I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I was out most of the day today which explains why Wednesday was stuffed with a few more articles than usual including Marcos V.'s posting on "Ninna Nanna" last night so many thanks to him. Actually, I met up with my old anime buddy for brunch this morning and it was a bit of old times as we returned to his place for a truncated version of the old routine of anime and food that we'd once had before the arrival of the pandemic. I don't think we're resuming it but it was nice to visit again.
We even had a short respite of anison playing over the speakers and my friend had been steadily collecting his soundtracks and the like over the years. I was surprised then when he played a variation of a song that I've always enjoyed.
It turns out back in November 2021, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the original manga "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）, a CD was released titled "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? 10th Anniversary Shudaika Rearrange & Hi Reso Best"（ご注文はうさぎですか? 10th Anniversary主題歌リアレンジ&ハイレゾベスト...Main Theme Rearrangements and High Resolution Best） which provides some of those "Gochiusa" songs with a new twist. My friend was able to play the new version of "Daydream Café", hands down my favourite theme song out of all of them in the anime franchise. Shoichiro Hirata（平田祥一郎） rearranged the original Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）version of the song that best reflected the atmosphere of one of the most moe anime ever made in the 2010s. I'm not saying that we'll be hearing the new "Daydream Café" being played by some DJ in a Harajuku dance club but it's got some nifty beats.
“Hare Hare Yukai” is the ending theme song for the 2006 version of the classic anime series “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya” made by Kyoto Animation. It is composed by anime music composer Satoru Kosaki.
We all know the sound of “J-pop”, but none of us can give the exact definition of it, because J-pop is not one genre. J-pop is a mixture of many styles of music over the years. It comprises all kinds of musical elements Japan has heard in the last century.
“Hare Hare Yukai” is one of the “J-pop” songs. There are some EDM elements in it, some rock, and a little bit of influence from the 90s. However, every influence that is supposed to make this song identifiable exists in small fragments, which, in the end, results in a track that doesn’t distinguish itself from other songs.
But why is a song so featureless in arrangement attract me so much?
If it was four years ago, I definitely would not like it. At that time, I was just introduced to Toshiki and Tatsuro’s classic city pop tracks and I was busy exploring all the exciting bass slaps, horn sections, and guitar solos. This track would appear too bland for me. But now, four years later, I have seen everything. Funk is an everyday concept and no bass lines would get me as excited as I was when I first heard city pop. The dust of the funk has settled down, and it is now the pure appreciation of the music and the emotion that leads me to listen.
And that leads me to this song. Yes, the arrangement is not distintive, but a distintive arrangement is no longer the attraction I look for. What really attracted me is the energy and the touch of melancholy it presents. It makes me think of the time I had during my middle school life. The study, assignments, food, and teachers were repetitive. No one had to worry about contagious diseases. Time seemed to be endless, and I had a lot of fun with my friends. I was familiar and comfortable with everything: people, grades, and responsibilities. These two years was the most carefree and joyful time of my life, and this song resonates with the memories I have.
“On a particular sunny day,
A happiness greater than magic
Will pour down endlessly. It's not impossible!
When we meet again tomorrow, we'll laugh and hum a tune.”
These lyrics from the song represent just what I feel about it. If I were to sum it up in one word, it would be “hope”. Hope that everything will remain easy and familiar; hope that good things can last; hope that the weather will always be sunny and people be happy; hope that covid never happened; hope that I will always see my friends tomorrow after tomorrow, until eternity.
But none of it happened. After I graduated middle school, I would end up transferring to an American high school, where people are unfamiliar and tests are stressful, Kyoto Animation would collapse under fire, and we would eventually hit the age of quarantine and masks.
“Hare Hare Yukai” is a reminder to me that time has changed, that I have grown up. Loving this song in the way I do means both my music taste and mentality have matured. I am no longer the high schooler who only loves the superficial rhythm of funk. I am now an adult who knows how to form my own understanding and taste the emotion in music. My carefree years were gone, and now, it is time to begin another adventure in my new phase of life.
What brought me here was actually Hyadain's（ヒャダイン）"Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C"（ヒャダインのカカカタ☆カタオモイ-C）, the frantic 2011 song which started off a number of the zany and hilarious episodes of the anime "Nichijou"（日常）. Now, as a reminder from that article, Hyadain is the pseudonym for anison creator Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）but in the video, there seemed to be a duet between him and a young lady under the name of Hyadaruko（ヒャダル子）. Actually, although the lass was singer/actress Natsuko Aso（麻生夏子）, her voice in the song was supplied by Hyadain pitched way up through technology.
So as such, I was curious to hear what Aso really sounded like since she's been active as of 2006. Through listening to her 5th single"More-more LOVERS!!" from November 2010, her voice is just a tad lower than the technologically-altered Hyadain voice which made me wonder for a bit why Maeyamada couldn't have allowed Aso to sing the song with her own voice. But then again, "Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C" had been recorded before the video so really Maeyamada only needed the young lady to provide a body and mouth for the vocals.
Maeyamada, in fact, was behind the just-as-frantic music and arrangement for "More-more LOVERS!!" with prolific anison lyricist Aki Hata（畑亜貴）taking care of the words. Aso hasn't been listed as an aidoru in her J-Wiki profile, but everything about the song and the pastel-coloured music video pretty much screams the recent teen idol genre (although the Tokyo-born singer had already been an adult for about 3 months at the time of release). She reminds me of a few solo aidoru from the Hello Project cadre.
