Retro Anime and City Pop Vinyl On The Rise

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Vinyl in general has been making a come back in the music scene anime and city pop vinyl has been taking over the US and the world. Many of the consumers are not even coming from the generation the music originally came from. Yet many music lovers are having a nostalgic feeling while listening to the music. Which I think contributes to the popularity of retro anime series right now! Even if you didn’t grow up in the 80s and 90s you can now watch many of these series on RetroCrush which is a streaming service dedicated to the Golden era of anime.

Also a very popular music genre Future Funk combines retro anime aesthetics while remixing classic city pop songs. Thus, the images and music go hand in hand. For example seeing a clip from Sailor Moon that you might have watched at a younger age with a remixed version of the classic song Plastic Love can bring this nostalgic feeling with the visuals and the music. It’s like getting transported to another time and place. Many people want to escape to another time especially right now. Do you blame them?

Another way retro anime and city pop has become popular is from the popular app TikTok where famous city pop songs continue to trend and live in a way it’s never has before. If you look up retro anime or city pop on TikTok you will find millions of videos. You can see so many kinds of videos from extensive retro anime collections to people dancing to city pop. Retro anime and city pop are truly thriving on TikTok and now all over the world. 

My city pop and anime vinyl collection is still growing but I’m very happy with what I have so far. I am now able to own vinyl from the queen of city pop Mariya Takeuchi but I still haven’t gotten my hands on the king of city pop Yamashita Tatsuro who are actually both married. Yamashita Tatsuro has been my favorite artist for years before he became popular stateside. But at the time I was listening to him I wasn’t collecting vinyl and basically missed out on getting his music. Now his vinyl is hard to find and if you do find them, it might cost an arm and a leg. But I’m so happy that people are listening to him now. I’ve been saying for a long time now that he should have way more recognition outside of Japan. 

Out of my anime vinyl collection, a favorite of mine is from the anime series Ai Shite Knight which is a Shoujo manga and anime created in the early 1980s. Unfortunately it never came out over here in the US. I’m hoping one day RetroCrush will be streaming the series. I know retro anime and city pop fans alike will love this series. The music and animation is totally aesthetic. Also there is an orange cat in the series. Do I need to say more? It’s totally radical that this retro wave has hit the world. I never want it to end. 

『JAPANESE POP CULTURE NEWS THAT YOU MUST KNOW!!!』
Writer: Stephanie Yanez
Instagram @stephachu
Website https://direct.me/stephachu

(5/10/2022)

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