Achieving Instrumentality Through Western Means and Not Anime

animaniacs-christmas
With Aftershok’s post on Tamako Market’s opening theme, a chapter has closed on Anime Instrumentality’s existence. In a really niche fandom increasingly subject to such injustices as CDs being bundled with DVD/Blu-Rays, all manner of bootlegs that trick unwary consumers into not contributing to an artist’s welfare, and the slowness of anime OP/ED appearances on US iTunes, we feel left out in the cold, bereft of our core value: instrumentality. That is, the sense that we’re serving a higher purpose.

But if there’s something that unites us all, it’s an unyielding persistence that carries us on. So those anime companies are too high-minded, too hoity-toity, too elitist to sell soundtracks unbundled? They dare cram nonsense like drama tracks that are a jarring contrast to the sweet melodies in tracks previous? Very well! We shall set off in search of greener pastures that suit our idiom.

So after conducting a full diagnosis using Porter’s Five Forces Model complete with some good old-fashioned SWOT analysis and some BCG growth share matrices thrown in for good measure, we found the next step to be closer to home than we had thought! Why bother with Japanese animation when Western animation, with its history grounded in such storied franchises and companies as Disney, Hanna Barbara, and Looney Tunes, offers so much music for us to gleefully devour and enjoy? Here be an untapped vein just waiting to be excavated and based on the feasibility studies we conducted alongside our consulting team; this looks to be an exciting growth opportunity! Onwards to Western Animation Soundtracks!

Abandoning anime music isn’t something we take lightly, but this ability to gallivant into new territories leaves us breathless and eager as a fresh breeze blows in to clear the Kajiura-like stale air that has infested this place. A spirit of adventure awaits, encapsulated in the words of one very wise man that goes something like:

I can show you the world,
Shining, shimmering, splendid…

And that, dear readers, dear friends all, we will show you the world as part from these shores with the new dawn. With a clarion call heard from a song from ages past, I say, let us go forth and explore!

[audio:Circle of Life.mp3]

zzeroparticle

Anime Instrumentality's Founder and Editor-in-Chief. As you can probably guess, I'm a big anime music junkie with a special love for composers who've put out some beautiful melodies to accompany some of my favorite anime series. I tend to gravitate towards music in the classical style with Joe Hisaishi and Yoko Kanno being a few of my favorite composers, but I've come to appreciate jazz and rock as anime music has widened my tastes.

7 thoughts on “Achieving Instrumentality Through Western Means and Not Anime

  • April 1, 2013 at 11:59 am
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    I miss the olden days of western animation aka my childhood memories from watching Disney Animation (not the CG crap they make now)… Today, western media is filled with mediocrity and horribleness of Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen. Yeah, I’m totally depressed now we live in the age of horrible music push through autotune…

    (if you wondering, I’m kind of being sarcastic because look at the date today :p)

    Reply
    • April 1, 2013 at 1:30 pm
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      @chikorita157
      The era I’m kind of looking at is what I’ll refer to as the Silver Age of American cartoons, so you’ll definitely get a lot of delicious gems there. And what’s not to like about Wreck-it Ralph? Besides AKB48, I mean?

      Reply
  • April 1, 2013 at 12:42 pm
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    Almost forgot it was 1st April… it would be more obvious if you had announced that you were moving to American pop xD

    Reply
    • April 1, 2013 at 1:28 pm
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      @Yuki Nagato
      Wait, you run an anime music site too? Time to add you to my blogroll. And well… you’ll see whether this is a joke or not! >:]

      Reply
      • April 3, 2013 at 7:56 am
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        :O Thanks!
        I hope this is a joke o.o

  • April 1, 2013 at 5:18 pm
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    It’s funny how people think we’re kidding. Our rhetoric has been pushing this direction for a while now, and it’s high time we did something about it. The untapped field of the music of western animation is ripe for the reviewing, and I’m glad we made this move. Our readerbase will surely find that this new groove is to their satisfaction.

    Reply
    • April 1, 2013 at 6:52 pm
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      When you’re making a huge move, just don’t do it on April 1st. I wouldn’t say the joke lacks subtlety though.

      ‘Abandoning anime music isn’t something we take ‘likely”

      Isn’t that supposed to be ‘lightly’ or is that done on purpose?

      Reply

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