Aimer -- Zankyou Sanka（残響散歌）

 

As I mentioned in one of my entries last night, I met an old friend for lunch and then we caught "Avatar: The Way of Water". During our draining of bowls of ramen, he told me of a couple of places that specialized in Japanese cream buns and croissants made in that exacting Japanese way. I then asked my brother and his wife if they had heard of Hazukido or Hattendo since there were branches out in their neck of the woods, only for them to gently remind me that they had brought a box of those cream buns from Hattendo all the way back during the worst of the pandemic. Well, my memory is obviously shot to hell.

There was a similar situation when it came to the Kohaku Utagassen almost a couple of weeks ago. I noticed a slightly bigger bump in the number of anison represented on the New Year's Eve special, and one such example was Aimer's "Zankyo Sanka" (A Song of the Scattering Reverberations). Aside from the first season of "Kimetsu no Yaiba"（鬼滅の刃...Demon Slayer） back in 2019, I haven't kept up with the franchise which has shown at least a movie and a second season, and "Zankyo Sanka" was the opening theme for that second season. 

It was quite the performance by Aimer and the song proved to be one of the catchier and livelier contributions to the Kohaku that night. Wow! Aimer ought to be a great new addition to the blog, I thought. However, as it turns out, my shredded memory failed me once more since my anime buddy let me know that the singer and lyricist was also the one behind the languid tune "Anata ni Deawanakereba ~ Kasetsu Touka" (あなたに出会わなければ 〜夏雪冬花〜) which was the ending theme for the 2012 anime "Natsuyuki Rendezvous"（夏雪ランデブー...Summer Snow Rendezvous）. And I did write up an article about "Anata ni Deawanakereba" back in July 2016.

"Zankyo Sanka", which was released in January 2022 as a double-A-side single alongside "Asa ga Kuru"（朝が来る...Morning Comes）, peppers the air with plenty of horns, percussion and a pounding piano. Aimer took care of the lyrics which could be construed as the clarion call of the demon slayers themselves as they take on all obstacles to ensure that justice prevails. Masahiro Tobinai（飛内将大）was the composer for the frantic melody which could reflect the slayers in high-flying battle.

I have to say that I also enjoy the music video featuring the frazzled high school lass encountering strange spiritual figures while in a city which is a fascinating mix of modern-day and classical Tokyo. "Zankyo Sanka" hit No. 1 on Oricon and it even became the No. 1 song of the year on Billboard Japan's Hot 100. By the way, one thing that I actually do remember is reading the news on January 1st that Aimer and Tobinai tied the knot. Many congratulations to them!

Aimer -- Anata ni Deawanakereba ~ Kasetsu Touka (あなたに出会わなければ 〜夏雪冬花〜)/Yuuya Matsushita -- See You

Those folks who have read my articles on anison have figured out that when it comes to anime, I'm more for the comical slice-of-life programs on the order of "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"（月刊少女野崎くん）and "Koufuku Graffiti"（幸腹グラフィティ）. I usually take the same attitude with my anime choices that I do with watching movies at the local Cineplex; I don't particularly want to be laden through 2 hours of heavy drama. Instead, I prefer to go with the more escapist fare and be entertained.

However, my anime buddy gave me a copy of an anime from the summer of 2012 titled "Natsuyuki Rendezvous"（夏雪ランデブー...Summer Snow Rendezvous） which was quite a bit more on the straight romantic drama side of things with some fantasy added in (which I don't think worked for me all that well). The story reminded me somewhat of Hollywood flicks such as "Ghost" with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, and "Always" which was Audrey Hepburn's final picture. It wasn't too bad...I liked the characters and I didn't end up falling asleep at all. Plus, I was surprised to find out that the main character of Hazuki-kun was played by seiyuu Yuuichi Nakamura（中村悠一）who I knew from his more comedic roles such as talented if slightly dense Nozaki-kun from the above-mentioned anime in 2014 and lovably grumpy Grizzly from "Shirokuma Cafe" (しろくまカフェ) which was being televised in the same year as "Natsuyuki Rendezvous".

All in all, I thought the show was OK for me as someone who wouldn't actively watch an anime drama. What also worked for me were the theme songs which fit perfectly with the tone of "Natsuyuki Rendezvous". It seems like the ending theme "Anata ni Deawanakereba ~ Kasetsu Touka" (I Have to Meet You ~ Summer Snow Winter Flowers) got the higher popularity so I will start with that. Aimer is a singer that I had never heard about until this show, but I liked her breathy delivery and the introspective feeling on this ballad, her 4th single from August 2012. It was written by Aimer under her lyricist name of aimerrhythm and composed by Rui Momota（百田留衣）, and for a song that was created in 2012, there is somewhat of a nostalgic and haunting quality to it...perhaps it's the strings. I also have to mention that the song playing against those ending credits made for a good match. "Anata ni Deawanakereba" got as high as No. 26 on Oricon.

As I said above, I also liked the opening theme, too. "See You" by Yuuya Matsushita（松下優也）set the tone for the anime even before the first scene arose. I was definitely not going to see battling robots or sword-wielding warriors with a mellow song like this one. That intro for "See You" in the opening credits was especially effective in priming me for the story and Matsushita reminded me of another balladeer, Masayoshi Yamazaki（山崎まさよし）. "See You" was written by Juli Shono（荘野ジュリ）and composed by Jin Nakamura. It was Matsushita's 11th single and also released in August 2012, it managed to peak at No. 28.

Finishing off with some whimsy since I know that a sequel to this series will probably never be made, but considering that I've seen the main cast separately in anime comedies, I would have enjoyed a slice-of-life comedic sequel to "Natsuyuki Rendezvous". After all, what isn't more comical than a young couple in love trying to stay happy while the woman's dead first husband is always trying to throw a metaphysical wrench into the works? Plus the fact that Rokka-chan always liked to wear that flowerpot hat must show that she's got some sense of humour. An anime version of "Bewitched", perhaps?