Yufu Terashima -- Campanula no Yuutsu (カンパニュラの憂鬱) / Neko ni Naritai! (猫になりたい！)

Yufu Terashima (寺嶋ゆふ) is an aidoru singer that was part of now-defunct “anti-aidoru” and subversive aidoru group BiS (short for “Brand New Idol Society”). Yeah, that’s it... an aidoru group with an anti-aidoru gimmick. She graduated from the group in 2013 and in the beginning of 2014 she started a solo career as a cute aidoru that is the exact opposite of her trashy BiS days.

“Campanula no Yuutsu”, the summer single released in August 2014, is a jazzy and breezy Latin song that fuses a rich arrangement (in my opinion, something a lot of Latin J-Pop songs lacks) with Yufu’s warm and delicate vocals. In fact, the song is so nice that reminds me of “Copacabana” (1978), an old and classic hit by Barry Manilow. I can’t really tell for sure, but it seems like composer and arranger rionos was inspired by Manilow’s Latin/Disco arrangement when creating “Campanula no Yuutsu”.

Although “Campanula no Yuutsu” comes chronologically first, my initial contact with Yufu Terashima was, in fact, with her third single, “Neko ni Naritai!”, which was released in december 2014. The title track, as the association with a cat induces, is a cute and fantasy-like aidoru pop tune with some 80s synthpop twists. On the top of it, the single also featured a cover of Madonna’s “Like a Virgin”... a true guilty pleasure with the synth-happy arrangement and Yufu’s terrible english.

Lyrics for “Campanula no Yuutsu” were written by Yufu herself, while music and arrangement were done by rionos. As for “Neko ni Naritai!” lyrics were written by Jane Sue (ジェーン・スー), while music and arrangement were also done by rionos.

"Campanula no Yuutsu" (left) and "Neko ni Naritai" (right)