Tama -- Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta（あっけにとられた時のうた）

 

As has been the case for many years now, we've been watching "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）on the telly via TV Japan. However, speaking for myself, it seems as if the title character, Maruko, has been acting more and more bratty in recent episodes. I mean, that's been part of her personality right from her time in the original manga, but it just appears that she's embraced more of her dark side for some reason, and it's approaching the point where I'm wondering whether she's really worth watching. Mind you, though, she does get her comeuppance at the end of the escapade.

In any case, let's leave my little rant for the anime as it is in the early 2020s and return to a few decades earlier. Yes, indeed, "Chibi Maruko-chan" has been around that long. In fact, there was a time that there was no variation of "Odoru Ponpokorin" （おどるポンポコリン）, which is pretty much the permanent theme song now, that appeared for the opening or closing credits. Around the mid-1990s, the opening theme was the breezy Shibuya-kei of "Humming ga Kikoeru"（ハミングが聞こえる）by Kahimi Karie（カヒミカリィ）. But the ending was as different as could be.

I wrote about the eccentric folksy pop group Tama（たま）back in the mid-2010s on the blog, thanks to their 1990 hit "Sayonara Jinrui" （さよなら人類）and then I also remembered the band's "Ozone no Dance" （オゾンのダンス）in the same year. Well, 1990 was pretty much their heyday, but in 1996, Tama released a typically Tama-like tune in the form of "Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" (The Encounter Song) which was used as the ending theme for "Chiba Maruko-chan" at that time.

Given lyrics by the manga author, Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, herself and composed by Tama mandolin-playing member Toshiaki Chiku (知久寿焼), "Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" is a comically folksy tune about some members of the Sakura family and their individual encounters during the day and night, shaped by their personalities. That plays out during the ending credits, and it's up to our imaginations whether it was Sakura's lyrics that defined the credit sequence or vice versa. The sing-songy nature of the vocals and the melody probably had the kids dancing and singing around.

"Akke ni Torareta Toki no Uta" was released as Tama's 11th single in June 1996 and peaked at No. 69 on Oricon. It was also placed as a track on the band's 7th album "Tama" which came out later in September.

PUFFY -- Susume Nonsense（すすめナンセンス）

 

Up until last week, the ending theme for "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）that we've been seeing in the end credits has been Keisuke Kuwata's（桑田佳祐）summery "Hyaku-man Nen no Shiawase!!" （100万年の幸せ!!）. I wondered then how far back we were in the episodes for the long-running anime as they were run on TV Japan. Well, I found out that "Hyaku-man Nen no Shiawase!!" was played between April 2012 and October 2017. 

(Sorry but the video has been taken down)

I guess we here in Toronto are three years behind since tonight a few hours ago, we got a look-see at the next ending credit sequence following Kuwata, and this time around it's good ol' PUFFY. It's been two years since I've had Ami and Yumi back aboard "Kayo Kyoku Plus", so welcome them back.

Instead of the O-hanami picnic setting with the Southern all Stars leader, the ending credits have gone for the happily wacky adventure involving Maruko and her best buddy Tamae with PUFFY popping up here and there. The ending theme is "Susume Nonsense" which could mean either "Recommended Nonsense" or "Go Ahead, Nonsense". In any case, it seems like the perfect combination of happy PUFFY pop-rock and Chibi Maruko-chan music with words by the late Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, the creator of the original "Chibi Maruko-chan" manga, and music by Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）.

"Susume Nonsense" started its run on "Chibi Maruko-chan" from October 2017 but it didn't get its digital download single release until December 2018, and as of this date, it's their most recent single. To further show how far behind we viewers in Canada are, another ending theme, and I assume, ending credits sequence have already popped up from last October. Still, it's refreshing to get a new song and sequence after five years with Kuwata.

Marina Watanabe -- Ureshii Yokan（うれしい予感）

The anime "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）on Fuji-TV has become as much of a Sunday evening televised institution as "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）has although the latter's history has been much longer. Still, I remember watching the first year of the program from 1990 whose first run lasted almost 3 years before going on a hiatus for just as long. Then, it came back in 1995 and hasn't looked back since then.