"More-more LOVERS!!" peaked at No. 38 on Oricon and it served as the ending theme for the late 2010 anime "MM!"（えむえむっ!）, a show whose characters displayed a lot of their own special kinks. Unfortunately, I couldn't track down a video with the ending credits featuring Aso's song but I did discover that the seiyuu cast consisted of a lot of current A-listers who were already making waves in the industry such as Saori Hayami（早見沙織）and Jun Fukuyama（福山潤）.
My anime buddy and I were talking the other night and he marveled at the fact that 5 years have gone by since the second season of that show of moe and coffee and rabbits had ended its run. Yes, indeed. I am talking about the franchise "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）. At one point, I thought that everything was all done with Cocoa, Chino and the rest of the characters but a couple of specials in the intervening years kept hope alive, and sure enough, last year, it was announced that a Season 3 called "Bloom" would be heading out the gates in October...which it has.
I've been able to see the first two episodes of "Bloom" via YouTube and not through the auspices of my friend's giant TV screen this time around, but that's cool. The show has been fine and what better series to keep spirits nice and light like a well-made croissant during these times? It looks like the Japanese equivalent of Colmar, France is still going through summer, and I've gotten to see the girls and Tippy handle a flea market and the adventures of Lapin.
Of course, we gotta think about the themes and although the actual release of the singles will probably be some weeks down the line, at least, we can have a listen through the credits. The opening theme is "Tenkuu Cafeteria" (Heaven Cafeteria) by Petits Rabbit's (i.e. the main five seiyuu as listed at the bottom) as usual. Written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed/arranged by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）, the same duo behind Season 1's"Daydream Café" and Season 2's"No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）, "Tenkuu Cafeteria" has the bounciness of the former and the tempo of the latter to basically create the melodic equivalent of...well, a rabbit.
In terms of the ending credits, Season 1 had that spinning wheel and the adorable and sedate "Poppin' Jump"（ぽっぴんジャンプ）to accompany it. Then Season 2 had viewers go into diabetic shock in terms of the visuals and the ending song "Tokimeki Poporon"（ときめきポポロン♪）, and the FBI in the United States was probably wondering why their offices got inundated with phone calls.
Well, this time around, the ending credits and song have their cuteness but quite a bit more toned down compared to Season 2. Going mostly with an "Alice in Wonderland" motif, Chimame Tai（チマメ隊）consisting of seiyuu Inori Minase（水瀬いのり）, Sora Tokui（徳井青空）and Rie Murakami（村川梨衣）sing, as they did for the above two enders, and go a bit jazzier with "Nakayoshi! Maru! Nakayoshi!" (Buddies! Circle! Buddies!). Although I like both the new opening and ending themes, I am even more curious about how the full version of "Nakayoshi! Maru! Nakayoshi!" will sound since I would like to hear the jazz band get even more into the riff during the instrumental bridge. Hata was again providing the lyrics while Tomotaka Ohsumi（大隅知宇）took care of music and arrangement. It's nice and catchy and this time, I don't think the FBI will need to hire more operators.
Welcome to another new week. News has perhaps not been the happiest of late but for those fans of "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか）, I think there's something to celebrate. Late last month, it was announced that the third season of high school girls, rabbits and cafes that can soothe the heck out of viewers has been slated for October 2020, so hopefully, in another 6 months, we can all see the latest adventures of Cocoa, Chino and the rest of the hot drink-loving gang in their lovely town.
In the meantime, we can all enjoy "Takarabako no Jet Coaster"(Treasure Box Roller Coaster) that came out in July 2015, between the first and second seasons. Performed by Petits Rabbit's, namely the main quintet of the cast: Ayane Sakura（佐倉綾音）, Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）, Inori Minase（水瀬いのり）, Risa Taneda（種田梨沙）and Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）, it's a supremely breezy and bouncy number which brings to mind the opening theme for the second season, "No Poi!". Not surprisingly, it was made by the same duo, lyricist Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composer Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）.
This is probably a very cornball thing to say, but I think if there is that hidden character that makes "GochiUsa" the adorable and popular franchise it is, it would have to be the town itself. The architecture and layout have always struck me as being so heartwarming and welcoming that I would love to visit it. Of course, with the money and time, I can because it does exist as the city of Colmar in northeastern France (the above video is given in French). Perhaps a good chunk of the inbound tourism to Colmar in the last few years has perhaps been due to those particular anime fans themselves. I can add that the original manga artist Koi should have earned a key to the city from the mayor.
Anyways, here's hoping that our current problems will blow away soon enough so that "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? Bloom" will hit screens on schedule later this fall, and tourism will return in good numbers again to Colmar.
Last month, I wrote about the joyful jazz/pop waltz "Gin no Spoon ~ Blend of Memory"（銀のスプーン）that ended the Fall 2019 special in the "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？）franchise with a duet between seiyuu Minori Inase（水瀬いのり）and Nana Mizuki（水樹奈々）that would have put a tear in a number of Gochiusa fans' eyes.
Well, along with that OVA, "Sing For You", came a DVD-ROM containing the songs that were created and performed during the special, including "Gin no Spoon". Unfortunately, a lot of those full versions of those tracks have been taken down by the powers-that-be, so I had to do some scrambling around. Basically, most of what I could find are just the montage-type snippets during the show.
The one that I really wanted to put up is the contribution by demure (but with a sly sense of humour) Chiya as played by Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）since she actually puts up an enka number with the title of "Furimukeba Tsuki, Iie Dango"（振り向けば月、いいえ団子。...When I Turn, There is the Moon...Nope, It's a Dumpling.）as befitting her Wa style. With lyrics by the prolific Aki Hata（畑亜貴）, I tip my hat off to composer Masahiro Mizoguchi（溝口雅大）since "Furimukeba" has some similarity to an enka classic by Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）, "Amagi Goe"（天城越え）.
