Tower Records Shinjuku (Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo), known for its wide selection of anime songs, has announced its 2024 anime song annual ranking (calculated from January 1 to December 8, 2024), with the first original album "Togeari" by the band "Togenashi Togeari" from the original TV anime "Girls Band Cry" by Toei Animation taking the top spot. In second place was the album "Yuzou Kessoku Band " by the band " Kessoku Band " from the TV anime " Bocchi the Rock! ", which took first place in the 2023 annual ranking, demonstrating its enduring popularity. We asked the buyer in charge, Sho Higuchi, to look back on the anime song scene in 2024 based on this chart.
◇Rising sharply during the anime broadcast: Togenashitogeri's "indie" album tops the charts
In 2024, two strong girl bands, "Togenashi Togeari," the band that appears in the drama "Girls Band Cry," and " Kessoku Band ," the band that appears in the drama " Bocchi the Rock! ", accounted for 70% of the top 10.
The anime "Girls Band Cry" was broadcast from April to June 2024 and depicted the youth of the five-member girl band Togenashi Togeari, consisting of the main character, Nina Isekiri, who dropped out of high school and moved to Tokyo alone. Prior to the anime broadcast, the band released five singles and held live shows between July 2023 and February 2024, attracting attention among some anime fans.
Their first album, "Toge Ari", which reached number one in the annual charts, was released at the end of April, just as the anime began airing and their popularity was on the rise. In the anime, live performance scenes were depicted almost every episode, but "Toge Ari" does not include songs that appeared in the show, and instead consists mainly of songs released before the anime was made. It gained popularity as an album that gives a glimpse into Togenashi Toge Ari's "pre-anime airing = indie era", and sales increased dramatically during the anime's airing period.
In addition to "Toge Ari," singles featuring songs performed in memorable scenes in the series also made the list: "Zatsuto, Bokura no Machi," which includes the opening theme and an insert song from episode 1, came in 4th; "Dare nare nare watashi dakara," the ending theme first performed in episode 2, came in 8th; and "Kuuhaku to Catharsis," which Togenashi Toge Ari performed on stage at their first music festival, came in 9th. Each single includes a number of insert songs other than the title song, as well as special versions that can only be heard on CD, and they have gained great popularity, especially among fans who were captivated by Togenashi Toge Ari in the anime.
◇ Strong Kessoku Band: Their first album is the best-selling album in 15 years
Following 2023, the band " Kessoku Band " from the drama " Bocchi the Rock! " continued to show its enduring popularity in 2024. The difference between the number one annual album "Toge Ari" and the number two album " Kessoku Band" was very close, and while "Toge Ari" saw a sudden surge in sales during the anime broadcast, "Kessoku Band" continued to sell for about two years, from the end of 2022 to 2024, making it the best-selling CD in the anime song section of the Shinjuku store for the past 15 years.
In 2024, the first and second parts of the TV anime movie compilation "Bocchi the Rock! Re: / Re:Re:" were released in June and August, and Kessoku Band will appear at Japan's largest outdoor rock festival "ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL 2024" and hold a Zepp tour in five cities across the country, among other events. Along with this, they will also release a CD. The mini-album "Re: Kessoku Band", which includes new songs such as the theme song for the movie compilation, ranked 6th, and the EP "We will", released in preparation for the Zepp tour, ranked 7th.
"We will" is an EP with the concept that each member of "Kessoku Band" in the near future brought a demo and created it... The luxurious lineup of songwriters also became a hot topic. In December 2024, the members of Kessoku Band released a project CD "Kirara Tribute Collection "Kessoku Band no Utattemitai"" in which they sang anime songs from "Manga Time Kirara" (Houbunsha). They continue to capture the hearts of fans with new moves, and we were once again surprised by their presence that goes beyond that of an anime-based band.
◇ The animated film version of HYPNOSISMIC and Strawberry Prince DIALOGUE+ are hot topics
Coming in third place was the entertainment unit Strawberry Prince's first single, "The Story of the Beginning," whose first animated film, Strawberry School Festival!!!, was released in July, showing their continued popularity.
In fifth place is the CD ".Matenro" by the Shinjuku Division "Matenro" of the music-based character rap project "Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-" (Hypnosis Mic), which is also getting a lot of attention due to the release of an animated movie in February. This is Hypnosis Mic's first division CD in a long time, and was released for seven consecutive months starting in June 2024. As it is a Shinjuku store, the Shinjuku Division "Matenro" CD was very popular.
Coming in at number 10 was the 10th single by the female voice actor unit "DIALOGUE+", "Easy? Hard? Shikashite Susume!". The song was produced by Tomoya Tabuchi of the rock band "UNISON SQUARE GARDEN", who serves as the music producer, and is highly polished. The band has been steadily gaining fans by releasing songs consistently since their debut single in 2019.
In 2024, the rankings made us feel the arrival of a girl band boom, following the popularity of Kessoku Band, which has continued since the second half of 2022, and the hit of Togenashi Togeari. Although the songs of both bands can be listened to through subscription services and music videos on YouTube, we felt the power of their works, which inspires the "support activity" of buying CDs, and the popularity of the bands as individuals.
◇Tower Records Shinjuku Store 2024 Anime Song Ranking (titles omitted)
1st place "Thorn Ant" Togenashitogeari Album
2nd place: "Kessoku Band" Kessoku Band Album
3rd place: "The Beginning Story" by Strawberry Prince (single)
4th place: "The Crowd, Our Town" Togenashitogeari Single
5th place ".Matenro" Shinjuku Division "Matenro" Album
6th place: "Re: Kessoku Band" Kessoku Band Album
7. "We will" Kessoku Band Album
8th place "Because I can't become anyone" Togenashitogeri Single
9th place: "Kuuhaku to Catharsis" Togenashitogeari Single
10th place "Easy? Hard? Then Go Forward!" DIALOGUE+ Single
* From the left: title, artist. The ranking is a compilation of singles and albums.
◇Profile
Higuchi Sho is a buyer in charge of anime at Tower Records Shinjuku 10th floor (Japanese music/sales promotion). He was transferred from the Machida store in 2014. He got into anime because of 1990s works such as "Neon Genesis Evangelion", "BLUE SEED", and "VS Knight Ramune & 40 Flame", and among anime songs, he loves character songs, especially songs related to idol anime. His favorite anthem is "Up! 10sion Pleeeeeeeeease!" from "The Idolmaster Million Live!". His favorite anime and games include "Pretty Rhythm", "The Idolmaster", "Photo Kano", and "Sakura Wars".
