Now that I'm 30, I've come to realize that the future I was promised is never going to come. Future Funk, Vaporwave, and lo-fi hip hop (beats to study/sleep/whatever to) are basically a soundtrack to the alternate future where I'm happy.

'80s US: dark, gloomy, distopic, pessimistic. '80s Japan: cutesy, romantic, upbeat, hopeful. Future funk: mix the two.

I'm 52 years old and I've finally learned there is an actual name of the music that I love to hear since I teenage. Thank you.

I'm from the future and this was good. Thanks.

KZfaq's algorithm is working as it should. Really nice video, informative and coherent in the feelings it's emanating.

7:20: all rise for our City Pop/Future Funk anthem!

Man, I would give my life's savings for a movie about Tatsuro Yamashita's life done in a Studio Ghibli style!

City pop makes me feel good and hopelessly depressed at the same time

We all want to live in Japan now, in the early 80s.

Tatsuro Yamashita is freakin god of city pop alongside Mariya Takeuchi

Future Funk is one of the last genres that has me holding onto the future that my generation was promised in the late 80s and early 90s. It’s the one style of music that has put a complete smile on my face during this uninspired, drab and dystopian present. I think the future will be brighter and Future Funk might be one of the catalyst for it! Thank you so much for this video ✌️❣️

Tatsuro Yamashita deserves a Grammy, and be inducted in some Walk of Fame.

don't cry because it's over, cry because it's never happened

i remember music very close to city pop in mexico when i was a child, kinda interesting, because it was also for us during the era of the "Mexican Miracle"

Van Paugam defined the City Pop style of mixing. His channel was the first real community for fans of the genre. The livestream was a goldmine. When his channel was taken down, the community suffered a huge loss. He’s one of the few people who actually DJ City Pop at real venues, with the real vinyl at that. If not for him, lots of people who never have heard of the genre. VP is a living legend, change my mind.

Wanna experience bubble era and that time long gone? Play Yakuza 0 and Shenmue 1/2.... goosebumps on how close they get the feeling and looks!

In 2016 I discovered “vapor wave” & my life was never the same. I would wake up around 3-4am just to open KZfaq to listen to that style. Then I found city pop the beginning of this year!

Lol, whenever I drive Uber, I have a collection of old Japanese songs that I play on the radio via a little usb. Hell, if I'm gonna work for 60 cents per mile, I might as well enjoy the ride with music from Tatsuro Yamashita, Mariya Takeuchi, Miki Matsubara, Minako Yoshida, Junko Ohashi, Anri, Cindy, Junko Yagami, Kimiko Kasai, Makoto Matsushita, Meiko Nakahara, Miki Matsubara, Noriyo Ikeda, Tomoko Aran, Toshiki Kadomatsu, Yuko Asano, Yuko Imai, and so many more. Passengers seem to like it, especially Japanese passengers who suddenly remember their youth lol! Anyway, I also love that song "Sparkle" by Tatsuro Yamashita. I have the English version. Hmm it kinda sounds similar to Toshiki Kadomatsu's "Don't Speak Again" or whatever its original Japanese title was. It's a very nice and calming tune especially as I drive into the sunset going home after a long low paying day's work. "Plastic Love" by Mariya Takeuchi is definitely my favorite! Speaking of Mariya Takeuchi, did you know that her song "Single Again" has a Philippine version called "Lumayo Ka Man" (Even if You Go Away)? A Philippine singer named Rodel Naval heard Mariya's "Single Again" song while he was on tour in Japan, and according to the story, he was depressed at the time about his mom's death, so he wrote a different lyrical interpretation of the song. Still sounds the same, but it's not just about romance. On the topic of Japanese songs being adapted to other countries, another singer named Hideaki Tokunaga had his song "Saigo no Iiwake" adapted in the Philippines by a singer named Ted Ito and the song was called "Ikaw Pa Rin" (Still You) over there.