Once again, just the briefest of snippets here but the song list also includes Syaro's aidoru-tastic "Hi Hi High☆" which has the usually button-down waitress of the Fleur de Lapin going bonkers on the stage, thanks to that most dangerous of drinks, coffee. Written by Aiko Takase（高瀬愛虹）and composed by Tako Yamaguchi（山口たこ）, the song is well-titled since it may refer to Syaro's state of mind. It's for one of those times when decaffeinated simply won't do.
The only full version of a song on the soundtrack that I could find is the ultra-cheerful "Sing a Song Paya Poya Melody"（しんがーそんぐぱやぽやメロディー）that has the entire main cast of Petits Rabbit's and Chimame-tai（チマメ隊）performing. With lyricist Hata paired with Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）again, after creating the adorable "Daydream Cafe", the very first opening theme for "Gochiusa", the two of them came up with "Sing a Song Paya Poya Melody" which could easily suffice as a possible opening theme for the the third season of the franchise next year. The beat is such that it could even rival the strongest rabbits in terms of how much bounce it can attain, and the song is quite similar to the opening for the second season, "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）.
Hopefully, the other full versions of the songs will return someday, and there is one more song from the soundtrack that I would like to cover if the original gets put back up.
I couldn't quite believe it when I first heard about this Japanese cafe's existence in Toronto (as of this writing, it's been open for about a year). Not that I didn't think that a Japanese sweets establishment would actually show up in my city (we've been getting a diversity of Japanese restaurants over the past decade: ramen, izakaya, udon, tonkatsu, etc.), but I had never assumed one with that particular name, Amausaan Uji Matcha, existed.
The reason is the anime "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか?）which deals with happy-go-lucky teenagers taking care of their own distinct cafes. The prim and proper young lady with a subversive streak, Chiya Ujimatsu（宇治松千夜）, is the proprietress of Amausaan「甘兎庵」, a cafe specializing in traditional Japanese sweets. If I'm not mistaken, the same kanji is used to describe the one that I went to yesterday afternoon, and with that rabbit logo, I just had to go "Hmmmm...". Getting back to the real Amausaan in Chinatown, apparently, Toronto is the latest in a number of branches in Asia and North America with this particular one being the biggest in floor size.
I had the matcha mille-feuille cake along with the cold hojicha. The cake was good and had both sweet and bitter tastes, and I was surprised that my hojicha was quite sweet...truly like iced tea from down south. It was also nice that it wasn't too busy during our hour there; don't let the interior photo fool you, customers did come in after the photo had been shot.
Since we're on the topic, allow me to throw in "Nantonaku Mirai"（Somehow The Future）, the ending theme for the finale of Season 2 of "Gochuumon". Unfortunately, I could only find the truncated version but it's good enough to give you the idea of how the two seasons and movie have been like in terms of atmosphere: all very positive and gushingly cute. Performed by the main cast in the form of Petits Rabbit's (you can see the cast names in Labels under the article), "Nantonaku Mirai" was the coupling song for "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）, the 3rd single by the unit released in November 2015 which peaked at No. 4 on Oricon. Prolific anime lyricist Aki Hata（畑亜貴）was at work here along with Tadashi Tsukida（ツキダタダシ）for the adorable music.
The thing is that when "Nantonaku Mirai" was playing over the ending credits for that second season finale, it just seemed to me and I'm assuming much of the viewing audience that the producers were putting a big period at the end of the "Gochuumon" sentence. However, a movie did come out and an OVA is scheduled for this month followed by a third season sometime next year. The gift indeed keeps on giving.
I don't get a chance to go downtown all that much but I figure that I will probably meet up with a fellow translator for lunch sometime this month and he was pretty eager to try out a new tendon place, Akimitsu, not too far away from Amausaan. The walk between the two establishments will come in handy, although calorie guilt will arise at the end of that day.
Late last night, I was about to close up shop when I decided to take one last look at Twitter. There was the usual list of what was trending, and on top of the list was "The Lion King" since the new movie was about to premiere. Then at No. 2 was KyoAni which is Kyoto Animation（京都アニメーション）, one of the famous animation houses in Japan that helped launch shows such as "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu"（涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱...The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya）, "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid）, "Nichijou"（日常...My Ordinary Life）, and most recently the "Hibike Euphonium!"（響け!ユーフォニアム）franchise.
I initially wondered whether its high standing may have had something to do with "The Lion King" or whether if KyoAni was announcing another movie or another trailer for the next installment for "Hibike Euphonium!". However, when I checked it out, the news was far more real and horrifying. A deranged individual went on some sort of rampage by attacking the staff via arson at their Studio 1 Building in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto on the morning of July 18th Japan time. The tweets were coming in Japanese and English from all over the world very quickly, and for the next several minutes, I tried to find out how bad the casualty count was since the building looked like it had been gutted out from the inside. Before I decided to stop and go to sleep, there had been one confirmed death and many many more injured.
When I woke up this morning to watch NHK's "News at Nine", I found out that the fatalities had skyrocketed up to 25, and by the time the broadcast was about to end, one of the anchors gave the update that the number of deaths was now up to 33, with a little more than that number injured, some critically. The Kyoto Animation arson attack was the top story on the broadcast for the first 15 minutes, and it has even gone overseas...even Toronto's all-news channel reported on it.
