Aki Toyosaki, Maaya Uchida, Ayane Sakura, Miku Ito and Momo Asakura -- Akai Sweet Pea (赤いスイートピー）

 

Wow! All this time knowing the song "Akai Sweet Pea" (Red Sweet Pea) by Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and the above 1910 painting is the first time I get to see a real red sweet pea. This is by Edward H. Mitchell (1867–1932) and it's in the public domain according to Wikimedia Commons.

One other thing that I found out on the first episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）in 2026 last night was that "Akai Sweet Pea" is celebrating its 44th anniversary today since its release in 1982. Well, of course, I wrote up an article on one of Seiko-chan's evergreen hits all the way back in 2012 so I can't really repeat myself. However, I did look up the many cover versions of "Akai Sweet Pea" via J-Wiki and found this one.

It is indeed a very sweet version via the December 2020 album "VOICE ~ Seiyuu-tachi ga Utau Matsuda Seiko Song ~ Female Edition"（VOICE〜声優たちが歌う松田聖子ソング〜 Female Edition...Voice Actresses Sing the Songs of Seiko Matsuda）. As the title says, a whole bunch of the big guns in the anime voice actress industry came together to provide their own versions of Matsuda's music. Their take on "Akai Sweet Pea" is the 12th and final track on the album and it is an appropriately stately but adorable cover sung by all of the seiyuu involved in the project to wrap things up: Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）, Ayane Sakura（佐倉綾音）, Miku Ito（伊藤美来）and Momo Asakura（麻倉もも）. Probably not a dry eye in the house.

Anyways, all hail "Akai Sweet Pea"! All hail Seiko-chan!

Sayonara Ponytail/Houkago Tea Time -- Tenshi ni Fureta yo!（天使にふれたよ！）

 

I have covered the female group Sayonara Ponytail（さよならポニーテール）a few times in the past, including their "Shin Sekai Koukyougaku"（新世界交響楽）which was one ending theme to the truly chaotic anime "Kill La Kill"（キルラキル）.

Just by happenstance, I stumbled across another song by this mystery group whose members have apparently never appeared live in concert or through any other visual media. They may not have even seen each other...at least as a full group. But anyways, there is much to like about their "Tenshi ni Fureta yo!" (We Met An Angel!) which was written by Emi Inaba（稲葉エミ）and composed by Susumu Kawaguchi（川口進）. It's got a nice groove but also has this wistfulness which comes with being reminded of those salad days in school. Plus, I like the illustrations accompanying the video which make it look like the disparate members of SayoPony actually hung out together all those years. The song was a bonus track on the group's three-disc album "Enban Utopia"（円盤ゆ～とぴあ...Disc Utopia） which was released in November 2015.

The crazy thing is that the SayoPony song is actually a cover of an insert song from the popular anime "K-ON". I'd always heard about this show from my anime buddy but never got to see it although it's gained quite the reputation over the years since it was first shown in 2009. I was surprised by the original version that was performed by the in-universe band Houkago Tea Time（放課後ティータイム...Afterschool Tea Time） with its different pop-rock flavour as performed by Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Yoko Hikasa（日笠陽子）, Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）and Minako Kotobuki（寿美菜子）, seiyuu that have become very familiar to me through other roles in other anime. "Tenshi ni Fureta yo!" was placed as a track on the October 2010 album "Houkago Tea Time Second"（放課後ティータイムII）.

Onyanko Club/Sphere -- Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai（夏休みは終わらない）

 

Ah, yes...the kids are out on summer vacation for the next several weeks. When we were little, we had the same attitude of fun and relaxation, too, and of course, we rued the arrival of Labour Day in September since beyond that was the beginning of another school semester. 

I didn't know about this particular song by the 1980s aidoru supergroup Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）titled "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai" (Endless Summer Vacation), but it's a pretty funky number by the gang. Written by Onyanko Club (and later AKB48) guru Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）, composed by Ken Takahashi（高橋研）and arranged by Jun Sato（佐藤準）, "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai" was a track on the Club's 3rd original album, the Oricon No. 3-ranking "Panic The World" from July 1986. Just for the record, the four members fronting the song were Kazuko Utsumi（内海和子）, Ruriko Nagata（永田ルリ子）, Yukiko Iwai（岩井由紀子）and Marina Watanabe（渡辺満里奈）.

