Japan's favorite anime songs - the truth
Tomoe
posts of anime fans about their fav anime songs, most of those songs
being either not very popular in Japan or not anime at all (rather
J-pop). Since I always preferred to like what Japanese guys like, and
since I'm a great fan of Anison music, I got interested in their
official charts of best/most popular anime songs of all time. I post
the results here.
There are 3 famous charts, each initiated by a big TV station. After
people vote, the results are posted. They are so very similar, if not
the same. Note that these rankings are for anime songs only (no J-pop
hit used as OP/ED can appear there!), and for songs that remained in
the memories of Japanese. Since Anison genre got very limited after
1997 (to make place for J-pop in OP/ED), it's understandable why most
of the songs here are rather old. *Nevertheless*, these truly ARE
Japan's chosen best anime songs of all time.
One of the charts (which was NHK's, as far as I remember) provides a
Top 100 songs list, and the top 3 of them are: 1st place for Uchuu
Senkan Yamato, 2nd place for Lupin III no Teema (1978), 3rd place for
Mazinger Z. Another ranking, which I believe is slightly better,
belongs to Fuji TV (if I'm not mistaken). It separates the anime era
by intervals of 10 years. Thus, they clearly state that the best anime
song of 1970s is Lupin III no Teema, of 1980s - "Touch", of 1990s -
"Odoru Ponpokorin" from Chibi Maruko-chan (note that this one appeared
at the beginning of the period, in 1990, but remained the best till
the end; it got many awards, not even Evangelion OP could beat its
sucess).
Just a few months ago (last November), another people's vote ranking
appeared, this time on TV Tokyo. However, they didn't simply publish
the results in Internet, but instead decided to make a great show in
their Boogie Woogie Night program. They invited some famous anime
singers (JAM Project, 7 of the members) and some completely unknown to
me artists who presented the chart by doing a live 10-minute long
medley on stage during the show. I was lucky enough to get the video
of this great performance and enjoy it. It's really amazing, they all
appear one after another on stage, jump, dance and sing the anime
hits, doing covers of each other. Therefore, I now give you a list of
the Top 20 songs performed in the medley, as a result of people's
voting. I also add my comments:
Number 20: "Gatchaman no Uta" // Gatchaman (1972)
This one was born to be a hit. No wonder Animetal's most famous cover
is the cover of Gatchaman. Nice performance of JAM Project in the
medley, especially some neat shouting by Rica Matsumoto.
Number 19: "Tobe! Gundam" // Kidou Senshi Gundam (1979)
The OP to the first Gundam series. Another famous song for Japanese
fans.
Number 18: "Tetsujin 28" (1963)
The OP to the first super-robot anime. Great cover by Ichiro Mizuki in
the show, gotta love his shouts: "DADADADADADAAA".
Number 17: "Suki Suki Song" // Himitsu no Akko-chan (1969)
This is a VERY popular anime song in Japan. I know of a large amount
of concerts and events where somebody performs it.
Number 16: "Tetsuwan Atom" (Astroboy) (1963)
A song I've always liked, no matter how old it is. I'm a little
surprised that they add it to this Top 20 chart, however. I thought
it's forgotten.
Number 15: "Lum's Love Song" // Urusei Yatsura (1981)
Now Urusei Yatsura OP is one of the most enjoyable anime hits to have
ever existed. In the medley, Rica Matsumoto and Masami Okui do a
fantastic cover.
Number 14: Gegege no Kitarou (1968)
Another very catchy song, which the guests at Boogie Woogie Night show
enjoy much.
Number 13: "Itsumo Nando Demo" // Spirited Away (2001)
Now here comes the interesting part. This is the only song from
post-2000 period to appear in the medley, probably because it's one of
the few non-Jpop songs in the period. I'm quite convinced it will
remain the best until the end (2010), simply because they're not doing
that many Anison songs nowadays. Very nice performance of Yu Emao in
the medley, I wish I could find more of her voice.
Number 12: Cutey Honey (1973)
Wasn't Youko Maekawa the original singer?... I'm so used to Salia's
version from 1997, but it's the same song anyway.
Number 11: "Mezase Pokemon Master" // Pokemon (1997)
Here Rica Matsumoto jumps on stage with two Pokemons (guys dressed as
Pokemons) and shows us the true power of her voice. No wonder, she's
the original singer of the song, she knows how to sing it the best
possible way.
Number 10: "Cat's Eye" (1983)
To be honest, I knew nothing about this anime or the song before I
heard it in the medley. Some J-pop looking girls-formation appear to
cover it; it sounds nice but didn't get the whole of my interest.
