Last-modified: 12 November, 2006
Anime Music FAQ for REC.ARTS.ANIME.MUSIC Part 2 Edited by Ru Igarashi Based on the work of Steve Pearl This article can be freely distributed for non-commercial use, as long as all credits and notices remain intact. If this is to be used in any publication, including CD-ROM collections, please contact the maintainer for permission at e-mail:ru.igarashi@usask.ca. Please e-mail all additions/corrections/comments to: ru DOT igarashi at usask DOT caChanges since last posting:
Yet Another Anime CD Cyclopedia http://yaacc.cjas.org [Doesn't seem to be maintained.] Maintained by Jerry Hsu, based on Steve Pearl's AnimeCD Cyclopedia from the 1990s. This is an HTML version containing: - catalog numbers, - front cover scans, - track titles, - track times, - title translations, - singer/artist, - comments Contributions are welcome, as are corrections, preferably in his tagged format but also in the old Cyclopedia format. Ratings are optional. Colette CD Connection http://www.fanfic.net/~colette/ Contains: - catalog numbers, - front cover scans, - track titles, - track times, - comments Moon Prince's Anime and Seiyuu CD Reviews http://wwwcsif.cs.ucdavis.edu/~hueyt/cd.html [Dead link] Contains: - catalog numbers, - front cover scans, - track titles, - reviews, - ratings Studio Neko-Han-Ten Anime/Manga CD Guide http://www.oocities.org/Tokyo/Bay/7427/ Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - title translations, - singer/artist, - comments Animephile http://catsspat.dyndns.org:2080/anime/index.html Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - title translations, - singer/artist, - comments Has cross references for singers. Anidisc.com http://www.anidisc.com/ [Dead link] Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - singer/artist - searchable in addition to browsable Has user interface for entering or changing entries. Chris Sypal's Domestic Anime CD Guide http://www.radiks.net/~csypal/cds [Dead link] A site for CDs licensed for re-release in the West. Contains: - catalog numbers, - track titles, - track times, - singer Correlates to original Japanese release when applicable. Gracenote http://www.gracenote.com A site for general audio CD track listings for use by playback software/hardware. Some anime CDs are listed here, but other production information is very limited. Gracenote now charges royalties to software makers, so it's not clear what will happen to it. Used to be called cddb.com. See freedb.org for its free alternative. FreeDB.org http://www.freedb.org An alternative to gracenote.com (was cddb.com), which is used for general audio CD track listings for use by playback software/hardware. Like Gracenote, production information tends to be limited. It's newer so its database is currently smaller, so anime CD information is even more sparse. For J-pop: Shoji Iwata's J-pop reviews, and audio and video samples http://www.shudaika.com/ [Dead link] CD information for specific shows can sometimes be found at fan web sites. Check the Anime Web Turnpike, http://www.anipike.com for lists of sites for specific shows.
You can try these seiyuu databases or link pages. Hitoshi Doi's Seiyuu Searchable Database http://www.tcp.com/doi/seiyuu/seiyuu.html Has J-pop CD info as well as seiyuu info. Voice Actor(ess) links http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~AE5T-KSN/anime/voice-e.html A link index to web sites for both official and fan pages. Anime News Network Encyclopedia http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/ The Anime News Network Encyclopedia holds information for a large number of anime titles, for both Japanese and English versions, with multiple search categories. It's entries list both cast and staff. Anime Web Turnpike Seiyuu/Voice Actors links http://www.anipike.com/
Some do. The sites for the original anime CD companies tend to be in, well, Japanese, and as such I can't vouch for their usefulness (some do have English links): Aniplex (Sony/SPE Visual Works/SME Visual Works) http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Animation/ Columbia Japan http://columbia.jp/animex/ Geneon http://www.geneon-ent.co.jp/ [This is site is a bit convoluted. No dedicated page for CDs. I have no idea where the old Pioneer CD info is now.] King Records http://www.kingrecords.co.jp/ Lantis http://www.lantis.co.jp/ Marine Entertainment http://marine-e.co.jp/ Pony Canyon http://www.ponycanyon.co.jp/ Starchild (division of King Records) http://www.starchild.co.jp/ Tokuma Japan (note the specific Ghibli link) http://www.tkma.co.jp/tjc/ Toshiba-EMI http://www.toshiba-emi.co.jp/ VAP http://www.vap.co.jp/ Victor (JVC) http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/m-serve/index.html In North America there is: Animetrax (ADVision and Right Stuf International) http://www.animetrax.com Soundtrax (TokyoPop) http://www.tokyopop.com/soundtrax Geneon Anime Music http://www.geneonanimemusic.com/ (note: Geneon USA has apparently partnered with Starchild, a division of King Records)
