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Anime themes
suffer neglect

We always talk about "animation" in this column -- seeing as it is about "anime," which, if you don't know already, is simply a shortened form of the Japanese word for "animation," which in short means we pay attention mostly to the pretty moving pictures.

Music in anime -- aside from the catchy opening and ending themes -- is an oft-ignored part of the viewing experience by U.S. consumers, and the difficulty of getting soundtracks in America adds to this neglect.

JVC and Pioneer released the first licensed anime soundtracks in the mid-1990s from classic anime such as "Megazone 23" and "Akira," among many others. Viz got into the picture around 1998 with its "Ranma 1/2" and "Dragon Ball" CD releases.

Tokyopop tested the waters by focusing on soundtracks to video games such as the "Final Fantasy" series, "Resident Evil" and more, along with a small selection of anime CDs, before jumping out. ADV's AnimeTRAX label briefly resurrected many of the earlier JVC releases starting around 2001.

Then there were those U.S. albums that came out of nowhere and disappeared just as fast, such as "The Best of Anime" released in 1998 by Rhino Records, which included a good mix of theme songs, and the horrendous "Animetoonz" series from 2002 featuring voice actress/singer Kikuko Inoue and Maria Kawamura, which included not-so-good remixes of theme songs.

So domestic offerings, although few, have been steady. The number of soundtracks available stateside is increasing, mainly due to Geneon and Pioneer. Next week, I'll explore where to go locally for CDs. Don't worry, for the purists (of which I am one) who demand Japanese releases, there are some places to go, as well.

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