Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Tomozo/Maiko Hino -- Lupinus(ルピナス)


Some months ago, I found this rather fascinating short song on YouTube titled "Lupinus". Voiced by a Vocaloid named Maiko Hino(日野舞子), "Lupinus" is said to be an 80s technopop-ish number created by a fellow named Tomozo(友蔵).

With Hino in there along with the various examples of technology, yes, I would say that it was a technopop song but instead of it being an 80s thing, I would opine that "Lupinus" actually has a certain timeless quality. There's something traditional Japanese and also traditionally classical infused into it so that I believe that I've heard this sort of soundscape in the 1990s and the 2000s as well.

Tomozo's lyrics are also pretty atmospheric and fantastical. The images I get are of someone in a vast desert approaching an amazing oasis while visions of the past come flying at warp speed. Perhaps there is something rather therapeutic about this Lupinus.

According to his history on his website, the Tottori-born, Osaka-residing Tomozo encountered his first synthesizer in 1990 and it was apparently love at first sight. Since then, he's been collecting his variety of electronic instruments much in the same way that my anime buddy has been harvesting electric guitars. On his YouTube channel, Tomozo Hokanko(友蔵保管庫...Tomozo Vault), he's quite self-effacing in his introduction stating that if you're looking for the power of rock, the technique of classical and the passionate soul of enka...look elsewhere.😀 Instead, he states that if his creations can get even a smirk and a slightly more relaxed mind from viewers, then he's perfectly fine with that. That's good with me.

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