The details and the overall truth will be revealed in the coming days but at this point, the whole incident has been terrible for fans of KyoAni's works. According to what I heard on the NHK report this morning through a former employee at KyoAni, the staff there weren't just punching in and out a time clock trying to get their scenes done on computer or on individual cels; they all loved anime and what they were doing to contribute to the industry, and a lot of times they were being loved themselves for their work. But even taking away the fame and the talent and the work, there are 33 human beings who should have arrived at work today doing what they loved but will no longer do so. That is the tragedy of all this.
The song that has been playing out in my head all day today when reminded of what happened at KyoAni is one that I've heard at my anime buddy's house now and then during the anison segment of my visits there. I first heard "Yasashii Boukyaku" (Tender Oblivion) even before I actually saw the film "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu"（涼宮ハルヒの消失...The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya）where it was the ending theme. This was the Sonority version which had singer/seiyuu Minori Chihara（茅原実里）, who played the stoic Yuki Nagato（長門有希）in the movie, singing it acapella. I didn't know what the plot was but even listening to this, it was enough for my throat to get pretty lumpy. The cover for Chihara's 8th single from February 2010 was also perfect for the song, especially this version, since it has Nagato looking up in quiet wonder at the phenomenon of snow falling at night.
The Sonority and Sincerity versions were the coupling songs for the original version that had the full orchestra. For me, the original is the comforting take with the soft piano and tenderhearted strings, but Sonority will always be the most affecting version (if I remember, Sonority was actually used during the ending credits). And what better choice to sing it than Chihara whose Nagato was the catalyst in "Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu" as she changed from her emotionless near-omnipotence to a far more vulnerable regular high school student, capable of feeling love and heartbreak?
"Yasashii Boukyaku" was written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed by Masumi Ito（伊藤真澄）. It broke into the Top 10 by placing at No. 8, and on the anime single charts, it even hit the top spot.
Kyoto Animation and its fans have been hit hard today, and it's still early days. But I am hopeful that despite the deaths and destruction, the company and its people will find their way back.
The above scene from the original 2006 anime "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu"（涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱...The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya）initially reminds me of that part in "Back to the Future". You may know it...Marty McFly reassures a stunned 1950s student body at The Enchantment Under The Sea dance that though his 80s hard rock solo may be lost on them, their kids will love it. However, any similarities vaporize within the first few seconds of Haruhi's surprise performance since:
1) It is Haruhi Suzumiya, after all, who has more of the personality of Lucy Van Pelt than that of Marty.
2) Haruhi is wearing a Playboy bunny outfit.
3) The audience does get into it.
4) Haruhi has a quiet if supremely powerful demigod-like humanoid interface as one of her stage sidekicks (as we all do).
"God knows..." is a rocker that's been played by my anime buddy on his stereo from time to time during the Sunday anison hour, and it fits even better on Haruhi than her bunny costume since it sounds like the character truly throwing out her hopes and ambitions in something more effective than primal scream therapy (take a look at Haruhi's face...fury much?). Hear that, Kon? For that matter, hear that, Thanos?
Aya Hirano（平野綾）is, of course, the seiyuu behind the character and the song with prolific anime lyricist Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composer Satoru Kousaki（神前暁）responsible for the creation of "God knows...".
Ahhh...yes. The inimitable seiyuu Sumire Uesaka（上坂すみれ）. Loves the former Soviet Union, gets easily creeped out by overly gooey compliments to her, and has some of the more extreme reactions that I've seen and heard from any celebrity on either side of the Pacific. Plus she's popped up on a lot of anime that my buddy has introduced to me over the years such as "Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai!"（中二病でも恋がしたい!...Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions）, but she's also been quite entertaining all by herself.
One day, I was rather curious about how she started out. Now, she did have her performance in the ending theme for Season 1 of the aforementioned "Chūnibyō demo Koi ga Shitai!" during its time in 2012, but her debut single as a solo performer came in April 2013 with "Nanatsu no Umi yori Kimi no Umi" (Your Sea More Than The Seven Seas).
Seeing a few of her music videos, she definitely has her own style but I think she really made a splash for the official video for this first single of hers. I recently watched some YouTube videos of Soviet-era television, and yes, perhaps the intro got some inspiration from that medium. And then the song launches into a carnival-like atmosphere of craziness that pulls in circus music, heavy metal and maybe even ska. Not sure whether the people around her had already figured her out but "Nanatsu" and the video certainly come across as pure Sumipe earworm.
Written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed by Satoru Kousaki（神前暁）,"Nanatsu" was also the opening theme song for the anime "Namiuchigiwa no Muromi-san"（波打際のむろみさん...Muromi of the Shore）which had a year-long run between 2013 and 2014. Uesaka herself also had a role in there as a buddy mermaid with a love of booze.
After several months of waiting following the release of the 60-minute special for "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??"（ご注文はうさぎですか??...Is The Order A Rabbit??）titled "Dear My Sister" in theatres late last year, my anime buddy was finally able to get his hands onto the Blu-Ray (although he did see it at the theatre in Japan when he visited).
Yup, yesterday was the usual biweekly session of anime-and-food, and there was a fair bit of drama mixed in with the comedy for the afternoon part. However, after coming back from dinner (a lot of dumplings and fried rice), my buddy warned me that watching this short movie of the cafe-based adventures of Cocoa, Chino and the rest could potentially plunge me into either sugar shock or cotton-swaddled euphoria. Actually, it wasn't nearly that fatal although it was rather pleasant to see something so harmless that wouldn't even hint at psychological damage.
Heck, even in the rare moments when characters are angry (yes, even Cocoa has a momentary snit), they are cute angry. And any drama generated in "Dear My Sister" was basically at the beginning of the movie with some of the girls overreacting to Cocoa leaving town...for an entire week.
