Approximately a couple of weeks ago, commenter Michael and I were talking about theme songs to those old police shows on either side of the Pacific after I'd written about Hiroshi Suzuki's（鈴木弘）"Shrimp Dance". Lo and behold, I found another scintillating theme song for another fast-paced Japanese cop caper.
Now, the above video was apparently for the 2017 sequel of the original "Daitsuiseki" (The Great Chase), but the opening credits are supposedly in line with what the 1978 show presented every week: going through Tokyo at the speed of The Flash. The original starred Yuzo Kayama（加山雄三）and introduced a young Kyohei Shibata（柴田恭兵）who would make his own history on a later cop show. According to the Wikipedia article on "Daitsuiseki", the show was pretty tongue-in-cheek with a lot of ad-libbing and comedy; maybe there was even a goodly amount of fourth wall-breaking. Kinda strikes me as the Japanese cop show version of the original "Ocean's Eleven" with Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.
Of course, for the feeling of the show and the opening credits, the theme song just had to be absolutely dynamic. So, at the time, the go-to composer was going to be Yuji Ohno（大野雄二）via his You & Explosion Band, and Ohno is one fellow who's familiar in crafting soaring brass-and-string powered theme songs considering what he's done for "Lupin III" and at least one other cop show.
By the way, my compliments to the guy who created the above video which catches the feeling of those opening credits. Just rev up the speed to warp! It's either going to be The Flash or a cop existing on carafes of cappuccino.
Another slamming theme courtesy of the man, Yuji Ohno, and his You & Explosion Band. Check out his song 'Spiral Flight' for some funky goodness, composed for Lupin III.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1DtizbaaZg
The original Lupin III animated TV show was excellent. The animation may seem a bit crude by today's standards but it still has a great art style and the writing is sharp, humorous and clever. 100% entertainment. The Studio Ghibli Lupin move, Castle of Cagliostro, is excellent as well. Speaking of which, Miyazaki has been working on a new animated feature film titled 'How Do You Live?' and producer Toshio Suzuki commented that it's taking their studio approximately one month to complete each minute of animation, as opposed to the 4 or 5 minutes-worth per month on previous films.
I searched around for that TV intro I mentioned to you but unfortunately couldn't find it. Hope I stumble upon it soon.
Yup, You & Explosion Band have this ability to bring out this great disco sound that also has a certain silkiness to it. I remember the anime from the 1970s including "Lupin III"; they had that certain "rawness" in the drawings (e.g. the first season of "Yamato") that probably cannot be emulated today even if animators wanted to.
DeleteI'm gonna be wondering whether "How Do You Live?" will truly be the final work of the master. I don't think he likes retirement very much.:)
Too bad about not being able to find that intro but perhaps it may pop up on YouTube someday.
Heh, Miyazaki has feigned retirement several times already. Guess he can't separate himself from his work. Truly an occupational hazard.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to give up looking for that intro as it's truly fantastic. The intro was clearly inspired by Mission: Impossible and that theme was killer.
Yeah, I figure that Miyazaki will probably end up finally passing at his desk while drawing a character. :)
Delete"Mission: Impossible" has one of the best themes ever made for television and movies. I always look forward to the opening credits sequences for the Tom Cruise movies, although I was greatly disappointed by the one for "Mission: Impossible 2".
By the way, have you ever heard Tomoyasu Hotei's version?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8p6Blxt4LM
No, I haven't but they did a nice job with it, sticking closely to the original composition. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete