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Old 2012-01-08, 22:34   Link #1
fma029812
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Has anyone here ever noticed... (crow noises in anime)

Has anyone here ever noticed that a lot of animes (practically every single one I have seen recently) tend to have a lot of crow noises in them? I know this is random, and maybe I am just paying too much attention, but ever since I started watching anime seven years ago, it seemed that they all had "caw caw caw" sounds when scenes are switching. Sorry if this is weird, maybe no one knows what I am talking about even! I just had to ask after wondering for all these years.
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Old 2012-01-08, 23:20   Link #2
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It's a common directing technique like how you use cicada noises to illustrate a sense of summer.
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Old 2012-01-09, 00:05   Link #3
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Funny enough I was thinking about that too how at the beggining (sp) of episodes there is always the bird noises.

Last edited by Drob_QB7; 2012-01-09 at 00:07. Reason: Wrong usage of words
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Old 2012-01-09, 00:50   Link #4
fma029812
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Yeah I guess it is a directing technique, it just seems like they use crows an awful lot. (not used as much in things I have seen outside of Japan)
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Old 2012-01-09, 06:17   Link #5
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Maybe it's because there're just a ridiculous amount of crows in Japan? Seriously, they're everywhere, even in the middle of Tokyo. It's like how they use the rooster in Western cartoons and things, I guess, just cultural.
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Old 2012-01-09, 08:10   Link #6
DonQuigleone
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Cicadas are also used a lot for a similiar reason.

I think this goes back the Yasujiro Ozu. It's being used as a "Pillow Shot".

It breaks up the action and gives time for the audience to ruminate. It's a very Japanese thing. It's used a lot throughout Anime, seemingly purposeless shots of the sky, or the side of a building or some other part of the environment. Often accompanied by some kind of ambient noise, like Crows, seagulls or cicadas.

You're actually quite canny to have noticed it, because in Anime everything has to be added, it has to be drawn and inserted in, so they have some reason or other to add in such a seemingly pointless shot.
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Old 2012-01-09, 09:49   Link #7
Vexx
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Anytime one starts a question with "Has anyone here ever noticed..." ..... stop. Because I can guarantee the question should have started "Is there anyone who *hasn't* noticed...".

Crow noises, crickets, the shriek of a lone hawk in the sky -- are all ingrained parts of movies, cartoons, and such. And not just in Japan but in US cartoons and movies. Often people don't realize the iconic sources of the use (like spaghetti westerns and that hawk, or Daffy Duck and vaudeville sources of the crickets).

Crow noises generally signify an "idiot" moment because the sound of a crow sounds a bit like "ba-ka" or "a-ho" to Japanese.
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Old 2012-01-09, 10:09   Link #8
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I thought that in some cases, they were also a signal of foreboding/danger. The crow is considered an animal to be wary of in some cultures. Although in East Asia, they are considered to be bearing luck in some cases. May depend on the context. In more grisly situations, they're a sign of death or danger. There was an episode of Witch Hunter Robin, Episode 4, where a criminal kept being hounded by crows to signify her guilt, which drove her to revealing her true nature.

The three-legged crow, Yatagarasu, is a figure in Japanese mythology.

Quote:
In Japanese mythology, this flying creature is a raven or a Jungle Crow called Yatagarasu (八咫烏?, "eight-span crow"); and the appearance of the great bird is construed as evidence of the will of Heaven or divine intervention in human affairs.

Although Yatagarasu is mentioned in a number of places in the Shintō canon, there is very little explanation, and much of the material is contradictory. This great crow was sent from heaven as a guide for Emperor Jimmu on his initial journey from the region which would become Kumano to what would become Yamato. It is generally accepted that Yatagarasu is an incarnation of Taketsunimi no mikoto, but none of the early surviving documentary records are quite so specific.

On many occasions, it appears in art as a three-legged crow, although there is no description stating that the Yatagarasu was three-legged in the Kojiki.

Both the Japan Football Association and subsequently its administered teams such as the Japan national football team use the symbol of Yatagarasu in their emblems and badges respectively. The winner of the Emperor's Cup is also given the honor of wearing the Yatagarasu emblem the following season.
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Old 2012-01-12, 00:50   Link #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
Anytime one starts a question with "Has anyone here ever noticed..." ..... stop. Because I can guarantee the question should have started "Is there anyone who *hasn't* noticed...".

