SET ME APART": THE AWESOME ANIMAX AND PUPIL COLLABORATION

Anime fans have long been curious and downright perplexed by the appearance of top Filipino alternative rock band Pupil in ANIMAX's recent events. Well, wonder no more!

Last May 22 at the Hard Rock Café, the ANIMAX and Pupil collaboration was revealed with the release of the 24/7 youth/lifestyle network's hard rocking theme song "Set Me Apart".

After treating VIPs, media representatives and winners of the Pupil Party contest to a sumptuous buffet, Pupil took to the stage to perform their greatest hits. Needless to say, they've got the crowd dancing and singing for more. But the BEST came at the end when Pupil performed live ANIMAX's official theme song Set Me Apart, which practically blew me away because of its hard rocking beat and meaningful lyrics.

According to guitarist Yan Yuzon, "Set Me Apart is custom made for the channel. Ely and band manager Diane Ventura, all of us, in the process of making the song, we watched ANIMAX a lot to discover underlying themes in the shows that they have. It all boils down to BE DIFFERENT, which is the catch phrase of the network. We needed to write a song that would sound more like us and aptly describes the lifestyle that the channel portrays. Set Me Apart is the result."

After the live performance, they showed the cutting edge music video for "Set Me Apart", not once but twice, because of the clamor from the audience, and with good reason.


Not to give too much away, you'll be seeing the members of the band transformed into animated characters. Lead vocalist and guitarist Ely Buendia is transformed into a mecha pilot. Yani Yuzon is a futuristic gunslinger battling ninja ghouls reminiscent of the anime Hellsing. Bassist Dok Sergio is the King of Waterworld while drummer Bogs Jugo is a moody urbanite playing his drums in the middle of a busy freeway. The stylish video was directed by ANIMAX and produced by one of Malaysia's leading broadcast design and animation studios.

Indeed, Set Me Apart is the very impressive product of the collaboration between Pupil and ANIMAX.

According to Judy Chow, Director of Animax Marketing, "We've always had a partnership with Pupil. They supported a number of our events before like Fashion Ability and Love Is In the Air. I think they're a perfect fit for our channel, because they have a lot of inside values, which we would like to get across as well. The song is all about being different, having your own style, being an individual. And I think the band is very much like that. They constantly reinvent themselves, and yet they still stay true to their music. So we think they appeal to the youth, which is who our viewers are. I believe that's the true collaboration."