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About AnimeKaraokes.com
PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST VOCAL SONGS FROM ME! Any such requests, except in only the most extraordinary of circumstances, WILL BE IGNORED. Offering vocals is NOT the primary purpose of this site!
Can't find the series you're looking for? It may be listed on this site under a different name. Try checking out Anime News Network's anime encyclopedia for various names of series.
Please email me if you know the following:
- If a series was OFFICIALLY released in English in some form (whether in the U.S., Canada, Europe, or Asian/Pacific countries such as the Philippines), please let me know the English title so I may add it to the site.
- If there is an error with an audio file or song information on the site
- If there is an error in a song's ID3 tags
If you are emailing in regards to one of the above, my email address is listed at the bottom of the page. Otherwise, if you have a question or comment, PLEASE read this FAQ first before emailing me. Thank you very much ^_^
Please choose a topic for more information:
Make a donation!
Please support this site by making a purchase through the banner ads, or by making a donation via Paypal using the button below, or by going through Amazon.com's Honor System Pay Box below. All donations go toward hosting fees and to increasing the number of songs available.
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Sites to buy anime and game music
You can also support this site by purchasing items through the following links. I have purchased from all of these sites and have high regard for their customer service and selection, especially GameMusic.com and YesAsia.com.
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One of your links doesn't work!
It's most likely because I misspelled the file name, or it could be that I forgot to upload the zip file. In any case, if you find a broken link, please e-mail me at the address at the bottom of this page with the link you were trying to access, and I'll fix it.
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Something's wrong with one of your files!
I admittedly don't listen to most of the MP3s after I encode them, so you may find some that are incomplete or otherwise messed up. Problems include:
- Songs that are shorter than they should be
- Unusually loud background vocals
Most times this simply means I will have to re-encode them, unless the CD has some big scratch or some other defect that prevents proper encoding. Please e-mail me at the address at the bottom of this page with the song name and the anime/game that it's from, and I'll see if it can be fixed. For truncated songs, be warned that if I have to re-encode, the file size may be 3 or 4 megs larger than the original (see the "Technical Information" section for more details).
Also, if there is information in my ID3 tags that is incorrect, please e-mail me at the address below with the correction. I will change the info once I verify it.
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What's up with Anime Karaokes 2?
Animekaraokes2.com is my expansion site, which went into operation in July 2004. It currently houses songs from anime series L to Z. Depending on how space and bandwidth go, I may move the game karaokes there, as well.
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RSS feed for updates
I've finally gotten around to creating an RSS feed to tell of updates to the site. The feed may be accessed here. The main link in the feed leads to the updates page, but each series link will take you to the individual series on the site.
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Technical information
My earlier MP3s are encoded using iTunes v. 2.0.4 on a Mac running system 9.2. Those songs were encoded at 128 kbps variable bit rate (VBR), 80 or 96 kbps mono, 44 kHz, stereo sound. A few songs were encoded on iTunes v. 2.0 with the same audio characteristics as above. Now that I've upgraded to OSX, my songs are being encoded on iTunes v. 4.6, 128 kbps VBR, 64 kpbs mono, 44 kHz, stereo sound. (I can't find a preference in the program that will let me raise the kbps of the mono sound, so it'll have to stay at 64.)
My ID3 tags are edited first in iTunes, with additional info added in Winamp, in both ID3 v.1 and ID3 v.2. I've noticed that newer versions of Winamp seem to be erasing tags that were entered in older versions. Either that or something got lost in the ID3 data during one of the many times my PC died and I had to switch my data to a new hard drive.
In the file names of songs, I will usually remove characters that cause some trouble for PCs (most often because the character is not allowed in a file name). These include exclamation points, ellipses (three periods in a row), quotation marks, and question marks. However, all of those should still be in the actual song name when you play it in Winamp or any other MP3 player.
Some of the very first songs posted on the site are encoded with a Plextor brand CD-R drive using Exact Audio Copy V0.9 beta and compressed using LAME v. 3.90 at a variable bit rate, at 44 kHz and 128 kbps, stereo sound. A few of those early MP3s were encoded at 192 or 160 kbps, but I had to go down to 128 to save about 1 to 2 megs of space per file.