Maybe I should watch the anime... There must be some reason why
Japanese like the song and/or the anime.
Number 9: Mazinger Z (1972)
Words are useless, when it comes to the greatest super-robot hit ever.
"Pairudaa OOOOOOOONNN!!!"
Number 8: "Odoru Ponpokorin" // Chibi Maruko-chan (1990)
Here, this is the closest to the top song of 1990s' period which means
that Fuji TV's chart was right, after all. Pretty much the best of the
1990s.
Number 7: "Doraemon no Uta" // Doraemon (shin) (1979)
Aah, that was the first Japanese song I ever heard, and it was my
first anime (which I watched somewhere around 1990). At that time I
thought Japanese language was horrible and Kumiko Osugi was awful...
Obviously I was nuts. In the medley, this is covered by two young
boys, one of them imitating Doraemon's voice p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y.
Number 6: Uchuu Senkan Yamato (1974)
Not as close to the top as in NHK's ranking, but still something.
Ichiro Mizuki appears on stage to make the cover and he's damn good.
Number 5: Candy Candy (1976)
Ah, Mitsuko Horie's greatest hit, which became the best selling song
of the 1976-1977 period in Japan.
Number 4: "Cha La Head Cha La" // Dragonball Z (1989)
Hironobu Kageyama jumps on stage to perform his song. I've seen him
doing it in other videos too, he really enjoys singing his DBZ OP. One
of the best anime songs ever, no doubt.
Number 3: Galaxy Express 999 (1978)
This is NOT the OP. It's ED by Godiego, which surprises me, because I
always thought Isao Sasaki's OP was much better and more popular.
Anyway, here the cover is by 3 of JAM Project members: Masaaki Endou,
Hiroshi Kitadani and Yoshiki Fukuyama.
Number 2: Touch (1985)
And again, Fuji TV's chart is true. This really IS the most popular
anime song of 1980s period.
Number 1: Lupin III no Teema (1978)
What, did you expect another one? I must admit that I completely agree
with all the Japanese fans who voted for this hit on all three charts
- this truly is the BEST anime song ever. Although not my top favorite
one, it really is the best. Great lyrics, amazing music, fantastic
vocals (by Pete Mack Jr. in the original; I don't know who's the guy
that covers it in the medley... maybe Pete Mack himself?...). It has
that feeling of the evergreen, the never-dying hit.
Of course, as you probably guessed, they don't sing complete songs in
the medley, but only short parts of them (10 minutes for all 20 hits).
I even made a MP3 of the video and I wish I could upload it somewhere.
Anyway, my point was to show everyone that Japanese people have a VERY
different taste from Western ones when it comes to "favorite" or "best
of all time". While the differences between their "best anime" charts
and ours are not so great, the songs rankings have nothing similar (as
you probably noticed). With this post, I can't make you forget about
your favs, but simply recommend some other famous and nice anime songs
that you might try looking at. Enjoy them! ^_^
Steve Harrison
smen...@hotmail.com (Tomoe) wrote:
Thank you for posting this....sadly, I fear that 98% of the people who
post here will not have the faintest idea what most of these songs
are....you'll frighten them... :)
Only gonna make a few comments, but wanted to keep the whole post for the
future.....
> Well, guys, here comes the ultimate truth. I've been reading for years
> posts of anime fans about their fav anime songs, most of those songs
> being either not very popular in Japan or not anime at all (rather
> J-pop). Since I always preferred to like what Japanese guys like, and
> since I'm a great fan of Anison music, I got interested in their
> official charts of best/most popular anime songs of all time. I post
> the results here.
> There are 3 famous charts, each initiated by a big TV station. After
> people vote, the results are posted. They are so very similar, if not
> the same. Note that these rankings are for anime songs only (no J-pop
> hit used as OP/ED can appear there!), and for songs that remained in
> the memories of Japanese. Since Anison genre got very limited after
> 1997 (to make place for J-pop in OP/ED), it's understandable why most
> of the songs here are rather old. *Nevertheless*, these truly ARE
> Japan's chosen best anime songs of all time.
Amazing what you can find out when it's not just a Newtype 'flavor of the
day' poll, isn't it? I remember when there were the 4 main anime
magazines, and how different the polls could be...Animedia, Animage, My
Anime and The Anime....they all had different focus.
