Category: Music

As most of my readers know, I’m pretty big on anime music. To me, OPs and EDs are almost as important as animation and story. A good OP can really raise my opinion of a so-so anime. A well done ED will convince me to stick around for the next episode previews.

There are quite a few artists who have become familiar to me through anime music. Sure, it’s kind of a cheesy way of finding new music, but it works for me! These artists have proven their worth as anime OP/ED singers (and maybe even as actual musicians).

Chances are that if they’re in the soundtrack, I’ll be more likely to keep watching the anime, if only for the music. Here are my top 5 favorite anime music artists:

A lot of anime have funny engrish in their OP and ED themes. The ironic part of this is that English fansubbers have to figure out exactly what is said in the Engrish of the Japanese songs! Sometimes the lyrics are pretty straightforward, and sometimes it’s impossible to figure out what is being sung. When the latter happens, the conditions are prime for an Anime Fansubber Engrish Showdownâ„¢!

While watching Kashimashi, I noticed that the ED song kept changing. At the time, I thought “wow, this song is really good, plus they have a billion versions of it!” It turns out that episodes 8-11 of the anime all have different seiyuu singing it! The different characters all have unique lyrics so the song fits their character too. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Yep, it’s time for a Seiyuu Showdown: Karaoke Battle!

For every to there is a fro, and for every stop there is a go. Likewise, for every OP there is an ED (except for, y’know, weird anime that don’t have an ED), so here’s my picks for the top 5 anime EDs for Spring 2006:

Since everyone likes “Top X” posts, and I’ve got access to a bunch of anime OPs anyway, I bring you the top 5 OPs of the Spring 2006 anime season!

In my next installment of Basugasubakuhatsu Anime how-tos, I demonstrate how to rip audio to any video source and encode into an MP3 file. This is similar the process I use to rip the OP and ED from all the anime that I review.

I usually use a different audio editor, but since I want to make these how-tos accessible to everyone, all of the programs in the tutorial are free and open source.

If you find this tutorial helpful, or have any questions regarding it, please let me know in the comments section. You can also send me suggestions on future anime how-tos, since I’m always looking for new ideas.

How To: Rip Audio From Video to MP3

I just added a new section to this site: Anime MP3s and Ringtones. The ringtones are in MP3 format too; I just thought I’d explicitly state what they’re for.

Whenever I review a new anime, I like to rip the OP and ED so I can listen to them whenever I want. I also occasionally make ringtones for my phone (currently I’m using Waltz from Honey and Clover). I figured I’d offer them here too, just in case anyone wants to download them. I’ll be adding more MP3s and ringtones as I get them.

Right now I’ll call this an experimental thing. If I get sued or if my bandwidth gets totally sucked up, I’ll have to take down the mp3s. I don’t have the resources to fight the man. But for now, enjoy. And if you anticipate yourself listening to them more than once, please download and save them to your computer.

I just watched Kage Kara Mamoru 4 last night, and I must say, it was probably one of the best episodes of anime I have ever seen! That may seem like a grossly exaggerated superlative, but I’m serious! The one thing that propelled this episode to the top of the charts was Yuuna’s Banana Song. It was completely awesome and weird!

In honor of this insane insert song, I ripped it from the anime so you can use it as a ringtone, or anything else, really. Doorbell ring, alarm clock music, instant messenger sound, the possibilities are endless!

Download: Yuuna – Banana.mp3
(Feel free to link to this, but please link to this entry rather than directly to the mp3, thanks!)

Here are the lyrics (thanks to Matthew!):

「バナナ・バナナ」　作詞：ゆうな　作曲：ゆうな
“Banana Banana”
Lyrics: Yuuna, Music: Yuuna

バナナ　バナナ　バナナ　バナナ
Banana banana banana banana

バナナ　バナナで　バ・ナ・ナ！
banana banana de ba-na-na!

バナナはどうして黄色いの？
Banana wa doushite kiiroi no? (Why are bananas yellow?)

それは信号機と同じ理由
Sore wa shingouki to onaji riyuu (For the same reason traffic lights are yellow)

急がないと茶色になっちゃうから
Isoganai to chairo ni nacchau kara (If you don’t hurry I’ll turn brown)

だから急いで食べてね
Dakara isode tabete ne (So hurry up and eat me)

バナナはそう言ってるの
Banana wa sou itteru no (That’s what the banana’s saying)

だからバナナは黄色いの！
Dakara banana wa kiiroi no (That’s why bananas are yellow)

バナナ　バナナ　バナナ　バナナ
Banana banana banana banana

バナナ　バナナで　バ・ナ・ナ！
Banana banana de ba-na-na!

I can’t wait to hear the other 15 parts of this song! Go Yuuna!