SEAMO feat. May'n -- Hadaka de Dotsukiai（裸でどつきあい）

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Well, I gather that it's perfect timing that on the annual Ocean Day holiday in Japan, I'm taking care of the ending theme of a popular anime that...nominally...has something to do with diving. Of course, I'm talking about "Grand Blue"（ぐらんぶる）which happily started its second season in the last few weeks.

Yep, I did catch Episode 2 last week which introduced Iori's scheming little sister, Shiori, and in that one episode, I got the impression of what the entire season might look like: lots of the usual deranged humour from Season 1 but with the addition of some more heartwarming moments.

A week ago, I featured the let's-hit-the-beach-running opening theme "Seishun Towa"（青春永遠）with the duet of Shonan no Kaze（湘南乃風）and Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）. The ending theme is just as dynamic with another duet and it involves a couple of artists that I haven't featured here on the blog for about a decade. Rapper SEAMO was someone that I posted about in 2014 for his epic "Drive" twenty years ago and May'n was up here in 2016 for her contribution to the anime "Shuumatsu no Izetta"（終末のイゼッタ...Izetta The Last Witch）.

Well, they're here together to provide "Hadaka de Dotsukiai" (Naked Fellowship). Created by Naoki "SEAMO" Takada（高田尚輝）and Giz'Mo, and true to his "Drive", it's a mile-a-minute Latin rap extravaganza that describes the Peek-a-Boo philosophy of having fun: copious amounts of drinking and the opposite amount of clothing. Overall, the song reminds me some of the stuff that Maki Ohguro（大黒摩季）was singing a few decades back.

Shonan no Kaze feat. Atarashii Gakko no Leaders -- Seishun Towa（青春永遠）

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via Alpsdake

My anime buddy and I had been noticing that there were going to be a few more anime sequels than usual for Summer 2025, and one that has been grandly anticipated for years is finally here. After seven years of waiting and probably repeated viewings of the first season in 2018 by ravenous fans, "Grand Blue"（ぐらんぶる）with its second season is back!

I've seen the first episode, and it seems as if the animators in their desire to remind us of what we'd seen and enjoyed in Season 1 have given us plenty of quick flashbacks and a heightened sense of the main characters' neuroses. In other words, we're getting loads of laughs.

Of course, the show has to have its summery oceanic opening credits sequence. And once again, the band Shonan no Kaze（湘南乃風）is here to provide the dynamic party-hearty opening theme "Seishun Towa" (Youth Eternal) with help from song-and-dance group Atarashii Gakko no Leaders（新しい学校のリーダーズ）. This time, there seems to be a back-and-forth between the burly Shonan no Kaze and the chipper Atarashii Gakko no Leaders which I can't help but feel represents the relationship between the men and women of the Peek a Boo diving club. 

Both groups had their hand in the creation of "Seishun Towa". This early in the season, we're still waiting for the full version of the song, but it'll arrive in the weeks to come. But now with Season 2 in the pipeline and this song along with the ending theme that I'll cover shortly, I gather that I can finally put up a Grand Blue category in Labels.

Izu no Kaze/Nana Mizuki -- Konpeki no al Fine（紺碧のアル・フィーネ）

 

It was exactly five years ago today that I posted Shonan no Kaze's（湘南乃風）"Grand Blue", the bro-tastic opening theme to the Summer 2018 anime of the same name. At the time I wrote up the article, I was just on the verge of watching Episode 1. Oh, how very poignant. Little did I know that I would have the most hilarious time over the next three months watching those lunkheads Iori and Kohei fighting and mucking about on the Izu Peninsula and occasionally go diving (but mostly going drinking). Just about every character on the show had some quirk about them which could be lit like the "oolong tea" into some of the funniest humour ever seen on anime.

