Emi Akiyama -- Ran no Sono（蘭の園）

Living in Japan, I learned that there is a lot of interest in the supernatural and mystical and that includes the various monsters and creatures. I've heard about the kappa, the ice woman, the long-necked woman, the faceless boy, etc. Furthermore, once in a while, I see this figure on the variety shows called a kyonshi（僵屍）, I believe, which according to Jisho.org is either a Chinese hopping vampire or a Chinese zombie, and as the first definition states, my observation has been that they really do hop about, and may I say, they hop about in some really nice attire.

The above video is for the 1988 TBS series "Rai Rai! Kyonshis"（来来!キョンシーズ...Come Come! Kyonshis）based on a popular 1986 Taiwan movie "Yuugen Doushi"（幽幻道士）which was in itself based on the original 1985 Hong Kong horror-comedy titled "Reigen Doushi"（霊幻道士...Mr. Vampire）.

Well, the theme song for "Rai Rai! Kyonshis", "Kyonshi!!!"（キョンシー!!!）was sung by aidoru Emi Akiyama（秋山絵美）as her 3rd single, released in February 1988. However for today, I'd like to draw your attention to the B-side which was used as an insert song in the show called "Ran no Sono" (The Orchid Garden).

This was a tune written by Takashi Matsumoto（松本隆）and composed by Haruomi Hosono（細野晴臣）, and from seeing those two involved, I figured that "Ran no Sono" would be executed pretty well. And it is. I really like the technopop arrangement mixing in that mystical atmosphere. I've never seen any episode of "Rai Rai! Kyonshis" but would imagine that "Ran no Sono" must have been used during one of the more introspective scenes.

I also have to give my compliments to Akiyama's vocals. In her J-Wiki article, she's listed as a former aidoru and former singer, and with her career being extremely brief at just around a year, it's hard to say whether she made that transition from aidoru to pop singer with "Ran no Sono", but her delivery is quite mature for an aidoru with this tune. All in all, Akiyama released a total of 4 singles and no albums.