Friday, March 23, 2018

Nana Mizuki -- Eisai Haramasukoi(エイサイハラマスコイ)


Well, I did say for some of the other articles associated with anime's Winter 2018 season that there haven't been any crawling earworms. I may have to swallow down a slice of crow to go with those worms. And it's all because of "Pop Team Epic"(ポプテピピック), the crazy anime that I've had to watch excerpts on YouTube since my buddy really won't get into it.

It's rather ironic since the one other semi-earworm this season also came from "Pop Team Epic" through their parody of "Let's Groove" originally by Earth Wind & Fire.


A few episodes ago apparently, there was one segment in which Popuko(ポプ子)demonstrated this little jig called the Eisai Haramasukoi which may or may not have been inspired by minyo. Popuko innocently asked her best buddy Pipimi(ピピ美)whether her invention would sell after which Pipimi considered two potential consequences and decided...wisely...to go with continuing friendship.


Then in the penultimate episode, the seiyuu for the female half of the show were Nana Mizuki(水樹奈々)and Mamiko Noto(能登麻美子)portraying Popuko and Pipimi respectively. Mizuki put on her best traditional singing voice on for those vital few seconds, and basically the same skit occurred from the original version a few weeks back. Pipimi gave her blessing.


Guess what? Inspiration broke in the form of a dance remix which became the opening credits for the episode. And I gotta say...nice piece of dancing by Popuko. Furthermore, it's the techno version that has dug itself into my brain. I don't know for sure who came up with the music but most likely it's the fellow behind the music for the show in general, Gin(吟).

Along with "Who shot J.R.?" and "Who is Keyser Soze?", "What is Eisai Haramasukoi?" initially did pop up in my head as one of the biting pop culture questions. Assuming that it was based on an actual traditional dance, I tried looking it up but I couldn't find anything online. So for now, I will think of it as another crazed creation by the good folks at "Pop Team Epic". That final episode should be rather the last word in the title.

2 comments:

  1. this has always been my favorite PTE skit, due in part to how seemingly inexplicable it is! keen oldheads have pointed out that the eisai haramasukoi dance is, in reality, just Blanka's crouching fierce punch and kick from Street Fighter 2. maybe Pipimi thinks it won't catch on because Street Fighter 2 Blanka is so uncool (this did air before Street Fighter 6 came out). much in the way 3rd Strike's hip-hop/jungle OST bolster it's "cool stocks", maybe this is why Popuko debuts the eisai haramasukoi remix

    you say the eisai haramasukoi may have been inspired by Min'yo. this makes sense considering the music 60FPS Popuko dances to in the AC部ボッブネミミッミ eisai sketch. i am absolutely no expert on Min'yo, but it's wikipedia article says that Min'yo songs are sometimes accompanied by a dance, maybe particular to that song. maybe Popuko was trying to make the eisai haramasukoi out to seem more important than it really is, because AC部 had the budget for 60FPS animation

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    1. Hello, Courtney. Like yourself, I'm no expert on min'yo but the genre has songs that love to be used for festivals and of course, festivals gotta have dancing. Also, the way Nana was singing it was pretty reminiscent of the genre, too.

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