And welcome back for likely the final time! For this special special #KN15YEARS Klassic Note 15th anniversary special where we talk about specifically, the artists themselves which made this song library of mine possible to have lasted this long. This time around, I'll talk about how watching Anime has influenced what I listen to, for this is not just a coincidence. We definitely all started with watching these Japanese-made animations and it changed our lives. Well, at least it changed mine.

So let me take you on a journey, and show you just how at this point to be frank, ANYONE can be an Anison artist, and I can define for you, three types of them. Let's see if we can wrap ourselves around this!

THE ANISON ARTIST AND WHY IT CAME FROM ANIME

So for starters, let's define what I will later describe as "Anison" or aptly known as "Anime song". Problem is, the industry recognizes this term as basically anything related to Anime. Yeah, if you as an artist sang a song for Anime you can be an Anison artist. And that is clearly not true. In my definition of this term then, it's to describe those artists/singers who have been created solely for the purpose of the Anime. Yes, you can then say Kalafina is made from Anime, but that can apply to many cases today. So as you can see, the lines to define this are blurring with every passing year.

We do not know for sure what constitutes the theme and insert songs for every Anime though, it doesn't seem like an absolute decision. If the voice actors have much talent or are even just newbies then getting them to sing might be a wise choice nowadays. If credibility is assure for the series then making sure mainstream artists take the helm might be better. And I guess everyone else can be just done by a solo artist, whatever. Regardless, it's what made Anime today, and it sure has influenced me into thinking what they represent so far.

THE THREE TYPES OF ANISON ARTISTS

This is basically the way we all knew of Anime when it exploded in the early 2000s. Horie Yui isn't exactly the most popular music artist out there, and I would assume song production for Anime is still kind of a high bar, so outsourcing (literally) to mainstream artists related to the associated (major, so never indie) music label (each Anime is normally tied to one) and let them draw on a canvas relevant to the theme. This obviously has its drawbacks as it's most suited for action series which can have a broader scope of theme especially for the endings, so Anime back then with a specific theme will not be able to capitalize on this power. When it does though, it would have a greater impact like none other, showing the flexibility of the artist to blend into the Anime's theme. Sometimes, even the artists define the theme. Nonetheless, it made many of our childhood, and brought us even further into some of their legendary music and what it means to listen to J-Pop or J-Rock back then.

Examples: ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, SID, LUCKLIFE, Sayuri

This is not just a recent trend, as it's more like it happens more than often, also more like a production decision where they can get any of the above to happen, and it's easier to promote a voice actor in the process on their solo music career, it's just smarter to let the relevancy of song composition be determined by the Anime music producers but let the voice actor artist sing them. It's a win-win situation especially in cases where the voice actor is in the cast of the Anime, making it more compelling usually for the audience to watch because of the theme song. This really depends on how you view Anime I know people who don't care about music in Anime, but nonetheless, as scheming as it seems, it has taken the industry by storm, and neglecting mainstream artists in the process. Still, they present the Anime producers' visions while further promoting the voice actors themselves. (Don't worry, I don't really give male idols here so rest assured the gender bias is heavy at this point. Not like it changed with respect to Anime character songs too but you get the point.)

Examples: Tomatsu Haruka, Amamiya Sora, Horie Yui, Uesaka Sumire

THE STATS

Okay, the following table only summarizes solo artists (because filtering people like yanaginagi and YUKI-san from voice actresses is a pain lol I don't have a condition for that tbh), but in general, this is what theme songs I've given over the years with the Anime I've watched, with respect to 2022:

(*Collaborations don't count if they belong in different types so "ToniKawa" opening is excluded, for example)

Wow surprisingly still overwhelming in the mainstream artists- Maybe it's just me rejecting all the Anime artists haha I can tell you I am not fond of male voice actors which are counted in here which is none *laughs* and Anime groups so we did not include the single Anime characters in these which aren't many anyways. Again, I wish I can prove my point by putting the whole "K-ON!" and "OreImo" cast of character songs but then what is the point even. Shout out to 2017 though, proving my point. *giggles*

Well, at this point I could've concluded this week's talks about artists in Klassic Note by announcing a compilation or two, but instead, I'm going to leave you a little teaser on what I have planned next.

Yes, I'm still referring to the compilations by the way, with relation to artists. Not necessary related to the posts I've done so far but find out what these mean NEXT TIME!! ON-