"Mama--what's that?"
"It's a video. Billie Holiday--mommy likes this song. Do you want to hear it?"
"Mm!" (Japanese sound for "uh huh!")
...
Not much reaction. "How about this one? This is Michael Jackson when he was little. You know--Thriller."
"Yeah!"
(General booty shaking ensues to "I Want You Back")
"I want Shan-Ran-Ran!" from Koshi.
"I want the Zoroark movie song!" from Teddy
"Best Friend!" from Cici.
So I thought I'd share my kids' picks with you, too:-))
Here is Koshi's favorite, the second opening song from one of his favorite anime "Inazuma Eleven" (a soccer story that seems to me to be inspired by Shaolin Soccer). My husband says he thinks this is Orange Rage.
Kinda catchy, no?
Here is Teddy's favorite (recent favorite, anyway), the theme song to the most recent Pokemon movie with Zoroark (English spelling? Sorry--only know how to write that in Japanese!). Here is Sukima Switch singing Ice Cream Syndrome on Pokemon Sunday (my kids watch this show on Sunday morning):
I rather like that one, myself--good voices:-))
And little Cici (7 last week) likes best a song she's sung many times at school--the original of which turns out to be by one of my favorite Japanese duos: Kiroro. *Love* these ladies. The main singer has strong yet lilting voice that I love listening to (and, as a bonus, she doesn't usually sing too high--so I can more or less sing along in the shower;-)). Here is Kiroro "Best Friend":
*Lovely*. Cici, honey, you have good taste. Mommy likes this one, too. The third graders sang this last year at the spring concert (Koshi's class)--made me cry, they were so cute and sang it so well. I'd put it up, but don't have permission to publish everybody else's kids...
Enjoy! If you like these, let me know and I'll put up other Japanese songs (from anime or elsewhere) that my kids and I like.
Mata asobou, ne!
i'll have to listen to these later on my laptop. Also, no child can resist the power of the Thriller.
ReplyDeleteThe opening and ending music in anime is definitely a major difference between anime and cartoons. Cartoons rarely have memorable theme songs, but there are countless anime theme songs that are outstanding and produced by top artists. Part of the joy I find in watching anime is hearing these songs. Out of these three, Kiroro's "Best Friend" is my fave.
ReplyDeleteSarah--all three of mine *love* Thriller. Last year when Koshi was in 3rd grade, their dance for the Sports Day was to Thriller--totally *cute*! They jumped rope during the hard parts of the choreography;-))
ReplyDeleteAratina--*major* difference. The music is one thing that I think makes anime more fun to watch--I *wait* to hear certain theme songs, because a lot of them are *really* good! "Best Friend" is my favorite, too. These were the kids' favorites, though. I'm thinking of posts other anime songs that *I* like.