Tie-Ins

The music industry has had many tie-ins with animes and doramas. Of those tie-ins, did one manage to capture your interest and get you hooked on their music? Or, did one manage to change your perspective of a musical act? Did you end up watching the anime or dorama in its entirety or give up once the musical act’s tie-in ceased?

So how’s that formula work out anyway. I had to ponder that for only a short while. The type of tie-in I was thinking about was an artist promoting a product for an anime or a drama. That is, rather than promoting the anime directly. The product in this case however, is the artist/song themselves. A bit quick to jump to the response of no, it didn’t take too long to come up with one of the biggest artist tie-ins that’s grabbed me.

Shokotan as Yoko from Gurren Lagann

Nakagawa Shouko did the opening to the epic anime, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. This was literally right around the time I started getting into Japanese music. Shokotan could be considered a product herself, being sold as a gravure idol, actress, singer, illustrator and then some. And as she is a self proclaimed otaku, she fits right into the genre. I have to stay, I love it; I am definitely hooked on Shokotan.

Sorario Days, the opening theme to Gurren Lagann, was only my first introduction to Shouko, but the tie-ins didn’t end there. More recently, she also did the theme song for the Gurren Lagan movie. Both were hits from my standpoint. Her discography is filled with this stuff and generally speaking, it’s all pretty good. Of note was her single Shiny Gate, which was used as a theme song for Tokyo OnlyPic 2008. That’s a seemingly huge tie-in, tho I don’t think it received much fanfare.

Another example tie-in that has kept me hooked on their music, is D-51 and One Piece. Their song, Brand New World, was a nice upbeat song used as the 6th opening and coincided with an awesome point in the amine. It wasn’t played for long, but it really stuck.

Then’s actually a laundry list of artists I discovered through tie-ins or are otherwise attached, each with varying degrees of replay value. Ai Otsuka with Hanazakari no Kimitachi e; Buono! and Shugo Chara Egg, Shugo Chara!; Diggy-Mo’ and Nishino Kana, Soul Eater; Ikimono Gakari and nobodyknows+, Naruto; Kusumi Koharu and MilkyWay, Kirarin Revolution. I’m sure there are many others I’ve enjoyed listing to as well. Actually, looking into this, it’s a little bit surprising but I guess it was inevitable, all part of the discovery process.

Of the anime/doramas listed, only Shugo Chara! and Kirarin Revolution have dropped in interest. It’s a case of enjoying the music, but not having interested in the thing it’s used to promote. I’m a ways into Shugo Chara! but it’s gotten somewhat repetative. I’ve not seen Kirarin Revolution at all, but from the snippits, I don’t think it’s something I’m too interested in seeing anyway. I’m glad the groups are there tho, even if in my case, they’re not really working fully for their intended purpose.

Have there been any CM tie-ins that had a similar effect on you?

Not to the same extent as the others mentioned, but Namie Amuro’s tie into Vidal Sassoon with 60s 70s 80s was a great tie-in. I had already been familiar with her work by the time this was released. This little campaign rekindled my interest a bit after the relatively long break after she released her album, Play. I still follow her today, but it’s not as enthusiastically as I perhaps once would have.