Hey everyone, I'm Laura and I'll be running the J-pop panel at the convention. I'm trying to figure out what might be the best strategy for me to take...

Currently I'm considering taking last year's 25 top songs and discussing them and their artists, and I'll bring my iPod and sound dock so I can give everyone a taste.

I really don't want to show my personal biases too much, as I'm sure a lot of people won't want to hear about the lovely pretty boys Japan has to offer in the music industry. Though you never know, I suppose.

Anyone have some suggestions, or better ideas, for this panel? Thanks.

I feel that's a pretty good idea. Just do the top 25...and of course, that means Hamasaki Ayumi. I'm surprised she isn't the whole list of 25. :-p

You could also talk about groups or artists who have been around for 10 years, close to 10 years, or over 10 years that still are pretty decent popularity wise.

Some who come to mind are:

Dreams Come True
Namie Amuro (I'm not sure if she made the top 25 last year)
globe
m.ov.e
L'Arc~en~Ciel (I know, they're JRock)
GLAY (Same as above)
Hayashibara Megumi
Do As Infinity (Okay...so it's only six years for them, so never mind ^^)

Oh, you could speak of artists who have done things for anime series that are popular.

When I think of a Jpop/rock panel, I think of people would rather watch music videos then just listening to music.

Oh yeah, PVs. That's a grand idea.

Hardly. She didn't make it above number 19. Lately she seems to have been suffering from a slump in popularity... Even though everyone calls her "utahime" (song princess)...

Hm, that might not be a bad idea. Though I'm surprised; you skipped out on big names who've been around for 10+ years like B'z, Mr.Children, SMAP, TOKIO and V6. ;P (Amuro barely sneaked in at 100 last year, by the way)

At any rate, what I intend to do is focus on current Japanese pop music, so I won't touch with a 10-foot pole the sorts of things many anime fans consider J-pop. I do hope some people will recognize some of these artists, but we'll see. I don't hold myself so high as to think I'm "broadening people's horizons" or anything like that, but it'd be cool if I can at least introduce some folks to the Japanese music scene.

If I ever do an anime theme song panel, I'll consider that.

I suppose I should have been more specific... This is a Japanese popular music panel, so I'll be focusing on precisely that: the music.

Hey, what was the top 25 for last year? Are you going by album or single?

I don't really keep up with her, and she was one of the first to pop to mind who always seems to be popular in some way or form or whose popularity doesn't seem to drop immensely.

Those were just a few I thought of off the top of my head. I was about to say X-Japan too....but they don't perform anymore, right?

That's a pretty good idea, I feel. The whole "anime" thing is nice, but it's nice to know of artists' works aside from anime. For instance, the first song I ever heard by the group m.o.v.e was an anime theme...I just didn't know it at the time, so, I grew to like them because of their music, not because it was an anime. Same goes for Kuraki Mai. First song I ever heard by her was always, the 12th (I think) ending for Detective Conan back in 2001, but I didn't know it until years later.

I only mentioned that, so that for some who aren't very familiar with Japanese artists can have something to reference. Let's say you use V6 as an example. You could go on to talk about them, but for those who have little exposure, can mention that they did a couple of openings for the anime, Inuyasha.

Oh, so much for PVs then. lol

T.M.REVOLUTION. If you know who this man is, than you will be alright.
T.M.REVOLUTION, and your panel will rock the face.
T.M.REVOLUTION. Nuff said.

Oops, I forgot to say, I'm sorry! I'll be going by Oricon's listing of top singles from last year. The actual list is here if you'd like to check it out. :D

Nope, I'm pretty sure they broke up a long time ago. Though I would think that at least one of the members has some project or another...

T.M. Revolution's most popular single last year earned a rank of 54. Nuff said.

What were the chart numbers. I don't know what 54 means unless I know more.

54, was their rank on the charts.

Soupychan was talking about doing the top 25 on the charts.

What Mishikotoko said. In my last reply under this thread I posted a link to the Oricon single ranking for 2005, feel free to check it out.