This was fantastic. I want in on this new thing I've found. _ALL OF THE FUTURE FUNK, PLEASE_

Now more than ever, we NEED city pop, considering how positive and hopeful the songs are, they help us feeling better and give us hope during this terrible period of time, and at the end of this, we’ll also have our glory time and our period of never ending luxury and happiness

In case you get famous, we’re your biggest fans:)

This is honestly therapy to explain the nostalgia i feel when i listen to city pop thank you.

I literally just found CityPop a month ago and my life has not been the same. I'm glad I'm not the only one that felt this way about it. It's perfect and just what I needed now.

I found your channel when you uploaded your Nier video and even since then your content has just kept improving. The KZfaq video essay scene is becoming more and more saturated, but you're definitely headed for the top.

You ever thought that all these type of videos are the only ones on KZfaq where you can actually scroll down the comments and get that warmth heart high instead of eye cancer? I can really relate to most of you. It's gotta mean something, godammit. May the vibes be riding along with you. Yes, you.

Still learning Japanese (to understand my husband's culture better even though both of us are fluent in English) and being Filipino who loves karaoke...it's sad that when I try to sing in Japanese, my alto voice really matches well with the City Pop genre.

I can just say WOW. I have been listening to this genre and hadn't been able to understand why I liked it so much ( I'm from Mexico and Japanese culture was most discovered through anime) Thanks for the video.

man I feel so isolated...no one I know irl listens to Fture Funk besides me lmao

Now Germany has their own spin on it and it takes you back to the B-Boy era of the underground. They call it City Beat Records. If you love the 80’s and love to Break dance and love Electro Hip-Hop, then I suggest City Beat Records. And I do love Japan Anime.

This is so fascinating..... What I _really_ love about your videos.....is the EMPATHY you clearly have. I think that's something about all this vaporwave city funk retrofuturism post-post-reality etc stuff we don't talk about enough....I think, deep down, a LOT of it has to do with people now....feeling this aching yearning *_empathy_* for the collective confused mass of humanity that came before us, exists now, and will continue on long after us. When I watch videos like this.....that's the emotion it conjures in me, more than anything else. This deeply felt sense that...we're all so confused, we're all trying so hard, we all feel so deeply, and then we die....and it's so tragic, but so beautiful. And recognizing that we're all genuinely in this together....feels good. It feels very good. Sometimes it's the only thing that makes it possible to keep going. Knowing we're all, literally, doing this together...making sense of this immense world and our immense yet miniscule lives....together. As someone who is very introverted....it's this kind of take on what humanity is all about that makes me fall in love with humanity. I am an introvert....very much so. But I love humanity so much. I just don't want to hang out... ;P

One of my og students said natsukashi is like Marcel Proust with the smell of madeleine, the feeling the smell gives him. Also, growing up in 80's continental europe, I am so happy a younger gen appreciates this fantastic music, that even Alain Delon recorded a song in the style called "comme au cinéma " . French people and japanese people it's a whole thing....

The most interesting thing to me, is how this can be applied to 80's USSR. As someone who is very familiar with people from that region/time, the vibe that they speak of is super similar to this.

i rewatch this vid monthly. and honestly, i just think it's so rad that you put yourself out there and rock out at the end!!! bless you

13:15 Shit, that's straight up Hall & Oates mixing the Mario theme with "I Can't Go for That".

4 years on, this is still an indelible masterpiece of KZfaq

I've watched this 3 times now because you just understand it all so well and I wasn't even really fully aware why city pop has captured me in quite a strange, almost obsessive way like no other music genre has... but I sensed it was for the reasons you said. It's all written so well. Thank you.

I'm from the future. You made it guys. The tomorrow that was promised you but never given, you manufactured with the tools of your day, in the mold of the vision of yesterday; and it was good. And we owe it all to City Pop.

Masayoshi takanaka is an absolute gem... The greatest guitarist of all time.

This music makes me wish I could get a time machine and experience the bubble era first hand

This video made me cry with how fucking accurate it is.

