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, March 18, 2015

Yufu Terashima -- Campanula no Yuutsu (カンパニュラの憂鬱) / Neko ni Naritai! (猫になりたい!)


Yufu Terashima (寺嶋ゆふ) is an aidoru singer that was part of now-defunct “anti-aidoru” and subversive aidoru group BiS (short for “Brand New Idol Society”). Yeah, that’s it... an aidoru group with an anti-aidoru gimmick. She graduated from the group in 2013 and in the beginning of 2014 she started a solo career as a cute aidoru that is the exact opposite of her trashy BiS days.

“Campanula no Yuutsu”, the summer single released in August 2014, is a jazzy and breezy Latin song that fuses a rich arrangement (in my opinion, something a lot of Latin J-Pop songs lacks) with Yufu’s warm and delicate vocals. In fact, the song is so nice that reminds me of “Copacabana” (1978), an old and classic hit by Barry Manilow. I can’t really tell for sure, but it seems like composer and arranger rionos was inspired by Manilow’s Latin/Disco arrangement when creating “Campanula no Yuutsu”.



Although “Campanula no Yuutsu” comes chronologically first, my initial contact with Yufu Terashima was, in fact, with her third single, “Neko ni Naritai!”, which was released in december 2014. The title track, as the association with a cat induces, is a cute and fantasy-like aidoru pop tune with some 80s synthpop twists. On the top of it, the single also featured a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”... a true guilty pleasure with the synth-happy arrangement and Yufu’s terrible english.

Lyrics for “Campanula no Yuutsu” were written by Yufu herself, while music and arrangement were done by rionos. As for “Neko ni Naritai!” lyrics were written by Jane Sue (ジェーン・スー), while music and arrangement were also done by rionos.

"Campanula no Yuutsu" (left) and "Neko ni Naritai" (right)

5 comments:

  1. Hello, Marcos.

    I enjoyed both of Terashima's songs here with the slight edge going to "Campanula no Yuutsu". For a lady who was once in an anti-aidoru unit, she's done a good job persuading me that she's quite happy to be an aidoru. "Campanula" has got a good arrangement; it hooked me right from the start. I also have to say that the video was quite intriguing as well. I'm not sure if the director used some sort of filter but the video looked like it was filmed in the 1960s (aside from the CG effects) since I remember watching a few of those proto-music videos from that decade.

    "Neko ni Naritai" is also quite catchy and I have to admit that I have a certain bias since I'm a cat person! I am wondering about that cover of "Like A Virgin". :)

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    1. Yufu Terashima is one of the few artists I’m giving some serious attention right now. “Campanula no Yuutsu” is a strong song, while “Neko ni naritai!” acts more on the silly/funny side of things, which is not a bad thing even if my friends from the nihongo classes were not very excited after listening/watching it. Honestly, I don’t quite understand people who “loves” Japan, but don’t quite try to listen to its music (not necessarily aidoru, of course), but keep hearing just what they like to call “classic rock” and similar things.

      Back to Yufu, yesterday, I was reading some news about her and, surprisingly, she signed a major label contract recently. Now I’m looking forward to her new songs.

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    2. Hi, Marcos.

      Good to hear from you. I hear you about some of those folks who just won't get into the music. I knew some people up here who simply had zero interest in any sort of music...didn't have a Walkman or a stereo or anything. From a guy who needs his music, that was a bit hard for me to understand.

      Congratulations to Yufu...looks like she's on her way to bigger and better things.

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    3. Yeah, it’s very hard for me to understand as well. Maybe that’s because I grew up with different kinds of music (my father likes Rock from the 60s and 70s, while my mother likes popular Brazilian music and 80s American pop. Also, I listened to a lot of old songs from the 40s and 50s with my grandmother, mostly in Spanish or French, when she was still alive), so, just like you, I can’t imagine myself without my beloved songs. In fact, as I spend a big amount of time traveling by bus, the music becomes a necessity of my daily routine.

      Strangely enough, I know some persons that are not into anything. And as I don’t quite watch Hollywood movies or Brazilian soap operas, it becomes hard for me to talk to them after a while.

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    4. I was also fortunate that my parents were into a variety of genres whether it be standards, enka, bossa nova and country music. I think that set the groundwork for my eventual dive into kayo kyoku.

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