Mashinomi -- Putchohenza shicha Dame（プチョヘンザしちゃだめ）

 

It's been a roller-coaster of a ride watching "WandaVision" over the past five weeks as the first perceived superhero sitcom from the Marvel behemoth starts to reveal a dark underside below all of that light-hearted and cornball sitcom humour from previous decades. As for me, I'm not binge-watching...I've preferred catching it week by week as the folds start unfurling, and Wanda Maximoff becomes less of a contemporary Samantha Stevens and more of one of the most terrifyingly powerful superhumans on Earth-616.

Forgive me as I launch into one of the nuttier segues from introductory paragraph into the meat of the article. However, although I've kept this particular song in the backlog for months, I couldn't help but notice from the music video for singer-songwriter Mashinomi's（ましのみ）"Putchohenza shicha Dame" that there is a bit of "WandaVision" initial looniness. For one thing, Mashinomi seems to resemble a Japanese Scarlet Witch, and she's demonstrating some rather magical abilities (albeit without the budget that a Marvel series has), and yes, I am well aware that the song and video premiered a few years ago.

2018, to be exact (I think Marvel was close to releasing "Avengers: Infinity War"). But to explain the biggest question in the room, "Putchohenza shicha Dame" is just some fun with the English language in that it would translate as "Don't Put Your Hands Up". It's a track on Mashinomi's "Pet Bottle Literacy"（ぺっとぼとリテラシー）which was released in February of that year. I actually had begun the Mashinomi file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" when she came up with the ending theme for the alcohol-based anime "Takunomi."（たくのみ。...Drinking at Home）, "Stoic ni Detox"（ストイックにデトックス）also situated on that album. Not surprisingly, "Putchohenza shicha Dame" has got that same 80s technopop vibe which makes me wonder what would have happened if "WandaVision" had actually gone for more "Square Pegs" rather than "Family Ties" in its parody of an 80s sitcom.