The Everlasting Appeal of Music Anime: A Lovesong and Pitch

• Author: Jack Andow

• Editor: Lydia Rivers

Music anime always seems to be less popular in North America compared to Asia. Why is that? The genre has some of the most beloved anime of all time for us in K-ON! and Your Lie In April, yet for some reason outside of these titles, many in our fandom don’t give it the time of day. Quite frankly I think that’s a shame, as there’s such a wide range of wonderful titles that deserve to be seen. Just how under-watched is this genre compared to others? Using the services of MyAnimeList, we can take a look at the underlying statistics. Comparing music anime to the currently popular isekai genre, eighty-three isekai titles appear among the 1,000 most watched anime, alongside only twenty music titles. Yet despite this, fans consistently rank music anime as higher quality. For example, as of September 7, 2024, there are more music titles in the top 1,000 rated anime than there are isekai, with fifty-three to forty, excluding music videos.

Community perspective towards music anime may be shifting thanks to fantastic additions like Bocchi the Rock! and “Oshi no Ko”, which appealed to general fandom by shedding a light on the greater entertainment industry. Some of the lesser-watched titles have been making cross-genre waves recently, as well—for example, BanG Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!! garnered wide attention after winning Jury’s best drama and Anime of the Year in Reddit’s 2023 fan-run awards.

If 2023 was a good year for music anime, Spring 2024 had the best season yet. With very well-received shows in Girls Band Cry (which finally got an official English release), Sound! Euphonium 3, and Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night, things are looking up for the genre, and the future seems bright.

What Makes Music Anime So Good?

They’re about music, of course! Characters having an all-encompassing aspect of their life to pour their passions into makes it a perfect vessel to showcase their growth across a whole season—or three. How a character interacts with music opens up myriad ways their narrative can evolve. Why do they make music? What does music mean to them? What do they want out of the creative process? Watching them change over time as they come to terms with their art, and by extension, themselves, can be an inspiring journey for viewers as well.

Cast dynamics are an important part of the genre’s favourite tropes, given most titles involve a group, or groups, of musicians. How each character personally feels about their art in turn flows to their group members, so if a character isn’t on the same wavelength, they each have to work through their differences—both individually and together. This can help create an organic chemistry between cast members, making their interpersonal dynamics both joyful and riveting to watch.

Music provides not only a great canvas for character arcs, but also for story climaxes, especially during the performance scenes. Have you ever gotten to the peak of an arc and felt like something was missing? That rarely ever happens in this genre—and it’s all thanks to the medium of music. Everything preceding the climax culminates in this one moment when the characters try their absolute hardest to convey their feelings through the power of song. The pure emotion that can be delivered in these moments through commanding vocals or heart-rending lyrics makes for some of the most memorable scenes anime has to offer us.

Speaking of performance scenes, they’re also a great way for titles to flex their production values, particularly via cinematography. Take the movie Blue Giant, for example. It really stands out with its final movement, synchronising so many different visual effects and at points transforming the entire palette with things like ethereal shots of outer space, that we’re treated to the kind of journey that is only made possible through a combination of music and visual arts. Stage lighting, camera movement, non-diegetic visuals, and more come together to highlight the dynamics and emotions of the cast. When combined with writing and audio, we get an alchemical mix of multimedia that pushes scenes to the next level—and beyond.

Where to start

Are you interested in checking the genre out? If so, here are a few highly recommended titles to start your course.

Bocchi the Rock!

Bocchi’s relatable struggles with social anxiety involves her tackling her condition step by step. In large part, she is only able to do this because of how considerate her friends are of her symptoms, giving her as much time as she needs for her to realise her goals. The rest of Bocchi’s growth stems from her originally selfish motive for learning the guitar—to get famous, of course—which slowly shifts over time as she realises how much her friends, and by extension, the band, means to her. The narrative then goes on to use unique tensions to showcase Bocchi’s character growth from both of these angles at the same time, making for quick pacing of a lush, complex story that could otherwise get bogged down.

