Anime's Winter 2023 season has been in business for a couple of weeks now, and so far, one show that has gotten my attention is the adaptation of the 2015-2019 manga "Tomo-chan wa Onna no Ko!"（トモちゃんは女の子！...Tomo-chan is a Girl!）. Methinks that there is a bit of a "Taming of the Shrew" in this one and just from the animation style, I believe that there is even some of "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"（月刊少女野崎くん...Girls' Monthly Nozaki-kun） goofiness (where IS that 2nd season?!).
One other reason that I'm keyed into "Tomo-chan" is the cast consisting of Rie Takahashi（高橋李依）playing the tomboyish title character (she just played another round of the far different Takagi-san last year), Kaito Ishikawa（石川界人）as her bestie/potential beau, Jun (I remember him from "Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?"（ダンベル何キロ持てる?...How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?）as the supremely friendly gym staffer), and Rina Hidaka（日高里菜）as the two other characters' troublemaking other friend, Misuzu (I remember her from "Komi-san wa, Komyu-sho desu."（古見さんは、コミュ症です。...Komi Can't Communicate） last year as the psychotically hilarious Ren.
Just last night, I wrote up the first article for singer-songwriter Maharajan（マハラージャン）and from the strength of last year's "Kimi no Ha Burashi"（君の歯ブラシ）, when I heard that he was also responsible for the opening theme of "Tomo-chan", I knew that I had to give it a listen. No regrets here! His "Kurae! Telepathy" is another gee-whiz-banger of a pop-rock tune that reminded me of Masayoshi Oishi's（オーイシマサヨシ）"Kimi Janakya Dame Mitai"（君じゃなきゃダメみたい）from the aforementioned "Nozaki-kun" in that it encapsulates the fun and chaos to be unleashed in each episode. Maharajan's vocals in the chorus even sound fairly similar to those of Sakanaction（サカナクション）.
"Kurae! Telepathy" has been translated as "Come on! Telepathy" but frankly, I think it has an even stronger vehemence to it such as "Fxxk you, Telepathy", and that could describe Tomo-chan's frustration at how dense and/or reticent Jun is. Even plain telling him in Episode 1 that she loved him bounced off his face like a propelled cake sprinkle.
Although the single for "Kurae! Telepathy" won't be out until February 15th according to the site for "Tomo-chan", it looks like the full version of the song is already available online.
Maharajan' songs does a good job for expressing emotions and bring across feelings in an impactful way. I didn't know they had an anime adaption of トモちゃんは女の子！Well, I am going to have to check that out. I think it is a good idea idea to adapt manga series that are already complete or that have at least been running five or more years. That way the anime won't over take the manga which often ends up in the anime being canceled. Speaking of which since last November a remake/re-imagining of Urusei Yatsura has been on air and I wonder what kayo kyoku plus' take is on the opening and closing themes.
ReplyDeleteHello, Brian. I was reading up on "Tomo-chan" on "TV Tropes" last night and I think that for an adaptation of a yon-koma manga series, the overarching plot and the smaller ones resemble those of "Kaguya-sama". Therefore, I'm curious about whether the anime version will eventually get fairly serious about the romance which I'm not a huge fan of. I've also heard from my anime buddy about how some of these anime adaptations have had to wait literally years since the manga author has been taking their sweet time with the original product which can be frustrating for fans.
DeleteAlthough I never became a fan of "Urusei Yatsura" in its original and new forms on television, I have to say that the opening and ending themes by MAISONdes are quite catchy. I'll probably have to cover them at some time since I have heard about this band before. Obviously the animators really loved doing the credits sequences.
In recent years, many anime series do "season"-type episodes, airing 10-13 episodes and then going on a break before returning. That way, it gives the anime production team some time and allows the manga to get far enough. Not like the old way of airing an episode a week and then getting filler episodes here and there whenever the show got too close to the manga(although that still happens today).
DeleteYep, I've seen that with "Kaguya-sama" and "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka". I am hoping beyond hope that "Grand Blue" and "Nozaki-kun" can somehow get their second seasons someday.
DeleteManga sometimes drag their feet and even take hiatus which can really be frustrating with or without an anime adaption. Well, for the anime to dig into the more serious romantic side of the manga the anime it's self is going to have to prove popular enough to warrant a few more seasons on the air or they could make OVA. Well as you probably already know I am a big fan of 高橋 留美子(Rumiko Takahashi)'s めぞん一刻 (Maison Ikkoku) and I might enjoy seeing the anime version get remade. However, there is one little problem which is that is the original anime had a stupendously awesome sound track! よつばと! the on going cult classic loved by Japanese immersion language learners could also use an anime adaption, too.
ReplyDeleteMaison Ikkoku is one of my favorite anime shows and I would love to see a modern remake, along with Ranma 1/2 and Kimagure Orange Road.
DeleteYou know, if they can do a remake of "Urusei Yatsura", I can imagine another go at the two shows that you've mentioned.
DeleteI've been watching "Tomo-Chan is a Girl" as well and the humor reminds me of "Ranma 1/2" at times, namely the whole "knocking someone across half the town with a single punch" gag.
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