As a music producer, I have really wanted to make future funk (and other vaporwave subgenres too) but never actually got to making it. Hopefully one day I can give it a go :)

As a Japanese, your pronunciation is very good. And this was a great introduction to City Pop. I grew up in the era in Japan, and did not fully internalize that the genre had a name, or it was Japanese only phenomenon. Now I hear some new music (Lover Boy, for example) and I was calling it nostalgic or retro for some reason, but I understand why that was. Never quite realized why all the anime music has "the sound", either. Very informative and interesting video. Thank you!

I've probably watched this video 50 times, and recommended it about that many times as well. You inspired me to talk about Natsukashii in my own videos. What an interesting concept! If I could only take 10 youtube videos with me to a desert island, this is one of 'em.

For me as someone who grew up in the 2000's (I'm currently 22) consuming 90's Anime like Shin-Chan and Ranma 1/2 as a kid definetly had a huge impact on me when it comes to nostalgia when I listen to citypop music. Ik that 90's and 80's are different (especially in japan since we're talking about the golden age and the lost decade) but I feel like in these anime I grew up with, there are still a lot of citypop vibes in it. So there has to be some kind of connection idk 🤷‍♂

OMG THAT LAST BIT I COULDN'T HOLD MYSELF I SANG THE WHOLE THING WITH YOU I'M GLAD I FOUND THIS VIDEO!! CITY POP IS THE BEST!

Truly AMAZING Job. Sharing to all my friends, the ones who know and the ones who (now) don´t know about City Pop and Future Funk. Keep it up Man!

I commend your usage of Hiroshi Nagai's artwork. Finally someone else who likes his stuff.

Wow, i really loved this. Thank you so much for your hard work. This is one mini-documentary I didn't know i needed to see until I listened to your opening words. Hooked me. Well done, looking forward to your next works!

Great video! Gave me a new insight into this genre, I've heard so many city pop and future funk songs but never really knew how it emerged. Thank you for bringing a quality analysis, I'm going to search all the tracks and artists mentioned in the video😉

13:55 I'm also reminded of the Fairy Fountain theme from Zelda. I'm not big into the franchise, but it's also used on the intro screen of Skyward Sword

This is such a great video! Future Funk and City Pop got me to explore other areas of music, and become a massive music fan, but I always have a special place in my heart for these songs.

City Pop recommendations just "popped" into my feed in recent weeks... after years of listening to vintage and new retro synth music. Better late than never. I appreciate that someone on YT not only shares that interest but took the time to inform us on its origins.

I'm so glad vinyls aren't region locked.

Great video! It answered a lot of questions i didn’t even know i had. Been a fan of this music since several years now but it was a bit hard to search for it back then when you didn’t even know the genre name. Can’t wait for the next video you make, you put so much passion and research into them

I have found this retrospective with all the research and argumentation about the links between the two genres really interesting, needles to say that I've immediately subscribed Looking forward to other quality content like this!

This genre always gave me this feeling, but I wasn’t ever able to fully deduct what it was until now. God it’s so strange to me how music from a time before I was born made an ocean away makes me feel nostalgic for it. This world is hectic and this genre of music feels like it belongs in the alternative world japan hoped would soon come, this world we live in is too depressing to compare and doesn’t deserve this music.

So cool to see a mention of Piper. Summer Breeze is still a favorite.

Nice job, Michael! As a long-time enthusiast and participant in the City Pop scene since the late 70s in my various radio shows and recordings in Japan, I thoroughly enjoyed your well-researched presentation and the music and colorful videos within. "Dreaming in Neon!" what a great saying! Love it and have been dreaming in neon since the early 80s. Finally, I enjoyed your singing of "Sparkle" (the opening theme song of my daily M-F show on FM COCOLO) a few years back.