The ending theme for the movie is "Sekai ga Cafe ni Nacchatta!" (The World Has Become A Cafe!). Now, my favourite theme song for the entire "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??" franchise will always be "Daydream Cafe", but "Sekai ga Cafe ni Nacchatta!" is pretty nice and is more reminiscent of the really genki second season opening theme "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）with some of that sunny 60s and some disco thrown in there. No surprise since both songs were written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）who also took care of "Daydream Cafe".
The only difference with "Sekai ga Cafe ni Nacchatta!" is that all of the seiyuu voicing the teen baristas, aka Petit Rabbit's and Chimame Tai are together for perhaps the first time singing a theme song in the form of Petit Rabbit's with beans. And, yes, I would say that they probably would have needed to have downed quite a lot of coffee to record this with the energy that was mustered here.
On the way home, I asked my friend whether there could be another series or another movie from the franchise since one of the characters had hinted the possibility of the baristas going over to Cocoa's smaller hometown to the Hot Bakery. We both later agreed that chances are possible if small since we've heard that most of the material from the original manga has been used up for the original anime and that "Dear My Sister" is a wholly new work not based on the manga. Well, if so, then the movie was a nice way of saying goodbye to everybody in the world of coffee and rabbits.
It's been a bad day-good night for Toronto sports. The Blue Jays lost their 2nd game against the Cleveland Indians in the ALCS (those Texas Rangers are probably snarking "Et tu, Toronto?") in the late afternoon but the rejuvenating Maple Leafs got some good production from the rookies to win their home opener on the ice tonight.
Had a brief talk with a fellow anime fan about the fun to be had from watching "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"（月刊少女野崎くん）when he suggested that I also take a gander at another manga artist-based comedy called "Mangaka-san to Assistant-san to"（マンガ家さんとアシスタントさんと...The Manga Artist and His Assistants） from 2014. With a slight chuckle, I told him that I have already seen it a couple of times and am currently doing a third round since I've enjoyed it so much.
Fair warning, though. Unlike "Nozaki-kun" in which manga artist Nozaki-kun is almost stubbornly clueless about his assistant's major love for him, the artist in "Mangaka-san", Aito, is overflowing way too much with hormones to perverted levels, much to the consternation of most of the women surrounding him. Nozaki-kun and Chiyo-chan would run screaming from Aito's neighbourhood on seeing some of his antics. In fact, my anime buddy who introduced the show to me told me that a lot of jaws initially dropped on finding out that Aito's seiyuu, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka（松岡禎丞）, was willing to go full pervert for this role. And I think the scene above is one of the milder parts although things don't go anywhere into the X rating.
So as such, the opening theme for "Mangaka-san" has slowly wormed its way into my head. This would be "Junsui na Fujunbutsu" (Pure Impurities) sung by the anison aidoru group consisting of seiyuu, StylipS. Written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed by Kyo Takada（高田暁）, the song doesn't break the mold at all in the anison genre; however it is a fun and happy-go-lucky take on how the ladies in Aito's life barely tolerate him but can't seem to let go of him, a topic that has actually been broached within the episodes once or twice. The opening credits for the show even illustrate this. The women often have to resort to violence to quell Aito but they still inevitably run over to his apartment regardless.
"Mangaka-san" keeps it even closer within the family as two of the members of StylipS have roles in the show: senior member Arisa Noto（能登有沙）plays the ever-cranky editor Mihari Otosuna while Miku Ito（伊藤美来）has a recurring role as the younger sister of Aito's chief assistant Sahoto Ashisu as played by creamy-voiced Saori Hayami（早見沙織）.
Rounding out the quartet in the video with Noto and Ito are Moe Toyota（豊田萌絵）and Maho Matsunaga（松永真穂）. Matsunaga actually graduated from the group just a few months ago in May. "Junsui na Fujunbutsu" was released in May 2014 as StylipS' 6th single and peaked at No. 46. Since their debut in 2011, the group has had 8 singles and 3 albums.
Well, it's been quite the sluggish Monday. Humidex of 40 degrees Celsius on the first official day of summer and I had to attend the annual homeowners' meeting of our condo complex. Nope, not exactly the most entertaining time and I left as soon as the "Let's scream at the executive board" segment began. But the Timbits were delicious. In any case, I haven't had a go at the blog for a couple of days and I much prefer hitting the keyboard for this purpose than sitting for a couple of hours witnessing local conflicts.
Yesterday, though, was the usual get-together with my anime buddy and the highlight of the day was watching "Girls und Panzer: The Movie", the 2015 cinematic sequel to one of the sleeper hits of 2012. And yep, if you liked the original anime series, then you will like the movie. Even more characters, even more tanks, tons of banter on the order of "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" and there was an important life lesson that all of us should learn:
WHEN IN DOUBT, GET IT DOWN IN WRITING!!
Plus, there was the usual stuff about gathering everyone together to fight the good fight, blah, blah, blah. And it was totally enjoyable with an amazing full-orchestral version on composer Shiro Hamaguchi's（浜口史郎）"Panzer Vor!". I was pretty much stamping my feet when that came on at the beginning. Speaking about enjoying it, enjoy the above Hollywood-ized trailer for the movie which was only lacking Mr. Movie Trailer Man.
Anyways, what I wanted to talk about was the opening and ending themes for the original anime from 2012. As much as Hamaguchi's amazing renditions of marches and original score enhanced the enjoyment of watching high school girls go on the attack in their tanks, my memory still remembers those two songs since they were so noticeably different from the score.
