Bossa nova is a genre of music that we’ve all probably heard before, but it’s not talked about all too much. Most of the time, it’s described as “elevator music” or “hold music,” which would be great if the elevators I take or support lines I call played music like that. It’s a Brazilian style of music that I can only describe as a melancholy sunset and it easily ranks as one of my favorite genres of music. I am also a fan of Japanese culture and media. So, I was naturally delighted to find examples of bossa nova within Japanese media. I am by no means a music theory expert, so my analysis is no more than my own speculation, but I wanted to share some of my findings and thoughts on some of these songs.
“Barefoot in the Park” (from Neon Genesis Evangelion)
The soundtrack for the acclaimed anime Neon Genesis Evangelion is held in high regard. The show’s iconic opening theme, “A Cruel Angel’s Thesis,” is often heralded by fans as the anthem to Japanese animation in general. The soundtrack as a whole manages to put its own spin on so many genres and themes and does it so consistently well. It comes as no surprise that a soundtrack as great as this one has a composer equally as amazing. Shiro Sagisu is credited for most of the music created for the Evangelion franchise.
In regards to the genre at hand, three songs come to my mind when I think of the soundtrack: almost any one of Evangelion’s many interpretations of “Fly Me to the Moon,” “Come Sweet Death, Second Impact,” and “Barefoot in the Park.” The first two songs are great in their own right, but I’d like to focus on “Barefoot in the Park” in this section, as it’s (in my opinion) the most bossa nova song in the soundtrack. I invite you to listen along on your favorite streaming service as I go over my analysis.
The song starts with an acoustic guitar strumming some chords to set the beat, followed by a muted trumpet picking up the main melody. Immediately, this reminds me of the first few measures of “The Girl from Ipanema,” which is itself a bossa nova song. In that song, we hear a guitar setting the beat followed by muted trumpets (albeit not carrying the melody). In fact, both songs compliment each other so well, I can only assume that Sagisu used the song as one of his inspirations for “Barefoot in the Park.” Unfortunately, I was hard-pressed to find any interviews or quotes from Sagisu regarding bossa nova influences on his music.
Moving on, “Barefoot in the Park” uses the trumpet to carry the main melody. I believe the trumpet mute keeps the melody from being too loud and sharp. Instead, each note of the trumpet is long and reverberated, giving it that “staring off into the sunset” sound. At the end of each trumpet verse, the piano plays a quick riff. I believe this is an example of “call and response,” a musical pattern where one phrase of music acts as a “call” and the next phrase responds to it. Imagine replacing the trumpet and piano with two distinct voices, and it’s not too difficult to hear one ask a question and the other respond. In each call, we hear subdued ascending arpeggios of what I believe to be a xylophone. And of course, throughout the entire song, we hear that bossa nova beat. I really like how it transitions between guitar and percussion.
In closing, “Barefoot in the Park” is not only one of my favorite bossa nova songs in Japanese media, it’s one of my favorite bossa nova songs period. It perfectly captures the feeling of watching an everlasting sunset on the beach. I find it interesting to analyze music that plays in the background of some scene and to listen to how much care was put into it. More often than not, you won’t hear that detail when there’s dialogue and sound effects layered over it. I remember hearing this song for the first time while watching the anime and I immediately loved this song. I had to do some research to find this track since background music doesn’t usually have an obvious title from just listening to it. In addition, not every Evangelion track is licensed in the U.S., so it was a gamble if I’d even have a chance to listen to the song legitimately without planning a trip to Japan. Luckily for us, this was one of the few to make it to our side of the pacific.
“Bubblaine” (from Super Mario Odyssey)
The Super Mario franchise is one of the most iconic video game franchises of all time, and its contribution to video game music cannot be understated. When the video game industry crashed in the early ’80s, Nintendo was hard at work on a little-known game called Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Before this game, it was rare to have anyone other than a programmer work on sound design for a game. Super Mario Bros. was one of the first video games to have a dedicated music director, that being Koji Kondo. The game is often attributed to saving the video game industry, and I believe part of that is because it was the welding of fun gameplay with catchy music. Decades later, Super Mario Galaxy would be the first game in the series to feature an orchestrated soundtrack. And in 2017, Super Mario Odyssey was released as the first game in the series to have a vocal theme. True to its name, Super Mario Odyssey‘s soundtrack features musical influences from around the globe and, of course, bossa nova is one of them.
