The Anatomy of an Anime Opening
Even after leaving the tie-up cafe, Suyun and the other members followed Hyun-ah to explore various spots around Kanamachi Station. Everywhere they went, there was always some illustration, merchandise, or photo spot related to Train Trail. As they spent time there, they occasionally ran into people who recognized them.
"E-Excuse me..."
"Yes?"
"Aren't you... Group Sound?"
Most of them were Koreans who seemed to have come for a Train Trail anime pilgrimage. Occasionally, there were young, slightly hipster-looking Japanese fans. There weren't any Chinese fans at all, but bizarrely, a Westerner who looked completely unrelated to the scene shouted, "Oh~! Group Sound~!" and took a picture with them.
"There are... occasionally people who recognize us..."
"Well, it's hard to forget Yeonsu's face. Plus, when you add three more girls to the mix? It's basically impossible not to notice us."
"I'm starting to think we should wear masks in Japan too."
"Oho~ Flexing much?"
After finishing their shoot while exchanging such idle chatter, Suyun returned to their lodgings. Determined not to let her sudden inspiration slip away, she read through volume five of Train Trail. Then, she posed a question to Iseor regarding the ideas that had sparked in her mind.
"I don't really know about that kind of stuff. Ask Hyun-ah-ss."
"...Is there anything you do know?"
"I know for a fact that you shouldn't talk to me like that, for starters!"
After taking a few jabs to the ribs, Suyun rubbed her aching side and went to ask Hyun-ah the same question. Just as Iseor had suggested, Hyun-ah looked thoughtful for a moment before offering an answer.
"If you look at Japanese media... there are a lot of stories about searching for the 'real' thing... True feelings, the truth. It doesn't show up much in battle shonen manga, but in modern-day dramas and slice-of-life genres, that kind of theme comes up constantly. Hiding oneself, putting on a false front, and the communication issues that arise from that..."
"Hmm..."
"Of course, I can't really... generalize, but you know about the culture of honne and tatemae, right, Suyun-nim...?"
"I know what those mean, yeah. But isn't that just a given for any modern person?"
Suyun spoke based on the impressions of Japan she had gathered over the years. However, Hyun-ah didn't seem to agree, as she shook her head slightly.
"We're foreigners... and basically, we're in the position of power here. Plus, there are probably many times we just didn't notice it. And maybe they don't go that far with foreigners..."
"Hmm..."
"This is just my personal impression, but... how should I put it... Hiding your thoughts, avoiding conflict with others as much as possible. But in the end, still doing what you feel you have to do. Like... bullying, for example. Because of that double-sided culture, I think that might be why Train Trail is so popular... Because..."
"This manga doesn't have any of that."
Suyun looked down at the manga volume. She had only read up to volume five, but that was definitely the vibe. Every character had their own circumstances and values, and the conflicts arising from them went all the way to the bitter end. They held onto their positions stubbornly; there were no developments where one side was easily persuaded or touched by the other. You either died or submitted. It was one of the two. No one passed judgment on who was right or wrong. It was simply a conflict born from a struggle for survival.
"Well, I'm not a critic, so I can't say for sure if this is the definitive reason for Train Trail's popularity, or if everyone else likes it for this exact reason..."
"No, in the end, the reception of any media is just a collection of individual impressions. I get what you mean."
Suyun nodded at Hyun-ah, who pleaded, "Please write a great song...!" It was time to start shaping the vague impressions floating around in her head into something concrete.
A few days later.
"Hmm..."
In the makeshift practice room set up in the office, Suyun was tapping her fingers to the beat with her headphones on. It felt like she was on the verge of a breakthrough, yet it remained just out of reach. Like a puzzle that was coming together smoothly, but still had a single, glaring piece missing.
Where is the problem?
She had already written the main melody and vocal lines. It had a completely different feel from their second album—or rather, their first official Japanese album. It was a melody crafted with a color somewhere between their first album, specifically between Hanging Garden and Plastic Nostalgia.
It was slightly different from my initial impressions.
Before writing this song, Suyun had first scanned through the anime songs that had performed exceptionally well over the past few years. The results were quite surprising. Contrary to her assumption that they would rely on intense hooks to addict listeners and promote the anime, most anime openings—with very few exceptions—didn't actually focus that heavily on hooks. Of course, they had clear highlights, but that wasn't the main draw.
So, combining her recent inspiration with the vibe of those tracks, Suyun had crafted the main melody and vocal line. It was an easy-listening track—pleasant to the ear and moderately engaging.
Yet, despite that, a persistent thought kept swirling in her head: This isn't quite right. Where was the issue? Where...
"So, just give it a listen and tell me what you think."
"Us?"
Suyun nodded, facing the other three members. She had wanted to set up a session like this for a long time, but she had kept putting it off, citing excuses like "not for the first EP," "not for the first full-length album," "not for the first Japanese album"...
I hope this becomes a regular thing starting now.
"I feel like I've missed something. I want you guys to listen and let me know if anything feels off."
"Hmm..."
"Since you probably... made certain choices intentionally, Suyun-nim, us pointing things out might..."
"No, we can still point things out. Whether she actually accepts our feedback is up to her, so we should just speak our minds freely."
"Yeah. Like Seoha said, don't worry about that and just give me your thoughts. It's not like I'm going to blindly accept everything you say anyway."
"...Then why are you even asking for feedback?"
