Happy Monday! And heck of a time to talk about winter when Toronto is on the cusp of hitting another 40-degree-plus Humidex tomorrow. Will need to slap on the sunblock for sure.
However, I have been wanting to place this article for a while since I do like the song by the late singer-songwriter Ritsuko Okazaki（岡崎律子）. To explain, there was this 1991 OVA based on an original 1983 manga called "Ichi-gatsu ni wa Christmas"（1月にはChristmas...Christmas in January）. There were a couple of firsts here: one is that veteran seiyuu-singer Megumi Hayashibara（林原めぐみ）who had been doing a lot of genki roles early in her career received her first cool-as-ice and even downright dour role as the main character, Mizuki Tateno, a young lady who mysteriously despises Christmas. That's kinda new to me since the only regular role that I see her in nowadays is her turn as the stoic and sometimes cranky Ai Haibara in the detective anime "Meitantei Conan"（名探偵コナン）.
The above video has the entire 45-minute OVA and so in the last few minutes comes the theme song for "Ichi-gatsu ni wa Christmas", "Fuyu no nai Calendar" (A Calendar Without Winter) which turned out to be the first anime theme song that Okazaki sang. But the surprising thing is that Okazaki wasn't behind the songwriting this time. It was lyricist Mami Takubo（田久保真見）and composer Ichiro Hada（羽田一郎）who came up with this classy ending anison about finding love and warmth in a cold, cold world. Although it's not really an Xmas tune per se, I do like to compare "Fuyu no nai Calendar" with Ruiko Kurahashi's（倉橋ルイ子）"December 24", one of the memorable City Pop Xmas songs.
Hayashibara gave her tribute to Okazaki through a May 2017 album titled "with you" which had the former covering the songs connected to the latter, including "Fuyu no nai Calendar". The arrangement isn't too dissimilar from the original version, and it still feels like a romantic spree through Tokyo. "with you" made it up to No. 11 on Oricon. I believe that the original was also used for a Sunkus convenience store commercial; certainly, the fellow in the ad below looks to be sporting a 90s hairdo.
Hi, J-Canuck.
ReplyDelete"Fuyu no nai Calendar" is surely one of the highlights recorded by Hayashibara in recent years. I remember when "with you" was announced in 2017 and I went to listen to Okazaki's original version of the song for the first time. While listening to it, I've instantly wanted the arrangement to be the same, which thankfully happened.
Actually, "with you" was a compilation of songs that Okazaki composed and gave to Hayashibara record through the years, from the early 90s until her death, in 2004. In the meantime, they also became friends, which surely helped this successful partnership. More than a simple compilation of past works, though, Hayashibara also recorded some new songs that were originally recorded by Okazaki to integrate the "with you" tribute album, with "Fuyu no nai Calendar" being one of them.
In my opinion, Okazaki's gentle songs are very well suited to Hayashibara's vocals, and I think she also agrees, since she keeps including her late friend's compositions in more recent albums every now and then.
Finally, even though Hayashibara recorded a live concert in 2017 promoting many of the songs included in "with you", unfortunately "Fuyu no nai Calendar" wasn't included in the setlist. It's a pity, since it was the best new addition to her catalogue at the time, in my opinion.
Hi, Marcos. Yes, I was quite surprised at how similar the arrangements were....it was to the point that I wasn't sure whether I was listening to the same song by the same singer.
DeleteAlthough my knowledge of Okazaki's discography is quite limited, my impression of it so far is that she excels with her balladry...so something like bossa nova is perfect for her.
It's indeed a pity that "Fuyu no nai Calendar" had not been included in the setlist, but hopefully, it may be included in one of her future concerts.
Hi, J-Canuck.
DeleteIn fact, Okazaki re-recorded "Fuyu no nai Calendar" with a new, more organic arrangement for her self cover album "Ritzberry Fields" (1997), which is also the arrangement we hear in Hayashibara's version. The original, from the OVA, while similar, offers some early 90s synth touches that couldn't be found in future versions. So when I said I was happy that Hayashibara kept Okazaki's arrangement, I was referring to this self cover from 1997, which, unfortunately, I couldn't find on YouTube anymore. Anyway, it's the same arrangement you're able to hear on Hayashibara's version, but with Okazaki's vocals instead.