[Narujiro]

Puffy is LOVE!

I love Puffy. Good stuff. It's really just the perfect summer-time music. Okuda Tamio isn't too shabby either... which isn't surprising, as I think he's the song writer for many of Puffy's songs.

Lately I've been hooked on some Advantage Lucy and Love Psychedelico though.

-----
Nullzero

[kamome]

Japanese Acts Woo U.S. Through Anime

It's not unusual for adoring Japanese pop fans to sing along with their idols during a concert. But it's not often that an American audience does that -- and gets all the Japanese words right.

That's what happened at a July 2003 gig at the Otakon anime (Japanese animation) convention in Baltimore, illustrating how an increasing number of Japanese acts are using anime to promote their music overseas.

Why aren't more of us FG trying to exploit this market by leveraging our Japan experience?

[Taro Toporific]

Japanese Acts Woo U.S. Through AnimeWhy aren't more of us FG trying to exploit this market by leveraging our Japan experience?

I can't imagine why more FG aren't trying to leverage their experience to exploit the market for this "awesome Japanese baby snot siphon." :P

Translation: "Mama's Baby Snot Sucker(tm)"

http://tampei.co.jp/syouhin/etc/mh/frame2.htm

[kamome]

exploit the market for this "awesome Japanese baby snot siphon."

Sure, and we all know that the markets for each are relatively the same in size, right?

[gkanai]

"Hello Kitty meets Led Zeppelin on an episode of 'The Monkees."

Reuters - Japanese Acts Woo U.S. Through Anime

"Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" is unique in that it features Japanese characters but is made in the States by American animators.

"As interest in Asia grows, Japanese performers will increasingly be tied to American entertainment products to make them seem more hip and cool," Tatsugawa says.

Puffy AmiYumi (Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura) is a household name in Japan, where it is known simply as Puffy. The duo has had several hit singles and albums and has made numerous appearances on TV shows and in commercials.

The animated show follows the two women on a never-ending tour of the world by bus. Sam Register, senior VP in charge of original animation for the Cartoon Network, describes the show as "Hello Kitty meets Led Zeppelin on an episode of 'The Monkees."'

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=638&ncid=638&e=20&u=/nm/20040815/en_nm/music_anime_dc_2

[AssKissinger]

Meanwhile, the Cartoon Network is preparing for the November launch of "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi," an animated series chronicling the fictional adventures of Epic Japan J-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi.

I'm so excited about this! I've been a big Puffy fan for years now and I've always believed that they have what it takes to make it the States.

[djgizmoe]

Agreed, Ass. Puffy started out as a terrible guilty pleasure (their synchronized performances were much too similar to the abominable WINK for comfort), but have mutated into something quite respectable over the years.

Some more info:
"Elsewhere in Puffy world, Japanese punk label CycleHit Entertainment has
released a Puffy tribute album. The girls' songs are reworked by underground
bands including Noodles, Supersnazz and DJ Taki-shit, the latter of whom was
featured on 'Adam And Joe Go Tokyo!' last year wearing a long-nosed mask
over his little fella (yeah, that DJ Taki-shit). The album is out now on import. For more information, contact info@cyclehit.com"
http://www.blogcritics.org/archives/2004/03/01/065255.php

http://www.puffyamiyumi.com/

[American Oyaji]

Puffy has already done some work for Cartoon Network.

They did the intro song for "Teen Titans".

[Tonshu]

Meanwhile, the Cartoon Network is preparing for the November launch of "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi," an animated series chronicling the fictional adventures of Epic Japan J-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi.

I'm so excited about this! I've been a big Puffy fan for years now and I've always believed that they have what it takes to make it the States.

And, aren't they already pretty damn big in Taiwan and Hong Kong? And maybe S. Korea, too?

Or maybe were pretty damn big. ...


My faculties fail me at the moment even though I don't work for a university.

[Caustic Saint]

And, aren't they already pretty damn big in Taiwan and Hong Kong? And maybe S. Korea, too?

J-pop (or any other J-music) is not allowed on the radio, TV or pretty much anywhere else in Korea. That rule was relaxed slightly during the World Cup two years ago, but it's back to "normal" now.

[Tonshu]

And, aren't they already pretty damn big in Taiwan and Hong Kong? And maybe S. Korea, too?

