Happy End/Akiko Yano -- Aiaigasa（相合傘）

Ahhh...the aiaigasa (love umbrella) trope in anime. It's virtually mandatory in any romantic comedy. Frankly, I don't know about how sharing an umbrella is taken in North American society which probably means that it doesn't mean a whole lot. In Japan, though, it's connected with an emerging love relationship and in anime, that almost always hints at much hilarity to come. Even the touching of shoulders between a male and female student under a brolley would trigger a major flood of hormones that would dwarf any downpour outside of the umbrella zone.

Well, the whole mythos...or trauma...surrounding the aiaigasa goes way back, apparently. In fact, legendary band Happy End's（はっぴいえんど）Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）whipped up a darn cheerful tune with that very title on their 1973 "HAPPY END" album. The song seems to be a musical knowing wink to the concept and I think Hosono has always had a happy-go-lucky approach to his creations, including another track from "HAPPY END", "Fuuraibou"（風来坊）. My image of Hosono outside of his Yellow Magic Orchestra period is beginning to coalesce as a good ol' guy sitting in a rocking chair just strumming away on his guitar, coming up with fun and relaxing tunes as easily as rolling cigarettes.

Y'know...I would get Akiko Yano's（矢野顕子）1977 "Iroha ni Konpeito"（いろはにこんぺいとう）simply for the famous cover of the singer-songwriter supporting Flipper over her shoulders while wearing that DEVO garb alone. Joking aside, I would like to get the album since it's a 1970s Yano release before her technopop phase. I've got some tracks of that early period via a BEST album, but an acquisition of one of those originals would be nice, too.

From "Iroha ni Konpeito", Yano performs a cover of Happy End's "Aiaigasa" that retains that same playful nature of Hosono's original but also adds in some of that famous Yano vocal play in the background chorus and during the instrumental. Still, it's obvious that when she is actually singing "Aiaigasa", she's also having plenty of fun.