Rina Aiuchi -- Close To Your Heart

Man, what a debut song for singer-songwriter Rina Aiuchi（愛内里菜）, and it was also the third opening theme song for the first season of the anime "Monster Farm"（モンスターファーム）. When the TBS show had its run at the turn of the century, supposedly it got the 7:30~8:00 morning slot on Saturdays, and although I have yet to hear the first couple of opening themes, "Close To Your Heart" must have gotten the children bouncing off their beds and into the living room in front of the telly.

Sounding something that Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）would have concocted for one of his singers during the Komuro Boom of the 1990s and with vocals by Aiuchi reminiscent of another up-and-coming singer who also started during that time, Mai Kuraki（倉木麻衣）, "Close To Your Heart" probably got really close to everyone's heart, ears and mind. With that warp speed dance beat and melody, the song could have easily been released without any need for a tie-up or perhaps as a jingle for a commercial targeting the young. But for an anime quest with a young boy recruiting the help of monsters to defeat ultimate evil? Hey, that works too.

Released in March 2000, "Close To Your Heart", written by Aiuchi and composed by Aika Ohno（大野愛果）, who also made songs for the aforementioned Kuraki, peaked at No. 19 on Oricon, and was also a track on her January 2001 album "Be Happy" which did even better by placing in at No. 3. The album finished the year as the 74th-ranked release.

Born in Osaka as Rikako Kakiuchi（垣内里佳子）, also wearing some other hats as a model and tarento, Aiuchi initially put a stop to her singing career in 2010 with 32 singles and 8 original albums, but then released a couple of digital download singles in 2018. According to her Wikipedia article, she also founded a dog clothing brand earlier last decade.