Carole & Tuesday was one of our favorite shows of last year! A welcome return from auter Shinichiro Watanabe after a five-year absence, the anime featured musical collaborations with western artists and the story of two musicians finding their place in performing arts. It’s in the music anime pantheon with Beck and Watanabe’s Kids On The Slope alike. Seeing it is a show about making tunes, why wouldn’t a premiere headphone developer and manufacturer like Audio-Technica collaborate with the series? The are making a pair of tie-in cans that will most likely sound significantly better than most gimmicky headphones.
Officially titled the ATH-ES/CT (and we do assume that CT stands for Carole &Tuesday) these branded headphones are probably based on the Audio-Technica ES line. They don’t seem to be an exact copy of a previous ES model, as the copy advertises that the sound has been specifically crafted for these gorgeous navy cans. Original character designer Eisaku Kubonouchi’s also provided original art, and honestly, these headphones look great. Sure they’ll set you back 27,000 yen but that’s par for the course for higher-end headphones. The ES series has generally gotten good reviews, and we have no reason to believe the sound will disappoint.
Not for nothing, several of the OTAQUEST staff are Audio-Technica owners. Of course, real audiophiles out there will tell you no two pairs of headphones are the same, even if they’re made by the same company. They’re certainly right. However, Audio-Technica has been in our experience one of the most dependable audio equipment manufacturers out there. Seeing them tackle an anime collaboration headphone makes us hopeful for a future where gaudy headphones that you wear as an accessory actually still might sound good. We invite the Sennheisers and the Beyerdynamics of the world to design some Cowboy Bebop headphones next.
You can purchase the Carole & Tuesday Audio-Technica headphones here.