You’d think that iTunes would be one of the easiest places to find anime music. Since Jpop and Anime themed soundtracks are almost impossible to find in North America outside of the Internet and conventions, and with most anime fans being very computer literate, you’d think this is an easy market for Apple to capitalize on. Unfortunately, iTunes has made some bizarre decisions that will make most anime fans look elsewhere.
The biggest problem I find with iTunes is that with Anime, Apple has taken a step away from their strategy of making everything user friendly to making it aggravating to find the Japanese artist you want. Take the jPop artist known as “Origa”, you’d think that by simply searching for Origa on iTunes would turn up all of her songs only to find not a single listing. “Ok”, you’d think, iTunes just doesn’t carry her work. The truth is all of her songs are listed under the name “Yumiko” for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom. Another great example of this problem is searching something like “Final Fantasy” which will largely turn up songs written by a band that was named “Final Fantasy”. I’m sure the majority of people were searching for their music.
And while this search is frustrating, the more annoying problem is that after sifting through iTune’s library you may find out that your favorite anime song simply isn’t there. Sadly, there seems to be large gaps in Apples library of songs for anime enthusiasts. You’ll find that if you search iTunes for say, “The Ghost in a Shell OST” you won’t find it. Instead, Apple has loaded several “Best of Anime” variety like albums that have a hodgepodge of various anime songs.
With the Ghost in a Shell example, you will be able to find their opening songs like “Inner Universe” (Stand Alone Complex) and “Rise” (2nd Gig), but you won’t be able to locate tracks like “Torukia” (2nd Gig) or “Replica” (Solid State Society). And with Final Fantasy, you’ll find that a series renowned for it’s musical themes, the songs available on iTunes can be counted on your fingers.
The one redeeming part of iTunes for Anime fans is that a few series they have completely available. For example, iTunes features almost any episode of Naruto or Inuyasha for the reasonable price of $1.99 each – and their shows have the complete soundtrack available on iTunes. While it is nice when you find these gems, they seem few and far between.
When you can find what you want, iTunes is a legal and inexpensive way to acquire your favorite anime music and shows. And one day, if Apple actually does dive into the anime market, I imagine they will make a small fortune. Unfortunately, their library and search system for anime is so inadequate that you are better off looking elsewhere.
Next week we will take a look at the iPhone 3Gs and it’s usefulness for Anime Fans.
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Victor Vargas is the manager and editor of Anime-Alberta. He's the former chair of Animethon 16 & Animethon 15 as well as a former president of BAKA (The Banzai Anime Klub of Alberta)