History Main / KaraokeBox

* In the ''Franchise/TokimekiMemorial'' series, the Karaoke Box is one of the mainstay date locations. One of the {{Bad Ending}}s of ''Tokimeki Memorial 2'' also takes place there, as the player and his two friends are venting their frustration of not getting a girlfriend after their 3 years of High School, by singing a karaoke.

A popular pastime in Japan (and as noted later, much of Asia), karaoke is the group activity of singing popular songs into a microphone, usually while the song's music and lyrics are playing and with the original words stripped from the music. The singer is typically graded by the karaoke program (and by onlookers) for his or her ability to match the original song. The activity has spread from Japan to many other nations, and home equipment and song versions are readily available. [[note]]The ''really'' weird thing is that the idea of karaoke, and a prototype system, was first devised in [[OOpNorth Stockport, England]] but sank into obscurity in a wave of utter indifference. If only the originator had thought to patent the idea and got better marketing, "Roy's Singalong Machine" might have made millions for mr Roy Brooke.[[/note]]

A popular pastime in Japan (and as noted later, much of Asia), karaoke is the group activity of singing popular songs into a microphone, usually while the song's music and lyrics are playing and with the original words stripped from the music. The singer is typically graded by the karaoke program (and by onlookers) for his or her ability to match the original song. The activity has spread from Japan to many other nations, and home equipment and song versions are readily available.

** The above title is actually a shoutout to a 90's anime called ''KaraokeSenshiMikeTarou'' about a bunch of kids who engage in [[SeriousBusiness Karaoke duels]], TransformationSequence included.

* No box, but two of the [[SoundAdaptation sound stages]] in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' (The one set in a [[PoolScene pool]] and the one set during the [[FestivalEpisode Hanami Festival]]) had karaoke sets which some of the characters used to belt out their {{Image Song}}s.

%%* ''KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl''

%%* ''LovelyComplex''

* No box, but two of the [[SoundAdaptation sound stages]] in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' (The one set in a [[PoolScene pool]] and the one set during the [[FestivalEpisode Hanami Festival]]) had karaoke sets which some of the characters used to belt out their {{Image Song}}s.

* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' - Happens in the AlternateUniverse series, ''Tenchi Universe'' and ''Tenchi in Tokyo''. In ''Anime/PrettySammy'', Chihiro Kawai (Sasami and Tenchi's mother) is a karaoke addict.

* ''LightNovel/TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime'', in which the protagonist uses her time-resetting abilities to do karaoke for ''ten hours straight''.

* In ''Manga/{{Midori no Hibi}}'', Seiji and Ayase end up in somewhat intimate circumstances in a karaoke booth, but Seiji scares her off by being too aggressive.

* ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' - Happens in the AlternateUniverse series, ''Tenchi Universe'' and ''Tenchi in Tokyo''. In ''PrettySammy'', Chihiro Kawai (Sasami and Tenchi's mother) is a karaoke addict.

%% Zero Context Example entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. You need to explain how the character fits the trope.

* In the ''TokimekiMemorial'' series, the Karaoke Box is one of the mainstay date locations. One of the {{Bad Ending}}s of ''Tokimeki Memorial 2'' also takes place there, as the player and his two friends are venting their frustration of not getting a girlfriend after their 3 years of High School, by singing a karaoke.

In 2004 the ''Annals of Improbable Research'', sponsors of the "Ig Nobel" prizes for dubious scientific achievement, awarded the Ig Nobel Peace Prize to Daisuke Inoue "for inventing karaoke, thereby providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other." Inoue-san actually showed up to receive his prize in person and included a rendition of "I'd like to teach the world to sing" [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome in his acceptance speech.]] This became a major media event in Japan, as although karaoke is still very popular in Asia, nobody had quite realized who had ''invented'' it.

* ''AyashiNoCeres''
* ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh''
* ''LightNovel/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai''
* ''VisualNovel/BrassRestoration''
* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' solved a murder in a karaoke box
* ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}''

* ''HajimeNoIppo''.

* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''
* ''Manga/HidamariSketch'' - This one stands out a bit because Hiro was doing it an attempt to lose weight when she heard singing could help burn calories.
* ''Manga/HighSchoolGirls''
* ''{{Hyakko}}''

* In ''KamichamaKarin Chu'', Kazune and Jin have a [[CookingDuel karaoke contest]] at one point. Since Jin is a professional IdolSinger, you can kinda guess who wins.

* ''KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl''

* ''Manga/KotouraSan'': [[GratuitousEnglish Let's singing!]] The [[ThemeTuneCameo OP!]] [[HollywoodToneDeaf Badly!]]

