Jul. 31 is “Gramophone Day”.
It is widely known that Thomas Edison had invented a gramophone on the same date in 1877.
A record was used in the age of the gramophones, but music can be played in the forms of CDs and mp3 today. We believe that many of the readers have profound memory when they purchase their first anisong with their own money.
Here at Anime!Anime!, we conducted a survey asking “Which anisong did you buy for the first time in your life?”. This survey includes theme songs, insert songs, and character songs.
The survey was conducted from Jul. 14 to 21, and received answers from 133 people. The female readers made up the majority of the vote with approximately 65%, while the male readers made up approximately 35%. For the age group, 19-year old or under made up approximately 40%, while 20's made up approximately 25%.
■Multiple anisong from 1970's to present assembled!
The trends of popularity varied depend on the age group.
Comments from the teen readers
Many teen readers answered that their first anisong purchase was song from the female singer LiSA. Titles such as “ADAMAS” from “Sword Art Online Alicization” and “Gurenge” from “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” were mentioned.
There were also votes to the musician group that she had participated, called Girls Dead Monster from “Angel Beats!”. A comment regarding Girls Dead Monster's album called “Keep The Beats!” said, “It contained Yui ver. of 'Ichiban no Takaramono', 'My Song', and 'Crow Song', making it a best album.”.
To “Shingeki no Kiseki” by Linked Horizon from “Attack on Titan”: “I started to like it during the 2nd season, and I bought the limited edition of the album, which contained their past music.”
To “Hatsukoi wo Mada Hajimeyou” by Kurisu Shou (CV: Shimono Hiro) from “Uta-no Prince-sama♪”: “I bought this with my own savings! This music contains relatable lyrics, and makes me excited while listening to it.”
To “Chikai” by Amamiya Sora from “The Seven Deadly Sins: Revival of the Commandments”: “This is the first anisong and also a CD that I bought. I unintentionally took it to the cashier after hearing Amamiya Sora-san's beautiful, clear voice in the anime.”
Comments from the readers in 20's
Many readers in 20's voted for anisong released in 2000's.
To “Friend~Itsumademo Wasurenai~” by AiM from “Digimon Adventure 02 the Movie: Diablomon's Revenge”: “I loved Digimon when I was in 6th grade. I found this at a CD shop that I often visited and bought it. This was the first CD that I bought for the first time in my life.”
To “Fuwa Fuwa Time” by Houkago Tea Time from”K-ON!”: “'K-On!' nicely represents anisong. I bought it with my saving that I had kept since elementary school. There were various comments mentioned that they made their first purchase during elementary school and high school.”
“Love Live!” series were also popular among teen readers and readers in 20's.
To “Mirai no Bokura wa Shitteruyo” by Aquors from “Love Live! Sunshine!!”: “I bought it after I moved to city area, since no CD was sold in my hometown.”
Comments from the readers in 30's
To “Mezase! Pokemon Master” by Matsumoto Rika from “Pokemon”: “I managed to persuade my parents to buy me the CD as I wanted to feel the atmosphere of Pokemon, since my parents did not buy me a Pokemon videogame. lol”
To “Wind Climbing~Kaze ni Asobarete~” by Okui Aki from “Magical Circle Guru Guru”: “This is my first CD. I loved 'Guru Guru' when I was in the elementary school, and this makes me start to love music.”
To “YOU GET TO BURNING” by Matsuzawa Yumi from “Martian Successor Nadesico”: “This song matched perfectly with opening movie, the main story, voice and atmosphere of the music itself. This made me start to love anisong.” This shows that popularity of a theme song from a title broadcasted in 1990's.
Comments from the readers in 40's
Popular theme songs gained several votes from the voters from 40's.
To “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind” by Sasuda Narumi from “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”: “I bought 8-cm CD single with my own money when my parents bought me a CD player when I entered a middle school. I still regret that I should have bring it with me, not leave it at my parents home, after knowing that it had been removed with rubble after earthquake.”
From the readers in 50's
To “Suna no Juujika” by Yashikitaka Jin from “Mobile Suit Gundam the Movie”: “I immediately bought it after knowing that 'Gundam' was becoming a movie.”
To “Space Battleship Yamato” by Sasaki Isao from “Space Battleship Yamato”: “My otaku life started after watching 'Yamato'…I think many people can related to this”, and “I could watch the re-broadcast with my own pace, and I became a fan of it once again. I looked for it around the city, since I could not find it in the record shop. I remember that my first anisong purchase was “Kamen Rider Amazon” and 'Yamato'.”
From 1970's to the present, many CDs represented the world of the anime assembled.
※This survey was conducted for the purpose of a research on “interest and attention of currently anime and characters”. The survey result does not judge the superiority and inferiority among the characters and anime. Please read the article for the purpose of fulfill your interest toward the anime and characters.