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If you’ve been a loyal Important Importables reader (and I hope you are), you’ve probably noticed this column’s also been used as a forum to introduce you to some Japanese rock and pop stars that, as gamers, you should probably know.

Previously, we’ve looked at some Japanese singers or groups gamers may recognize based on their music appearing in games, like Gackt, Hikaru Utada, Bonnie Pink, X Japan and Ayumi Hamasaki. Today, we’re going to continue that trend and look at Puffy AmiYumi, a rock/pop duo famous for not only their music, but also their TV shows and video games.

The Duo

Puffy AmiYumi, or PUFFY as they’re known in Japan, didn’t originally start out together. They actually both met after being employed by Sony Music in Japan. Neither one had really been given the opportunity to embark on an earthshattering career alone. When they met, they got along well and asked the company to make them a duo.

That was back in 1996, and the group is still going strong. So far 10 PUFFY albums have been released in Japan, with number 11 scheduled to come out this year. The group has also released three of those albums in the US - Spike, Nice and Splurge. Six compilation albums have also been released, two of them (An Illustrated History and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi) being released in the US. The two compilation albums released stateside can be considered greatest hits albums, though Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi features only tracks that appeared in the cartoon.

Some recommended Puffy AmiYumi tracks:

• “Asia no Junshin,” available on both AmiYumi and Japan For Sale Vol. 1
• “Love So Pure” from An Illustrated History
• “Atarashii Hibi (Brand New Days)” from An Illustrated History
• “Boogie-Woogie No. 5” from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
• “Hi Hi” from Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi
• “V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N” from Solo Solo
• “Circuit no Musume” from Jet-CD
• “Puffy de Rumba” from Fever Fever
• “Umi he To” from Spike
• “Aoi Namida” from Hit Parade
• “Sunrise” from 59
• “Mogura Like” from Splurge
• “Shall We Dance?” from Splurge
• “Girls Just Want to have Fun” with Cyndi Lauper, from Cyndi Lauper’s The Body Acoustic
• “Hiyori Hime” from the Hiyori Hime single

The TV Shows

While the cartoon Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is the TV show Puffy AmiYumi is best known for worldwide, it’s only part of the PUFFY TV experience. The duo also hosted a variety show called Pa Pa Pa Pa Puffy, and a brief, mini-show called Hi Hi Puffy Bu.

Pa Pa Pa Pa Puffy was the group’s first TV show. It was a fairly successful variety show, and featured guests from not only within Japan, but also from the US. Actors Harrison Ford and Sylvester Stallone appeared on it, as Lenny Kravitz and Garbage. The show had a five year run, lasting from 1997 until 2002.

Next came the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi cartoon, which was made in the US and aired worldwide from 2004 until 2006. You probably remember seeing it on Cartoon Network. It was a fairly typical cartoon, where the characters Ami and Yumi, with their manager Kaz and pet cats, would journey around on their tour bus, getting into comic situations.

The most recent show is Hi Hi Puffy Bu, which ran in 2006. It was more of a brief interlude series - each episode only lasted 10 minutes, and basically followed Ami and Yumi as they did some everyday task. For example, one episode was about the two knitting, and another watched as they played with remote controlled toys.

The Video Games

Puffy AmiYumi is one of the few Japanese musicians to have games created around them. Yes, Gackt has his own Vocaloid character and had characters in Bujingai: The Forsaken City, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII based on him, but he never had a game actually based on him. PUFFY does. Though technically, the games are about their cartoon counterparts.

Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: Kaznapped! and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi: The Genie and the Amp were both platformers which followed the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi cartoon. In the first game, Kaznapped!, which was released on the GBA in Japan, North America and Europe, players helped Ami and Yumi travel the world to recover their instruments and manager from crazed super-fan Harmony. In the DS follow-up The Genie and the Amp, which oddly was only released in North America and Europe, a genie sends Ami and Yumi through time to collect musical notes so they can create a new album and go on tour.

Unfortunately, neither game was really all that successful or well received. As of February 17, 2009, 2:06pm CST, Metacritic reports that Kaznapped! has a 71/100 metascore from six reviews, and The Genie and the Amp has a 52/100 metascore from 10 reviews.

COMING NEXT WEEK: Important Importables will talk about the Ochaken no Heya mascots and their games. If you don’t miss a single installment of Important Importables, or want to know right away when the next column is up, then sign up for the Gamertell Newsletter and RSS feed.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Last week Important Importables reviewed Vampire Knight DS..

Site [Puffy AmiYumi] Site [Play-Asia] Site [YesAsia] Site [NCSX] Site [Himeya Shop]