You can find a good list of web sites that have anime lyrics at the Anime Web Turnpike at http://www.anipike.com/ You can also find official translations of songs from anime that AnimEigo has released at their web site: http://www.animeigo.com/Liner/ If you don't want to navigate AniPike, try: AnimeLyrics.com http://www.animelyrics.com/ Searchable site. Also has J-Pop and game lyrics. AnimeLyrics.tv http://www.animelyrics.tv/ Searchable site. Also has J-Pop and game lyrics. [Maintainer's Note: the above two are somewhat related as of late 2006. The maintainers of the original site have split, each taking the original content and going their separate ways. I don't know how this is going to settle out, but it's somewhat emotionally charged, so I'm just going to list them both.]
[editor's note: I'm open to recommendations] Anime in the Limelight http://www.limepub.com/radio.html Licensed anime music radio site, about 1 hour content. Adventures in Anime Music http://www.adventuresinanimemusic.com/ Licensed anime music radio live broadcast and site, about 1 hour content per broadcast, archive of previous broadcasts. Anime Hardcore Radio http://www.animehardcoreradio.net/ Live365.com station, but also broadcasts on other streaming formats like mp3 and realaudio. Interactive Anime OST http://ftp.jav.net/ [Dead link] A Shoutcast station with an online request system. Uses streaming mp3 at 128kbps so you need a reasonably fast network connection. Japan-A-Radio http://www.japanaradio.com/ ToonRadio.net http://www.toonradio.net/ Broadcasts "Anime in the Limelight" and "Adventures in Anime Music" in scheduled time slots. You might try some of the streaming media vendors, like Real.com and live365.com, shoutcast.com or check the site database at the Anime Web Turnpike (http://www.anipike.com/index.php?cat=92).
Many people say they use MP3s to get an idea of what's on a CD before
they decide to buy it. There is a school of though that says the more
ethical way of providing this is by provding exerpts from any given
track rather than the whole track (for example, see WHAT'S THE
RECOMMENDED WAY OF PRESENTING MUSIC SAMPLERS ON MY WEB SITE?). The
following provide that service to anime music fans.
[maintainer's note: this REALLY needs more entries]
CDJapan:
The audio/video retailer in Japan has samples for some of the CDs
they sell. They usually have a link on the CD's details page.
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/
For Yoko Kanno's works:
The Yoko Kanno Project
http://jameswong.com/ykproject/
http://jameswong.com/ykproject/disc/music.php
Some of the soundtrack companies have music samples, too. So
if your favourite music store displays company info and catalog
numbers, you could try the company site and dig around a little.
The following is a list of sites that may have some downloadable anime music for sale and seem to be licensed. Not all are confirmed to have anime music. Some sites have pages dedicated to anime, others don't seem to. Look for the "JASRAC" or similar licensor symbol, which indicates the site is licensed to sell music. Be aware that most of the sites are in Japanese (with maybe a sprinkling of English). If there is a menubar in Japanese, sometimes you can find the anime link by moving over the menubar and watching your statusbar (the word "anime" often shows up in english in the URL). Beyond that, web translation sites can be your friend. Listen Japan Music Store http://listen.jp/ - Windows Media Audio - can't find the JASRAC or similar licensing info, but Columbia Japan does link to this store. MaXMuse http://www.maxmuse.com/ - Windows Media Audio - linked from Columbia Japan Mora http://mora.jp/ - ATRAC3 - can't find the JASRAC or similar licensing info, but Columbia Japan, King Records, Tokuma do link to this store. Oricon Style http://www.oricondd.com/ http://www.oricon.co.jp/anime/ - ATRAC and Windows Media - can't find the JASRAC or similar licensing info, but Columbia Japan and VAP do link to this store. Of course, a web search may find more. If you are finding that results in too many false hits, try company web sites. The companies that produce the music typically have web sites and some of them also link to online download stores, so check the sites for the anime music companies (maybe even the anime production companies) listed elsewhere in this FAQ.
