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I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Saturday, October 16, 2021

Serani Poji -- Octopus Daughter


On realizing that it had been a few years since I wrote up articles on musical acts Citrobal and Easycome after which I did a catchup on both of them, I also discovered that it has been over three years since I last put up anything by the eclectic group Serani Poji(セラニポージ). The combination of Yukichi(ゆきち), Yumi Higashino(東野佑美), and Tomoko Sasaki(ササキトモコ)was responsible for some appealingly quirky music in the R&B and Shibuya-kei genres through songs like "Boku no Mashu"(僕のマシュ…)and "Pipo Pipo"(ぴぽぴぽ).

"Boku no Mashu" was a song for a Sega Dreamcast game called "Roommania #203" that was released in 1999, and Serani Poji's debut album, "manamoon" (まなもぉん), which had come out a few months earlier, was also deemed the soundtrack for the game. Therefore, I gather that another track from "manamoon" was also in "Roommania #203".

"Octopus Daughter" is a Serani Poji song whose lyrics introduce an actual octopus girl in a side show who is neither antagonistic nor sullen as I would imagine such characters to be. She's actually the happiest lass who probably exercises her ultra-hugging power with her eight tentacles. Never having played "Roommania #203", I don't know whether she's an actual character in the game, but in any case, the song is lovely with the mixture of the soul-funk from "Boku no Mashu" and the Shibuya-kei from "Pipo Pipo". It has that sunny early 70s feeling with a romantic French accordion somewhere in the middle, and as with the other songs that I've mentioned by the band, "Octopus Daughter" isn't some throwaway musical cue on a game soundtrack. It's a fully fleshed-out song of note.

I know that the manga wasn't introduced for several years following "manamoon" but I can't help but feel that "Octopus Daughter" reminds me of "Shinryaku! Ika Musume" (侵略!イカ娘...Squid Girl). Yes, I'm fully cognizant that an octopus and a squid are different; some of my best friends dishes were octopus and squid.

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