Interest
High School Girls Continue Musical Experimentation in Dōjin Anime
posted on by Eric Stimson
The Japanese musician Hikari Matsuda has used dōjin anime shorts to express her feelings about effects units. In the first installment, "High School Girls Shop for an Effects Unit", she introduced the characters Metako, an aspiring guitarist, and her friend Muffyu, who helps her shop for an effects unit to improve her guitar's sound quality.
Since then, the anime has received over 150,000 views on YouTube, and the girls have continued their music-themed shopping trips with "High School Girls Shop for a Shielded Cable," posted on January 14. In it, Muffyu once again lectures Metako on the differences between different cables despite her lack of first-hand knowledge. The girls also have a race to see who can properly coil their cables the fastest, and Metako is finally able to play "Smoke on the Water" satisfactorily. A polite store employee is voiced by Hisako Tabuchi of the rock band Number Girl.
The latest installment in the series, "High School Girls Shop for a Vocal Effects Unit," focuses on the gizmos that distort human voices. Muffyu gets the idea while enjoying the way her voice echoes in the bath. She whisks Metako away to the music store and gets her to ask the attendant for a vocal effects unit by beating her at Paper-Scissors-Rock. The two spend the anime testing the various modes on the Boss VE-20, and in the end Muffyu gives in to temptation and buys it.
To capitalize on the series' popularity, Matsuda is collaborating with Roland, who makes the Boss vocal effects unit line, to explain the basics of vocal effects units on a blog on Roland's website. She is also promoting the series at the music store Shimamura Music, where customers can get these "High School Girls Shop for an Effects Unit" bags and guitar picks. If customers buy certain guitars and electric pianos, they can also get a free can of sakuma. Candy (an iconic Japanese candy drop) with an original character drawn by Matsuda on it. The campaign will last until May 10.
She has also animated this short commercial for Shimamura Music.
Matsuda is a vocalist, guitarist, and bassist for the bands nakanoise and Deroppy Doroppy and an amateur illustrator. She voices Metako and Muffyu herself, while her bandmate Koichi voices the intimidating store attendants and draws the backgrounds.
