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Yes, I vaguely remember reading up on Nicolaus Copernicus and heliocentrism back in my elementary school days.
I didn't realize though that many years later, an award-winning manga and then anime adaptation based on the whole thing would be created. In 2020, Uoto（魚豊）wrote and illustrated "Chi: Chikyū no Undō ni Tsuite"（チ。-地球の運動について-...Orb: On the Movements of the Earth） as this decades-spanning suspense-adventure taking place within 15th century Europe with plenty of sacrifices being made along the way.
The anime had a 25-episode run between October 2024 and March 2025, and greeting every viewer every week was Sakanaction's（サカナクション）contribution to the series, the opening theme "Kaijū" (Monster). Good to have the band back up here on KKP after a few years.
"Kaijū" is a tight and urgently-paced pop single that was released earlier in February. Written and composed by vocalist Ichiro Yamaguchi（山口一郎）, it sounds like how key scenes from both manga and anime must have been presented...trying to escape ruthless authorities to keep a revolutionary idea alive at the risk of everything. On the same day of the single's release, a limited-time music video showing the full song and scenes from the anime was also released, and then a month later, a concept music video with Yamaguchi as the doomed hero came out.
Video director Yusuke Tanaka（田中裕介）seems to be the go-to director for Sakanaction, and perhaps like his videos for the band's songs such as "Boku to Hana"（僕と花）and "Rookie"（ルーキー）, he has Yamaguchi as the hapless guy in Kafkaesque situations. This time with "Kaijū", the singer has to deal with all sorts of threats, including the big man Kyusaku Shimada（嶋田久作）, within subterranean corridors to protect an orb until its time to pass the baton, so to speak, to someone else. The song has managed to reach No. 1 on the Oricon digital single chart.
Still, I have to confess that my favourite Tanaka-Sakanaction video collaboration is the one for "Wasurerarenaino"（忘れられないの）which is a lot more fun-loving. Shimada is there, too.
I never knew there was a manga about Nicolaus Copernicus! I guess this is one of the things I like about Japanese culture: Manga or comics can be made on any subject! I am sure that the manga must have done a bit of embellishing, but it’s great that people can learn about history and any other subject through manga! Ane Sakanaction's Kaijū is an interestings song with a interesting video! I guess the guy in the video has an egg of a Kaijū?
ReplyDeleteHi, Brian. Actually from what I've read of the synopsis of the manga, Copernicus doesn't show up until the very end signaling humanity's growing acceptance of heliocentrism at last. I think the whole thing of the Yamaguchi video was meant to be more indirectly symbolic of what was going on in "Orb".
DeleteI also love Wasurerarenaino's throwback video! I don't know how they hooked up with Shimada, but he's been very fun to see in their recent videos, especially the "Live Music Video" from their Adapt concert for "Shock!"
ReplyDeleteHello, Matthew. I think having Shimada become part of the Sakanaction family was a stroke of genius. He's got that Darth Vader vibe to him and he doesn't need a breath mask. :)
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