Wow, Anpanman! I knew that you could fly and save friends and defend against the scourges of Baikinman, but you could sing City Pop?! You are truly a tasty superhero of the world!
Yup, actress/singer/seiyuu Keiko Toda（戸田恵子）has voiced a number of characters in the anime world but probably her most famous role is that of Anpanman（アンパンマン）. Also in the live-action series forum, she's also been known as the sidekick to tall and tough Makiko Esumi's（江角マキコ）character in the Fuji-TV franchise "Shomu-Ni"（ショムニ）.
Frankly, because I've had theme songs of both "Sore Ike! Anpanman"（それいけ！アンパンマン....Let's Go! Anpanman） and "Shomu-Ni" written up on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I'd assumed that Toda was already represented here but such was not the case up to today. And yet, the Nagoya native has had a singing career which has probably been overshadowed by her long list of achievements on TV, cinema and anime; as I mentioned in the "Anpanman" article, Toda had started out as the 1970s aidoru Akemi Ayu（あゆ朱美）. But I was a bit hasty when I remarked that she then went swiftly into acting since even under her real name, which is indeed Keiko Toda, she still released many singles and several albums.
Case in point: Toda released a 1983 album titled "Naturally" and I managed to find one track called "FADE IN ~ Youmei" (Melting) which is about as City Pop as all get out. Written by Keisuke Yamakawa（山川啓介）and composed by Ken Sato（佐藤健）, if you like your sweet bean paste-filled buns served on a table next to a glass of wine on a balcony overlooking West Shinjuku with a wonderful sunset, THIS is your song. There are synth-horns, that necessary bass and a nighttime piano all coming together for a round of nocturnal classiness in the megalopolis.
Under the name of Akemi Ayu, Toda released just four singles between 1974 and 1976 but I will have to take a look among those very soon, too.
She is a regular in Koki Mitani movies. Good actress.
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