A little over halfway through the main story, the player will find Mario in the Seaside Kingdom, also known as Bubblaine. The kingdom is largely composed of beaches and oceans, populated by beret-donning snails. Naturally, the soundtrack accommodates this setting masterfully. According to the game’s soundtrack metadata, we have not only Koji Kondo to thank for this song but also Naoto Kubo and Shiho Fujii. As I’ve mentioned, Kondo is an amazing composer who has been with Nintendo since the ’80s. However, I haven’t heard of the other two composers before. Fujii worked on the music for games like Wii Fit and Animal Crossing: City Folk, among many others.¹ Kubo began working with Nintendo relatively recently, as early as 2013. Knowing that, I was surprised to learn that he worked as the composer for Super Mario Odyssey‘s main theme, “Jump Up, Super Star!”² This is especially significant because of the sheer popularity of this song, breaking into the top 25 spots of U.S. iTunes Store’s All Genre chart.³ All of this to say that we have some great talent behind this soundtrack.
Now, back to the topic at hand: let’s listen to “Bubblaine.” It starts off with the guitar setting that iconic beat and holding it for most of the song. We then hear what sounds like a xylophone play a few measures. Immediately, it sounds like a peaceful beachside resort, fitting for the setting in which this song plays. Next, we hear an acoustic guitar take the melody while an array of strings play softly in the background. Listening to the guitar play in this song is great for no other reason than how authentic it sounds. You can hear each note being plucked and the occasional scratch. All the while we hear the strings in the background swell in and out like waves on the shore. The next verse has the guitar repeat the melody it just played, but this time, we hear that call and response pattern once more, with a piano answering. Quietly in the background, steel drums make a quiet pattering.
In the final verse before the song repeats, all the instruments take a backseat to an accordion. I really like how well the piano is handled in this transition. The immediate shift to the lower bass clef is so subtle but impactful when you’re actively listening for it. The melody handled by the accordion in this section sounds almost bittersweet, a contrast that I think works really well in bossa nova. Even the guitar’s beat shifts to match this new tone. It eventually transitions back to the tone at the beginning of the song so it can loop again.
Because this soundtrack is for a video game, this song has an interactive element to it. If Mario goes underwater while this song is playing, the song seamlessly changes to the underwater version. This version ditches almost every instrument to create this feeling of being submerged. The melody is mostly carried by these sonar-like sounds. Synth noises are heard in the background. Every note sounds smeared and reverberated, as if you were underwater yourself. It’s an example of excellent sound design in video games.
Super Mario Odyssey has a masterful soundtrack, with influences scattered throughout all of its songs. “Bubblaine” is easily one of my favorite songs in the album, and its ability to integrate bossa nova so well into a Super Mario game is a delightful surprise.
“No More What Ifs” (from Persona 5 Royal)
The Persona series is known for its stellar soundtracks. Each entry in the series has its own distinct style, and its music reflects that. For example, Persona 3 features hip hop prominently, while Persona 4 has a more pop-inspired soundtrack. Shoji Meguro is responsible for composing the music for the Persona series. It should come as no surprise that he is able to juggle countless genres with ease. In addition, many of Persona 5‘s songs are sung by Lyn Inaizumi, a vocalist known for singing jazz and soul music. She’s mostly known for her work in Persona 5, but she does other work outside of the video game industry as well. In particular, I was pleasantly surprised to hear her sing the credits song for Lupin III: The First. Interestingly, both works have references to the fictional character Arsène Lupin.
Persona 5 Royal is an expanded and upgraded version of the original Persona 5. One of the additions includes the Kichijoji jazz club. Playing in the background is “No More What Ifs,” a jazzy song with a bossa nova beat. Let’s take a listen.
The song starts with an electric piano synth hitting chords in a bossa nova rhythm. What sounds like a bass guitar also plays to this rhythm, with some note variation to keep things interesting. In the background, there’s a variety of percussion instruments. As Lyn takes the main melody, the synth and vocals subtly compliment the song in the background. The song seems a bit more repetitive to me compared to the others in this analysis, and that’s probably because the song can use new lyrics with the same background music. That said, Lyn’s vocals do a great job adding variety to this song. In addition to the bossa nova beat, the song sounds melancholic, true to the genre. About halfway through the song, we get a jazzy keyboard solo. Notice how the background instruments remain the same, yet this part feels very distinct. The keyboard solo speaks for itself, but when it finishes, it transitions back into Lyn’s vocals seamlessly.
In my research for this song, I learned some interesting tidbits about it. In Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal, most of the songs are background music from beyond the fourth wall, meaning they’re played for the player’s enjoyment rather than immersion. What makes “No More What Ifs” unique is that the song is played in a jazz club setting in the game. In this case, the music isn’t just there for the player, but also the characters in that world. Shoji Meguro brings this up in an interview with Personal Official Magazine.⁴ This shaped the design of the song from the start. Using a jazz club as the basis allowed it to be more unique, using synths instead of the typical guitar and piano combination usually heard in bossa nova. Fine-tuning that to fit Persona 5‘s musical identity, “No More What Ifs” is easily one of my favorite tracks from Persona 5 Royal.
