What Genre Is Anime Music?

So you’ve watched a few animes and you’re really digging the theme songs. You add a few to your playlists, but then you find that it’s difficult to find new ones on your own.

“What is anime music?” “What genre is it?” “What is the proper name for it?”

Well, as much as I would have loved to give you a straightforward answer, anime music expands various. The majority tend to be in the pop and rock genres, but they may still be a combination of 2 or 3 different genres.

In Japan, they simply name anime songs “アニソン” which can be romanized as “Anison” and translated into “Anisong”, but I rarely hear that word in the West.

So if you’re interested to see what genres these amazing theme songs cross over, here’s a list for you! And if you’re interested in finding more Japanese artists or anime music, check out my Japanese Music Resources page for a compilation of all my articles. And if you’d like to learn more about Japanese music with monthly breakdowns, consider subscribing to my J-Music Progression Membership club!

Disclaimer: So many anime songs cross into various genres, and artists may create songs outside of the genre they classify themselves as, so don’t take this list too seriously. The purpose of this list is to give you an idea of what certain genres sound like and to help you figure out where your favourite themes fit in so you can have an easier time exploring further.

J-Pop

J-pop is such a wide and broad genre that I couldn’t possibly try to describe it in a few sentences. I would automatically classify a song as J-pop if it is electronically made instead of using real instruments, like the Toradora opening. If the song does have other instruments, but it isn’t heavy on rock instruments, nor has the elements to fit into other genres like Jazz, I’d also consider it pop. However, any popular or well known song can also be considered pop. Pop singers may make a rock song and rock bands can make a pop song, so it’s really flexible.

I like to consider a pop song as something more upbeat and happy, but there are sad popular songs as well. Either way, I put this genre first just so you get a feel for general pop music and it will make it easier to hear the difference for the other genres listed below.

I’m also going to note Ballads under this category as it isn’t a genre but would best be classified under pop when it comes to J-music.

Pop Rock

Wikipedia states “Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is rock music with a greater emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude,” and I would agree that definition works well in this context.

When I’m considering what songs to put in this genre, I tend to look for 3 things:
1. There must be an actual rock band (guitar, bass, drums) backing the song,
2. The song is generally upbeat and doesn’t sound too dark or aggressive,
3. There may be some keyboard, synth, or other electronic sound (some of these songs could be referred to as Electronic Rock).

J-Rock

Japan has so many rock bands and many consider themselves rock bands, so this term can be used pretty broadly. As long as the main elements, electric guitar, bass and drums are present, and it’s not so angsty and loud that it would be considered metal, it could be rock.

Compared to Indie/Alternative below which also utilizes band instruments, the guitars in rock have a more prominent role. The structure of the song is also what most people are used to (Intro-Verse-Chorus-Verse-Chorus-Bridge-Chorus). Keep that in mind as the subgenres below have tendencies to be more experimentive.

Visual Kei

This is a subgenre that originated in Japan. From a band perspective, it could sound like a mix between Rock and Metal with a more noticeable storytelling aspect when it comes to chords and the structure of the song. However, the biggest indicator to me and most people is the singer’s voice. He (in most cases) has a deep and somewhat renaissance tone and tends to hold his words/notes a lot longer than other genres of music in Japan. He carries a lot of emotion and angst without the need to be aggressive or loud.

Alternative/Indie

It’s so hard to classify or explain indie, as it initially meant original or small artists. In my mind, for Japanese indie, it tends to be a band that is a bit more experimental. It doesn’t focus much on heavy distorted guitar riffs, but more melodic licks, funky bass that is more audible, and as a whole, it is a pretty easy going genre that can put you in a good mood…or whatever mood the artists wanted you to be in. It’s definitely a sound you don’t hear much elsewhere.

Metal

Metal in anime tends to be faster and harder drum beats, louder guitars with strong rhythmic riffs, and occasionally some screamo. J-rock can be enjoyable to many people, but metal can be too much or dark sounding for others. I personally don’t mind a little screamo and heavy hitting drums now and then…my favourite band is ONE OK ROCK after all haha

Jazz/Jazz Fusion

Jazz is one of those genres that you just know it when you hear it. While it does utilize real instruments like rock and metal, Jazz tends to be more bass heavy, sometimes using the big acoustic bass instead of a bass guitar, and often accompanied by drums, piano, and some brass instrument like trumpet or saxophone. The drums are not as loud and the progression of the chords are more varied and unpredictable. Jazz is also a genre that generally lacks vocals, unless the vocals add to the band as seen with scat singing.

The first two songs below are very traditional jazz while the bottom two have very heavy jazz elements, but one turns more into a pop/rock kinda style while the other adopts some rap and pop into it, thus the genre “Jazz Fusion”. Jazz as a whole is very experimentive, so I really love seeing how Japanese artists and producers blend so many styles into a 1.5 minute opening.

Hip Hop/Rap

This genre should be pretty self-explanatory. Hip hop usually lacks instruments and fancy chord progressions, and is rather a combination of a solid beat and words, often spoken at faster speeds. In Japanese music, there are some groups well known hip hop groups like Home Made Kazoku (Bleach and Naruto Endings below) that have more musical elements to it, but the songs have an easy-going feel to it and the focus is on the rap verses as they carry the most meaning.

Additional Genres

The top genres are the most common I found, but there are always theme songs that are just so unique or random that even I had a hard time trying to find out what they would be classified as.

Conclusion

I hope this article has been useful for helping you understand the genres within anime theme songs and hopefully figure out where to look next when finding other Japanese artists and songs you may like.

If you’re interested to find more artists who usually make theme songs, check out my article on 50+ anime artists. You can also check out my sampler playlists on Youtube to explore genres and find your new favourite artist or band!

And if you’re interested in learning more vocabulary and kanji so you can watch anime and dramas, read manga, sing J-pop at karaoke, or play raw Japanese video games, check out my 250+ Kanji for Japanese Media (+Sentences) article and my Japanese Study Guide!