ChouCho's "DreamRiser", the opening theme to "Girls und Panzer"（ガールズ&パンツァー）could frankly have been the opening theme to any high school anime, but I guess director Tsutomu Mizushima（水島努）must have gone "What the hey...why not my show?" But hey, it did grow on me as time went on. Written by Saori Kodama（こだまさおり）and composed by rino, "DreamRiser" is the singer's 5th single which got its official release in October 2012.
ChouCho was also the singer behind "Starlog", the opening theme to the first entry in the "Prisma Illya" franchise, and like that theme song, "DreamRiser" has got that arrangement with what I call the disco strings that gave a number of songs by the J-R&B divas that nostalgic touch a decade previously. I think it certainly did a fine job helping out introduce the dozens of characters in the opening credits and gave that positive spin of going to school, even one as unique as Oarai Girls' High School.
According to the J-Wiki article on "DreamRiser", the song was approached by ChouCho by bringing together the singer's dreams of becoming a singer and the dreams of the main character of Miho Nishizumi. It got as high as No. 41 on Oricon.
Then, there is the ending theme as sung by the Ankou (Anglerfish) Team from the show. I went with that name for the title line above just to keep things brief but in the Labels section, I have put down all of the 5 seiyuu portraying the plucky main characters from the team:
Mai Fuchigami（渕上舞） -- Miho Nishizumi（西住みほ） Ai Kayano（茅野愛衣） -- Saori Takebe（武部沙織） Mami Ozaki（尾崎真実） -- Hana Isuzu（五十鈴華） Ikumi Nakagami（中上育実） -- Yukari Akiyama（秋山優花里） Yuka Iguchi（井口裕香） -- Mako Reizei（冷泉麻子）
A cute little tune with the ending credits to match, "Enter Enter MISSION!" was a nice way to finish off each episode but by the end of the climactic finale, the song suddenly took on a heart-swelling pride as the victorious Ankou Team paraded through the streets of Oarai. I was even a tad disappointed that the song didn't make an appearance in the movie although there was an orchestral excerpt sometime in the middle. The prolific Aki Hata（畑亜貴）provided the lyrics with Kana Yabuki and Hiroshi Sasaki（矢吹香那・佐々木裕）making the music. I probably wouldn't be surprised if the real Oarai Station had the song playing on the tracks whenever the trains arrived.
I figure that I will have to write about the famous "Ankou Ondo"（あんこう音頭）sometime soon.
Good gravy! Can hardly believe it's been over 10 years since "Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu"（涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱...The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya）, one of the jewels in Kyoto Animation's crown, was first broadcast...time for me to get my rocking chair.
And it's been around 18 months since I actually put up the article about that famous super-catchy and much talked about ending theme from the first season, "Hare Hare Yukai"（ハレ晴レユカイ）by the seiyuu from the show, Aya Hirano, Yuko Goto and Minori Chihara（平野綾・後藤邑子・茅原実里）. Yet, I had always thought of writing about the opening theme for that inaugural season as well but never got around to it until today.
Perhaps "Boken Desho Desho?"(It's an Adventure, Right? Right?) is not quite as earwormy as "Hare Hare Yukai" and there was no adorable choreography in the opening credits for "Haruhi", but I think as an anison, it still holds up quite nicely. Aya Hirano takes care of this one solo, and like "Hare Hare Yukai", the lyricist is Aki Hata（畑亜貴）with Akiko Tomita（冨田暁子）providing the music which seems to have a nice sprinkling of Shibuya-kei in there. Plus it flows smoothly with the fast-paced visuals of the opening credits and has the appropriate title which comes across as something that the often obnoxious Haruhi would say to the long-suffering Kyon.
I found that although "Boken Desho Desho?" didn't quite get the same amount of attention that the ending theme did, it also found a good measure of success on the charts as an anison. It even hit No. 10 on Oricon as Hirano's 2nd single when it was released in April 2006, and spent well over half a year swimming about on the charts. It ended up becoming the 141st-ranked single for the year.
Back last year in July, I wrote about the opening theme for the alt-universe sequel for "Haruhi", "Fure Fure Mirai"（フレ降レミライ）for "Nagato Yuki-chan no Shōshitsu"（長門有希ちゃんの消失...The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan）.
Yes, I guess I'm on the "GochiUsa" kick tonight after writing about "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）earlier. But I came across a rather delightful version of the first opening theme "Daydream Cafe" so would like to show that to you but allow me a little space for some prefacing.
Along with the main female cast of "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）, there are a couple of minor characters. One is Blue Mountain (Midori) Aoyama（青山 ブルーマウンテン）, the somewhat spacey-sounding author as played by Saori Hayami（早見沙織）whom I've seen in other anime such as "Mangaka-san to Ashisutanto-san to"（マンガ家さんとアシスタントさんと...The Comic Artist and Assistants）as the oft-harassed Sahoto Ashisu and "Soul Eater Not!" as the slightly snooty Anya Hepburn. In "GochiUsa", her character of Blue Mountain is truly mellow (maybe that's not just coffee in her cup) although she has a rather disturbing habit of staring at Sharo's lower extremities.
The other character has far less time on the show: Chino's father, Takahiro Kafuu（香風タカヒロ）, the master of Rabbit House the Bar, and a truly amiable ex-soldier with a darn fine voice. He is played by veteran seiyuu Show Hayami（速水奨）, who is incidentally no relation to Saori Hayami (as you can tell from the kanji). I was surprised to find out that he had voiced Maximilian Jenius, the bespectacled ace pilot from the original "Macross" decades back (only knew Max from "Robotech"; can barely remember him from the "Macross" movie).
