wish is for a Taxi Driver version of the three tracks here.
Despite the shittiness of Endless Eight the Haruhi character CDs were still quality, all the way from Haruhi to (lol) Taniguchi. Even Kyon’s was amusing! The pick of the bunch is once again Itsuki’s disc, Ono D getting to sink his teeth into some very fun and lively songs.
Released on Christmas Day 2008 which was outside the Oricon calendar, so rolled over to this year. Still as engaging 12 months on, music that reminds you why Ga-Rei made us all laugh, cry, sit there in shock with mouth wide-open, or want to fling the mouse across the room.
Take all the best bits of Yousei Teikoku and Asriel + a pinch of AliPro and transform eroge singer into blazing hot rocker chick, voila! Best character compilation CD of 2009. End Prophecy (collection of Chaos;Head songs) is epicness unrivaled.
ColorS. Takahashi Naozumi
Amongst the mass of male seiyuu scrambling for a slice of the fangirl market, Takahashi stands tall. His songwriting partnerships with Nonaka ‘Masa’ Yuichi and U-Ken really pay off on ColorS, which represents his most mature work thus far, including the beautiful Ano Oka e which featured as a theme song for the Youjuu Mameshiba movie/dorama series that he had a small role in. As always, Takahashi’s vocals are nothing less than fantastic and now he’s got the songs to match his talents. I hope Nao-nii comes back for Animelo next year!
Slow-burning album that takes time to reveal its charms, if you give it a decent chance. Almost one year on since its release and I’m loving Kazeyomi a lot more – even Peanuts.
STARGATE is a whole different ball game from the themes Kanako does for anime and games, with ample room for experimentation. The result is a diverse record that runs the gamut of the pop spectrum from electropop to jazz, all courtesy of the good folks at 5pb.
You’d be forgiven for having a few jitters over Shimotsukin’s follow-up to Tindharia, but rest assured Griotte does not disappoint and in fact, often trumps its predecessor in with the sheer beauty of the arrangements and instrumentation. Anisong world needs more ambitious projects like this, thank God for Haruka and Shikata Akiko.
10 random songs from various anime, video game and anison CDs I really liked but don’t quite fit in on any of the other lists. When I think about it, these songs are all likely candidates to be covered on my next album…links to Youtube samples where possible.
1. Pub de GO!!. Sugiyama Noriaki (Hetalia character song) [song]
Sugiyama’s hilarious song for England from Hetalia, with lyrics covering all things British from tea, fish and chips to fairies, unicorns and Her Royal Majesty. Though seriously, if I hear another English fandub of this I’m going to scream.
2. Dokkyun Heart. Inoue Marina (Umineko anime insert) [full versh]
Annoying happy hardcore, hyper rap techno etc. Everyone secretly loves this song.
3. Fuwaffuwahho Maple Magic!!. ave;new project feat. Yuzuki Ryoka [CM edit]
Apt to turn brains to mush.
4. Kimi ga Iru Kara. Sugawara Sayuri (FFXIII theme song) [PV]
Lolololol at international version of FFXIII having Leona Lewis as theme song.
5. Occultics no Majo. Ayumu (Umineko Chiru 5 OP) [Umineko 5 OP]
Strange to have a Jrock singer (Ayumu from Zwei) do an Umineko song. Still kicks plenty of ass.
6. You & Me. Tamura Yukari [short PV]
Rubbish para-para, strangely addictive.
7. Starting Over. Okui Masami (Final Approach2 1st priority Portable OP) [full song]
Overlooked, under-rated. Makkun’s best single in years.
8. platonic syndrome. Duca (Natsu no Ame OP) [Demo PV]
Best eroge theme song in 2009.
9. Fake me. Ito Kanako (Chaos;Head Noah OP) [OP]
So many great Chaos;Head songs, this is the pick of them.
10. Yami ni Saku Hoshi no Youni. CooRie (Sora no Manimani ED2) [full song]
More like an insert really. Better than the actual ending song.
And that wraps up another year for anime music. Moving along….
Quick Links:
2009 in Review: Top 12 Anime Theme Songs
2009 in Review: Anime
It’s rather disturbing in its own right, even for a fan of K-ON like me, for those albums to be above Shin’ai and Kimi no Shiranai monogatari.
While I don’t see what’s so bad with the K-ON songs…I can definitely see that Shin’ai, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, and only my railgun to be a lot better than the K-ON songs. Though I guess for fripside it can’t be helped since they just changed vocals and they haven’t been that huge for people who don’t play eroge. Since I think I’d be correct in saying that the only other song fripside has ever done for anime was the ones for koi-hime.
PS: Just checked my winamp, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari has reached 4 digits play count….
Good call on that Makkun song. Too bad nobody cares about that rehabilitated eroge. In this biz attachment is how things sell. Which is to say while I understand what you’re saying about K-ON’s songs, they were still pretty decent.
Pretty much agree with your top list. Hatsukoi Limited was my favorite soundtrack last year, probably, as much as it’s a surprise to everyone, I imagine. The ChaosHead CD was lols.
I haven’t been listening to that many character songs as of late, but one song that I am currently obsessed with is Chain, Beatrice’s character song from Umineko. There’s a great power within the instrumentals and vocals of the song, but its a bit subtle, and that’s what I like about it. Oh, and that’s the song that finally got me to notice Sayaka Ohara. It’s about time, right?
Excellent! Someone else who likes the One Outs OST. I’d have that pegged as the most underrated soundtrack of the year
All this information flowing in about Hatsukoi’s OST does mean I have to start finding time to listen to it though. The music never really stuck out when I watched the series, so I don’t have quite a good handle on what to expect from it.
Umi Monogatari – excellent fare from Muramatsu, and I do like it better than his work on Kure-nai. Also might be the only good thing to come out of the show? (I wouldn’t know. I dropped it at ep. 2.)
RistoPara is quite relaxing, though it never reaches the levels that ARIA does. I’m convinced that Takeshi Senoo’s contributions were what made the ARIA soundtracks so good.
Excellent stuff!
This reminds me of how much I have to catch up on. orz
I prefer America’s to England’s, even though Konishi can’t sing to save his life.
Lantis killed Minorin. D: So sad to see her just hit the 20k wall and dropped.
They really shouldn’t try to turn her into a Nana clone and try to out-compete her with similiar style songs. Most people I know loves both Nana and Minorin, they shouldn’t try to make Minorin occupy the same space as Nana, music wise.
I totally love Umimonogatari’s OST!!! XD
Really makes people wanna sleep anytime. And its totally obvious that K-On! took NO.1 in Anisong 2009. Horray!
Can’t wait for K-On’s Season 2 on 2010!!!
“Ga-Rei made us all laugh, cry, sit there in shock with mouth wide-open, or want to fling the mouse across the room.”
I couldn’t say better!