My Anisong Highlights of 2021

Been a while since I posted anything in here. In fact, I have dedicated most of this year to my master's thesis, which is coming to an end very soon. In the meantime, I managed to watch some anime series. My motivation for watching anime had been dormant for about a year until I rewatched Sailor Moon last year. I definitely don't pick up as many series as I did back in the day (I used to follow a lot of seasonal shows), but it's still as enjoyable.

I would like to talk about some songs that marked this year for me in terms of anime. They haven't necessarily come out this year, but they're from series I watched in 2021.

Masami Okui - Rondo-revolution (輪舞-revolution)

I have literally just found out the reading of the title was "rondo" and not "rinbu." Anyway, if I only had to pick only one song to describe this year for me, it would probably be this one. I could not get tired of hearing it in every single episode of Shoujo Kakumei Utena. This was a series I had been longing to watch and I finally got to it. It climbed to my favorites list and I ended up rewatching the movie one week after my first watch. Series like Sailor Moon and Mawaru Penguindrum have got me fascinated with the mind of Kunihiko Ikuhara so I really expected I would like it as much as I did. I was excited about the character of Utena but ended up captivated by Anthy's complexity as a character.

I also wondered how I had kept myself from listening to this song for so long. I actually also got more into 90's J-pop in general this year, and Rondo-revolution was right up my alley. The upbeat song and lyrics fit perfectly with the image of the anime series. Song and lyrics were authored by Masami Okui (奥井雅美), now a member of ani-singer supergroup JAM Project, and composed and arranged by her producer Toshiro Yabuki (矢吹俊郎).

Nana Mizuki - ETERNAL BLAZE

None of the videos for the original song would embed so here's Vtuber Subaru Oozora's cover as a placeholder. You can go on YouTube to listen to the original song. Sorry about that!

Another series I had been longing to watch for many years was Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. It was interesting to see how much the first season was similar to Madoka Magica as they share the same director. However, the second season of Nanoha was the true highlight for me. The story and universe were so well fleshed out that I enjoyed every single episode and had a blast watching the remake/recap movie.

The opening song ETERNAL BLAZE helps to build up that hype by boosting Nana Mizuki (水樹奈々)'s powerful vocals into a song which I believe conveys the feelings of the character she voices in the series, Fate Testarossa. It matches how ardent and at the same time heartwarming her feelings for Nanoha are, as her first and best friend (they are dubbed the "mothers" of yuri doujinshi works... do with that what you want). The song was also a landmark in anisong in general as it was the first single by a voice actress to reach number 2 in the Oricon charts. Mizuki herself wrote the lyrics while the great composition and arrangement are work of Noriyasu Agematsu (上松範康) from the Elements Garden team.

fhána - Ai no Supreme! (愛のシュプリ一ム!)

I actually had not finished a seasonal anime since 2018, the year I spent watching the amazing Hugtto! Precure. This year I decided to give it a shot again, one or two series at a time, and the first was Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon S. I had watched the first season back when it aired and I am a huge Kyoto Animation fan. I was taken back to that day when my favorite animation studio showed up in the news of my country - for the worst possible reason... It was weird and touching seeing some staff credited in Kobayashi's production knowing they had already passed away.

J-Canuck has already touched on this song on his own post so you may already know the new tune by fhána maintained the catchiness of the first opening theme. This time they gave even more attention to the choreography and posted some videos with the Chorogons, the unit composed by the voice actresses of the anime. I have known fhána ever since their debut single which was the ending theme for Uchouten Kazoku and I like their sound very much.

Liella! - Tokonatsu☆Sunshine (常夏☆サンシャイン)

Another series I watched every week was Love Live! Superstar. I have followed the Love Live! franchise for several years, starting from the mobile rhythm game and going through all the anime series. This year I watched the newest spin-offs, Nijigasaki and Superstar. Nijigasaki had a different feel from the other series (in a good way), but Superstar gave me that goofy and character-driven plot that I would expect from a Love Live! series. Within the fictional group Liella!, I fell in love with the Chinese-Japanese character Kéké Tang. As expected, a second season was already announced and I am very excited for it.

This song in particular, Tokonatsu☆Sunshine, was one that particularly caught my attention for its tropical and groovy vibe with plenty of horns. It instantly reminded me of the Mermaid festa series of songs released back in the day by the original Love Live cast. It was composed and arranged by EFFY with lyrics by Junko Miyajima (宮嶋淳子), two artists with plenty of anisong titles, particularly of the idol genre.

I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into anisong old and new that marked the year of 2021 for me. I have pretty much given up on scoring shows or having a backlog list so I will continue to go with the flow and watch whatever I feel like in the next year, hoping for more great music releases.