Maaya Uchida -- aventure bleu

It hasn't been just for Japanese pop songs that I've found YouTube to be a treasure trove. Over the past number of years, I've also enjoyed watching my fair share of cooking videos ("Binging with Babish" is one channel I recommend) and there are even the mixology videos. For people who know me quite well, they might be rather surprised by my confession on that last part of the sentence because I don't really drink alcohol all that much. I rarely drink outside with my friends (I can count on one hand the number of times I drink at a bar in an average year) and I only drink once at home with my family, and that would be at Xmas.

And yet, I've enjoyed seeing videos by Robert Hess for Small Screen Drinks as he concocts a variety of cocktails. Perhaps I simply admire seeing the process exerted by an expert...in this case, the Eagle's Dream in the above video involving an egg white and gin.

It's been a more entertaining anime season these past few months compared to Autumn 2017, one reason being the somewhat larger proportion of consumables-based anime. I did mention the second round of "Dagashi Kashi"（だがしかし）, the show based on a few characters and their love for Japanese snacks. A number of us were disappointed that "Dagashi Kashi 2" was pared down from 30 minutes to 15 minutes but as my anime buddy and I were discussing last night, this may mean a third season in the not-too-distant future, and the addition of the hilariously Lucille Ball-like Hajime Owari late in the game has helped blunt the pain to a good extent.

Now what has taken over those last 15 minutes vacated by "Dagashi Kashi 2" also has something to do with something to put down your gullet but it's not exactly food. "Takunomi."（たくのみ。...Drinking at Home） is based on a manga about four young women living together in a shared house while savoring their love of drink which can range from Yebisu Beer to a Brown Cow (the default cocktail for me all these decades).

Of course, the disclaimer has to come out before every episode that only people over 20 years of age can touch the golden brew. Like a good Brown Cow...or Kahlua Milk, as it's called in Japan...the show is pretty mellow and slice-of-life, perhaps to the extent that my friend will most likely not get any DVDs of "Takunomi." as he has for other more favored anime. It's pleasant enough but I think it comes across more as pleasant filler than anything timeless.

Having said that, I do like the opening theme, "aventure bleu" by seiyuu/singer Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）. She also plays one of the four main characters, Makoto, who is actually a more reserved woman compared to the somewhat wackier roles that I've been accustomed to seeing Uchida play. "aventure bleu" is Uchida's 7th single from February 2018 and it peaked at No. 14 on Oricon.

meg rock provided the lyrics but I'm especially drawn to Rasmus Faber's melody. Over the years, I've gotten a lock on a number of composers' sounds such as those for Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）and Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）. With Faber, he tends to go with a dreamy/spirited groove when it comes to his music that does speak to me quite nicely. As I recall, he also came up with the opening theme for another favourite food-based anime back in 2015.