Articles
What is manga-pop?!
(Translation by Igor Kovalenko) Manga-pop is a mix of pop and manga music styles, which supplement each other using the attractiveness of catchy tunes and lyrics, combined with dynamism and manga animation.
There are many different definitions of the term, but the concept always presupposes some message directed to the listeners on behalf of the character created by the author.
Manga-pop is now becoming more than culture, moving beyond anime and comics to the real world and being reflected in clothing, accessories, hairstyle, music and life-style itself...
The roots of this music area are coming from Japanese music culture, it takes only to name such styles as J-pop, J-rock, Visual Key, as well as to recall the famous AMV (Animated Music Videos) that are certainly present in the works of any having self-respect manga-group.
Stage image of the artist is not the least important thing for manga-groups work. And here it is worth mentioning such term as "kawaii" (Japanese "kawaii": cute, adorable). The spectrum of kawaii characters is quite broad, ranging from Japanese students, wearing traditional uniform and Lolita-dolls, wearing socks with ruches and flounced dresses ("Gothic Lolita"), up to "persokons" or human-computers ("Chobits" serial) as well as "nekos" (Japanese "neko": cat) - the characters, that looks like cats with all its ears, paws and tails.
As regards music itself, it can be both light and heavy - it depends on the message that a group or a single singer wants to bring. And the voice here is usually childish, i.e. high with distinctive mellow and silver timbre.
As for AMV, it is, as we have already found out, an essential feature of this style, they considerably facilitate the idea of retranslation the author's message to the audience. Unlike usual videos, animation clips are able to reflect the image, created by the author when writing a song in the clearest and most detailed way. Characters' gestures and body language, external surroundings, which doesn't always belong to the real world, and may refer even to another galaxy or be completely abstract - all this come into effect here, and it is quite difficult to render the same by means of standard video. Besides, AMV characters may be fictional beings, deprived of their age, gender, human physical appearance in the usual sense. It is not obligatory for them to be professional actors; it is enough to ensure that they are drawn by a professional artist with the author's responsive guidance.
Of course, the presence of AMV does not exclude the possibility to film bright and memorable video clips with the author as the main character, but in this case it is important to pay equal attention to details, as well as to provide a larger budget in order to remain within the genre. The plot, stage image, special costumes and make-ups, certain elements improvement with the help of computer graphics acts as determinant factors.
There are surprisingly very few manga groups in Russia at the present time. Basically these are manga-rock bands; the things with manga-pop music seems to be deplorable. In this regard, "Katrin" project can be with every reason described as a pioneer of the genre. And it is not that we fear the alternative or have no special liking for fricks. A simple majority of radio stations is operating under its clear standards, and everything new and extraordinary is usually treated with distrust. As for the performers, unfortunately, in the Russian show business, not talent, but connections, power and money is appreciated, and this leads to similarity of fabricated "short-lived stars", without even a hint of talent and individuality. This applies to audio quality and style of performance, and a lack of author's internal philosophy, which makes him or her boring and uninteresting.
Of course, there are exceptions. Most often they are underground groups which have a small target audience, and which play an interesting and original music. But these groups have a chance "to come out of hiding" only if the contract with a major record label is signed.