This morning, the breaking news that came in on NHK's "News Watch at Nine" was that the author behind the original manga, Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, had passed away on August 15th from cancer at the age of 53. Usually, NHK wouldn't mention any program that was on a commercial network, and they didn't mention Fuji-TV by name, but they did mention about the long-running anime.

It was a pretty big shock since I had no idea that Sakura had ever been sick and especially since I do catch "Chibi Maruko-chan" with the rest of the family on Sunday nights here on TV Japan when I am at home on those nights. Maruko may act like a brat from time to time but it's still relaxing viewing to see the Sakura family in their home in Shizuoka in the 1970s.

The news is even sadder because just a couple of years earlier, the seiyuu who had played Maruko's older sister, Sakiko, Yuko Mizutani（水谷優子）, had passed away from cancer as well at around the same age. And then there was the recent passing of 70s aidoru Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）who was a frequent presence on the show as the heartthrob that both Maruko and Sakiko were massively in love with, especially the latter.

It's hard to believe but there was a time when "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）wasn't the de facto opening theme song for "Chibi Maruko-chan". It had started out as the ending theme during the show's first run with the opening theme being the very nice "Yume Ippai"（ゆめいっぱい）by Yumiko Seki（関ゆみ子）. There were a number of other opening themes before "Odoru Ponpokorin" permanently became the song in its various cover versions for the opening credits from 2000 (although "Odoru Ponpokorin" served as opening theme for over a year between 1998 and 1999).

The first opening theme for the second and current run when "Chibi Maruko-chan" returned to TV in 1995 was ex-Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）member Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）"Ureshii Yokan" (A Happy Premonition). Veteran listeners of Japanese popular music could probably pick up that this was an Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）tune right from the jingly melody which includes the chorus arrangement by Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）. Sakura herself wrote the lyrics.

"Ureshii Yokan" was Watanabe's 16th and second-last single to date and was released in February 1995. Ohtaki's old bandmate from Happy End, Shigeru Suzuki（鈴木茂）, was on guitar during the recording, and the surprising thing I read on the song's J-Wiki article was that Ohtaki borrowed the intro riff and perhaps the harmonica solo by Toshiaki Chiku（知久寿焼）from The Beatles' "Please Please Me". The single managed to get as high as No. 31 on Oricon and was also placed as a track on Watanabe's 9th studio album, "Ring-A-Bell", released in March 1996, which was also produced by the late Ohtaki.

As sad as her untimely passing is, Sakura has left her legacy of manga, songs and the anime for us to enjoy for many more years.

ManaKana -- Jaga Bata Kon-san (じゃがバタコーンさん)

It was a nice family birthday dinner tonight up north followed up by some birthday cheesecake at my brother's place. Then my niece and I played the updated version of The Game of Life. It's quite different from the one that my brother and I used to have way back when...certainly a fair bit smaller. You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned Game 3 of the American League Division Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers or the other potentially bloody battle tonight, namely the 2nd debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Well, frankly I can do without the increase in my blood pressure so I'm happy just to listen to some jazz and write an article for the blog.

To start off, over the last few years, the latest child actor to make her grand presence known onscreen is Mana Ashida（芦田愛菜）. Actually she's been famous for the past number of years now and she's just on the cusp of becoming a teenager at the age of 12. Doing the usual round of dramas, commercials and even some music, she's even done one Hollywood movie with her short appearance in the sci-fi adventure "Pacific Rim" as the child version of the Mako Mori character portrayed by Rinko Kikuchi（菊地凛子）.

Now if you think the topic of this article deals with Ms. Ashida according to the title, you would be mistaken. Mana-chan was just a helpful segue to introduce twin sisters who were themselves the IT children of the day on TV a couple of decades ago. Mana Mikura and Kana Mikura（三倉茉奈・三倉佳奈）were these brightly smiling siblings from Osaka who hit it big right from the age of 5 in the early 1990s. They also did the round of dramas, commercials and music...