It isn't clear there is much around to begin with. Also if there is something published in book form, you might be able to get it from Japanese stores, like www.amazon.co.jp. A general sheet music site like the following might have something. Doremi Music Publishing Co., Ltd. 3-36-4 Takada Toshima-ku Tokyo 171-0033 Japan phone: 03-5950-8220 fax : 03-5950-8246 http://www.doremi.co.jp Site is in Japanese. AnimeNation (see Mail Order Business section for store info) http://www.animenation.com/books-import-sheet-music.html Some fan transcriptions can be found at: Ichigo's Sheet Music http://ichigos.com/ Also check web link sites, like the Anime Web Turnpike. Cowboy Bebop This was posted 9 Nov, 2001: While looking for an "impish" picture of YK, I found this at James McCawley's site: Cowboy Bebop Sheet Music At last, sheet music for a Kanno score has been officially published. The "Cowboy Bebop Bandscore", containing Kanno's band arrangements for the tracks Tank, Rush, Space Lion, Cats on Mars, Memory, and Real Folk Blues, is available from Movic, ISBN #4896014138, retailing for 2000 yen. It turns out there was an earlier sighting by Lynn Tse in Sept 1999: Cowboy Bebop Band Score Movic ISBN: 4-89601-413-8 2000 yen (tax not included) released 1999.1.15 The 80 pages book is black A4 size, with Spike on the front cover and the Swordfish in the back cover. Please note that this book is a Band Score, not piano sheet music, meaning that if you want to reproduce any of the songs in the book, you will need a Jazz band. Some of the songs uses something like 15 instruments. The songs are: 1. Tank! 2. RUSH 3. SPACE LION 4. Cats on Mars 5. Memories 6. The Real Folk Blues Sorry about missing that, Lynn. Note, I think this book is now out of print. For Maaya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno fans, this was posted on 29 Aug, 2003: Title: Yasashiku hikeru Sakamoto Maaya Piano Solo Album, Single Collection + "Nikopachi & Hotchpotch" Publisher: kmp ISBN: 4-7732-2097-X Price: 2000 yen Description: Piano scores for all 31 tracks from Sakamoto Maaya's two single collection albums (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/anime/topics/maaya_sakamoto/index.html). All tracks are composed by Kanno Yoko. Level: beginner Website: http://www.kmp.co.jp/Shinkan/shinkan0309.html#a In the same posting: Title: Piano de hiku Juunikokuki Yasou Tsuki no Shizuku ~Piano Memories~ Publisher: Yamaha Music Media ISBN: 4-6362-5817-7 Price: 1500 yen Description: Piano scores from all 11 tracks of the mini-album of the same title (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=VICL-61146). The album is a collection of piano pieces (some have been rearranged for piano as well) from the "Juunikokuki" soundtrack. The score book is apparently supervised by the Ryo Kunihiko, the composer and pianist for the "Juunikokuki" soundtrack. Level: intermediate to high Website: http://www.ymm.co.jp/products2/detail.php?format=search&code=GTP25817
Some of us are brave enough to attempt to transliterate (convert one kind of characters to another) and translate the track listings and other information from our anime CDs. However, it is not as simple as grabbing a dictionary and plugging in the English equivalents. You need to know some grammar, to know what the form changes are, what is a name and what isn't, where one word ends and another begins, for example. This subject is beyond the scope of this FAQ, but once you have learned some Japanese, it's possible to get quite far. But you need to deal with 3 different character sets: the simplified katakana and hiragana, and the pictographic (and extremely numerous) Kanji. That makes sifting through dictionaries more of a job in cryptography than straight translation. Online dictionaries can be a lot of help, both to get you started and to get words that aren't in those J<->E and Kanji dictionaries spread over your desk. Jeffrey's Japanese<->English Dictionary Server http://www.solon.org/cgi-bin/j-e/dict/ mirrored at http://dict.regex.info/cgi-bin/j-e/dict http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/j-e.cgi/dict http://rut.org/cgi-bin/j-e/dict/ http://www.df.lth.se/cgi-bin/j-e/dict Highly configurable, has multiple search strategies. Jim Breen's WWWJDIC Server http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdicinf.html Large body of resources, including software. Just between those two, you get a potent coverage of all sorts of tranliteration and translation problems. For translating Japanese web pages, try Babelfish http://babelfish.altavista.com/ Be aware that names get mangled with this as it doesn't distinguish names from ordinary words. or Google http://www.google.ca/language_tools?hl=en Same warnings as above.