This site's design and layout is being optimized for use with Firefox. It also works well with Internet Explorer. Other than those two browsers, I do not know how the site looks. It doesn't use any fancy coding, though, so most other browsers should be able to handle it with no problems.
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Source information
My MP3s are encoded from CDs that I personally own now or have owned at some point in life. They are taken from the officially released CD on which the song appeared. As such, the songs are in their original key. I do NOT deal with fan-made karaokes or karaoke compilation albums unless the compilation was made specifically for the anime (such as the Ranma 1/2 or Oh My Goddess karaoke compilations).
All romanizations of song titles were done by myself. With some exceptions, I *usually* follow the capitalizations of the original title, no matter how strange they may look for English-speakers. If a weird capitalization really grates on me, I will change it to "proper" English capitalization. Katakana in song titles are usually denoted in ALL CAPS (with some exceptions).
The titles for most of the "Ranma 1/2" songs were NOT romanized by me. This is because I got into the series and the music before I had any formal schooling in Japanese, so I relied on other people for those song titles. Therefore, most of the Ranma songs have not been romanized according to my personal style.
What's included on this site
This site has only anime- and game-related karaokes. Jpop is not included if the song is not tied to an anime or game. Songs from live-action shows, dramas, etc. also are not included.
This site is generally for older and more obscure karaokes, especially those whose respective CD singles or albums are many years out of print. If you're looking for the latest songs released within the last two years or so, they WON'T be here.
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Unofficial karaokes
As said earlier, I do not deal with fan-made karaokes. However, I have come upon at least one CD in which the songs were rearranged into karaoke versions. Those arrangements were NOT done by the original composer or arranger, but the entire album is of anime songs, so I have included those on my site. But since they were done by a different arranger, I am referring to them as "unofficial" karaokes.
In regards to these songs, I have compared a couple of them to the originals. And while the background music is generally the same as the originals, they're also very different. However, as far as I've been able to compare, the song lengths are the same and the lyrics from the original song should fit. Still, be careful to compare these "unofficial" songs to their originals to see what kind of changes might have been made.
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What does "No karaoke available" mean?
It means that I either own or have owned the song's officially released CD single and there is no karaoke available on that single, or that I have very reliable information that there is no karaoke on the single. (Sorry, to all you Ranma fans looking for a karaoke to "Ja Ja Uma Ni Sasenaide"!)
There may be CD compilations out there with a karaoke version of the song, but I do not deal with such compilations unless they're released specifically for the anime, such as the Ranma 1/2 or Oh My Goddess karaoke compilations.
It is also possible that there are other CD singles or albums that have a karaoke of the song; please compare the catalog numbers to see if they are the same single. If this is the case, please email me at the address below and I will remove that info from my site.
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Coupling songs
A CD single often has other songs in addition to the main song; those additions are usually referred to as "coupling songs." On the single's cover, you may see the term "C/W." That means "coupled with." Unless they are related to the anime (as an image song, etc.), I will NOT post coupling songs. Please DO NOT email to ask for a coupling song; such requests will be ignored.
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What about offering the vocal versions?
I'm currently not posting the vocal versions on this site because those are more readily available on other CDs or from other people via file-sharing programs. I may start putting them up for more obscure anime songs, but it's a bandwidth concern, also. We'll see how things go.
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Karaoke terms
A karaoke of a song is often referred to by various names in addition to "karaoke." The most common terms are "off-vocal," "instrumental," "without (singer's name)," and "backing track." I've also seen the terms "voiceless version" and "voxless version." The term "instrumental" may sometimes be misleading, because many such songs are true instrumentals -- that is, a pure music version of the song, often with a main instrument taking the place of the singer's voice.
To avoid any confusion, I always use the term "karaoke" to refer to the actual backing track minus the singer's voice, even though the CD may refer to it as the "off-vocal version," etc.
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What about the lyrics?
All lyric links used to lead to AnimeLyrics.tv. The site was previously AL.com, but due to a falling-out in late 2006, the site changed its domain to AL.tv. AnimeLyrics.com then split off into a new site with that domain name. Then about a year later, a legal dispute led to the complete shutting down of AL.tv, so the only site left now is the new AL.com.
