Kaela Kimura -- Rirura Riruha（リルラ リルハ）

 

Recently, I saw an episode of "Tsurube Kazoku ni Kanpai"（鶴瓶の家族に乾杯...Tsurube's Here's to the Family）, an NHK onsite variety show where rakugo artist and comedian Tsurube Shofukutei（笑福亭鶴瓶） and a guest visit some of the smaller towns and villages in Japan. The two then simply talk with the folks there and visit some of those folks' recommendations in terms of restaurants and shops, and if so inclined, Tsurube and guest can even entertain the populace, too.

That one episode featured singer-songwriter Kaela Kimura（木村カエラ）and she stated off-handedly that her son is now in high school which kinda threw me for a loop. It shouldn't have but it did because I'd always seen Kimura as the 2000s version of 80s aidoru Kyoko Koizumi（小泉今日子）: a cute and cheeky kid with a lovely smile who could potentially cut you down with a sharp riposte. Of course, we're now older people in the 2020s and most likely, Kimura's kid is probably now armed with his own slicing bon mots. (P.S. It's quite ironically coincidental then that both Kimura and Koizumi appeared together on the September 27th episode of "Asaichi"（あさイチ）a few hours ago.)

I believe she was all of twenty years of age when she released her 3rd major single "Rirura Riruha" in March 2005. I could never remember the title for Kimura's biggest hit to date because of its weirdness, only to find out that it's an abbreviation of sorts for "Real Life Real Heart". What I do remember is the music video attached to the song which brings in a few effects such as the stop motion animation that had put Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" onto the map. 

But as it is, "Rirura Riruha" is a pretty melodic rock tune with those buzzy guitar chords underlying Kimura's high but strong vocals. It's the type of song that I think Avril Lavigne could have covered. The song peaked at No. 3 on Oricon, becoming a million-seller. It eventually became the 87th-ranked single for 2005. The song is also a track on her March 2006 2nd album "Circle".