Keisuke Yamauchi -- Beni no Chou（紅の蝶）

 

For my last article yesterday, I wrote about Daigo Ichinomori's（一之森大湖）debut single "Ichinomori Daigo desu"（一之森大湖です）, and in it, I noted that young Daigo (well, not that young...he's 46 years old) cut a figure on "Uta Con"（うたコン）that reminded me of dashing bidanshi enka singer Keisuke Yamauchi（山内惠介）.

Haven't seen Yamauchi for a few weeks but I know that he did show up probably back in February or January to showcase his latest single, "Beni no Chou" (Crimson Butterflies), which was officially released on February 28th. With the music video, it looks like Yamauchi wanted to have images matching his own flamboyantly good looks along the lines of his single last year, "Kokoro Mangekyo"（こころ万華鏡）. Looking at the video, I was wondering whether the song had been partially inspired by the anime "Kimetsu no Yaiba"（鬼滅の刃）.

Lyricist Goro Matsui（松井五郎）and composer Takatsugu Muramatsu（村松崇継）were behind the creation of "Beni no Chou". The music is definitely not standard enka. Is Yamauchi trying to bring in a new form of the genre in the 21st century or is it something that I would call New Adult Music? Enka jazz, perhaps? Matsui's lyrics seem to paint a picture of high drama in a couple bedding down for the night in a traditional setting. If there were a sequel to "Beni no Chou", it may involve assassination.

Well, this guide vocal karaoke video is showing a modern-day couple in a similar situation so it could just be all about an affair in a hotel. In any case, "Beni no Chou" scored a No. 5 ranking on Oricon.