Sukima Switch -- Lovin' Song

From ebay

 

I've never been a fan of the BL (Boys' Love) genre in manga or anime. However, an old friend of mine once related the time when all of us were still living in Japan during which he and another mutual buddy, a young lady, visited a famous bookstore franchise "Manga no Mori"（まんがの森）up in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. The two of them opted to go to different sections of the store and then meet up a half-hour later back at the entrance or cashier. My old friend decided to check out the magazines for mecha anime at one side. 

Well, the half-hour passed, my friend was patiently waiting at the front door but the other friend didn't show up, so he then went back into the aisles to see what was up. It turned out that she was at the back, fully engrossed in one manga which happened to be a BL story and it was the BL section. She must have lost all track of time and awareness of place since when he greeted her, she suddenly seized up and threw the manga away from herself so hard that she almost took out an entire shelf. She apparently was rationalizing that she was simply curious...that's all. Meanwhile, he was insisting that he wasn't being judgmental on her literary choices. I thought that the two did a fine live-action reenactment of a typical scene in anime.😆

Well, all that preamble ramble was for the fact that on a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, the pop duo Sukima Switch（スキマスイッチ）appeared to perform their latest single from February 2024, "Lovin' Song". It is the theme song for the third season of "Ossan's Love"（おっさんずラブ）which had just wrapped last week. I mean, I've heard of corporate PR but this is the first time that I ever came across corporate BL. The series that first started in 2016 deals with a fellow who finds out that both his male boss and his male colleague are madly in love with him. I assume that hilarity has ensued.

"Lovin' Song" is the duo's 27th single and it has stood out for me for that wonderful piano which I've often associated with some of the 80s love ballads or AOR tunes. It does strike me as something that is hopeful and triumphant at the same time and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually gets used as a popular tune to be played at wedding receptions. It certainly appears that it's gotten its popularity because it peaked at No. 9 on Oricon.