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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.

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Aya Hirano -- Boken Desho Desho? (冒険でしょでしょ?)

Good gravy! Can hardly believe it's been over 10 years since "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu"(涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱...The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), one of the jewels in Kyoto Animation's crown, was first broadcast...time for me to get my rocking chair.

And it's been around 18 months since I actually put up the article about that famous super-catchy and much talked about ending theme from the first season, "Hare Hare Yukai"(ハレ晴レユカイ)by the seiyuu from the show, Aya Hirano, Yuko Goto and Minori Chihara(平野綾・後藤邑子・茅原実里). Yet, I had always thought of writing about the opening theme for that inaugural season as well but never got around to it until today.

Perhaps "Boken Desho Desho?" (It's an Adventure, Right? Right?) is not quite as earwormy as "Hare Hare Yukai" and there was no adorable choreography in the opening credits for "Haruhi", but I think as an anison, it still holds up quite nicely. Aya Hirano takes care of this one solo, and like "Hare Hare Yukai", the lyricist is Aki Hata(畑亜貴)with Akiko Tomita(冨田暁子)providing the music which seems to have a nice sprinkling of Shibuya-kei in there. Plus it flows smoothly with the fast-paced visuals of the opening credits and has the appropriate title which comes across as something that the often obnoxious Haruhi would say to the long-suffering Kyon.


I found that although "Boken Desho Desho?" didn't quite get the same amount of attention that the ending theme did, it also found a good measure of success on the charts as an anison. It even hit No. 10 on Oricon as Hirano's 2nd single when it was released in April 2006, and spent well over half a year swimming about on the charts. It ended up becoming the 141st-ranked single for the year.

Back last year in July, I wrote about the opening theme for the alt-universe sequel for "Haruhi", "Fure Fure Mirai"(フレ降レミライ)for "Nagato Yuki-chan no Shōshitsu"(長門有希ちゃんの消失...The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan).


2 comments:

  1. Oh boy, I remember back when this blew up the anime world back in 2006! I always liked this more than Hare Hare Yuukai, personally, but the ending theme did have a nice dance. I know there's been several more installments in this series, but I never got around to them. Maybe someday!

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    Replies
    1. Hi, Ragnar.

      Yeah, I missed out on all the hoopla by a number of years although I remember seeing "Hare Hare Yukai" popping up regularly on the "Countdown TV" rankings. I was wondering what that anime was all about. Well, better late than never.

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