Fruit Tart -- Nezumi Sentai Nezu Ranger（ネズミ戦隊ネズレンジャー）

 

I was doing some maintenance with hard drives and stuff, and I got to my anime one where I got to see the first episode of  "Ochikobore Fruit Tart"（おちこぼれフルーツタルト...Dropout Idol Fruit Tart） for the first time in a few years. This 2020 coming-of-age comedy starring a quintet of girls trying to become an aidoru group was funny and it came out at a time when all of us could do with a lot of funny somehow, somewhere and sometime.

The last time I wrote anything having to do with the anime was back in late 2021 when I provided the article for the ending theme "Wonder!"（ワンダー!）. Of course, there were a few other insert songs which I covered, but I had completely forgotten one that showed up near the end of the first episode. "Nezumi Sentai Nezu Ranger" (The Mouse Rangers of the Mouse Squadron). Initially introduced as the unofficial theme song for the girls' dormitory, Mouse House, the four (at the time) residents got together to perform this adorable tokusatsu tune as their first Fruit Tart tune in front of the neighbourhood train station. Lyricist Sasa Ando（安藤紗々）and composer Eiko Shimamiya（島みやえい子）took care of the song.

Fruit Tart -- Wonder!（ワンダー!）

 

Well, I figured that since I already have most of the major songs up from the 2020 anime "Ochikobore Fruit Tart"（おちこぼれフルーツタルト...Dropout Idol Fruit Tart）, I really should complete the set thus far with the ending theme.

Kadokawa Anime's YouTube channel has uploaded both the opening and closing credits here with the latter coming on at about 1:27. There have been announcements about sequels to popular anime, so I'm hoping that perhaps the same might occur with "Fruit Tart".

In any case, "Wonder!" is the ending theme with the entire aidoru group Fruit Tart performing through their seiyuu: Risa Kubota（久保田梨沙）, Hiyori Nitta（新田ひより）, Haruka Shiraishi（白石晴香）, Reina Kondo（近藤玲奈）and Kyoko Moriya（守屋亨香）. According to the J-Wiki article for the show, "Wonder!" incorporates some chip tune elements to create some feeling of retro video games alongside the rock guitar. Sasa Ando（安藤紗々）wrote the lyrics as she did for the opening theme, "Kibou Darake no EVERYDAY"（キボウだらけのEVERYDAY）while Yamato（大和）provided the melody and arrangement.

Fruit Tart -- Mezase! Curry No. 1!（目指せ!カレーNo.1!）

 

I've been eating rice curry since I was a kid but it was only when I hit university that I discovered how many different varieties of curry there are. And then, there is the fact that the Japanese love their curry so much including the kinds from India, Thailand and other nations. A number of times per year, I used to go with friends to Tokyo's Indian restaurants with a curry buffet going. In fact, the last time that I was in Japan in late 2017, my friend took me to a small neighbourhood place near his apartment where I had the above Butter Chicken Curry which went very well with freshly made naan.

Now, I know that the second season of "Zombieland Saga" is going at warp speed with tons of new songs and fans including my anime buddy. As such, I will eventually get to seeing those episodes but right now, I've only finished up on that other aidoru saga from the Fall 2020 season, "Ochikobore Fruit Tart"（おちこぼれフルーツタルト...Dropout Idol Fruit Tart）. It was also very enjoyable although I do worry about the characters' romantic life in the years to follow.

There seems to be an overarching theme of food when it comes to "Ochikobore Fruit Tart", beginning with the name of the aidoru group itself, and then there was the first catchy tune to be born from the show, "Broko no Uta"（ブロ子の歌）that grabbed my buddy's ears and never let go. Well, another insert song that seems to have caught on fire with the fandom (including me) is "Mezase! Curry No. 1!" (Go For It! Curry No. 1!). It was performed in front of the audience which was initially caught off-guard by its curry-themed nature before they finally got into it.

If the fans only knew that curry was almost the only thing that Fruit Tart could afford to eat at Mouse House, but it looks like Roko, Ino and the rest of Fruit Tart were accustomed to the sameness of their diet and it did lead to one catchy number. In the real world, "Mezase! Curry No. 1!" was written by Sasa Ando（安藤紗々）, the same lyricist responsible for the other songs provided on the show including the themes, and it was composed by Yamato（大和）. 

