Princess Princess -- Seven Years After

This particular Princess Princess single, their 12th from October 1991, sounded just a little more different than the usual pop/rock that emanated from the ladies. Although "Seven Years After", which was composed by lead vocal Kaori Okui（奥居香）and written by drummer Kyoko Tomita（富田京子）, dealt with a woman's coming-to-terms with a dead romance several years after the breakup, the song came off as even more sprightlier than usual...may have been the strings that did it. To me, it came across as either a theme song for a mecha anime or a tune that Kahoru Kohiruimaki（小比類巻かほる）would have performed in the late 80s. It simply has that really heroic fanfare-ish tilt.

As it was, though, "Seven Years After" was indeed the ending theme for a half-hour travel variety series on TBS titled "Chikyuu ZIG ZAG"（地球ZIG ZIG...Earth Zig Zag）. The music probably heralded the zipping off of the various celebs and reporters to countries near and far for some wild and televised adventures. It managed to peak at No. 3 on Oricon and was included on Princess Princess' 6th album, "Dolls In Action" from December 1991. That album hit No. 1.