....which included their fourth single, the foodie-inspired "Jaga Bata Kon-san" (Mr. Potato Butter Corn) that became the sixth ending theme for the long-running anime "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）. I had completely forgotten about this song which was created by the creator of the original manga Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）. This came out in July 1998 when ManaKana (the name of their unit when they were singing at the time) were 12 at the time, and it's this wacky fuzzy electro-rock thingie that came with choreography provided by the characters. Anything to get the fans dancing, I guess.

Folks in Idaho can live happily since their fine product of potatoes has been given a shoutout in the song which was arranged by Keigo 'Cornelius' Oyamada（小山田圭吾）, formerly of Flipper's Guitar. I did think that there was a hint of Shibuya-kei in there.

Some eighteen years later, I still see the sisters from time to time on TV Japan mostly through an NHK noon hour variety series "Variety Seikatsu Sho Hyakka"（バラエティー生活笑百科...Laughter & The Law） which features situations that need a legal decision which the celeb guests guess at before the legal eagle of the week provides the correct answer. I can also add that they have retained those wide smiles.

Keisuke Kuwata -- Hyaku-man Nen no Shiawase!! （100万年の幸せ!!）

Hard to believe that after first watching the adventures and misadventures of one Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）on TV in Gunma 25 years ago, I'm still watching the show with the family here in Toronto on Sunday nights. "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）is that nice slice-of-life anime about Sakura's childhood in 1970s Japan but it can also have quite the level of spiky snark in it among the characters including Maruko herself. She is often the sympathetic heroine but can also be the sneaky little brat who gets her comeuppance at the end of the episode.

I'm not sure how up-to-date the episodes coming here to Toronto have been, although not too long ago, we were getting eps which started with the 20th-anniversary commemoration, so probably circa 2010. However, over the last few months, I'm pretty sure we are now getting "Chibi Maruko-chan" from at least since 2012 because that is when the latest ending theme was released.

For a few years, I was accustomed to seeing the ending credits featuring Maruko's voice actress, TARAKO, and the comic duo Bakusho Mondai singing that loony tune. Therefore, it was a bit surprising to catch the new ending credits with the Ohanami setting and a happy laidback song by none other than Southern All Stars' leader, Keisuke Kuwata（桑田佳祐）crooning "Hyaku-man Nen no Shiawase!!" (A Million Years of Happiness!!) who even appears in the credits.

Composed by the singer and written by the creator of the original manga, Sakura, unlike some of the more frenetic themes from the past by folks like Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）and B.B. Queens, "Hyaku-man Nen no Shiawase!!" is just a sunny hammock-friendly piece which is well illustrated by all of the characters in the ending credits enjoying their respective picnics on the grass. I never imagined I would ever hear Kuwata doing a "Chibi Maruko-chan" theme song but I guess we are all mellowing. The song was released as a track on his July 2012 BEST album, "I LOVE YOU -now & forever-" which hit No. 1 and later became the 6th-ranked album for the year, going Triple Platinum.

Futako-Tamagawa Station

Hideki Saijo -- Hashire Shoujiki Mono （走れ正直者）

Wow! Hideki Saijo's（西城秀樹）66th single...the man's had a career and he would continue to do so, releasing a total of 86 singles up to 2006.

If I asked anyone in Japan about a song from the anime "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）, the answer would naturally be "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン）by B.B. Queens which just happened to become Song No. 1 for 1990. However, I have also covered some of the other lesser-known opening and ending themes for the long-running show such as Yumiko Seki's（関ゆみ子）bright and breezy "Yume Ippai"（ゆめいっぱい）and Kahimi Karie's（カヒミカリィ）jazzy "Humming ga Kikoeru"（ハミングが聞こえる）.