But old habits die hard, and I haven't really made to transition over to the new AL.com. In addition, many of the lyrics that had been posted on AL.tv were not switched over to the new AL.com (at least not as I type this on Jan. 11, 2008), including some that I had submitted in the interim. So for the time being, I will NOT be adding new lyrics links.
Please note that ALL LYRIC REQUESTS WILL BE IGNORED.
I will NOT link to lyrics found elsewhere other than AnimeLyrics.tv/AL.com. It's not that other sites aren't good; it's simply easier. AnimeLyrics is generally stable and neither you nor I will have to worry much about broken links, unlike many fan sites that disappear within a short span of time.
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Linking to this site
Please note that I do not allow direct links to my zip files. However, you are welcome to link to the HTML page that will lead to a particular song. Other than that, you can link to any page on this site, the main page or the page of a particular game/anime.
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About the webmistress
Most anime karaokes are found on the CD single featuring a particular song. I like to sing, despite not being very good at it ^_^ so if I like a song, I'll often try to find the CD single to see if it has a karaoke. As the anime "Ranma 1/2" was my first big anime love, I got practically all the singles for it for that reason, which is also the reason why I have much more info on the Ranma songs than on any others. And because singles have a short print run and so older ones are difficult to find, I decided to share my Ranma karaokes with others.
Then I realized that I have a lot of older and more obscure anime singles, so I finally created this site, especially for those who may be looking for songs to use in a cosplay or skit.
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Contributions/trades
Thank you for the offers, but I am NOT accepting karaoke contributions or trades at this time, so please DO NOT e-mail such files to me as it eats up my inbox space. Maybe in the future I will. We'll see how it goes. ^_^
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BEFORE you e-mail me...
Any e-mails asking me the following will be ignored:
- Requests for a particular karaoke or questions as to whether a certain karaoke even exists. If I took requests, I'd be doing nothing all day but scouring Yahoo Japan auctions for the correct CD. Maybe in time I'll begin a request system, but not right now.
- Requests for a particular coupling song.
- Requests for lyrics.
- Requests for a vocal song.
- Increasing the minimum bit rate for my MP3s, any discussion about exactly what bit rate constitutes "CD-quality" music, or anything along the lines of MP3 music quality.
- Translating song titles, CD titles, lyrics, etc.
- Additional information about a song posted on this site, such as who sang a song. Whatever I have listed is all the relevant info I was able to get. If the data's not either on the site or in the ID3 tags, it's most likely because my limited Japanese skills prevented me from getting accurate information.
If this FAQ does not answer your question, or if you are reporting a problem with one of my links or MP3s, feel free to e-mail me at the address below. My e-mail has not been hyperlinked in order to fight spam. Just type it carefully, all lowercase letters, with no spaces. If you email me and I don't respond, please don't be offended! I actually rarely answer e-mail unless you have a specific question or suggestion. However, I do read all my email and I thank you for your comments!
If you ask me a question that has already been answered in this FAQ, your message will be ignored.
BEFORE you e-mail me...
Any e-mails asking me the following will be ignored:
- Requests for a particular karaoke or questions as to whether a certain karaoke even exists. If I took requests, I'd be doing nothing all day but scouring Yahoo Japan auctions for the correct CD. Maybe in time I'll begin a request system, but not right now.
- Requests for a particular coupling song.
- Requests for lyrics.
- Requests for a vocal song.
- Increasing the minimum bit rate for my MP3s, any discussion about exactly what bit rate constitutes "CD-quality" music, or anything along the lines of MP3 music quality.
- Translating song titles, CD titles, lyrics, etc.
- Additional information about a song posted on this site, such as who sang a song. Whatever I have listed is all the relevant info I was able to get. If the data's not either on the site or in the ID3 tags, it's most likely because my limited Japanese skills prevented me from getting accurate information.
- Yes, the repeat of this section has been put in here deliberately. ^_~ It is not an error on my part or on your browser's part. At least, I hope not. ^_~
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Original song copyrights belong to their respective owners.
This site is in no way affiliated with AnimeLyrics.tv or AnimeLyrics.com.