Yuko Goto -- Koi no Mikuru Densetsu: Joutatsu Shita Version（恋のミクル伝説 上達したバージョン）

 

"...I really can't even imagine how she would sing it well. It would frankly sound boring and flat, so it has to remain at its craptastic best!"

I made the following statement back in June 2019 when I wrote up the article on seiyuu/singer Yuko Goto's（後藤邑子）"Koi no Mikuru Densetsu"（恋のミクル伝説...The Legend of Mikuru in Love）, a song so hideously incredible by her character of Mikuru Asahina（朝比奈ミクル）, and one that began the whole "Haruhi Suzumiya" anime franchise that it actually made me flee from watching the show. That is, until my anime buddy reassured me that the first episode of "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu"（涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱...The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya） was a very amateur student movie produced by Haruhi herself and that I should give the rest of the first season a chance (he did shoo me off from watching Season 2 however).

Well, I no longer have to imagine it anymore. Goto did get a chance to sing it well. When PlayStation 2 was released to the masses, a game was produced titled "Suzumiya Haruhi no Tomadoi"（涼宮ハルヒの戸惑...The Bewilderment of Haruhi Suzumiya） in January 2008 and in it was "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu: Joutatsu Shita Version" (The Improved Version). It's the same Eurobeat-y melody and arrangement by Satoru Kousaki（神前暁）but Goto's intentionally on point this time in her delivery (as opposed to intentionally off tune the first time). 

OK, I'm going to have some crow with my chicken tomorrow. I will have to admit that the new and improved "Koi no Mikuru Densetsu" is not bad at all. My initial reluctance about an improved version was all about missing those times to cringe when the off-tune moments in the original exploded.