Ryokuoushoku Shakai -- Mela!

 

Wherever you are, Happy New Year (as it already is in Japan) or Happy New Year's Eve (as it currently is here in Toronto and New York City among other places). The 73rd edition of NHK's Kohaku Utagassen already played out in the wee hours of the morning my time so I didn't bother watching it live but did PVR it, so hopefully we'll get a chance to see some of the highlights later on. As of this writing, it's breaking into morning in Japan so hopefully folks are prepping for that ozoni breakfast and/or getting ready to visit the local temples for that first New Year's prayer.

Speaking of the Kohaku Utagassen, I was scrolling down the lineup list for the participants. The band Ryokuoushoku Shakai（緑黄色社会）made its debut on the annual special, and they performed the song "Mela!" which was actually a track from their April 2020 album "Singalong". "Mela!" does fit the album since it is something that can induce a singalong among the audience, and perhaps it did with the folks at the renovated NHK Hall on New Year's Eve.

From the animated music video, I'd assumed that "Mela!" had been used as a theme song for an anime but it was used instead for a hair dye commercial. Still, the video is poignant to watch as an example of redemption. According to the writeup for the song on J-Wiki, it wasn't just meant for the listener to be the hero here but also to provide a twist on a couple of classic fairy tales: "Little Red Riding Hood" and "The Three Little Pigs". It seems as if the wolf is someone down on his luck in Tokyo with disdain following him from his former victims. However, the wolf is now trying to make amends to Red and the porcine trio. Does he make it?

Vocalist/guitarist Haruko Nagaya（長屋晴子）and guitarist Issei Kobayashi（小林壱誓）provided the lyrics while keyboardist peppe and bassist Shingo Anami（穴見真吾）took care of the peppy music with a touch of soul. I hope that Ryokuoushoku Shakai hit it out of the park with this one. We can certainly use upbeat songs like this one since Toronto will be ending its 2022 on a meteorologically dreary note.