> One of the charts (which was NHK's, as far as I remember) provides a
> Top 100 songs list, and the top 3 of them are: 1st place for Uchuu
> Senkan Yamato, 2nd place for Lupin III no Teema (1978), 3rd place for
> Mazinger Z. Another ranking, which I believe is slightly better,
> belongs to Fuji TV (if I'm not mistaken). It separates the anime era
> by intervals of 10 years. Thus, they clearly state that the best anime
> song of 1970s is Lupin III no Teema, of 1980s - "Touch", of 1990s -
> "Odoru Ponpokorin" from Chibi Maruko-chan (note that this one appeared
> at the beginning of the period, in 1990, but remained the best till
> the end; it got many awards, not even Evangelion OP could beat its
> sucess).
> Just a few months ago (last November), another people's vote ranking
> appeared, this time on TV Tokyo. However, they didn't simply publish
> the results in Internet, but instead decided to make a great show in
> their Boogie Woogie Night program. They invited some famous anime
> singers (JAM Project, 7 of the members) and some completely unknown to
> me artists who presented the chart by doing a live 10-minute long
> medley on stage during the show. I was lucky enough to get the video
> of this great performance and enjoy it. It's really amazing, they all
> appear one after another on stage, jump, dance and sing the anime
> hits, doing covers of each other. Therefore, I now give you a list of
> the Top 20 songs performed in the medley, as a result of people's
> voting. I also add my comments:
ahhh, JAM Project.. Ichiro Mizuki's living testament to the power of the
good old songs...they've got a new DVD due soon, if I recall...
>
> Number 20: "Gatchaman no Uta" // Gatchaman (1972)
> This one was born to be a hit. No wonder Animetal's most famous cover
> is the cover of Gatchaman. Nice performance of JAM Project in the
> medley, especially some neat shouting by Rica Matsumoto.
>
> Number 19: "Tobe! Gundam" // Kidou Senshi Gundam (1979)
> The OP to the first Gundam series. Another famous song for Japanese
> fans.
Didn't the original singer of this join JAM Project? or was that just for
a live show?
>
> Number 18: "Tetsujin 28" (1963)
> The OP to the first super-robot anime. Great cover by Ichiro Mizuki in
> the show, gotta love his shouts: "DADADADADADAAA".
>
> Number 17: "Suki Suki Song" // Himitsu no Akko-chan (1969)
> This is a VERY popular anime song in Japan. I know of a large amount
> of concerts and events where somebody performs it.
>
> Number 16: "Tetsuwan Atom" (Astroboy) (1963)
> A song I've always liked, no matter how old it is. I'm a little
> surprised that they add it to this Top 20 chart, however. I thought
> it's forgotten.
There's been an attempt to 'revitalize' Atom over the past year or so,
trying to get him to become big internationally once again...sadly, it
doesn't seem to be working here in the US. So, like with Tetsujin 28, I
would say it's here to try and 'cash in' a little on current projects, as
both are more in the public eye in Japan nowadays (I think).
>
> Number 15: "Lum's Love Song" // Urusei Yatsura (1981)
> Now Urusei Yatsura OP is one of the most enjoyable anime hits to have
> ever existed. In the medley, Rica Matsumoto and Masami Okui do a
> fantastic cover.
>
> Number 14: Gegege no Kitarou (1968)
> Another very catchy song, which the guests at Boogie Woogie Night show
> enjoy much.
>
> Number 13: "Itsumo Nando Demo" // Spirited Away (2001)
> Now here comes the interesting part. This is the only song from
> post-2000 period to appear in the medley, probably because it's one of
> the few non-Jpop songs in the period. I'm quite convinced it will
> remain the best until the end (2010), simply because they're not doing
> that many Anison songs nowadays. Very nice performance of Yu Emao in
> the medley, I wish I could find more of her voice.
>
> Number 12: Cutey Honey (1973)
> Wasn't Youko Maekawa the original singer?... I'm so used to Salia's
> version from 1997, but it's the same song anyway.
But there is a more....hmmmmm......'naughty innocence' to the original
version I think. I believe you're right on Yoko Maekawa being the original
singer, I *always* have problems translating names... :)
My version I listen to is on the 'World of Go Nagai' CD, Nippon Columbia
CC-4343, 2884 Yen, pressed 1989
>
> Number 11: "Mezase Pokemon Master" // Pokemon (1997)
> Here Rica Matsumoto jumps on stage with two Pokemons (guys dressed as
> Pokemons) and shows us the true power of her voice. No wonder, she's
> the original singer of the song, she knows how to sing it the best
> possible way.
>
> Number 10: "Cat's Eye" (1983)
> To be honest, I knew nothing about this anime or the song before I
> heard it in the medley. Some J-pop looking girls-formation appear to
> cover it; it sounds nice but didn't get the whole of my interest.
> Maybe I should watch the anime... There must be some reason why
> Japanese like the song and/or the anime.