Well, I completely forgot about Hideki's contribution. In fact, it was the 2nd ending theme song after the aforementioned "Odoru Ponpokorin". "Hashire Shoujiki Mono" (Run, Honest Guy) came out in April 1991, and once again, as with the super-hit from last year, the collaborators here were composer Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）and lyricist/creator of the original "Chibi Maruko-chan" manga, Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）.

But instead of the comical pop of "Odoru", Oda and Sakura decided to give "Hashire Shoujiki Mono" a peppy ska beat. And that is, of course, Saijo's distinctive nasal vocals behind Sakura's loopy lyrics. I'm not sure how the veteran singer was approached to do the song but the inspiration must have been pretty easy since Saijo has had a presence in "Chibi Maruko-chan" since the show is set in the 1970s and Maruko-chan's big sister, Sakiko, is the biggest fan of Mr. YMCA. I found the title a tad ironic as well since the lead character, who happens to be the alter ego of the author, has the penchant for "embellishing" the truth from time to time (I can only imagine Maruko doing a home stay with The Simpsons in Springfield).

I was surprised to find out from the J-Wiki article that "Hashire Shoujiki Mono" is supposedly the first J-ska song to become a hit in Japan, although the genre was starting to get its feet wet in the late 80s. Still, when I think of bands like LA-PPISCH and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, the information was an eye-opener for me. The song peaked at No. 17 and was also on Saijo's 1991 album, "Mad Dog". Perhaps it wasn't the monster hit that "Odoru" was, but it was still good to hear a 90s Hideki hit for the first time in a long while.

Kahimi Karie -- Humming ga Kikoeru （ハミングが聞こえる）

Considering that the long-running anime "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）and its most famous theme song "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン） are pretty much tied at the hip, it's hard to imagine any other song being associated with it. And yet, for a brief time in the mid-90s, there was an opening theme that was truly different.

The ethereal beauty queen of Shibuya-kei, Kahimi Karie（カヒミカリィ） came up with "Humming ga Kikoeru" (I Can Hear Humming) in 1996, a short and fun piece of pop cultural nostalgia which brings together the opening notes of 60s US sitcom, "That Girl", Stephane Grappelli's violin and some old-style French pop. And of course, there are the breathy vocals of Karie.

The official video for "Humming ga Kikoeru" has Karie traipsing nonchalantly around a room of stuff to play with while filmed in a black-&-white that reminded me of some of those old French TV dramas that I inexplicably watched as a kid on Canada's CBLFT-25. The singer certainly got the tone right. And from watching the video, I certainly feel like skipping down to the nearest boulangerie to grab a croissant and café au lait.

And just for nostalgia's sake, here is the opening from "That Girl". Man, that show takes me back to my diapers!

Yumiko Seki -- Yume Ippai （ゆめいっぱい）

It's amazing how much time has flown by since the cheeky anime girl from Shizuoka known formally as Momoko Sakura (aka Chibi Maruko-chan) first made that leap from the pages of her namesake author onto Sunday nights on Fuji-TV. I still see it from time to time on TV Japan on Sunday nights here. Apparently, she and her entire family have aged as much as the gang from Peanuts has.

Of course, when one thinks of music for "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）, the first choice will always be the massively successful "Odoru Ponpokorin"（おどるポンポコリン...Dancing Ponpokoｒin) by B.B. Queens, the song that currently starts the program off. However, way back in 1990 when it first premiered, it was the ending theme. Instead, the opening theme was Yumiko Seki's（関ゆみ子） "Yume Ippai" (Full of Dreams).

The song had this interesting melodic mix of 60s British pop (when Seki launched into the lyrics, the tune reminded me of The Seekers' "Georgy Girl") and summertime Japanese pop of the 80s, namely the songs that TUBE had done. No surprise there since it was written by singer/songwriter Tomoko Aran（亜蘭知子） and composed by Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎）, both compatriots of the famous summer band led by Nobuteru Maeda（前田亘輝）. And strangely enough, whenever I heard Seki's voice, I thought she had a hint of early Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子） in there.

