Tama -- Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta（あっけにとられた時のうた）

 

As has been the case for many years now, we've been watching "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）on the telly via TV Japan. However, speaking for myself, it seems as if the title character, Maruko, has been acting more and more bratty in recent episodes. I mean, that's been part of her personality right from her time in the original manga, but it just appears that she's embraced more of her dark side for some reason, and it's approaching the point where I'm wondering whether she's really worth watching. Mind you, though, she does get her comeuppance at the end of the escapade.

In any case, let's leave my little rant for the anime as it is in the early 2020s and return to a few decades earlier. Yes, indeed, "Chibi Maruko-chan" has been around that long. In fact, there was a time that there was no variation of "Odoru Ponpokorin" （おどるポンポコリン）, which is pretty much the permanent theme song now, that appeared for the opening or closing credits. Around the mid-1990s, the opening theme was the breezy Shibuya-kei of "Humming ga Kikoeru"（ハミングが聞こえる）by Kahimi Karie（カヒミカリィ）. But the ending was as different as could be.

I wrote about the eccentric folksy pop group Tama（たま）back in the mid-2010s on the blog, thanks to their 1990 hit "Sayonara Jinrui" （さよなら人類）and then I also remembered the band's "Ozone no Dance" （オゾンのダンス）in the same year. Well, 1990 was pretty much their heyday, but in 1996, Tama released a typically Tama-like tune in the form of "Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" (The Encounter Song) which was used as the ending theme for "Chiba Maruko-chan" at that time.

Given lyrics by the manga author, Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, herself and composed by Tama mandolin-playing member Toshiaki Chiku (知久寿焼), "Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" is a comically folksy tune about some members of the Sakura family and their individual encounters during the day and night, shaped by their personalities. That plays out during the ending credits, and it's up to our imaginations whether it was Sakura's lyrics that defined the credit sequence or vice versa. The sing-songy nature of the vocals and the melody probably had the kids dancing and singing around.

"Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" was released as Tama's 11th single in June 1996 and peaked at No. 69 on Oricon. It was also placed as a track on the band's 7th album "Tama" which came out later in September.