Ignoring Iseor, who didn't seem to quite grasp her point, Suyun hit play. The sound bursting from the 3-inch Genelec speakers she had recently purchased filled the room, washing over the members' ears.
After skipping the intro, the main melody and a hummed vocal line played over a simple instrumental arrangement. Once it finished:
"It's... good...?"
"Is that it?"
"Uh, I mean... yeah. I think it's good..."
Hearing that from Hyun-ah, their resident 'anime expert,' left Suyun feeling a mix of slight disappointment and unease. It felt different from conventional songs, yet even Hyun-ah hadn't picked up on it? As an anime expert, she must have listened to countless anime tracks. If even an expert couldn't spot it...
"Hmm, I think I sort of get what you're trying to do, though."
"You do?"
"I also feel like something's missing. I just don't know what it is."
Suyun twirled a lock of her hair at Seoha's words. It was an unexpected comment from a source she hadn't anticipated. However, "something's missing" was far too vague to be of any practical use.
"Yeonsu. You said you felt like something was missing, right? What exactly does it feel like?"
"Well... when you listen to existing anime songs, you can feel a certain formula. But I can't quite put my finger on what that feeling is. It feels like it stems from something other than the music itself..."
"By any chance, did you listen to those songs as full tracks, or did you watch them along with the opening animation?"
"Of course I listened to the full tracks."
At Suyun's response, Iseor grinned, looked at Hyun-ah, and shook her head rapidly from side to side. Hyun-ah's expression gradually shifted to one of realization and surprise at Iseor's gesture.
"That's exactly why you don't get it."
"Why?"
"Anime openings aren't written to be experienced like that."
Saying this, Iseor playfully clicked her tongue.
"This is why normies just don't get it. Hyun-ah unni, you know what I mean, right?"
"Ah... That's why..."
"Why are you two the only ones in on the joke?"
Looking at Iseor's smug face, Suyun felt a sudden urge to throw something at her, but decided against it. After all, if things escalated to a physical fight, she would undoubtedly be the one losing...
Generally, the time allocated for an anime opening is about one minute and thirty seconds. And an anime opening doesn't just exist as a standalone minute-and-a-half track; it is paired with an animation that possesses its own complete narrative arc within that same timeframe...
"This is exactly the part you missed. One minute and thirty seconds. The anime opening. Do you get it now?"
Thrilled to finally have an opportunity to lecture Suyun on music, Iseor excitedly rambled on about her thoughts. Although Suyun felt a petty urge to shut her up, she listened to Iseor's explanation step by step. After all, this was a dimension of music she knew absolutely nothing about.
"For example, if you look at a song like this..."
As she spoke, Iseor played a short video clip. It was a track Suyun had listened to frequently and had even used as a reference for her current song. It was a track that completely shifted its atmosphere at a specific turning point. The opening, accompanied by an animation that even an anime novice could tell was high-quality, was paused right at the exact moment Suyun had noted the shift in mood.
"I see."
Suyun twirled her hair. The other songs Iseor played followed the exact same pattern. At that moment, Suyun realized why she had subconsciously felt that the dissonance originated from somewhere else.
After an intense intro, they shift the mood to emphasize the title of the anime, or something similar...
"So it's a matter of the physical format."
"Exactly. It feels completely different when you watch it with the opening, right? That's the whole point. Auditory stimulation from the song, visual stimulation from the animation... Delivering both simultaneously to keep people from switching channels is the job of an anime opening. Even though it's the exact same song as the full version, the impression it leaves is entirely different."
"It's a completely different beast compared to a radio edit, which is just a shortened three-minute version for airplay."
It was a perspective she wouldn't have easily come up with on her own—one she might have missed entirely. As Suyun brushed her hair back with these thoughts, Hyun-ah spoke up.
"T-That's why... anime openings... feel like they have two distinct colors..."
"Two colors?"
"It means the first and second verses are written to have similar yet distinct colors. That way, listening to the opening version and the full track gives you completely different vibes. Even if you listen to the same song twice, it doesn't get boring; instead, it feels fresh."
I never considered that perspective.
Suyun had also noticed that many songs had different atmospheres between the first and second verses. However, she had assumed it was merely a coincidence, so the song she had written kept a similar vibe throughout both verses, with only minor variations.
"Based on this analysis, I'll have to change quite a lot. Just the intro alone..."
She had known that anime openings were short. However, she had treated them like standard radio edits, crafting a song that slowly grew on the listener rather than grabbing them by the ears immediately. She had designed it to naturally find a permanent spot in a listener's playlist over time.
But the analysis Iseor had just provided completely shattered the song's core premise. While she wouldn't need to change the main melody or vocal lines, she would have to rebuild everything else from the ground up.
"And this part too, and this..."
Thrilled to be of musical assistance for once in a long time, Iseor kept playing various anime openings and sharing her insights.
"H-How do you know all this, Somat-nim...?"
"Well, I used to do TikTok and stuff, you know? I've actually given this a lot of thought."
Just as Iseor's expression reached its peak of smugness, Suyun caught a fleeting thought at the edge of her mind and spoke up.
"Iseor."
"Yeah?"
"I think you're going to have a massive role to play this time."
"...What?"
Suyun nodded at Iseor, who muttered, "My role is going to be massive?" At that gesture, Iseor stared at Suyun with a look of sheer bewilderment. Her eyes practically screamed: Are you serious? You're not lying, right? Did I actually hear that correctly?