Before joining a ML or participating in one, it is highly recommended that you read the Mailing List Etiquette FAQ written by Brian Edmonds. The latest edition of which can be found on the web at: http://www.gweep.ca/~edmonds/usenet/ml-etiquette.html - Seiyuu Mailing List http://www.win.ne.jp/doi-bin/ml-admin.pl?ML_NAME=seiyuu - Megumi Hayashibara: a mailing list for and about Megumi Hayashibara. The list has been developed to discuss and debate anime, TV Shows, Radio programs, CD's, and video games that feature the Seiyuu Hayashibara Megumi in it. Megumi-san is one of the most popular Seiyuu not only in Japan, but in North America as well. Her roles include Lina Inverse in Slayers, Nuku Nuku in Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, Ayanami Rei in Evangelion, and Saotome Ranma(Girl) in Ranma 1/2. She also has had many great supporting roles too, including Christina MacKenzie in Gundam 0080 and Sakurayama Momoko in Patlabor. If you are interested in discussing these series and Megumi's work in them, or any of her CD and TV appearances please send e-mail to: megumi-request@anime.usacomputers.net with "subscribe (your e-mail address)" in the body of the message. [SP]
http://www.animemusicvideos.org
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The following companies sell imported anime music through mail order, either by phone, fax, e-mail, web, or snail-mail. Be sure to do your homework beforehand if you are concerned about things like bootlegs. Keep in mind that special orders, or out-of-stock items, from stores outside of Japan may take a month or more to ship because their ordering frequency is limited. Amazon.co.jp http://www.amazon.co.jp/ [In Japanese. The Japanese branch of amazon.com. You might find music books here, if you can read or translate Japanese, or Babelfish (http:babelfish.altavista.com/) works well enough. Viable alternative to CD Japan (see below), carries some items CD Japan does not, and shipping charges can be lower. For CDs, try finding the catalog number elsewhere and then using that in Amazon.co.jp's keyword search.] AnimeNation contact: 13929 Lynmar Boulevard, Tampa, Florida 33626 USA Phone: (813) 925-1116 Toll-Free: 1-888-MY-ANIME Fax : 1-813-925-1247 retail store: 1530 N McMullen Booth Rd D-4 Clearwater, FL 33759-2547 USA Phone: 1-727-669-8553 Fax : 1-727-669-7372 email: sales@animenation.org http://www.animenation.com/ [General anime and manga.] Anime Jungle contact: 5-12-4 Nipponbashi, Naniwa-ku Osaka, 556-0005 Japan Phone: (country code 81) 6-6636-7444 Fax : (country code 81) 6-6636-7449 e-mail: info@jungle-scs.co.jp (Japanese) info@animejungle.com (English) http://www.jungle-scs.co.jp/ http://www.jungle-scs.jp/en/ [Anime video and music store. Recommended by some for used out-of-print CDs. Ships internationally, but be aware of shipping costs (Y1500 + ~Y300/item + 10% surcharge).] Asahiya Bookstores U.S.A., Inc Yaohan Plaza 333 S. Alameda St. Suite 108 Los Angeles, CA 90013 Phone: (213) 626-5650 Fax : (213) 626-1746 [Manga and various anime magazines, books, posters, calendars, and CDs.] [SP] CD Japan Neo Wing Co. 601 Kyodo Bldg. (Shin-hoidome), 1-10-12 Horidome, Nihonbashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0012, Japan http://www.cdjapan.co.jp [General CD store in Japan. Good stock and special order response. Good service. Fast delivery (3-5 days from Japan to North America). Shipping charges