The History of Anison

Anison is a word combination of anime (English word for Japanese animation) and song, and is used in Japan as the word for the theme songs and incidental songs used in an animated productions.

The TV anime theme songs that captivated kids in the 1970s also became popular with adults in the 1980s. The songs that everyone could sing along to created big booms. It was around this time too that the anime singers who sang these theme songs became well known.

Anison gradually became established in the Japanese music industry, and now the number of anison CDs sold is phenomenal, and they're on the hit charts too. Anison have grown from million-seller hits that support a production to also being recognized as songs with high musicality.

Performances by anison singers on TV music programs are not unusual, and because the singers sometimes do anime cosplay (dressing in animation character costumes), the number of anison fans that also enjoy anime cosplay is increasing. There are also anison that have become pop songs that everyone knows, and young and old alike enjoy listening to them when they are sung at karaoke.

Anison Singers Becoming Famous

Following the “voice actor boom”, which saw anime voice actor taking center stage, popular voice actor Nana Mizuki has had a string of major hits singing anison. Successes like her concert at Tokyo Dome, with a record attendance of 80,000 fans over two days, have drawn a lot of attention.

Today is an era when it is natural for a voice actor who sings anison to become famous as a result of performing on stage and on TV.

Various genres of artists and rock bands are also active in the anison category, resulting in an increase of collaboration songs. There are even people who become fans of an anime when their favorite artist sings an anison from it.

Changes in the Way how Anison are Enjoyed

Nowadays, anison are enjoyed in many ways. There are not just concerts by anison singers; there are also music festivals where many artists perform and such large-scale events draw close to 30,000 fans. Orchestras rearrange anison and perform concerts, and cafes and clubs host events with DJs specializing in anison.

There are also many anison fans worldwide who eagerly await concerts by Japanese anison singers and anison DJ events.

Along with Japan's otaku (nerd or geek) culture spreading worldwide, anime are loved by people internationally.

Anison has grown from something you listen to, to something that you watch too, and is now a type of entertainment in which you can also participate. The ways in which to enjoy the world of anison continue to expand, encompassing a wide variety of activities from singing and dancing to cosplay and interaction with other fans..