SUPERCAR -- Yumegiwa Last Boy

The above video is how I first found out about the eclectic band SUPERCAR, and I did mention this fact in the first article about them, "BGM". This time, though, it's going to be about "Yumegiwa Last Boy" whose title has been represented all in romaji with yumegiwa（夢際）translating as "verge of a dream" so the title can be seen as "Last Boy on the Verge of a Dream". Sounds all very "Inception".

However, "Yumegiwa Last Boy" came out several years before that Christopher Nolan classic was released as SUPERCAR's 11th single in November 2001. Created by SUPERCAR guitarist Junji Ishiwatari（石渡淳治）and vocalist Koji Nakamura（中村弘二）, I'm not quite sure what the relatively minimalist lyrics are all about, but the music especially with the drone-like views of various landscapes in the video makes this a very soothing experience. I am curious about one part of the video though in which cash is falling over a snowscape; perhaps it represents an Imperial equivalent of a bank truck exploding over Hoth.

Peaking at No. 43 on Oricon, "Yumegiwa Last Boy" is also included on the band's 4th album "HIGHVISION" which was released in April 2002 and went as high as No. 11 on the album charts. It was also used as the theme song for the live-action movie adaptation of the manga "Ping Pong"（ピンポン）which also came out in the same year.

I've also read that "Yumegiwa Last Boy" and a number of other later creations by SUPERCAR represent the Japanese wing of the genre Futurepop that I don't know too much about. Apparently in Japan, the genre is additionally represented by bands such as The Aprils（エイプリルズ）, Genki Rockets（元気ロケッツ）and Perfume. Marcos V. and I have already written about the last two bands but I've yet to explore the discography of The Aprils and will do so.