“5 p.m.” (from Animal Crossing: New Leaf)
This last song is probably the one I have the most nostalgia for. I remember playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf during its release and hearing this song on countless summer afternoons. This game was my life for that summer, and hearing the “5 p.m.” theme brings back a lot of memories for me.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf had a massive team behind it. It was arguably the biggest leap forward for the series. At least before Animal Crossing: New Horizons came along. While there was a large team of composers and musicians who worked on the soundtrack, one notable name stood out from the game’s credits: Kazumi Totaka, listed as the game’s sound director. Totaka is a Nintendo veteran, best known for “Totaka’s Song,” a 19-note tune that he has hidden in almost every game he has worked on. In addition, the character K.K. Slider (known in Japan as Totakeke) is based on Totaka himself. In an interview with Famitsu, he discusses the importance of ambient sound effects in the Animal Crossing series.⁵ It may seem minor, but the chittering of a cicada or crashing of waves on the shore are very important aspects of what make up an Animal Crossing game.
Moving on to the song at hand, there isn’t an official soundtrack for Animal Crossing: New Leaf to my knowledge. In that case, the best legitimate way to listen to it is to dust off your old 3DS, plug in some headphones, boot up the game, and wait until 5:00 p.m. for the music in your town to change. The song starts out with an electric keyboard setting the beat with a few lone chords. Shortly after, the other instruments join in, with an acoustic guitar taking the main melody and the keyboard continuing to play chords to the same beat. In the background, a bass strums notes in a constant, almost hypnotic, rhythm. The main melody can be split into two similar but slightly different parts. The first part plays fairly straightforward, but notice how the bass plays mostly moving downward. It lasts about thirty seconds. When the main melody repeats itself, we enter the second part. This time the bass is moving upwards, creating a very different sound than the first time, even though the guitar is playing the same notes. It then deviates entirely from the first part by slowing down, muting the background instruments, and leaving us on a musical cliffhanger. After a short pause, it resolves the cliffhanger and begins to loop back to the first part.
Like other bossa nova songs, the melody has a subtle sadness to it. What’s interesting about this song is how much the setting plays into our view of this song. It plays at 5 p.m., when the day turns into evening and the sun begins to set. This part of the day is the perfect fit for a bossa nova style song. The sound design that Totaka mentioned earlier also plays into this. For example, maybe you’re standing by the shore in the game and the music lowers in volume so you can hear the waves better. If this song sounds a bit more short and simple than the others mentioned, it’s probably because it was shaped by the sound design of the game. It can’t be too deep or it might take away from the ambient noise coming from the game. It can’t be too long since these songs are composed with the intention of looping continuously for just one hour a day. I think design choices like this are very interesting because they’re choices that ultimately create music that feels natural to the person playing the game.
Conclusion
If there’s one thing to take away from all of this, it’s that composing music is an art that takes inspiration from many different cultures. I personally think it’s awesome to hear music from a completely different part of the world being adapted in various Japanese anime, video games, and other media. I’ve listened to these songs hundreds of times, but until I started this analysis, I had never realized how complex they were. Analyzing them has also allowed me to learn more about the composers and musicians behind the soundtracks. Bossa nova can take many different forms and it’s great to hear the genre continue to grow and evolve in Japanese media.
Citations and Notes
¹ Shiho Fujii is listed under “Music” for the credits of both Wii Fit and Animal Crossing: City Folk
² Kubo, N. (n.d.). ゲームをやりこみながら曲づくり. Interview by Nintendo. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/jobs/keyword/70.html
This interview is in Japanese, however a translation service should get the general gist across. Note that translation services vary in quality and accuracy.
³ Twinfinite. (2017, October 21). Super Mario Odyssey’s theme, “Jump Up, Super Star!” Breaks into the iTunes Top 25. https://twinfinite.net/2017/10/jump-up-super-star-itunes/
⁴ Reggy. (2020, April 9). Persona 5 Royal Composer Interview on ‘Gorgeous’ Concept Behind the Music, Creative Process. Persona Central. https://personacentral.com/persona-5-royal-music-composer-interview
This interview from Persona Official Magazine was translated by @shininyan, however I was only able to find Persona Central’s copy of the translated interview, rather than something directly from the translator.
⁵ Gifford, K. (2012, November 7). More trivia than you ever dared to know about the 3DS Animal Crossing. Polygon. https://www.polygon.com/2012/11/7/3612466/more-trivia-than-you-ever-dared-to-know-about-the-3ds-animal-crossing
This interview from Famitsu has been translated and published by Polygon.