It's a high energy song (and the second series OP even more so), and the
OP credit has beautiful girls doing stuff, so it's a natural winner for
the fanboys...or it used to be back in the day... :)
This was released on 'Anime Hot Wave vol.1' VAP VPCG-80401, 2500 Yen,
pressed 1990
>
> Number 9: Mazinger Z (1972)
> Words are useless, when it comes to the greatest super-robot hit ever.
> "Pairudaa OOOOOOOONNN!!!"
Oh, yes...oh yes....very very 'GUTS' :)
>
> Number 8: "Odoru Ponpokorin" // Chibi Maruko-chan (1990)
> Here, this is the closest to the top song of 1990s' period which means
> that Fuji TV's chart was right, after all. Pretty much the best of the
> 1990s.
>
> Number 7: "Doraemon no Uta" // Doraemon (shin) (1979)
> Aah, that was the first Japanese song I ever heard, and it was my
> first anime (which I watched somewhere around 1990). At that time I
> thought Japanese language was horrible and Kumiko Osugi was awful...
> Obviously I was nuts. In the medley, this is covered by two young
> boys, one of them imitating Doraemon's voice p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y.
>
> Number 6: Uchuu Senkan Yamato (1974)
> Not as close to the top as in NHK's ranking, but still something.
> Ichiro Mizuki appears on stage to make the cover and he's damn good.
Yes, but still, he's not Isao Sasaki... :) for years the only version
available was on the Space Battleship Yamato Song Collection (Nippon
Columbia COCC-12875, 2700 Yen, pressed 1995)(and a few other places like
the World of Leiji Matsumoto CD), but this was Sasaki's own cover version
with the 'Royal Knights' backup singers...the *real* OP theme came out on
the Space Battleship Yamato 'Eternal Edition file 10, Yamato the Best'
(COCX-31162, 2625 Yen, pressed 2001), where 'Musical Academy' is singing
backup.
(FYI, this CD also has the long sought unreleased Yamato songs from
Arrivederci, Be Forever and Final Yamato)
>
> Number 5: Candy Candy (1976)
> Ah, Mitsuko Horie's greatest hit, which became the best selling song
> of the 1976-1977 period in Japan.
>
> Number 4: "Cha La Head Cha La" // Dragonball Z (1989)
> Hironobu Kageyama jumps on stage to perform his song. I've seen him
> doing it in other videos too, he really enjoys singing his DBZ OP. One
> of the best anime songs ever, no doubt.
>
> Number 3: Galaxy Express 999 (1978)
> This is NOT the OP. It's ED by Godiego, which surprises me, because I
> always thought Isao Sasaki's OP was much better and more popular.
> Anyway, here the cover is by 3 of JAM Project members: Masaaki Endou,
> Hiroshi Kitadani and Yoshiki Fukuyama.
This sounds cool....now, you say ED theme, so I'm assuming you mean the ED
theme to the GE 999 Movie that Godeigo sang...'The Galaxy Express 999' is
a much better song than the mid movie theme, 'Taking off', but both were
good...
>
> Number 2: Touch (1985)
> And again, Fuji TV's chart is true. This really IS the most popular
> anime song of 1980s period.
Ahh, Touch...a show that should come to the US...It's available on 'Anime
Hot Wave vol. 4, VAP VPCG-83248, 2500 Yen, pressed 1992
>
> Number 1: Lupin III no Teema (1978)
> What, did you expect another one? I must admit that I completely agree
> with all the Japanese fans who voted for this hit on all three charts
> - this truly is the BEST anime song ever. Although not my top favorite
> one, it really is the best. Great lyrics, amazing music, fantastic
> vocals (by Pete Mack Jr. in the original; I don't know who's the guy
> that covers it in the medley... maybe Pete Mack himself?...). It has
> that feeling of the evergreen, the never-dying hit.
Hmmm, the '78 version...yeah, I show Pete Mack Jr. as the singer, Ichiro
Mizuki did a cover of it, both versions appear on Lupin III 'Best
Collection' CD, Nippon Columbia 32C35-7902, 3008 Yen, pressed 1986..oh,
wait, Mizuki did the ED theme...let me....hmmm nope, I'm totally wrong, I
*don't* see a Mizuki cover version in my stuff...my mistake... :)
>
> Of course, as you probably guessed, they don't sing complete songs in
> the medley, but only short parts of them (10 minutes for all 20 hits).
> I even made a MP3 of the video and I wish I could upload it somewhere.