I tried to find a scene from the anime with the two of them conversing together but couldn't find the particular scene I wanted, but at least I have them in one short video.
Enough prefacing. Purely by accident, I found a version of "Daydream Cafe" on YouTube featuring the Hayamis dueting. I will always enjoy the original by Petit's Rabbits but this cover has got a fun vibe to it. I'm not quite sure if it's an especially upbeat Xmas version or a take of the song filtered through snazzy Shibuya-kei, and I have no idea where it came from (please let me know if any of you know). Still, it's amusing to listen to especially with Takahiro sounding so self-controlled usually on the show.
Well, almost 3 months ago, I put up an article about what could be one of the most diabetes-inducing anison themes of the year with "Tokimeki Poporon"（ときめきポポロン♪） which has been the ending theme for the mellow "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??"（ご注文はうさぎですか？？）
Now that the 2nd series of moe girls in cafes is about to wrap up this weekend, I thought it was as a good time as any to talk about the opening theme "No Poi!" Compared to the adorable "Daydream Cafe" from the 1st series, "No Poi!" has more of a dynamic streak which rather fits the slightly more fantastical opening credits. I would say that there was even a bit of Swinging 60s pop fueling the song created by Aki Hata and Kaoru Okubo（畑亜貴・大久保薫）, the same duo behind "Daydream Cafe".
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
I've got to give my compliments to XLEZZYTECHNIKA, the YouTube uploader and one of the folks who brought the band together to give their extended take on "No Poi!" After listening to this version, I'm now reconsidering whether I like the opening or ending themes better. I had thought that "No Poi!" was in an unenviable position being the 2nd opening theme after the great and still my favourite of all the themes for "GochiUsa", but listening to the full version on a cloud service, I've come to appreciate the joyful aspects of the song especially with the main voice cast being further challenged here.
And as it turned out, "No Poi!" has become the most successful of the themes on Oricon, getting as high as No. 4 on the charts.
NOTE: After a long absence... I'm back, folks! \o/
I
remember the first time I watched/listened to Dempagumi.inc’s (でんぱ組.inc)
“Future Diver” and how bad I felt
after. The worst part was that I liked and watched/listened to it more times.
In the end, I forced myself to erase it from my PC, because I thought it was
too wrong for me to like something like that. It was in December 2011, almost
four years ago.
My
initial experience with Dempagumi.inc was strange. Obviously, they were very
different from AKB48, Perfume, or whatever aidoru group anyone wants to choose.
In fact, the only group that could be mildly compared to Dempagumi.inc was Momoiro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ), but even Momoclo was not that crazy.
Dempagumi.inc’s
“Future Diver” was chaotic and the
video kind of sexualized the girls
in a strange way (not so strange for a moe fan, let’s say), but both the
song and video were also very mesmerizing
and catchy. I just couldn’t get
enough of that, and the only thing I was capable of thinking was how Dempagumi.inc seemed like a group in the
darkest edge of the aidoru world.
Like I said, it was wrong in so many ways... and no, I could never guess they
would turn into a true strong force in the aidoru
world a couple of years later.
“Future
Diver” was not Dempagumi.inc’s debut song, but it was the first one to really
radicalize their Akihabara/otaku gimmick.
And you know what? The song did its job very well, thanks to the arcade-like arrangement, exciting feeling and also the girls’ vocals, which were full of dramaticity and interesting melodic shifts. Let’s say it established Dempagumi.inc’s
style in a great way.
“Future
Diver” is now one of Dempagumi.inc’s
true classics, and they show their affection to the song performing it at
almost every concert. Also, based on the amount of energy the public disposes
everytime the girls are performing it, we can really tell “Future Diver” is
very loved by the fans. Here’s a live performance of it.
“Future Diver” was released as a single in November 2011. It was later included in their debut album “Nee Kiite? Uchuu wo Sukuu no wa, Kitto Osushi... de wa Naku, Dempagumi.inc!” (ねぇきいて?宇宙を救うのは、きっとお寿司…ではなく、でんぱ組.inc!), from December 2011, and also in their second album “WORLD WIDE DEMPA”, from December 2013, but as a re-recorded version (there were some members changes between the original release and this one). The single reached #46 on the Oricon charts. Lyrics were written by Aki Hata (畑亜貴), while music was composed by Masaya Koike (小池雅也). As for the arrangement, Kenichi Maeyamada (前山田健一) was the responsible.
My biweekly Sunday routine of watching anime and eating with my old friend continued, but what was a little more special yesterday is that the new crop of shows for the season got started over the past couple of weeks. "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??"（ご注文はうさぎですか？？）was the first to enter my range (oh my word...those ending credits), but then there was this other one which was pretty much on the other end of the hardboiled-fluffy scale.
My anime buddy told me about "One-Punch Man"（ワンパンマン）, the story of a jaded superhero who can end a fight...and the opponent's life...with just one well-aimed fist. It's basically a god as an X-Man with plenty of tokusatsu city-smashing and an animation style that can wildly range between "Fist of the North Star" and "Chibi Maruko-chan". We saw the first couple of episodes yesterday and they were fun for the snarky banter and timely amounts of grue (I kinda wonder whether Tarentino would like this). My first thought after watching the pilot episode was "Well, I've been missing 'Kill La Kill'...". And to top off some of the satire of the superhero genre, JAM Project comes up with this over-the-(mountain) top opening theme "THE HERO!!" which had me thinking of "Ai wa Torimodose"（愛はとりもどせ）from the aforementioned "Fist of the North Star". The only things missing from "THE HERO!!" were "YOU" and "SHOCK".