Please take attention to this another killer citypop tracks 1. NUDIST - KYOKO KOIZUMI 2. GIVE ME TABOO - YUIKO TSUBOKURA 3. CATCH ME - MIHO NAKAYAMA 4. PARTY NIGHT - AYA MATSUMOTO 5. GIVE ME UP - BaBe 6. CECILE NO AMAGASA - MARI IIJIMA 7. AQUAMARINE NO MAMA DE ITE - CARLOS TOSHIKI & OMEGA TRIBE 8. OLDER GIRL - CARLOS TOSHIKI & OMEGA TRIBE 9. KIMI HA 1000% - CARLOS TOSHIKI & OMEGA TRIBE 10. CRAZY FOR YOU - MARINA SAITO

Thank you so so so much. This made my week. You're prouction value is always so great. Keep it up

Also, don't forget Hiroshi Nagai for the retro style artwork

We Portuguese have a word Saudade that expresses what future funk feels

Very informative and entertaining! From all the videos I found about this topic this is my favorite

Found your channel with this great video, can't wait to watch the rest of your catalouge 🥰

So good. Your stuff is always a joy to watch and so enlightening!

Man, found your channel after being recommended another video of yours, but this one caught my eye b/c I have found love with synthwave and future funk. Seeing this makes a whole lot more sense after all this time.

I grew up watching Yu Yu Hakusho (aka Ghost Fighter) ever since I was pretty much a child. I'm now in my mid 20's and but for some reason, I've always favoured City Pop music over any other music genre I listened but could never figure out why I liked it so much. Even my parents tell me that City Pop is the kind of "oldies" type of music they used to listen to - a style of music that isn't/shouldn't be "suited" for young adults my age. As I watched your video, I straight up started tearing up the moment you explained that Yu Yu Hakusho had a deep rooted connection to City Pop mainly from it's opening theme. I remember memorizing that opening theme as a child simply because of how much I liked the sound of it even though I knew little to no Japanese. That point in your video invoked so much nostalgia, memories and just a deep understanding of why I love City Pop music so much. Thanks so much for making this video.

Great video, love the editing and how well narrated and informative it was

This is why I listen to citypop, the sound and instrumentals of the music I grew up to. The originality of it. It had soul, the vocals were amazing and that beautiful nostalgia I feel keeps me listening.

I watched this 4 months ago and thought "hmm that zeta show looks kinda neat" and now I've watched every UC gundam series and have a shelf full gunpla kits what have you done to me Michael?!

Beautiful. This video got me very emotional and indeed natsukashii. This ephemeral thread that is art that connects feelings and people across space and time. I really love your channel and the particular angle you tackle culture. I think it is an important perspective you bring. Thank you and keep dreaming

Thank you so much, this is a work of love my friend and your effort it's highly appreciated.

Just found your channel today and already one of my favorite video essay creators on here!

Thank you for this ive Always been so in Love with the future funk genre and this video speaks to my heart 😊

what a great short documentary! will definitely be checking for other content

Great work, as always. I like your positive approach to the cyclical theory of history, specifically, as it's often a pessimistic statement of the bad things coming back to haunt us. After listening to the playlist you posted, I was blown away by how influential City Pop was in building the global synthetic music aesthetic. I have heard those sounds in all sorts of music my whole life and thats the Genesis. What an invisible touch. 😘

For alot of us Japanese people that are in their 20s and 30s, city pop is something that would be playing in our parent's car when we were growing up. The majority of my generation's parents are the ones who actually experienced living the bubble economy era in the 80s as young adults, so they always tell us about how awesome life was back then making us jealous lol

Artzie Music single handedly popularize city pop and future funk. It all came down to that channel that was managed by an ill fated young couple (they broke up and had custody battle over the account). They were basically the only ones to make the future funk anime videos. The original city pop songs were uploaded after the future funk songs were popular since 2015 on the Artzie channel. The earliest recorded rendition of Plastic Love was literally like 2014 on Artzie.

For me futurefunk was my favorite discovery in the vaporwave scene. Once I started listening to Macross 82-99 I was down the rabbit hole and before I knew it I owned a pile of futurefunk vinyls and cassettes. Props for making a video fam, I will gladly take anything promoting this beautiful genre. And also props for talking about the timing of it, it's a musical trend of wanting to go back to simpler times and serves as a wonderful reprise from the hectic dystopia we live in. I should note that I was already a city pop fan going into futurefunk. One day my KZfaq feed was infected by the junko ohashi song telephone, then came plastic love and a whole myriad of city pop. And I would have never clicked it if someone didn't make the telephone awoo touhou meme.