> Anyway, my point was to show everyone that Japanese people have a VERY
> different taste from Western ones when it comes to "favorite" or "best
> of all time". While the differences between their "best anime" charts
> and ours are not so great, the songs rankings have nothing similar (as
> you probably noticed). With this post, I can't make you forget about
> your favs, but simply recommend some other famous and nice anime songs
> that you might try looking at. Enjoy them! ^_^
Funny thing, this list is pretty close to the play list on Mizuki's anime
medley on his Otakebi 2 CD (Nippon Columbia COCC-6239, 2800 Yen, pressed
1990)...some things never change... :)
(oh, that list? the overall medley theme, then Barom 1, Devilman, Babel
II, Goranger, Gatchaman, Triton of the Sea, Yamato, Atom, Ultraman, Star
of the Giants, Tiger Mask, Kamen Rider, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Lion Maru and
Mazinger ZEEeeeeee! :) )
--
Steve Harrison-Yamato Guru
.sig got lost!
tochiro-at-ixdotnetcomdotcom..sorry to spoof, death to spammers!
Tomoe
> Thank you for posting this....sadly, I fear that 98% of the people who
> post here will not have the faintest idea what most of these songs
> are....you'll frighten them... :)
Hehe, obviously. ^^
> > Number 20: "Gatchaman no Uta" // Gatchaman (1972)
> > This one was born to be a hit. No wonder Animetal's most famous cover
> > is the cover of Gatchaman. Nice performance of JAM Project in the
> > medley, especially some neat shouting by Rica Matsumoto.
> >
> > Number 19: "Tobe! Gundam" // Kidou Senshi Gundam (1979)
> > The OP to the first Gundam series. Another famous song for Japanese
> > fans.
>
> Didn't the original singer of this join JAM Project? or was that just for
> a live show?
No, only JAM Project (the 6 members, without Mizuki) cover the first 2
songs in the medley.
> > Number 10: "Cat's Eye" (1983)
> > To be honest, I knew nothing about this anime or the song before I
> > heard it in the medley. Some J-pop looking girls-formation appear to
> > cover it; it sounds nice but didn't get the whole of my interest.
> > Maybe I should watch the anime... There must be some reason why
> > Japanese like the song and/or the anime.
>
> It's a high energy song (and the second series OP even more so), and the
> OP credit has beautiful girls doing stuff, so it's a natural winner for
> the fanboys...or it used to be back in the day... :)
>
> This was released on 'Anime Hot Wave vol.1' VAP VPCG-80401, 2500 Yen,
> pressed 1990
Yeah, I badly need a certain MP3 from one of the Anime Hot Wave
albums, it's "Fushigi Call Me" from Bismarck. I'm trying to find it
with WinMX but it's so hard.
> >
> > Number 1: Lupin III no Teema (1978)
> > What, did you expect another one? I must admit that I completely agree
> > with all the Japanese fans who voted for this hit on all three charts
> > - this truly is the BEST anime song ever. Although not my top favorite
> > one, it really is the best. Great lyrics, amazing music, fantastic
> > vocals (by Pete Mack Jr. in the original; I don't know who's the guy
> > that covers it in the medley... maybe Pete Mack himself?...). It has
> > that feeling of the evergreen, the never-dying hit.
>
> Hmmm, the '78 version...yeah, I show Pete Mack Jr. as the singer, Ichiro
> Mizuki did a cover of it, both versions appear on Lupin III 'Best
> Collection' CD, Nippon Columbia 32C35-7902, 3008 Yen, pressed 1986..oh,
> wait, Mizuki did the ED theme...let me....hmmm nope, I'm totally wrong, I
> *don't* see a Mizuki cover version in my stuff...my mistake... :)
You're not wrong. Mizuki performed the ED originally, but he also made
a cover of the OP later. It's a rare to find song. I don't have it
anyway.
> Funny thing, this list is pretty close to the play list on Mizuki's anime
> medley on his Otakebi 2 CD (Nippon Columbia COCC-6239, 2800 Yen, pressed
> 1990)...some things never change... :)
>
> (oh, that list? the overall medley theme, then Barom 1, Devilman, Babel
> II, Goranger, Gatchaman, Triton of the Sea, Yamato, Atom, Ultraman, Star
> of the Giants, Tiger Mask, Kamen Rider, GeGeGe no Kitaro, Lion Maru and
> Mazinger ZEEeeeeee! :) )
There are 3 Mizuki medleys I know of, 1 of them being live (and
combination of the other 2). They're called "Medley Hero - I never
forget you" and "Medley Hero - We will together forever". You can
download them from www.j-hero.com/plamocherid , I think in the Real
Robot Section (not sure however... the site is not in English, but
point at the links and you'll get the titles).