I figure that the "Show By Rock!!" category has garnered a rousing technopop tune and the Princess Princess-reminiscent opening theme from the first season on the blog so far.
Well, I'm now putting this song in since it's probably the one that I've heard the most since I saw that first season a couple of years ago. My anime buddy has frequently put "Tabiji Yoiyoi Yume Hanabi" (Enchanting Dream Fireworks of a Night Journey) on the stereo during anison hour or anison hour-and-a-half.
In recent years, I've been hearing of this music boom surrounding a genre known as wagakki（和楽器）which features rock bands using traditional Japanese instruments such as shamisen with the electric guitars. I've already seen a few of these bands perform on certain shows, but strangely enough, the first time I heard of wagakki was through this fictional band on "Show By Rock!!" known as Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan（徒然なる操り霧幻庵）...whew, imagine being the members who have to autograph tons of books with that name.
Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan has popped up on both seasons of "Show By Rock!!" as recurring characters. The band struck me as being one of those distant characters that pops up at key moments on some sort of police procedural, and they have that sort of ninja quality. Although I don't know much about seiyuu Eriko Matsui（松井恵理子）who plays Un（吽）the bassist, I definitely know about Saori Hayami（早見沙織）as guitarist A（阿）and Megumi Han（潘めぐみ）as the charismatic drummer Daru Dayu（ダル太夫）. Hinata Ogi（仰木日向）provided the lyrics while the composer was Tsubasa Ito（伊藤翼）.
I've known Han as some of her fluffier characters, especially in her triumphant turn as the high-pitched and goofy Akko Kagari in "Little Witch Academia". So to hear her Daru Dayu purr and sing so regally in a much lower and sexier voice was quite the revelation, although I'm well aware that the best seiyuu have a wide range of vocal abilities.
As for the song itself, wagakki isn't exactly my genre so it's been a case of "Tabiji Yoiyoi Yume Hanabi" gradually infusing itself into me over the months. Plus, the factor of Hayami and Han, whom I've usually known for their speaking roles, getting into the rock star stuff hasn't hurt either.
Now, as for the real-life example, this is the Wagakki Band with "Yoshiwara Lament"（吉原ラメント）. I could see this unit performing at the Olympics.
Hi J-C: whoa, this is really close to Critical Massive Attack by Ultimate Future Weapons Mofu from a few years ago (or almost anything else they did) ! Slightly less frenzied; but could easily have come off their album. Regardless thanks for the post; it's going onto my rowing-machine workout CD.
ReplyDeleteThe wagakki is very interesting - I remember Shang Shang Typhoon having that type of sound way back when. Shamisen seems a natural to electrify, koto also but maybe only for solos (some of these may not be able to be in the background without being swamped) ? Hope you can post more of this genre, or make recommendations ?
Hey, T-cat.
DeleteI can imagine that some good technology can probably rectify any sound issues with the koto, if need be. I'll have to see what the future holds for wagakki. As I said, it's not exactly my cup of tea but if Tsurezurenaru Ayatsuri Mugenan comes up with another good one or if I can come across a wagakki band with a fun song, I can post something up.