Puffy AmiYumi

The Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi album cover, in which the original Teen Titans Title theme was released on.

Puffy AmiYumi is a pop/rock Japanese band that performs the Teen Titans Go! and Teen Titans theme songs. The band consists of two female artists: Yumi Yoshimura, nicknamed Sue, and Ami Onuki, whose nickname is Jane.

History

Puffy AmiYumi transferred to Warner Music Japan in 2015. The group continues to go by the moniker of PUFFY in Japan, but in order to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, have adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi in the United States. They sing in Japanese and English.Ami Onuki, whose nickname is Jane, and Yumi Yoshimura, nicknamed Sue, were scouted by Sony-affiliated talent agencies and put together in the mid-1990s. The band gained mainstream success in Japan during 1998, following the release of their Jet album and tour in support of it. Their first release "Asia no Junshin" sold a million records and their success has continued with several more full-length releases (totaling 15 million sales in Japan).

Puffy made their first US appearance as part of Music Japan's "An Evening with Japan's All-Stars" showcase at the 2000 South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas. After their performance at SXSW, attorneys for Sean "Puffy" Combs sent the band a cease and desist letter asking them to change their name.

The name "Puffy" most likely comes from Andy Sturmer's conscious or unconscious recollection of the night he and his bandmates/friends in the (as of then unnamed) band Jellyfish were trying to come up with funny/catchy band names. "The Puffy" was one of the titles presented by Roger Joseph Manning's friend Greg Hillegas. A laugh was had by all, and the conversation moved on. Somewhere on a legal pad in Roger or Andy's archives is that complete list...

After Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Puffy ended production in 2002, Puffy focused on performing in the United States. Several of their previous Japanese albums were released for the US market and they recorded theme songs for the animated series Teen Titans and SD Gundam Force. They have also done a cover version with Cyndi Lauper of her hit "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". They were also interviewed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! by Jimmy Kimmel and performed their songs "Hi Hi" and "Akai Buranko" (Red Swing) on the show. They came back to the US in 2006 for their Splurge Tour. In April, 2017 the band made an appearance at Anime Boston for autograph signings. After their appearance at Boston Anime Convention they did a 3 city USA Tour which they called their "Not Lazy Tour" of the cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dallas, Texas.

Trivia

• Their band's name in Japan is PUFFY.
  • It's different in the United States because of copyright reasons.
• There has been 9 different versions of the Teen Titans Theme Song by Puffy AmiYumi.
  • The original performed by Puffy AmiYumi (featured on their 2003 album, and 3rd North American release Nice) was the opening theme during Teen Titans. 
  • Japanese version performed by Puffy AmiYumi was the opening theme during Teen Titans.
  • Larry's version performed by Larry in Teen Titans was the opening theme for the episode Fractured; producer Toshiro Kai sang the Japanese version for this episode.
  • Cyborg's version performed by Cyborg in Teen Titans. Cyborg sang this while he was driving the T-Car in the episode "Titans East Part 1". The lyrics are intentionally changed by Cyborg to have it mean he was awesome.
  • Beast Boy's version performed by Beast Boy in Teen Titans. Beast Boy sang this version in the movie Trouble in Tokyo while he was at the karaoke. This version was the Japanese theme with the English translation.
    • The Titans' version during the credits of Trouble in Tokyo. It was the same version Beast Boy performed at the karaoke with some changes in the lyrics.
  • Mix Master Mike version: Remix from the original. Made by Mix.
  • Master Mike from the Beastie Boys. It is the opening theme of Teen Titans Go!.
  • Robin's version performed by Robin in Teen Titans Go!. Robin sang it while he was at the shower in the episode "Tower Power" before Cyborg joins him.
  • The dodgeball version performed by Raven and Starfire in Teen Titans Go!. Raven and Starfire sung this parody version in the episode "Artful Dodgers". The lyrics and the meaning are changed for the dodgeball theme, also the original footage intro from Teen Titans is parodied with balls instead of the Titans.

• They have made a remix of the song, The Night Begins to Shine , in the fourth and final chapter of the special dedicated to TNBTS: "Chapter Four: The Night Begins to Shine", which is played at the ending of the episode.