For those who may not have seen the earliest years of "Chibi Maruko-chan", here are the original opening credits with Seki's "Yume Ippai". The credits are nostalgic in that Maruko appeared in somewhat rougher and more laid-back form than the usual frenetic hijinks she's involved in during the more recent openings, although the 1990 credits also had her enjoying her fantasies.

Yumiko Seki was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada and lived in a number of other places with her family such as the United States and Hong Kong before returning to Japan for good just in time to enter the graduating year of high school. Not long after that, she auditioned for the talent agency, Being Incorporated, in 1987 and passed. And in April 1990, her debut single "Yume Ippai" was released just a few months after the show had begun. The single peaked at a far more modest No. 50 compared to its sister song "Odoru Ponpokorin" which ended up as the No. 1 song of the year, but for me, because it is such a little-heard song now, it still occupies a good place in my heart and mind.

Seki would release only one more single and two albums over the next couple of years, but she did join a vocal group, Beaches, for a couple of years and has expanded into stage acting, songwriting, narrating work and even hatmaking. Currently, she is known as Yumiko Arima（有馬ゆみこ）.

B.B. Queens -- Odoru Ponpokorin （おどるポンポコリン）

People know when the weekend is almost up when the 6 p.m. hour arrives on Fuji-TV on Sunday night, and the twin anime of "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん）and "Sazae-san"（サザエさん）start up.

"Chibi Maruko-chan"(Tiny Little Maruko) was a shojo manga first created in 1986 by Momoko Sakura（さくらももこ）, and depicts the life of a young and slightly cheeky girl named Maruko Sakura in suburban Japan of the mid-1970s. It was basically a semi-autobiographical account of the author's life as a girl back in those days. As with the much older "Sazae-san" series, it gained its popularity due to its nostalgic, down-home style. In 1990, Fuji-TV picked "Chibi Maruko-chan"up as an anime series for an initial run of 2 years, and then started it up again in 1995. In terms of ratings, the show attained a whopping 39.9% of the audience, the highest ratings ever garnered by an anime at that time.

The original ending theme of the show also enjoyed similar fame. "Odoru Ponpokorin"(Dancing Ponpokorin) was composed by singer Tetsuro Oda（織田哲郎） (known for composing hits for rocker Nanase Aikawa and summer band TUBE) and written by Momoko Sakura herself. And the band making their first single all come alive was the unit B.B Queens, a happy-go-lucky amalgam of otherwise serious musicians.

The band name was a riff on the blues singer B.B. King. The main vocal is Osaka-born Yuiko Tsubokura（坪倉唯子）who has had a career since 1979 as a studio musician and backup vocal (Miyuki Nakajima, Misato Watanabe) but also has had her own solo career as a pop singer. For "Odoru Ponpokorin", Tsubokura sings it as if she were Chibi Maruko-chan, and looks like a combination of Mrs. Doubtfire and former First Lady of Japan Miyuki Hatoyama.

Her partner is Fusanosuke Kondo（近藤房之助）, a blues-and-rock singer who hails from Aichi Prefecture and has been in the music business since 1976 when he started with the band BREAK DOWN. He barks his vocals in a loud rasp and looks like a psychedelic Snidely Whiplash. The trio of backup vocals for B.B. Queens ended up becoming the neo-retro group Mi-ke a couple of years later. Both Kondo and Tsubokura have their own songs on YouTube, and they sound very, very different.

Here are the ending credits to the original run of "Chibi Maruko-chan" in 1990. As I said, "Odoru Ponpokorin" became a huge hit when it was released in April. It was the No. 1 song for July and September, and eventually became the No. 1 song of the year, staying on the charts for 54 straight weeks. The creators of the song, Oda and Sakura earned Japan Music Awards, and of course, an appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen was a foregone conclusion. It sold close to 2 million discs as a single and is included on the band's debut album, "We are B.B. Queens" which got as high as No. 32 on the Oricon weeklies. And of course, I'm sure karaoke box and bar owners were also very grateful to the band.