Why anime succeeds where J-pop does not

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Anime Expo 2008, Los Angeles, July 3-6: Melissa Yabumoto, 16, from Stockton, Calif., cosplays 'Kill Bill' psychopath Gogo Yubari.

Common sense would dictate that the overwhelming, explosive growth of Japanese animation, known as “anime,” would naturally lead to equally impressive growth of Japanese music, known as “J-pop” or “J-rock.”

But, in fact, the opposite seems to be occurring. Anime, despite flat sales figures over the past year that have been attributed primarily to online piracy, continues a steep upward climb – especially in the video-game market where anime characters and story lines appear to transfer very well to video consoles and online gaming networks.

But where is the music?

Spectacular performers like Erena Ono of AKB48, above, deserve better exposure and more credit.

Buono!, a successful trio featuring three Hello! Project idol singers – Momoko and Miyabi of Berryz Kobo and Suzuki of °C-ute – was spawned last year to musically decorate the “Shugo Chara!” anime series.

Yet, few fans at this year’s Anime Expo 2008 in Los Angeles (July 3-6) who were admittedly big Shugo Chara! fans had any idea which group sang the anime’s end theme (“Honto no Jibun,” by Buono!), and none had every heard of Hello! Project, home company to Buono!, Morning Musume, Berryz Kobo, °C-ute and the other Japanese idol groups.

Anime Expo 2008: The Japanese schoolgirl motif drives anime as much, if not more, than it does J-pop.

That is the kind of disconnect that currently exists between the burgeoning world of anime, and the underserved J-pop fan base that is purposely kept small and insignificant, either by J-pop’s producers in Japan or by the fans themselves, believe it or not.

J-pop Web sites and blogs have grown rapidly in numbers, but many are plagued by infighting between each other (or within the site itself), and outright censorship of opposition opinions. Many of these blogs want zero readership because they either block comments entirely or require a pre-approved Wordpress password for any "outsider" comment.

This just echoes the ahort-sighted attitude of the J-music business, to the detriment of all.

Where there exists massive Internet publications such as “Anime Network” to serve anime fans and producers, no such outlet exists for J-pop. “ZB’s A-Z of J-Music” is an excellent blog, but Japanese idol music is virtually shut out of that mix. “OtakuUSA” magazine recently hired A-Z’s founder Zac Bentz as J-music contributing editor, but J-pop gets very little attention in the magazine itself.

Berryz Kobo and °C-ute did three packed-out shows in the April 20 ‘Battle Concert’ but few people outside Japan know about them.

Unless this changes, J-pop will continue to be squelched, and the extraordinary art form of Japanese idol music will stay imprisoned in a dungeon which is, in part, of its own making.

This is Rad signing off – for now.