The crazy thing is that the overall beat of "Mezase! Curry No. 1!" reminds me of another anison from 2012, "Taiyo Iwaku Moeyo Chaos" （太陽曰く燃えよカオス）for the anime "Haiyore! Nyaruko-san" (Nyaruko: Crawling With Love), and as I mentioned in that article, "Taiyo Iwaku Moeyo Chaos" had been inspired by "Dschingis Khan" by the band Dschingis Khan. Talk about things that make me go "Hmmmm...".

Fruit Tart -- Kibou Darake no EVERYDAY（キボウだらけのEVERYDAY）

 

For those in the Toronto area, this morning must have been a meteorological revelation. I certainly was taken aback to see an inch or two of snow outside my window, despite the fact that we're one month into spring. Weather is certainly a troll for us.

Exactly a couple of months ago, I wrote on an anime-based earworm that managed to burrow deep into my head called "Broko no Uta"（ブロ子の歌）as performed by seiyuu Risa Kubota in her character of Roko Sekino. The anime is the Fall 2020 "Ochikobore Fruit Tart"（おちこぼれフルーツタルト...Dropout Idol Fruit Tart） which, as my anime buddy once informed me, was supposed to have been shown earlier in the summer but due to COVID issues was actually delayed by a season.

As much as I've enjoyed "Broko no Uta", I've now let the earworms invade me once more with the opening theme, "Kibou Darake no EVERYDAY" (Everyday is Filled with Hope). Sung by the stumbling and quirk-filled new aidoru group within "Ochikobore Fruit Tart", Fruit Tart, it's got the happy-happy-joy-joy element but I also like some of the quirks in the melody and arrangement put together by John Kanda（神田ジョン）, guitarist of the rock band PENGUIN RESEARCH. Sasa Ando（安藤紗々）was the lyricist here.

As for the members of Fruit Tart, they are the snarky and height-challenged Roko Sekino（関野ロコ）, the ever-optimistic Ino Sakura（桜衣乃）, the strawberry-loving Hayu Nukui（貫井はゆ）, the (relatively) tall and buxom Nina Maehara（前原仁菜）, and the supremely moe Hemo Midori（緑へも）. They are respectively played by Risa Kubota（久保田梨沙）, Hiyori Nitta（新田ひより）, Haruka Shiraishi（白石晴香）, Reina Kondo（近藤玲奈）and Kyoko Moriya（守屋亨香）.

Considering these current times, a song with a title like this one isn't too bad at all.

Risa Kubota -- Broko no Uta（ブロ子の歌）

 

MUST...EAT...BROCCOLI...NOW! 

MUST...FOLLOW...THE...DICTATES...OF...MY...MASTER...ROKO-CHAN!

In the spirit of full disclosure, I've actually liked broccoli for decades whether the vegetable has been in a salad or just plain steamed, so any attempts at mesmerizing me into ingesting it would have been useless. Preaching to the converted, it would have been.

However, my anime buddy a few months ago cottoned me onto a Fall 2020 anime called "Ochikobore Fruit Tart"（おちこぼれフルーツタルト...Dropout Idol Fruit Tart）, a wacky comedy show adapted from a four-panel manga. It deals with a group of high school girls being groomed into aidoru with all sorts of fetishes and phobias being discovered among the ladies. Specifically though, my old friend told me about an earworm that started life as an insert song or as an aural bugbear for one of the characters, former child star Roko Sekino（関野ロコ）who gained fame for singing this wonderfully infectious campaign song touting broccoli...much to her trauma.

Well, it did a number on me as well as other folks according to YouTube, and after several weeks of wondering and waiting, "Broko no Uta" (The Broccoli Song) has finally made it in full onto the platform. Seiyuu Risa Kubota（久保田梨沙）as Roko handles the adorable vocals of making sure to chew on the springy veggie for happiness and health. Anison lyricist Sasa Ando（安藤紗々）and composer Eiko Shimamiya（島みやえい子）were responsible for "Broko no Uta" while Ginnojo Hoshine（星銀乃丈）took care of all of the arrangements along with that ghostly backing vocoder complimenting young Roko in the song.

Again, the song wasn't needed to convince me of the taste of broccoli but it's nice to know that the vegetable now has an ally in its corner in the form of this earworm.