J-pop (or any other J-music) is not allowed on the radio, TV or pretty much anywhere else in Korea. That rule was relaxed slightly during the World Cup two years ago, but it's back to "normal" now.

Damn. Didn't know that about Korea.

[bejiita]

Google is such an evil thing. I just found a reference to an ancient feud he had with Mr. J-List.

Both of them deserve a smack to the head for attempting to rap.

[Taro Toporific]

"Hello Kitty meets Led Zeppelin on an episode of 'The Monkees."
Reuters - Japanese Acts Woo U.S. Through Anime
"Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" is unique in that it features Japanese characters but is made in the States by American animators.... The animated show follows the two women on a never-ending tour of the world by bus.

Well, starting Friday, Nov 19 you all can watch the re-packaged pregant housewives, Puffy AmiYumi on the Cartoon Network (USA). (Also see the English cartoonnetwork.co.jp site, which is offline at the moment)

Big in Japan, but Made in the USA
New York Times, NY - Nov 13, 2004... Friday on the Cartoon Network, is an animated series based on two real Japanese pop stars, Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura, aka Puffy Ami Yumi. In Japan they're ...

[Mulboyne]

Seattle Times: Say hi, hi to happy-pop duo Puffy AmiYumi
Until recently, only the hippest, most avant-garde American 8-year-olds have been down with J-pop (that's Japanese pop, for us old fogies) stars Puffy AmiYumi's peppy, contagious blend of punk, garage rock, ska, surf, and their own sugar-coated pop sass...Now, with the success of a Cartoon Network show ("Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi") loosely based on their career, Puffy AmiYumi is on the verge of U.S. superstardom (at least among the tween and pre-tween set) to match the runaway celebrity they've enjoyed in Japan for the past nine years...more...

Puffy Website (with music)

[Kuang_Grade]

[dimwit]

I don't know where to start. How about...

Before they leave the karaoke booth, Guns N' Roses' ''Paradise City'' comes on. Ami points at Yumi. ''She loves Guns N' Roses.'' Indeed, Yumi begins to hum the lyrics, even slowly swaying. It seems as if some Puffy karaoke might be in the cards after all. ''No,'' says Yumi, but she has a confession to make. ''It's not that we hate karaoke. It's that. . .''

... that is what most of our song are?

''People in America only know us as cartoon characters,'

What is more frightening is that people is Japan don't think of them that way.

[L S]

I'm sitting in my Oregon hotel room this morning eating cereal with my 6yr old watching Cartoon Network just now and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi comes on. I had not heard of the show even though Mulboyne and this thread had brought it up, so I was like "shit, didn't they just speak Nihongo? or am I going through extreme reverse culture shock (I just left Tokyo)?" My son starts laughing and says "papa, hihongo demo shabette iru!" He loves the cartoon and actually it's not too bad. It's like modern day Monkeys wiht girl power and Japanese anime cool added in. Actually htree is always a dose of Japanese culture in each episode.

Very cool seeing cultural fusion go mainstream for kids....there is hope for the world perhaps.

[L S]

Forgot the link for the show:

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/puffyamiyumi/index.html

Clips: http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/puffyamiyumi/tools/img/ccell_showclip.gif

[Red Floyd]

Now when are The Pillows gonna guest star?

[AssKissinger]

http://zone.msn.com/en/outsmart/puffy_default.htm

Gosh I still love these girls. I beat them at this game, too. It helped cause I know about The Donnas.

[Taro Toporific]

Puffy AmiYumi Bukkake
[100% G rated]

[Captain Japan]

Tokyo Band Puffy AmiYumi Change Name to 'AmiYumi Diddy'
Village Voice

I'm all for exploitation; was this exploitation? Maybe a little? Even when the artist wills it? By parallel, does the act of a girl showing her breasts at a Mötley Crüe show count for liberation or sad play into the band's broader, misogynistic framework? Even if she's gone to great measures to make sure her breasts are evenly tanned?

(Rant Alert)

Puffy AmiYumi are a passable and occasionally good powerpop-punk band from Tokyo. "Big in Japan" indeed, but weirdly enough, the Cartoon Network show about them is shown in North America, South America, Europe, parts of Asia, but not in Japan (says the band--this may have been a joke?).

