Akiko Ikuina -- Virgin Shounen ni Kuchizuke o (Virgin少年に接吻を)

It’s not a mystery that I’m a sucker for eurobeat songs, especially when female aidoru singers are on charge of them. “Virgin Shounen ni Kuchizuke o” is an example of this nice fusion that occurred in Japan during the late 80s.

Akiko Ikuina (生稲晃子) was a member of Onyanko Club (おニャン子クラブ), the original Yasushi Akimoto (秋元康) big girl group that debuted in 1985 and ended their legacy two years after, in 1987. After the end of Onyanko Club, several of the girls started their solo careers as aidoru and tarento. Personally, I think about the end of Onyanko Club as a big explosion that resulted in the dissemination of kawaii, and mostly talentless, aidoru singers into an already aidoru saturated Japanese media. Well, Akiko Ikuina was one of them.

“Virgin Shounen ni Kuchizuke o”, Akiko Ikuina’s second single, which was released in September 1988, features a nice eurobeat arrangement combined with your typical aidoru playfulness. Also, Akiko’s weak vocals resembles a lot another average aidoru that was far more famous, Japan’s honorable little sister Noriko “Nori-P” Sakai (酒井法子).

“Virgin Shounen ni Kuchizuke o” reached #9 on the Oricon charts, selling 41,990 copies. Lyrics were written by Masao Urino (売野雅勇), the same guy who wrote Akina Nakamori's (中森明菜) classic "Shoujo A" (少女A), while music and arrangement were done by Goto Tsugutoshi (後藤次利).