Crow noises, crickets, the shriek of a lone hawk in the sky -- are all ingrained parts of movies, cartoons, and such. And not just in Japan but in US cartoons and movies. Often people don't realize the iconic sources of the use (like spaghetti westerns and that hawk, or Daffy Duck and vaudeville sources of the crickets).

Crow noises generally signify an "idiot" moment because the sound of a crow sounds a bit like "ba-ka" or "a-ho" to Japanese.
Hah. Well said.

I think it's something we've all noticed at one point or another, whether consciously or unconsciously. What I find most amusing, though, is that all these clips sound like they've come from the same sound bank -- which they probably have. It tends to detract from the quality of a anime when you notice that those chirping cicadas are the same damn cicadas you've been hearing for the past 10+ years.
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Old 2012-01-12, 01:03   Link #10
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I often hear it right after a character does a stupid thing or make himself look stupid and also when he/she is in shocked.
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Old 2012-01-12, 02:32   Link #11
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It's just used to illustrate a sense of Summer in the anime. It's a good way to force the watchers to use sensory feelings
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Old 2012-01-12, 18:36   Link #12
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As a few people have stated, that Caw noise is more than likely Cicadas, not crows.

Back when I first started watching anime in 2005 I used to think they were some sort of messed up crows as well, but they aren't.. They're not even birds.
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Old 2012-01-12, 20:32   Link #13
Vexx
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Hmm, I've heard several animal noises used in "d'oh" situations --
1) cicadas, the japanese equivalent of crickets and tumbleweeds after the punchline is delivered. also used to indicate to the audience its SUMMER TIME AND DAMNED HOT
2) The hawk shriek made famous in spaghetti westerns (used for various situations, usually a confrontation or such)
3) crow call, usually delivered in a "I'm a baka" realization moment.

I wish I had some clips but tvtropes will have to do.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotCrows
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Old 2012-01-12, 21:09   Link #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vexx View Post
3) crow call, usually delivered in a "I'm a baka" realization moment
aaa-hooo..
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Old 2012-01-14, 12:43   Link #15
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Cicada sounds are frequently heard during hot days or summers, in anime. In fact, its hard to imagine a summer/hot day scene without the 'wavy' animation of the road due to the scorching sun and the sound of cicadas.

Personally i think its even more weird that in many series during the OP, the title will be shown while the view is moved to the sky. ( having some slight problems finding the correct words for the phrase here )
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Old 2012-01-15, 08:34   Link #16
Shinji01
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Originally Posted by Last Sinner View Post
I thought that in some cases, they were also a signal of foreboding/danger. The crow is considered an animal to be wary of in some cultures. Although in East Asia, they are considered to be bearing luck in some cases. May depend on the context. In more grisly situations, they're a sign of death or danger. There was an episode of Witch Hunter Robin, Episode 4, where a criminal kept being hounded by crows to signify her guilt, which drove her to revealing her true nature.

The three-legged crow, Yatagarasu, is a figure in Japanese mythology.
This interpretation is correct but less common.

I believe crows are used in
- How stupid moments (ahoooo)
- It's late afternoon, almost dusk (from the lyrics in a Japanese kids song "the crows are crowing so I better get home")
- signs of danger especially if the crows are shown in during the day time (not dusk)
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Old 2012-01-15, 08:54   Link #17
DonQuigleone
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I didn't believe Cicadas were any more then an "Anime thing" until I happened to be in Virginia one August(or was it in may...). They are loud. Ireland has no such loud insects.

I still stand by the whole "pillow scene" thing. You often see these seemingly pointless interludes between two scenes, where it's just the skyline and the cicadas "singing". It helps set the mood, and give a breather. It doesn't have a direct counterpart in western cinema.
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Old 2012-01-15, 09:07   Link #18
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Cicadas are freakin' loud. You can hear them a mile a way. Especially during summer nights in tropical area there are tons of weird bugs that makes noices.
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Old 2012-01-15, 12:48   Link #19
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Same goes for Crickets. If you're in the UK near the countryside the sound of crickets at night just resonates (that's the right word I think) through the air.
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Old 2012-01-15, 22:49   Link #20
DonQuigleone
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Same goes for Crickets. If you're in the UK near the countryside the sound of crickets at night just resonates (that's the right word I think) through the air.
Weird, no crickets here in Dublin.
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