Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Michiru Hoshino -- “Seikan Renrakusen ~Night Voyage~” (星間連絡船 ~Night Voyage~)


A couple of nights ago, I had a great surprise with a song called “Seikan Renrakusen ~Night Voyage~”, which was recorded by an aidoru called Michiru Hoshino (星野みちる). After listening to it two or three times, I quickly learned, thanks to the video, that “Seikan Renrakusen ~Night Voyage~”, which was originally the b-side to her “Ame no Naka no Dreamer”, ended as the promotional song for her second full-lenght album “E.I.E.N Voyage”, which was released in July 2014.

According to generasia, Michiru Hoshino is an ex-AKB48 member who graduated from the group back in 2007 with plans to become a singer/songwriter. Based on that, it’s obvious that she didn’t experience what AKB48 became after it finally reached the top spot on the Oricon charts in late 2009.

When I listened to “Seikan Renrakusen ~Night Voyage~”, some things caught my attention. In a more general view, it’s a bubbly pop song that’s not over-processed like the majority of today’s aidoru music. Thing is, the arrangement is airy and can breath at some points. Also, the sparse piano twinkles are a lovely addition.

The video is also a nice piece of “art”, as, although simple, it drinks from the “retro” fountain in a very interesting way. Somehow, it made me think about the 70s and 80s, when the capitalist societies shared a dream about what the future in the 21st century would be like. This dream, which is called “retrofuturism” by the specialists, shows how the futuristic beliefs of not-so-long-ago were more on point with the society of its time than with the future itself. It was something like “imagining the future based on what we already have”.

In a more specific way, I just loved the silly dance routines performed by Michiru (her faces were a mixture of fun and shame while doing them), and also when she acted as if the yellow game boy was a cell phone. In the end, although light and happy, the video, plus the song, shared some melancholy... no, maybe nostalgy is the right word... or both melancholy and nostalgy.

The “E.I.E.N Voyage” album reached #240 on the Oricon charts.

2 comments:

  1. I gotta say, Marcos, that I like this song although I had never seen nor heard of Michiru Hoshino during or after AKB. The song and video do have that retro-future vibe to it, and I especially like the piano. Also, I must admit that in all honesty, I used to actually dance like her at the discos back in my university days (just a couple of moves though) :)

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  2. I very much enjoy some of the tracks from this album, the singles in particular. But I prefer her previous album "Hoshi Ga Michiru" as a whole. It has a fantastic cover of Apogee & Perigee's Sinku Kiss.

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