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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.

Saturday, June 21, 2025

Kyoko Suga -- Chikamichi Shitai(近道したい)

 

Yes, I do remember back in the early 2000s when I was living in Japan that there was a major odyssey regarding Tama-chan the bearded seal, so named because it had been first discovered in the Tama River in Tokyo. It was first spotted there in the summer of 2002 and apparently its final confirmed sighting was nearly two years later in the Arakawa River. Between those two time periods, Tama-chan managed to capture the hearts and minds of an entire nation including a weird cult. I'm not sure where Tama-chan is now although I hear that the bearded seal can live up to 31 years, so it may actually be still around somewhere in its old age muttering to its grandpups, "Don't ever get too close to humans! They are nuts!".😬

Tama-chan and this anime reminded me of each other. And I've mentioned the 1995-1996 "Bonobono"(ぼのぼの)before when I wrote about its second ending theme "LOVE, TWO LOVE" by Kyoko Suga(須賀響子)back in 2020.

Well, its first ending theme is even more adorable. Also recorded by Suga as her 4th single from June 1995, "Chikamichi Shitai" (I Wanna Take the Short Cut), this was written by the singer with Etsuko Yamakawa(山川恵津子)as the composer, and as I've mentioned before, my SOP here is that anything by Yamakawa will usually grab my attention immediately. Indeed, this is another winner which should have had both kids and grownups enjoying the song whenever the end credits popped up. Wouldn't it have been the thing if "Chikamichi Shitai" had been used as the unofficial theme for the Tama-chan saga? But JASRAC would have brought down the copyright hammer.

1 comment:

  1. In addition to the anime music genre, I think this would also count as Shin-Kayōkyoku. It fun, lively, and bright.

    ReplyDelete

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