Pingu & Friends -- Pingu Rap（ピングー ラップ）/ M-Rie -- Seeds of Happiness

I think that I may have seen a total of 2 episodes in their entirety of "Pingu" the famous adorable claymation penguin. In all likelihood, my television here in Canada and then back in Japan just came across the show for certain scenes during channel surfing. But it says something when I can still remember the name and distinct way of communicating Pingu and his family have, and interestingly enough, all of the characters are voiced by Italian voice actor Carlo Bonomi.

Pingu is popular in Japan, too, and I remember him popping up in a commercial here and there, including this one for life insurance (because when I see penguins, I always think of mortality...as you do).

Now, as is often the case whenever foreign programming (especially potential hits) is brought into Japan for broadcast, singers and bands are asked to come up with Japanese-language theme songs, and "Pingu" was no exception. And in fact, in July 1993, a CD single was released containing the opening and ending themes for the initial Japan broadcast for the show and on VHS tapes.

The first song is "Pingu Rap" with Bonomi having all of his characters provide their two cents into all of the rapping and scatting under the name Pingu & Friends over a simple quirky rhythm. "Pingu Rap" was the creation of Masaya Matsuura（松浦雅也）, one-half of the 80s technopop duo PSY-S. One would expect the star of the show to strut about with a backwards cap on his head.

Its partner song is "Seeds of Happiness" by singer-songwriter M-Rie, or as she's probably known on official documents, Rie Miyajima（宮島理恵）. M-Rie is already represented here on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" since she composed Rie Tomosaka's（ともさかりえ）hit "Escalation" in 1996.

Whereas "Pingu Rap" is quirky and fun, "Seeds of Happiness" is simply sweet and adorable. It has that really feel-good vibe in its slightly bossa nova arrangement, and so I wasn't surprised at all to hear that it was Etsuko Yamakawa（山川恵津子）who arranged and composed the song for M-Rie, with Mami Takubo（田久保真見）providing the lyrics. I've learned over the years that Yamakawa just has had this ability to create these lovely pop melodies. This song is an aural version of a Hallmark greeting card.