The Sound of Music

        

About a week ago I was listening to the latest episode of the J-Pop review podcast, Gaijin Kanpai. This particular episode featured a roundtable between the hosts about “What makes an Artist”. After debating the relative creative merits of many quasi-singers such as PERFUME and vocaloid super star Hatsune Miku as actual musicians, the conversation turned to one of the hosts’ biggest pet peeves: when anime fans only recognize a band for the one theme song they contributed to an anime series. Co-host Zer0 remarked that “not that many people really like music… for most people, it’s just noise. People go to work and turn on the classic rock station, but they don’t actually listen to it- they just let it play in the background.”

Aniblogger-love blossoms in Spring

(original wallpaper by burgundyeyes@fanpop)

Some of us love our Morning Musume. Some of us can't get enough of AKB48. Or maybe we like to drool over those sexy Johnny's boys. Perhaps we're part of the group that is still weeping over TVXQ's "suspension of activities" (I know I am.). Or maybe, we want to follow the "real" artists of the J-Pop scene and like to spend our time appreciating YUI's heartfelt lyrics and beautiful acoustic arrangements. Over the internet, we've all found our own niches in the blogosphere and in forums. We've made friends to fangirl and fanboy with- but have any of us gone further than that?

[News] Kimi no Todoke to hit the Big Screen

Miura Haruma and Miyako Tabe, two rising stars of the J-drama scene, are set to star in the live action adaptation of popular manga and anime series "Kimi ni Todoke". Will it be enough to rocket them to super stardom?