Early History / 3: Shifting Practice, Industry, and Ideology in the First Decade of Tv Anime Songs (1962–1972). From Torirō Miki to Michiaki Watanabe

This chapter deals with the early years—from 1962 to the early 1970s—of the music for tv anime, when it had neither the traits of what you might think to be the anime song of today, nor clear boundaries from other music genres. Rather, it shared basic features with music for television, such as the opening and closing jingles of variety shows or commercials; this style was different from pop songs made by the record industry at that time. In the chapter, the author examines a few works of pioneer Torirō Miki for seminal tv anime series such as Tetsujin 28-go and the Japanese opening theme for the Tom and Jerry cartoons in relation to his other works for television. On the other hand, the author also investigates the cultural implications of this transition in a changing media economy centred on television, focussing on some important scores such as Kyojin no hoshi by Takeo Watanabe and Mazinger Z by Michiaki Watanabe. In dialogue with the chapter is a unique interview with Michiaki Watanabe, in Chapter 37 .