Gen Hoshino -- Koi （恋）

Catchy funk-pop? CHECK!
Quirky choreography? CHECK!
Dapper clothing on the singer? CHECK!
Personal appeal by the singer in the middle of the music video? CHECK!

Yup, it's Gen Hoshino（星野源）again with one of his annual singles, "Koi" (Love). I heard this one for the first time on "Uta Kon"（うたコン）a couple of weeks ago, and although I didn't fall in love with it immediately, it's starting to grow on me. It was released as his 9th single just 10 days ago and it has so far gotten as high as No. 2 on the charts. I did mention the funk-pop above but there's also some Asian in there as well, thanks to a well-placed erhu.

"Koi" was also selected to be the theme song for the October 2016 TBS comedy-drama "Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu"（逃げるは恥だが役に立つ...It's Shameful to Flee But It Has Its Uses） based on the shojo manga series. Hoshino is co-starring with Yui Aragaki（新垣結衣）, who also knows a thing or two about cutting up a rug in front of a TV camera. In fact, 30 seconds into the above video, the main cast strut their stuff to the song. I'm betting that "Koi" will probably get onto the Kohaku Utagassen later this year.

Aragaki came to everyone's attention a decade ago with her dynamic Pocky commercials.

May 19th 2021: Well, in a situation of real life happily emulating art, it was announced today that Aragaki and Hoshino got married!