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.

Tontokoton Staff -- Maid Dai Kaiten（メイド大回転）

 

Well, we're just about halfway through the current anime season and that includes the gritty-as-sand but frilly-as-frills show "Akiba Meido Senso"（アキバ冥途戦争...Akiba Maid War）. The series has been following the pattern of a typical yakuza movie but instead of thugs, we have maids battling it out. At the same time, there has also been a goodly amount of fun music coming out of this as well. So far on the blog, it's been the homicidally hilarious "Junjou Maid Bukkoroshi Kiss"（純情メイドぶっころ主KISS）in the standout scene of Episode 1 and the ending theme "Meido no Komori Uta"（冥途の子守唄）which is in the same vein of the downtrodden-but-unbowed type of Mood Kayo of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Now, let's tackle the opening. First off, those opening credits with all of us entering the tough-and-bloody streets of Akihabara communicate to us in those one minute and forty-odd seconds about what the whole premise is right down to the combination of aprons and arms and of course, the power walk of the staff of the Tontokoton Maid Cafe（メイドカフェ とんとことん）which ought to bring a smile to the face of Quentin Tarentino.

As for that opening theme, it's "Maid Dai Kaiten" (Giant Maid Slalom) by the Tontokoton staff themselves. We have Reina Kondo（近藤玲奈）as the scared newbie Nagomi (although after Episode 6, there may be changes ahead for her), Rina Sato（佐藤利奈）as the hardened warrior Ranko, Minami Tanaka（田中美海）as the alternately sweet-and-snarky Yumechi, Tomoyo Kurosawa（黒沢ともよ）as the gyaru maid Shiipon, Jenya（ジェーニャ）as the Russian battle maid Zoya, and Ayahi Takagaki（高垣彩陽）as the scheming manager Yasuko Yaegashi. Words and music were provided by SHIBU and Getamono Land Keiei Senryaku Shitsu（ケダモノランド経営戦略室...Beast Land Administrative Strategies Office）, the latter of which produced the show.

One YouTube commenter pointed it out well that "Maid Dai Kaiten" is a hard techno piece that seems to have come out of the "Matrix" franchise, and the contrast between those dark beats and the typical Maid Cafe patter works well, both as something oddly kakkoii and tongue-in-cheek. However, the main chorus then launches into something major chord upbeat and aidoru-esque. Maybe that means there is hope around the corner for the Tontokoton maids. Regardless, there are a couple of music snippets that have also popped up; I hope that they get their due as full-fledged songs soon enough on the soundtrack.