I knew that "Grand Blue" was a star-studded affair in terms of the seiyuu cast but I finally realized that I'd already known the actors behind the Peek-a-Boo club leaders, Shinji "Tokki" Tokita and Ryujiro "Bukki" Kotobuki: Hiroki Yasumoto（安元洋貴）and Katsuyuki Konishi（小西克幸）respectively. Yasumoto was paired with fellow voice thespian Natsumi Hioka（日岡なつみ）to perform the wickedly contagious "Kumamiko Dancing" the ending theme of "Kumamiko: Girl Meets Bear"（くまみこ）a few years earlier, and Konishi played the far milder Jougin Panda（常勤パンダ...Full-Time Panda） in the even earlier "Shirokuma Cafe"（しろくまカフェ）a decade ago and he had his own musical contribution in the form of "ZOOtto, ne"（ZOOっと、ね♪）. So, they have their representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

Now, to be frank, I liked the ending theme for "Grand Blue" a lot less than the celebratory opening theme, but I figure that after five years, maybe I can still mention it. "Konpeki no al Fine" (Azure al Fine) sounds like a pop/rock piece from a Johnny's Entertainment musical as performed by the two main characters, Iori (Yuuma Uchida/内田雄馬) and Kohei (Ryohei Kimura/木村良平), with karaoke support from Tokki and Bukki. Together, they were put together as Izu no Kaze（伊豆乃風）.

I hadn't been sure about what the title meant. First, I was wondering who Al Fine was but then putting the "name" through the search engine, I finally discovered that it's actually a musical term whose definition I'll let you see at "The Carolingian Realm". Perhaps "Konpeki no al Fine" is actually showing that score direction.

But Izu no Kaze's version was just the four dudes singing karaoke on behalf of the original singer, Kohei's oshi, aidoru/seiyuu/diving enthusiast Kaya Mizuki（水樹カヤ） as played by the one-and-only Nana Mizuki（水樹奈々）just for the ending credits of the beloved Episode 11. She has apparently appeared in the manga though not in the anime...which begs the question: When will Season 2 ever come to pass? Ah, I should mention that Ryutaro Fujinaga（藤永龍太郎）and Ryota Suemasu（末益涼太） were behind words and music respectively; both are part of the composing group Elements Garden.

Shonan no Kaze -- Grand Blue

It doesn't happen all that often during my anime buddy's sessions, but once in a while, one or two anime kinda end up not being all that great. So what happens is that my friend simply ditches it out of the schedule after giving me a heads-up. That was the case with "Last Period" which kinda petered out (although I still like the theme songs), and perhaps might be the case with "Uchuu Senkan Tiramisu"（宇宙戦艦ティラミス）.

Then, as might be the case with any television broadcaster who has to deal with a cancelled series, my friend sometimes looks for a replacement. When I was talking with him earlier this week, he was rather gushing about this Summer 2018 anime called "Grand Blue"（ぐらんぶる）.

Spring 2018 had "Amanchu! Advance"（あまんちゅ！～あどばんす～）, the oh-so-mellow sequel to the original series of high school girls finding friendship and serenity through diving somewhere along the Izu Peninsula. Things became downright fantastical, especially in the latter half of the series this time around. Basically, that particular part of Japan was a magical place.

But then, just down the shoreline...

"Grand Blue" also has the setting of the Izu Peninsula, but this time it's a bunch of guys who nominally like diving like fish but really like drinking like fish. It's apparently as raunchy as much as "Amanchu!" is comforting. Teko from the latter show would probably faint at these guys' antics while Pikari could jump right in. And some slang has erupted from "Grand Blue" from what I've seen from the YouTube comments, such as water and oolong tea for something far more potent.

I will be seeing the comedy "Grand Blue" for the first time later this weekend, but I'm already enjoying the opening theme song by reggae band Shonan no Kaze（湘南乃風）, "Grand Blue".

This would be the type of summery song that would have the college folks running down the coastline with every sense of abandon. It's all about sweating, swimming, sunning and squeezing every little bit of enjoyment out of the hot season before the leaves start turning.

Shonan no Kaze also took care of words and music for "Grand Blue". The band consists of Red Rice, Wakadanna, Shock Eye and Han-Kun, and they first got together in 2001 with former member Goki. They've released 19 singles and 7 original albums since going major in 2003. Their best known song, according to Wikipedia, is "Junrenka"（純恋歌...Pure Love Song） from 2006 which I will have to also check out soon.

In any case, like some of the newbies in "Grand Blue", back in my university days, I treated a whole mess of screwdrivers and creamsicles (the cocktail variety) during a barhopping Xmas party like water, and paid for my folly dearly. Treat alcohol with respect, kids!