Naotaro Moriyama -- Romantique（ロマンティーク）

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I've noticed that Noelle has been working on her special autumn song list and indeed, it's feeling completely like fall has arrived to stick around for many weeks. My image for both sides of the Pacific when it comes to this season is folks huddling together a little closer and partaking in some of the warmer rib-sticking dishes to generate some more heat for the cooling bodies.

Another sign that autumn is here is seeing people taking things a little more calmly when compared to the more active hijinks that signify a typical summer. And this brings me to an NHK anime that ran between Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 called "Ochibi-san"（オチビサン...The Diary of Ochibi-san） which is about as laidback and slice-of-life as one can get. It's based on Moyoco Anno's（安野モヨコ）manga of the same name which ran from 2007 to 2014.

Now, what had eventually brought my attention to "Ochibi-san" was its ending theme song which was performed by its composer, singer-songwriter Naotaro Moriyama（森山直太朗）, on an episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）. "Romantique" was written by singer, actress and essayist Yayako Uchida（内田也哉子）and she even takes part in the singing of the song along with Hanaregumi（ハナレグミ）. Fitting the vibe of the anime, "Romantique" feels very laidback in a jazzy way and the recording technique makes it feel as if it had been created several decades back during the Cool Jazz phase of the 1950s. Maybe it was created for an anime but it also feels at home in some underground jazz club in Paris or New York City.