Thank you for the hard work and dedication as always.

Your content is so GOOD that I'm willing to wait forever to get just another taste. Thank you for everything.

Lol bro I’m crying!!!! Thanks for the ending, it really helped this morning. Get it Saba !!!

Excellent work. And you just might be the first person to include Morikawa Miho (my favorite Japanese artist of all-time, but she was never that well-known) in a City Pop video. I've been listening to City Pop since the mid-80's as a teenager, except the term "City Pop" didn't exist back then, as it was coined decades later. Back then, I always referred to it as "Vacation Pop" whenever I made cassette mixtapes for friends, because that's what the music felt like to me, conveying the kind of mood you'd feel while on a vacation, cruising down the street with the beach boardwalk to one side, and gleaming skyscrapers on the other, or driving towards the neon glow of the night city, where exciting possibilities await you. I was obsessed with anime, manga, J-pop/rock, J-dramas/movies, etc., and I'm glad I got to experience that era in real-time. I only got to visit Japan once around 1983, and it was an amazing experience. During that era I lived in the Bay Area, so I made frequent pilgrimages to Japan Town in San Francisco, where I got to browse and shop all the most recent Japanese music, magazines, books, Cassettes, VHS tapes, Laserdiscs, posters, etc., and the video/CD rental shops allowed me to experience all kinds of stuff without breaking the bank. When the 90's came and the sound I loved went away, I lamented the shift in tone in J-pop, and was not a fan of the whole Komuro Tetsuya produced/Avex label/Nami Amuro Euro-dance movement that took over, as it simply felt cold and unromantic to me. Decades later, I was ecstatic when the City Pop revival happened, and the sound I loved starting showing up again. Just last year, my favorite album of 2020 was Yukika's "Soul Lady," which is a Korean City Pop album made by a Japanese singer. It's like everything just went full circle.

I wasn't expecting Michael to do that at the end. HAHA! Awesome. This was a lovely video my dude, keep up the good work!

I love when you’re not looking but you find something completely new and absolutely amazing lol. And I had heard this style of music from different media but never knew it was this deep

I was a young teenager when i stayed at Niigata in mid 90s for a little while and my uncle would play these familiar tunes when driving and recently i was yearning for relaxing music until i fell into this city pop rabbit hole. My heart has found its rightful place, or i have it in my heart all along.

Thoughtful and thorough analysis of City Pop and Future Funk. Amazing job. I finally understand why this music I keep hearing yet had never seen before a few years ago is indeed so intimately familiar - a sonic Baader-Meinhof phenomenon.

Great work man! Loved the video and was NOT EXPECTING YOU KARAOKEING AT THE END XD still loved it. Keep it up!

Wow you really captures my natukashi on this one. Well put together! Thank you!

Great stuff dude, I’m a huge city pop fan and this video was just great. Keep it up!

This .. makes so much sense. And explain a feeling i was never able to address before. Thank you

New subscriber and love the content. Some of the best essays on KZfaq

Really really insightful, as usual, good job man keep it up!

here before the 100.000 views mark. Great content and edition, keep going man. natsukashi must be the equivalent of "saudade", the portuguese term for the feeling of missing something or someone.

i wish i could come up with a more formative statement about this video, but simply put i love it lmao. it’s nice to see a video essay about a music genre that’s underground but gaining popularity

15:15 that's the pose of a man financially hit in the wallet. the hole is still burning his wallet to this day.

What a great perspective on City Pop! Thank you!

thank you so much to making this video, i remember when i am the only one in my circle who love to listening city pop and future funk genre but who care~ i am enjoyed it.

This video was really an awesome recommendation for once, thanks a lot for this video!

Yoooo THIS is the reason I love youtube :) Thank you for this trip through the past and ourselves