* ''Manga/LoveHina''
* ''LovelyComplex''
* ''Anime/{{Mai-HiME}}'' has one in Episode 16 for the party of the newly-formed Hime Sentai. Mai is quite excited about it, but is disappointed to have to go last (interestingly enough, Natsuki and Nao, who hate singing and their costumes, and [[HollywoodToneDeaf sing badly]] have to go first). At the end of the series, Mai sings the opening song in the newly-formed Karaoke club.
* ''Anime/MacrossPlus''

* ''Manga/TokyoBabylon''
* An early episode of ''UltraManiac'' involves the characters going to a karaoke bar and singing snippets of the [[ThemeTuneCameo opening and ending themes]] as duets. Singable lyrics were written for the dub. Nina, a transfer from the Magic Kingdom, sings a song from ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'', since it's the only one she knows.
* ''WanderingSon'' has a few instances of the kids going to a Karaoke Box.

* ''Film/LostInTranslation''
* ''[[Disney/ChickenLittle Chicken Little]]''
* The ''SwingGirls'' start out by playing ([[DreadfulMusician terribly]]) in one of these

[[AC:Live Action]]

* ''BestLove''
* ''BoysBeforeFlowers''
* ''[[Series/LieToMeSK Lie to Me]]''

* ''Series/ScentOfAWoman''

* ''{{Persona 3}}'': A karaoke box is one of the ways to raise your courage stat.

* ''BrassRestoration''

* ''HighSchoolGirls''

* The third ''{{Kiss x Sis}}'' OVA starts with the sisters and Keita in a karaoke booth, with the goal of countering his depression. [[{{Fanservice}} To that end]], they also were {{Sexy Santa Dress}}es. (The first song turns out to be the [[AnimeThemeSong opening theme]].) It's also the setting for the rest of the OVA.

%%* ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', but only in the manga.

* ''TenchiMuyo'' - Happens in the AlternateUniverse series, ''Tenchi Universe'' and ''Tenchi in Tokyo''. In ''PrettySammy'', Chihiro Kawai (Sasami and Tenchi's mother) is a karaoke addict.
* ''TokyoBabylon''

* ''MacrossPlus''

[[quoteright:350:[[TokimekiMemorial http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tokimemo2_karaoke_2915.png]]]]

* ''Manga/OnaniMasterKurosawa''
* ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub'', but only in the manga.
* ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}''
* In the second season of ''SasamiMagicalGirlsClub'', Washu and Daimon take Itoki to a karaoke bar to try and pump her for information on the Magical Girls Camp the girls have been invited to, but instead she just sings [[ThemeTuneCameo the opening and ending themes]] and gets drunk.
* ''Manga/{{Suzuka}}''

* An episode of WesternAnimation/KappaMikey revolved around this activity.

* An early episode of ''UltraManiac'' involves the characters going to a karaoke bar and singing snippets of the [[ThemeTuneCameo opening and ending themes]] as duets. Singable lyrics were written for the dub. Nina, a transfer from the Magic Kingdom, sings a song from ''{{Doraemon}}'', since it's the only one she knows.

[[AC:{{WesternAnimation}}]]

* ''{{Kochikame}}'' has one with the police officers singing. It shows how horribly loud Ryotsu's singing is and him trying to tamper the karaoke player to get a higher score, but fails.

* ''DetectiveConan'' solved a murder in a karaoke box
* ''{{Genshiken}}''
* ''TheGirlWhoLeaptThroughTime'', in which the protagonist uses her time-resetting abilities to do karaoke for ''ten hours straight''.

* In ''HanamaruKindergarten'', [[spoiler:Tsuchida's first open attempt to confess his feelings to Yamamoto-sensei takes place while they're both fairly drunk in a karaoke booth. Unfortunately for him, she's so {{oblivious to love}} that she misinterprets it as a dramatic rendering of a line from a manga she likes. (He got the line from there, but that's beside the point.)]]

* ''HidamariSketch'' - This one stands out a bit because Hiro was doing it an attempt to lose weight when she heard singing could help burn calories.

* A chapter of ''{{Kochikame}}'' has Ryotsu singing (very loudly) trying to get the highest score. He gets a good score first, but decreases in subsequent singing with his loud voice and tampering with the box.

* ''{{Kannagi}}'' dedicated the tenth episode, "Karaoke Senshi Mic Takako", to the main cast visiting one. Odd song choices and awkward romantic tension both happened, as well as a ''Lucky Star'' cameo.

* ''{{Manga/Kotoura-san}}'': [[GratuitousEnglish Let's singing!]] The [[ThemeTuneCameo OP!]] [[HollywoodToneDeaf Badly!]]
* ''LuckyStar''[='=]s endings are the four main characters singing in a karaoke box. Konata hogs the microphone most of the time but the others all get turns and mix it up with some non-anime related songs.
* ''LoveHina''

* In ''{{Midori no Hibi}}'', Seiji and Ayase end up in somewhat intimate circumstances in a karaoke booth, but Seiji scares her off by being too aggressive.
* ''OnaniMasterKurosawa''

* The Live Action ''PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'', whose secret base is actually a mystical Karaoke Box.

* ''{{Suzuka}}''

* ''LostInTranslation''
* [[Disney/ChickenLittle Chicken Little]]

* ''[[ScentOfAWomanSK Scent Of A Woman]]''