are high (EMS to North America: Y1200 + Y320/item + 5% international shipping charge) but MAY balance out for those who would pay higher charges from stores outside of Japan anyways. It is also worth it if availability and delivery time are an issue, too. Probably most often recommended.] Fujisan.com 1942 University Avenue #105 Berkeley, CA 94704 USA phone: 1-877-fujisan or 1-510-548-9689 (not for orders) fax: 1-510-653-2670 http://www.fujisan.com http://www.fujisan.com/online/superstore/index.html e-mail: e-service@fujisan.com, shopping@fujisan.com [General Japanese goods import store in US. No specific anime section. Online availability of anime CDs so-so, but they take special orders. Shipping cost in US reasonable, to Canada quite steep. Shipping discounts available for US (48 states) orders. International orders limited to only a handful of countries.] Japan Internet Goods Shop (JIGS) http://www.jigsco.com/ email: jigs@amy.hi-ho.ne.jp [General anime store in Japan. Does not accept credit cards.] JPQueen http://www.jpqueen.com [Online used anime/manga goods store. Shipments by EMS are expensive as usual, but there is an Airmail option which is cheaper though uninsured and untrackable.] Nikaku Animart 615 N. 6th St. San Jose, CA 95112 Phone: (408) 971-2822 Fax : (408) 971-0856 email: nikaku@nikaku.com http://www.nikaku.com/ Closed Mondays [General anime and manga. Minimum purchase (e.g $100 for international orders shipped by post).] The Right Stuf International P.O. Box 71309 Des Moines, IA 50325 Phone: 1-800 338-6827 http://www.rightstuf.com/ [General anime and manga store, but CDs may be limited to domestic if at all. Does mail order.] Yesasia.com (US) 28 Second Street, Suite 328 San Francisco, Ca 94105 United States Phone: 1-888 716-5753 http://us.yesasia.com/ [General Asian media store, but it does occasionally stock anime CDs.] [There have been confirmed reports of bootlegs coming from this store, labelled as "Overseas Version".] You can also find used CDs at online auctions sites like E-Bay, but, since many are bootlegs, be sure to do your homework. One recommended auction site is Yahoo! Japan's auctions (http://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/), particularly through an intermediary service like Rinkya.com (http://rinkya.com/) or perhaps a translation site like Babelfish (http://babelfish.altavista.com/ - be aware that names get mangled with this as it doesn't distinguish names from ordinary words). If there is a store that you have found to be reliable for mail-orders, please let me know so I can add them to this list. However, given the tone of this FAQ regarding bootlegs, it is probably best to recommend only stores that do not sell bootleg CDs.
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Steve Pearl (who started this FAQ) Avatar Chika Clinton Moulds Daniel (a.k.a. vanfanel) Joshua Kaufman K.E. Bosco Mike Quin Nikkou Nobutoshi Ito Pipian Rob Kelk Rob Maxwell Ru Igarashi Simon Palko Thomas Chan Tom Norrill Wayne C. Morris Terrence Huey Michael Hayden Joe Curzon Glenn Shaw Nunya Biznes Kaijyuu Miyuki-chan Josh Berry Eric VanHeest Zoe (of zoemi.com) James Mccawley Phil Lee Dave Watson Sean O'Connor John Lee Baird HimuraLain Skeleton Man Mark Weiss Ralph W. Phillips
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[Contents][1][2][A][B]
Part1:[1][2][3][A] Part3:[1]
Jump to:
[Contents][1][2][A][B]
Part1:[1][2][3][A] Part3:[1]