Penthouse -- Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun（26時10分）

 

Nope, this has nothing directly to do with the anime "Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!"（宇崎ちゃんは遊びたい!）but I wanted to direct your attention to the times listed for its broadcast at the end of the commercial. I'm not sure whose bright idea it was to advertise late-night anime or even late-night shows in Japan in general with times such as 24:30 and 27:15 (which are of course 12:30 am and 3:15 am respectively). It's as if the producers and TV stations are saying that your day isn't really over until you see our programming overnight. Unfortunately in my case, age and the need for slumber will trump weirdly-named times every time.

All that preamble ramble is to introduce "Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun" which is basically 2:10 am. But I'm not allowing the time to put my nose out of joint because it is another fine brand of that City Soul that the band Penthouse provided a couple of years ago. I mentioned the band last summer as this conglomeration of music circle minds from the University of Tokyo and Aoyama Gakuin University who are into the more refined, urban and urbane music. 

"Nijuu-roku-ji Juppun" is Penthouse's 6th digital single from February 2021 during their indies period. Written by guitarist Shintaro Namioka（浪岡真太郎）and pianist Hayato "Cateen" Sumino（角野隼斗）and composed by Namioka and bassist Takuma Ohara（大原拓真）, it's got a lotta good things going on here melodically including a TOTO-like (the band not the toilet company) piano introduction, some jazz here, some rap there, some of that vocal give-and-take by Namioka and vocalist Maho Oshima（大島真帆）, and that aforementioned City Soul. Lyrically, it's about a force of nature who suddenly shows up all sullen at a possibly off-and-on boyfriend's place at the titular time. Complications have ensued for a while, probably. I couldn't help but feel that if I were to think of an anime, it would be a sequel to "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya"（涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱）in which Haruhi barges in on Kyon's apartment for whatever cranky reason, five to ten years later. They will share a Wilkinson.