I certainly was expecting an opening theme of that caliber and decibel level for "One Punch Man", but after 20 or so minutes of glorious screaming and clobbering (including a uniquely cringeworthy way of offing a human-crab hybrid), my friend and I were caught off-guard by the ending theme. Huh? As a number of YouTube commenters have been remarking, the song could have fit the ending credits for any dozen anime...and not necessarily for the sci-fi genre. It's just this pleasant little semi-technopop tune which could have been delivered with a bunch of azaleas and a chamomile tea grin. But I think that was perhaps part of the producers' overall joke with the show. Just imagine the most notorious scene of "School Days" and then right after the first stab of the knife comes the hilariously soothing Nice Boat sailing through the fjords.
"Hoshi yori Saki ni Mitsukete Ageru" (I Will Search Beyond The Stars) has that incredible title of hokeyness and was created by the prolific duo of Aki Hata and Kenichi Maeyamada（畑亜貴・ 前山田健一）. Plus, it has the voice of one Hiroko Moriguchi（森口博子）.
Perhaps for a lot of folks outside of Japan...and Wikipedia, Moriguchi has been known only as an anison singer, including the entries for the "Gundam" franchise. But for me, her official singing is the part of her long career that I know the least about. Actually, I've known her since my Gunma days over a quarter-century ago as a comedic tarento and impressionist who seemed to appear everywhere almost daily. In fact, I always looked forward to seeing her on TV just to see if she would break down into a soft mass of giggles (the Goldie Hawn of Japan) as she often did. But she was also famous for impersonating a number of female singers which included the distinctive Shizuka Kudo（工藤静香）such as above.
In the early 90s, just after I had left Japan for a few years in Toronto before returning for my far longer stint in Tokyo, she and fellow tarento Kenji Moriwaki（森脇健児）, teamed up to host a half-hour variety show called "Yume ga MORIMORI"（夢がMORIMORI...Dreams with Gusto） which also featured a group of young singing and dancing lads who were being groomed to become something big....I think they were called SMAP or something.
My fellow collaborator JTM has written a little more history on Ms. Giggles in his 80s playlist of anison and drama themes; scroll down to entry No. 6.
The Gundam Café in Akiba. Not sure if Moriguchi ever
showed up here.
I guess this has been the season for bite-sized anime for me. First off, there is the 2-minute "Wakako Zake"（ワカコ酒）whose good old-fashioned theme song "Shiawase no Kaeri Michi"（幸せの帰り路）has been as appetizing as some of the dishes Wakako has been noshing in each episode.
And then there is "Wakaba Girl"（わかば*ガール）whose episodes are only 10 minutes long but also provide a goodly amount of comedy as Wakaba Kohashi, as the proverbial rich fish out of water, struggles happily with being a regular high school girl while her 3 buddies of Moeko, Mao and Nao show her the way. Once again over here, the theme song has also been the extra spice although this one is definitely another earworm.
"Hajimete Girls!" (First Time Girls!) basically laid its eggs in my ear canal right from the beginning pin-pon. Mito（ミト）from the band Clammbon came up with the super-catchy rapid-fire melody (with a bit more rock in the full version) while the prolific Aki Hata（畑亜貴）provided the lyrics. The can't-stand-still music sounds perfect for the goofiness of the show.
Singer Ray, aka Reika Nakayama（中山怜香...according to Wikipedia but her full name isn't listed in J-Wiki）, seems to have a grand ol' time with her 7th single from August 2015. She was born in 1990 in Sapporo, and got the singing bug when she was listening to some of anison goddess Nana Mizuki's（水樹奈々）CDs in her brother's car. Her debut was in 2012 with the song "Sign" as the theme tune for anime "Ano Natsu de Matteru"（あの夏で待ってる...Waiting in the Summer）which peaked at No. 11 on Oricon. As for "Hajimete Girls!", it managed to get as high as No. 21.
One of my recent frustations was not being able to see Riho Iida’s (飯田里穂) live performance in last July’s “Festival do Japão” (Japan’s Festival). It would be my first true aidoru experience, and, who knows, maybe I could take a picture with her. In the end, I couldn't attend the festival, which made me feel a little bit gloomy for a while.
Well,
at least I can listen to the nice songs from her debut album, “rippi-rippi”,
which was released in July 2015. One of them is “Hajimaritai Kanon”, the lead
song.
My
first contact with Riho was watching this music video, but I soon discovered
she’s a famous seiyuu and sexy gravure aidoru, so it was kind of weird to see
her so light and immaculate in the music video for “Hajimaritai Kanon”. However,
as I’m not really in the anime niche, I’ll probably only listen to her as a
cute aidoru, so it’s okay. Well, I’m a liar... I will also see some of her
bikini shoots sometimes as well.
“Hajimaritai Kanon” is not revolutionary by any means, and is quite a plain pop song driven mostly
by acoustic intruments, which is something I usually avoid when listening to
21th century aidoru music. However, there are some lovely and dreamy synths
being used here and there through the song, and I especially like when their
sound appears between the first chorus and the second verses.
As
for the lovely Riho Iida, her vocals are cute, but not very high-pitched, so
that’s a good reason for trying out her full album. Believe me, she’s not overly
“saccharine” as one might expect. Songs like “Love Motion” and “Stargazer”, for
example, are great options for newcomers.
Lyrics
were written by Hata Aki (畑亜貴),
while music was composed by Yasuo Sakai (酒井康男).
