[Editor's Picks] What Is an Anisong? A Look Back from the Past to the Present

The Origin of Anisongs: Character-Centered Theme Songs

Japan’s anisong history starts with Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム) in 1963. The opening line “Sora eo Koetea♪ La, La, La, Hoshi no Kanata♪” is a tune people in Japan can hum across generations.

From that starting point, many themes worked like character hymns that chanted the hero’s name or finishing moves. Star of the Giants with Yuke Yuke Hoshi Hyuma and Mazinger Z are classic examples. The fact that Astro Boy’s flexi disc sold 1.2 million copies shows how children went wild for it, yet anisongs were long dismissed by the music industry.

Ichiro Mizuki (水木一郎), the “Emperor of Anisongs (アニソン界の帝王)” who sang the Mazinger Z theme, recalled that anisongs were discriminated against and that singers of mainstream kayōkyoku were not allowed to share the same stage. Anisongs were treated as second class and not equal to kayokyoku or J pop. Still, by keeping at it, singers like Mizuki and Isao Sasaki helped anisongs take root. The overlap of singers may also have fixed the image of anisongs in the public mind.

These belong to category 1, songs created only for the anime.

[Source] ORICON NEWS