Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short, is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony Group Corporation and is operating independently from the United States-based Sony Music Entertainment due to its strength in the Japanese music industry. Its subsidiaries include the Japanese animation production enterprise, Aniplex, which was established in September 1995 as a joint-venture between Sony Music Entertainment Japan and Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, but which in 2001 became a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. It was prominent in the early to mid '90s producing and licensing music for animated series such as Roujin Z from acclaimed Japanese comic artist Katsuhiro Otomo and Capcom's Street Fighter animated series.
Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture, known in Japan as Moyashimon (もやしもん), is a Japanese manga series by Masayuki Ishikawa. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen magazine Evening from July 2004 to June 2013 and moved to the magazine Monthly Morning Two, where it concluded in January 2014. The series follows Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has a unique ability to see and communicate with microorganisms. Del Rey Manga licensed the manga, but only released two volumes in English in North America. An 11-episode anime television series adaptation, animated by Shirogumi and Telecom Animation Film, aired between October and December 2007 on Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. An 11-episode live action adaptation was aired on Noitamina between July and September 2010. An 11-episode animated second season titled Moyasimon Returns aired from July to September 2012.
Livetune is a Japanese electro band which formed in 2007 as a dōjin music circle signed to Toy's Factory. The band originally consisted of two members, Kz and Kajuki P, but Kajuki P left the band in March 2009. Livetune started out by making use of the Hatsune Miku singing synthesizer to produce vocals for songs submitted to the Nico Nico Douga video sharing website. The popularity of the songs led the band to release the independent album Re:package at Comiket 73 in December 2007. Livetune made its major debut with Victor Entertainment with the professional release of their Re:package album in August 2008, which was updated with more songs. Livetune began collaborating with other artists in 2009, and has since composed music for such artists as Kotoko, ClariS, Maon Kurosaki, and fellow dōjin musician Ryo of Supercell.
ClariS is a Japanese pop music duo which formed in 2009 with singers Clara and Alice from Hokkaido, who were in junior high school at the time. The pair began singing covers and submitting them to Japanese video sharing website Niconico between 2009 and 2010. ClariS later signed to SME Records and released their debut single "Irony" in October 2010. Three more singles were released between 2011 and 2012, followed by their debut album Birthday (2012). Birthday was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year. Six more singles were released between 2012 and 2014, which were featured on their second album Second Story (2013) and third album Party Time (2014). Alice left the unit following Party Time's release, and Karen joined ClariS in late 2014. ClariS moved to the Sacra Music record label under Sony Music Entertainment Japan in 2017.
"Wonderful World!!" is a single release by the Japanese boyband Kanjani8. The song was written and composed by ROADIE with music arranged by Yasutaka Kume. It is accompanied by the B-side titled, " Ukiyo Odoribito " which was written and composed by TAKESHI. This single release was the band's first release for 2010 and their 14th single release overall. The single was released by Imperial Records as the second single release for their fourth album, 8 Uppers. The single also served as the introduction to the 8 Uppers story, the movie that also came with the album's release.
Birthday is the debut studio album of the Japanese pop music duo ClariS, released on April 11, 2012 by SME Records. The album contains 12 music tracks, four of which were previously released on four of ClariS' singles. Three different editions of the album were released: a regular CD version, a two-CD limited edition and a CD+DVD limited edition. Birthday peaked at No. 2 on the Japanese Oricon weekly albums chart and was awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan in May 2012.
Second Story is the second studio album of the Japanese pop music duo ClariS, released on June 26, 2013 by SME Records. The album contains 12 music tracks, three of which were previously released on three of ClariS' singles. Three different editions of the album were released: a regular CD version and two CD+DVD limited editions. Second Story peaked at No. 6 on the Japanese Oricon weekly albums chart.
Party Time is the third studio album by the Japanese pop music duo ClariS, released on June 4, 2014, by SME Records. The album contains 12 music tracks, three of which were previously released on three of ClariS' singles. Three different editions of the album were released: a regular CD version and two limited editions. Party Time was the last time Clara and Alice performed as ClariS, with Alice leaving the duo. Party Time peaked at No. 2 on the Japanese Oricon weekly albums chart.
"Irony" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Kz. It was released as the unit's debut single on October 20, 2010 by SME Records. The song was used as the opening theme to the 2010 anime series Oreimo. A music video was produced for "Irony". The single peaked at No. 7 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"Connect" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Shō Watanabe. It was released as the unit's second single on February 2, 2011 by SME Records. The song was used as the opening theme to the 2011 anime series Puella Magi Madoka Magica. A music video was produced for "Connect", directed by Takumi Shiga. The single peaked at No. 5 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart, and was later awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.
"Nexus" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Kz. It was released as the unit's third single on September 14, 2011, by SME Records. The song was used as the theme song for the ninth volume of the Oreimo light novels and the opening theme of the Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai Portable ga Tsuzuku Wake ga Nai video game. A music video was produced for "Nexus", directed by Kazuaki Nakamura. The single peaked at No. 5 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"Naisho no Hanashi" (ナイショの話) is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Ryo. It was released as the unit's fourth single on February 1, 2012, by SME Records. The song was used as the ending theme to the 2012 anime series Nisemonogatari. A music video was produced for "Naisho no Hanashi", directed by Kazuaki Nakamura. The single peaked at No. 2 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"Luminous" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Shō Watanabe. It was released as the unit's sixth single on October 10, 2012 by SME Records. The song was used as the opening theme to the first two Puella Magi Madoka Magica anime films. A music video was produced for "Luminous". The single peaked at No. 4 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart, and was later awarded a Gold Disc by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for having exceeded 100,000 copies shipped in a single year.
"Reunion" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Kz. It was released as the unit's seventh single on April 17, 2013 by SME Records. The song was used as the opening theme to the 2013 anime series Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai.. A music video was produced for "Reunion", directed by Jungo. The single peaked at No. 2 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"Colorful" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Shō Watanabe. It was released as the unit's eighth single on October 30, 2013 by SME Records. The song was used as the opening theme to the film Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Rebellion. A music video was produced for "Colorful", directed by Jungo. The single peaked at No. 3 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"Click" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Kz. It was released as the unit's ninth single on January 29, 2014 by SME Records. The song was used as the first opening theme to the 2014 anime series Nisekoi. A music video was produced for "Click", directed by Jungo. The single peaked at No. 7 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"Step" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Kz. It was released as the unit's tenth single on April 16, 2014 by SME Records. The song was used as the second opening theme to the 2014 anime series Nisekoi. A music video was produced for "Step", directed by Jungo. The single peaked at No. 3 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart.
"One" is the thirteenth single by Japanese singer Aimer, released on October 11, 2017 under SME Records. Written by Aimer and Rui Momota, the single peaked at No. 2 on Oricon's singles charts and No. 3 on Billboard Japan's Hot 100.
"Hitorigoto" is a pop song by the Japanese duo and idol unit ClariS, written by Kelly. It was released as the unit's sixteenth single on April 26, 2017 by Sacra Music. The song was used as the opening theme to the 2017 anime series Eromanga Sensei. It reached number 9 on Japan's weekly Oricon singles chart, and number 13 on Japan Hot 100.
The Japanese media franchise BanG Dream!, created by Bushiroad in 2015, consists of seven bands whose members portray fictional characters in the anime series and mobile game BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!. The bands consist of Poppin'Party, Roselia, Afterglow, Pastel Palettes, and Hello, Happy World! (2017), Raise A Suilen (2018), and Morfonica (2020). MyGO!!!!!, another band in the franchise but not tied to the seven in Girls Band Party!, debuted in 2022.