Actually, the first time I did hear of "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai" was from a cover insert song version done for the 2012 anime "Natsuiro Kiseki"（夏色キセキ...Summer-Coloured Miracle）. This was a mere YouTube discovery by chance; I never caught the show myself and I don't recall my anime buddy ever mentioning it. However, it did have seiyuu who are now veterans of the art: Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, Ayahi Takagaki（高垣彩陽）, Haruka Tomatsu（戸松遥）and Minako Kotobuki（寿美菜子）. I get the impression from the premise that "Natsuiro Kiseki" was a mix of magic, slice-of-life and "Stand By Me". The animation style has me thinking a PreCure series without the PreCure powers or situations.

Whether it was by lucky happenstance or not, the four main seiyuu also happen to be members of the pop group Sphere（スフィア）and so they apparently handled all of the main songs including "Natsu Yasumi wa Owaranai". This version seems to have more of the dance beats and synthesizers going on full thrusters, thanks to Masaya Yamaguchi's（山口雅也）arrangement. For some reason, the song reminds me somewhat of "Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu"（ふたりのきもちのほんとのひみつ）, the ending theme for "Kill Me Baby" which was another 2012 anime.

Chinatsu Akasaki, Haruka Tomatsu & Aki Toyosaki -- Seishun no Reverb（青春のリバーブ）

Exactly two months ago, I wrote about the earworm that is the opening theme for "Joshi Kōsei no Mudazukai"（女子高生の無駄づかい...Wasteful Days of High School Girls）, and almost two weeks ago, I pulled the trigger and bought the single for "Wa! Moon! dass! cry!"（輪！Moon！dass！cry！）. Well, it finally came two days ago and it seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. Just a pity to hear that the show aired its final episode at about the same time.

As much as I loved the catchy and nutty "Wa! Moon! dass! cry!" opener, it took quite a while (basically nearly the entire run of the show) for the ending to finally rub off on me. I wouldn't be surprised if the ending theme "Seishun no Reverb" (Reverb of Youth) may have taken on feelings of inferiority when compared to its overachieving opening cousin. However, hearing the ending over and over for the past several weeks and then listening to the whole version online made me realize that this is also a pretty decent tune itself.

Sung as well by the three main seiyuu, Chinatsu Akasaki（赤﨑千夏）, Haruka Tomatsu（戸松遥）and Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）, "Seishun no Reverb" has been described as being very relaxed. I would also agree and it makes for a pleasant counterpoint to the anarchy of the opener. Plus, despite the contemporary nature of the song, there is also something in the melody that reminds me of certain kayo in the old days. If "Wa! Moon! dass! cry!" is the crazed school prom before graduation then "Seishun no Reverb" is the car ride home after midnight with perhaps the seniors suddenly thinking with some dread and anticipation "...the future". The song was written and composed by Agasa.K.

Let's hope that there may be a second season in the near future.

Chinatsu Akasaki, Haruka Tomatsu & Aki Toyosaki -- Wa! Moon! dass! cry!（輪！Moon！dass！cry！）

Another anime Sunday has come and gone. One of the other comedic shows that seem to have popped in fairly good quantity for Summer 2019 is "Joshi Kōsei no Mudazukai"（女子高生の無駄づかい...Wasteful Days of High School Girls）. It's been compared to a 2012 anime called "Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou"（男子高校生の日常...Daily Lives of High School Boys） in which for both shows, the episodes deal with zany students doing and saying zany things. I never saw "Danshi" but with "Joshi", I've been seeing it as a series about high school girls who seem to want to join the Yoshimoto Kogyo comedy troupe once they graduate (...if they graduate).

The opening theme is still a couple of days away (July 24th) from being released for sale, but I couldn't help but jump the gun since "Wa! Moon! dass! cry!" (Ring! Moon! That (German) Cry!) has become an earworm as much as the opening/ending themes for another Summer 2019 show, "Danberu Nan-Kiro Moteru?"（ダンベル何キロ持てる?） have. I think the zany title is a play on the final word of the title.

Performed by the three main seiyuu Chinatsu Akasaki（赤﨑千夏）, Haruka Tomatsu（戸松遥）and Aki Toyosaki（豊崎愛生）as this anarchic and catchy semi-rap as if their high school characters of Baka, Wota and Robo were just freestyle singing in the nearest karaoke box, I can only imagine how many practice runs they did in the recording booth. And just wait for the full-length version. "Wa! Moon! dass! cry!" was written and created by Shingo Yamazaki（山崎真吾）, the same fellow behind the ending theme for  "Gabriel Dropout" (ガヴリールドロップアウト),  "Hallelujah Essaim" (ハレルヤ☆エッサイム).

What also helps are the opening credits especially when there's that extended part of all of the characters floating up in the air while on their way to school.