Do you listen to Anime soundtrack music frequently ?

[sams88]

Do you listen to Anime soundtrack music frequently ?

First time I heard Japanese music was in 1999 when I was a teen and while playing with World Radio Set I picked up Radio Tokyo, or something similar, and I heard something that vaguely resembled Anime music I heard, because at the time I mostly watched Dubbed shows on paid satellite channels and had no access to the internet.

Fast forward 10 years later and with my own broadband connect I get more Anime exposure and start to like Anime OST and soundtrack in general, and always have a few track that I enjoy to play on my phone or on the loudspeakers at home. Sometimes because the tune is catching or match a musical genre that I like, such has the Evangelion "Anthem" and "Decisive Battle" because I was part of a musical flute band when younger so I like classical music, but most of the time I like the songs because of the emotions that I associate with the anime in general or some scenes.

For example I don't like much of the music along the lines of Coldplay or Old Republic, but I like their song "All the right moves" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrrPCin725Y) because I heard it first in an AMV for Ergo Proxy and after watching the Anime the lyrics and general sentiment between the two main character seemed to fit so perfectly. The Ben-to end song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiLxQHBddtU) always make me feel like those Brazilian romantic songs lovers being apart, maybe because of the Lyrics but mostly because the whole end scene is about Sen waiting from Saitou and being happy when they are finally reunited.

Most of the time I only get the Lyrics from Youtube or a blog once, but I mostly remember the general theme of the song and my Japanese suck.

It sometimes feels silly when some of my anime tracks play in my airbuds while taking the bus and an Asian person pass by, especially when they are girls because I am guy and my brain only notice then, and I ask myself if they would find it funny that I am listening to cartoon soundtracks. Maybe one day I will ask.

So humor me, do you also listen to Anime soundtrack as music, why do you do it ?

[chansuke]

Yes, I love to listen to anime OSTs, OP and ED as music. I started to listen to them because of the anime Lucky Star - I downloaded the soundtracks right away when I heard the OST of the race scene that parodied Initial D. The ones I listen to most are the more memorable ones - like K-On, or AnoHana. I still listen to anime related music because of two reasons:

One- THEY SOUND AWESOME

Two- Most of the time they remind you of something you love in the anime; therefore, giving it a sentimental value.

It's not that weird to like anime music and listen to it in public and it really is just like admiring classical music. It gives you different feelings when you listen to them. Personally I listen to a weird blend of classic rock, anime music, and rap.
 

[JoonasTo]

yes

[laoa]

most anime OST's are crap imo
It's very rare to come across an OST that's worth downloading

[sams88]

most anime OST's are crap imo
It's very rare to come across an OST that's worth downloading

Well you are a musician of sorts, so your standard of opinion is a little different from the average audience of music listener, the proportion of "good vs bad" in it is slightly worse than your average tune from the music industry, which is not bad considering it is mostly accessory to animation videos.

I like Zouk music, but I can't stand listening to Zouk radio stations because some songs in the genre are pretty bad. Do you dislike musical production in general ?

C'est pas personnel

[Saras]

I consider most of it to be shit as well.

However, from time to time I come across something that I do feel like putting in my playlist. Sometimes it's a single track, like Rise from Origa, sometimes it's the majority of the OST like from Cowboy Bebop and sometimes it's an artist like with Nujabes.

[Volusus]

Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun had a pretty nice soundtrack (well, some of the songs .) Other ones that come to mind are Mnemosyne's and Samurai Champloo's

[sams88]

Yes, I love to listen to anime OSTs, OP and ED as music. I started to listen to them because of the anime Lucky Star - I downloaded the soundtracks right away when I heard the OST of the race scene that parodied Initial D. The ones I listen to most are the more memorable ones - like K-On, or AnoHana. I still listen to anime related music because of two reasons:

One- THEY SOUND AWESOME

Two- Most of the time they remind you of something you love in the anime; therefore, giving it a sentimental value.

It's not that weird to like anime music and listen to it in public and it really is just like admiring classical music. It gives you different feelings when you listen to them. Personally I listen to a weird blend of classic rock, anime music, and rap.
 

Generally the recipe for me enjoying the music is that it is well composed and fits either the character or feeling I get from the Anime, it makes me feels different when it makes me remember different anime characters and situations. Good to see that I am not alone.

[gits]

I really enjoy anime OST, actually atleast 30% of music i listen is from anime or related to it.
e.g. Shiro Sagisu is IMO really awesome artist. (Bleach soundtracks)

[buchno]

Mostly single tracks used in the anime, but they mostly turn out not to have been made specifically for it (like GTO ED 2). Of course, exceptions are made for better soundtracks, like Redline, Bubblegum Crisis, Gunbuster, every Ghibli movie, etc.

[brunoais]

Yes, I do hear. I hear anime soundtrack and I judge anime soundtrack just like any other song.
if I counted it right, about 10% of my music is anime songs.

[BrainDps]

There are a lot I wouldn't listen to, but I recently watched FLCL and am loving their OST's.

I'm listening to that 1 hour OST compilation on youtube, It's the bomb.

Also, Big O ost is secks. <3

[dakarv]

well most I avoid like the plague but there is some great stuff out there

bleach and naruto both have excellent music for series
akira and gits for movies
Ghost in the Shell - Making a Cyborg

although there's so much of the female vocal stuff over cheesy j-pop which is kind of catchy but doesn't have any real hooks, it kind of puts a lot of people off

[megido-rev.M]

Occasionally.
Most of my listening is to VGM nowadays.

[FlyinPenguin]

Not full soundtracks but the various songs I like from OP/ED and background music.

I've got a decent assortment on my phone that I listen to quite frequently.

[Bloom3D]

Yes , tottaly !
There is just tons and tons of awesome tracks out there 
mby 1/3rd of the stuff i listen nowadays is just anime soundtrack stuff .
If we add the game one aswell >.> doesnt leave much space for *Normal* music

[Showdown]

I mostly listen to anime openings/endings, not really full OST. Those songs give me the same feeling than british rock from the 60's because the lyrics are pretty simple (bad?  ) but the melodies and riffs are really good, as long as you love pop and pop/rock i mean. Arrangements are good too.

[Hayaku]

I watched Serial Experiments Lain a long way back and immediately fell in love with the opening and ending songs. I started listening to them, and went on to watching Naruto. I of course fell in love with the openings and endings of that series as well. This went on and the more I watched anime, the more OSTs I listened to. And the more OSTs, the more artists and bands I started to like. Now, I pretty much listen to everything japanese song I like (it doesn't have to involve anime anymore). In fact, my mp3 only has 3 english songs while the rest (around 1285 songs as of today) are japanese
And the reason is simple. I really, really love them that much ^.^

[Tatsujin]

Everyday ... 680+ GB of anime music - you can (NOT) abandon the world of anime music!

[megido-rev.M]

Everyday ... 680+ GB of anime music - you can (NOT) abandon the world of anime music!

Hey, that's almost the same size as my VGM collection .