Some of their songs sound like ELO ("Tokyo Nights"), other songs sound like what the New Pornographers want to sound like (also "Tokyo Nights"). Other songs sound like TV themes ("Theme to Pokemon", "Theme to Teen Titans"), and exactly one song sounds like "Secret Agent Man." There are other songs; I was preoccupied.

If it's not obvious, I went into this show blind, completely ignorant of the show, the music, the rabid fanbase. These people worship Ami and Yumi, and on a very 2D-to-3D level, I can understand the countless audience freakouts over seeing live human representations of cartoons (who themselves stand in for humans). That's some crazy visual feedback loop shit going on; I wonder if people pump their fists along to the TV show non-stop like they did last night...more...

[GuyJean]

[b]Tokyo Band Puffy AmiYumi Change Name to 'AmiYumi Diddy'

Ha. ha.. Didn't P-Diddy drop the 'P', so now he's just Diddy?

GJ

[Captain Japan]

Pop duo Puffy sees explosive growth in U.S.
Mainichi

Japanese pop duo Puffy is proving a surprise hit in the United States.

Tickets for the pair's five-city tour from New York to Chicago in August completely sold out, and some fans reportedly drove 4 hours just to see them.

With their appearance in the popular cartoon "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi," their popularity has increased even further overseas, but Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura say they don't plan on changing their style.

"We're doing this, keeping in mind that we've been told we don't need to change our style, and we didn't want to go as far as to change our style ourselves either, so we're pretty happy," Onuki said....more...

[nullpointer]

Ha. ha.. Didn't P-Diddy drop the 'P', so now he's just Diddy?
GJ

Did you see that on the daily show?

[Taro Toporific]

MILK & COOKIE?


Puffy girls happy as Japan's cartoon pop envoys
The Standard - China's Business Newspaper Thursday, November 10, 2005
...Yumi Yoshimura added: "We want people to also listen to other Japanese artists' music too. In the United States people come to see us because they don't know us and they're curious to see what type of performance we put on. Americans are good at keeping a beat."....
...They shrugged off suggestions that - like Britney Spears and other pop sensations before them - they would be turned by the industry into sex symbols once they stop pulling in young audiences.
..."Going sexy? We can't get any sexier than we are now," Yoshimura joked.
"If we were told to be sexy .I would go home....

[Greener]

I look at this show in context of America's past history of doing a horrible job of selling JPop stars. It is weak in terms of being watchable but it is a hell of a lot better than this abortion was:



Puffy clearly has a niche in America which is more than you can say about Hikaru, Ayumi, Hitomi or Morning Musume have out there. I'm not a HUGE fan of the show but it is decent and I have used it as cannon fodder for my English classes from time to time!

[IkemenTommy]

Popular pop duo Puffy ride a float Thursday modeled after the tour bus in the U.S. cartoon "HiHi PUFFY AMI YUMI" during the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade here. It is the first time Japanese artists have joined the parade, the duo's agent said.

[Greener]

I got an email about that from Puffy's mailing list a few weeks ago. Personally, I think it is great to see JPop stars getting this kind of exposure in America. Hopefully it will widen the niche market for JPop in America.

[Kuang_Grade]

Original Time Warner press release
http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1124415,00.html

Rehashed here with more on Puffy's plans for US domination.
http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=907&document=1

In similar news, on November 29th, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi will appear on DVD for the first time with the simultaneous release of two DVD editions "Let's go!" and "Rock Forever!" from Warner Home Video featuring "best of" episodes from the cartoon series, backstage footage, dance trivia, music and lessons in Japanese. Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: Kaznapped, a Gameboy Advanced videogame released by D3 Publisher of America will also be available. Accessories, apparel and children's books inspired by the rock duo from a variety of licensing partners will continue to roll out through 2006.

On November 28th fans will have even more opportunities to tune in to see these super-cool cuties with J-pop style, when Cartoon Network begins airing Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi five nights a week at 9:00pm ET/PT.

Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi Rockin' World Tour Bus Playset

Girls can let their inner rockers out with the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi World Tour fashion dolls. Created in the image of the unbelievably popular Japanese rock stars, these dolls come in trendy outfits, and talk and sing like the real girls! Each doll speaks both Japanese and English phrases, and when Yumi and Ami hold hands, they actually sing their theme song!

http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/shop/puf/index.html