The other day I was driving in my Mazda Miata (which is called a Roadster here in Japan, though for phonetic reasons virtually all Japanese think the name is “Road Star”), and the iPod in my car selected the ending theme [iTunes Japan link] of the “What If the Female Manager of a High-School Baseball Team Read Drucker’s ‘Management’?” anime to play next. I realized that the anime itself didn’t really generate that much buzz online anymore, yet months later I still loved both the OP and ED (as opening and ending themes are called). The more I thought about it, there was a large number of anime series which seemed to live on forever through their anison, or anime songs, even when the popularity of the show itself fades. The legendary Kannagi OP, the classic “You Get to Burning” opening theme of Nadesico, and all those dreamy Rayearth songs still stand the test of time for me — though I’m sure you have your own personal list — and I’ve known more than anime fans who were first and foremost fans of the music in anime and choose what shows to watch based on the songs they liked. If you’re an anison fan too, we recommend our iTunes Japan prepaid cards, which allow you to access all kinds of only-available-from-Japan music content.
So what are your favorite anison?
Anime songs, a great way to appreciate Japan.