Bocchi the Rock! also has some of the most innovative comedy I’ve seen due to its seemingly boundless visual creativity when it comes to jokes. Artstyle shifts, such as a retro anime feel, and medium shifts via real-life footage are frequently employed by the showrunners, as well as character designs that bend at will to exaggerate their expressions—you know, just in case we missed the nuance. Bocchi’s jokes don't deliver just because of their visual prowess, though. They rely on the expectations the narrative builds with each of the characters throughout the show. This creative device, and much more, gets discussed in-depth in An Unexpected Gem: How Bocchi the Rock! Outshines the Competition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8dWNAdWtgc

Girls Band Cry

“Close friends can end up fighting and splitting up, while incompatible members can somehow stay together.” This quote from episode six of Girls Band Cry perfectly summarises the plot. I swear the characters spend at least half of their time arguing, but even with how much they disagree with each other, they somehow make things work. The creators weren’t afraid to get down and dirty with interpersonal dynamics—all the better to showcase the power of conflict resolution—and it is magical. As a result, the cast of Girls Band Cry forms bonds in a way that feels organic, leading to incredible chemistry between the characters.

Girls Band Cry sports a rather cynical view of the music industry. The narrative constantly depicts a battle between the belief that in order to make it big, artists have to sell themselves out, and the counterpoint that they can only succeed by being true to themselves and trusting that their authenticity will win them fans.

Jellyfish Can’t Swim in the Night 

A classic coming-of-age story, Jellyfish follows four young artists who face personal issues and are deeply unsure about their futures. Through the support of their newly-formed collaborative group, JELEE, and most importantly, the positive impact they have on each other, they’re able to learn how to shine both together and on their own.

Unlike Girls Band Cry, Jellyfish has a slightly more idealised outlook on creative production across the arts as a whole. The narrative showcases the unbridled passion creators have towards creating, what self-expression means to them, and how that meaning drives them forward, as well as how fans can interact positively with creators to overcome negativity. This passion from the characters is infectious, meaning you can’t help but root for JELEE on their goal to hit one hundred thousand subscribers.

BanG Dream! It's MyGo!!!!!

With BanG Dream! It's MyGo!!!!! being such a drama-heavy title, it’s no surprise that its climaxes are emotionally charged. Tomori, the vocalist for MyGO!!!!!, is unable to express her feelings unless it’s through lyrics, and due to that she says the lyrics in their songs are “screams from my heart.” This perfectly sets the tone for the plot. The inclusion of spoken word poetry, powerful yet nuanced vocal performances, and the incredibly frank MCing from Tomori during MyGO!!!!!’s lives directly contributes to the raw emotion on display throughout the series.

Perhaps the main draw of this title is that the characters are all extremely damaged people who are deeply affected by their pasts. This is particularly true of the ex-members of the now defunct band CRYCHIC, left full of regrets. The highly relatable themes allow the narrative to explore instances in which cast members are forced to come to terms with their past, with some being unable to move on while others are desperately trying to create something new.

https://youtu.be/bBDJE8prgAE?si=0bw9vMRYcdJRQE4

“Oshi no Ko”

“Oshi no Ko” looks at many different parts of the entertainment industry outside of idols. The show’s presentation of the darker sides of the industry, like stalking or online hate culture, leads to some of the most emotional episodes in all of 2023. When combined with a murder mystery and revenge that help to push the narrative forward, we receive a stunning indictment that presents compelling arguments against these darker trends in fandom—as well as reasons to heed them. 

On a smaller scale, "Oshi no Ko" is as much a story about its characters as it is about the industry as a whole, with it following the journey of various entertainers as they try to find their place within the industry. In doing so, the show is able to craft compelling stories for characters such as Kana, as she struggles with self-doubt after losing her past fame, or Akane, whose visceral arc in season one tackles some of the aforementioned darker parts of the industry.

Whether this is your first foray into music anime, or you’re a seasoned veteran, you can’t go wrong with picking any of these recommendations to watch, as they’re all exceptional. From the hilariously relatable comedy of Bocchi the Rock!, to the devastating drama of “Oshi no Ko”, there’s something for everyone in not only these shows, but the genre as a whole. Music anime’s stories, characters, and production are up there with the best the medium has to offer, while at the same time, their being about music makes for a unique experience you can’t find anywhere else. Performance scenes range from highly emotional climaxes to visual treats for the eyes, but no matter what, they’re great for just jamming out to as if you were there in the crowd. Music anime is great, and it’s a genre worth watching—so if you haven’t yet, why not give it a go?