Keisuke Yamauchi -- Kokoro Mangekyo（こころ万華鏡）

 

The above video was provided by the YouTube channel HDCOLORS - Colorful Kaleidoscopes with Added Value. It's titled "Splendor of Color Kaleidoscope Video v1.3" and indeed it is rather soothing and peaceful although I cannot say that I'm a dedicated fan of kaleidoscopes. You are getting sleepy...😴

Continuing on from my earlier article today on Kaela Kimura's（木村カエラ）"MAGNETIC", "Uta Con"（うたコン）had an even more variegated lineup on its extended special episode last night, and it felt at times like a mini-Kohaku Utagassen. So I am definitely glad that Kimura and some others did make their presence known. 

However, some Kohaku veterans also appeared and that included enka singer Keisuke Yamauchi（山内惠介）. This time, he appeared to showcase his latest single which came out only a week ago, "Kokoro Mangekyo" (Heart is a Kaleidoscope). His 24th single, this one stands out in his discography which started out in 2001. It was composed by Takatsugu Muramatsu（村松崇継）who has worked on scores for movies and the stage along with commercial jingles, classical music and pop. With "Kokoro Mangekyo", it not only sounds like something that Ringo Shiina（椎名林檎）would create, it almost deserves its own slot as an opening or ending theme for a historical adventure anime such as "Kimetsu no Yaiba"（鬼滅の刃...Demon Slayer） or even one of the cinematic versions of the show. 

The enka is supplied in there thanks to the koto but there is also a grand lushness especially in the intro which also had me thinking a modern version of Fashion Music. It's undeniably Yamauchi singing it but I also noticed that he's plumbing the lower depths of his vocals some more this time around. Veteran lyricist Goro Matsui（松井五郎）supplied the words for this very interesting addition to his list of singles. I've been having this ongoing conversation with a commenter about the evolution of enka over the decades, and this could be a prime example of how the basic structure of an enka tune can be stretched further.