Shin Kazuhara -- Samba de LOVES YOU

Hopefully, wherever you are, you have been coping with the scourge of COVID-19 as best you possibly can. I had been expecting that PM Trudeau was going to announce a lockdown of the major cities in Canada but he didn't, although the borders will be closed off to almost all non-Canadians as of Wednesday. Went to the supermarkets around my area; I've been more strategic about what to expect and what to get. I couldn't find ground beef so I got ground chicken instead and actually bought Indian naan instead of hot dog buns which were sold out in the main supermarket. I was able to get that rare thing called toilet paper and some soap later in the afternoon.

Anyways, at about this time yesterday, my anime buddy and I caught "Hibike! Euphonium ~ Chikai no Finale"（響け！ユーフォニアム～誓いのフィナーレ～...Sound! Euphonium ~ Our Promise: A Brand New Day）on Blu-Ray, the latest in the "Hibike! Euphonium" franchise of series and films about a high school band always trying to grab for that brass ring while having to deal with various issues among the members. Basically, the focus is on the main character of Kumiko Oumae who's now in the position of shepherding the new first-year students, including a polite young girl who actually has a dark streak inside of her, and in another universe, could end up as the next Catwoman if Batman actually existed in Japan. All in all, it was a good flick and not overly melodramatic as was the case with the second TV season.

As has become a "Hibike! Euphonium" tradition, the band has often come up with their own snazzy version of an oldie-but-goodie, and in "Chikai no Finale", I got to know a new tune that had originally been composed by trumpeter Shin Kazuhara（数原晋）called "Samba de LOVES YOU". In a cute little pun on "Somebody Loves You", the former leader of Tokyo Ensemble Lab has woven a fun Latin number that seems to have become a go-to piece for a lot of student orchestras from what I've seen on YouTube.

Fortunately, I could find the actual scene there for the performance of "Samba de LOVES YOU" by Kitauji High School in marching band form and it was actually performed above by the Osaka Shion Wind Orchestra as conducted by Toshio Majima（真島俊夫）.

Plus I could find it from the soundtrack at 12:19. Samba, everybody, samba!

I'd thought with all of those different renditions by student orchestras that Kazuhara had actually created "Samba de LOVES YOU" specifically for high school bands. But in point of fact, the song's origins are from a 1997 Kazuhara album titled "Trumpet Major". Regrettably, I couldn't find the full version of that original on YouTube so you'll have to settle for the brief smidgen at Amazon; just scroll down the screen to reach the playlist. You will want a tropical cocktail even after listening to those 45 seconds. In any case, the samba can now join a fusion tune and a technopop classic as something that has been given the Kitauji treatment.

SPOILER BELOW!

In a sweet coda for the movie, it looks like Oumae, the nervous high school freshman who had some major second thoughts about joining the band all the way back in Season 1, is now a confident senior who's in charge of the club. There will definitely have to be a final movie or a season now!

Kensuke Ushio -- Liz to Aoi Tori（リズと青い鳥）

Last night, I came home to see that The Oscars were still being televised and just caught the traditional "In Memoriam" segment paying tribute to all of those in the movie industry that have left this mortal coil over the past year. It was actually quite touching to see the tribute while the orchestra was playing that John Williams piece from "Superman" (1978) when Clark Kent was leaving home and his Earth mother for the first time to go find himself. I don't think I can still watch that scene without getting a little misty-eyed.

Strangely enough, earlier in the afternoon, during our biweekly anime-and-food session, my anime buddy showed a movie from the ever-growing "Hibike Euphonium!"（響け!ユーフォニアム）franchise. This time, it was "Liz to Aoi Tori" (Liz and The Blue Bird) which had originally been released in theatres early last year. A side story featuring a couple of the minor characters in the show, the supremely cheerful if slightly feckless flutist Nozomi and the extremely introverted oboist Mizore, there is parallelism as the actual children's tale of "Liz and The Blue Bird" gets played out while Nozomi and Mizore try to figure out their relationship out in school and in life.

(9:57)

Throughout the movie, there is the music by composer Kensuke Ushio（牛尾憲輔）which reflects both the tale and the main story at Kitauji High School. I have to admit that the most affecting part of the entire soundtrack was the Third Movement for "Liz to Aoi Tori", which features a duet by Nozomi and Mizore that ends up becoming the climax for the entire movie. Starting off like the soundtrack "Romeo & Juliet", "Ai Yue no Ketsudan"（愛ゆえの決断...Decision of Love）is something that has stayed with me since last night because of its bittersweet beauty as the two characters in both the tale and the main story realize that they cannot stay tied together by the waist. In a way, that part of the soundtrack reminds me of that part from the "Superman" track which was playing during the "In Memoriam" segment.

Happily, the movie finishes both stories in the movie more on the sweet rather than the bitter side. "Liz to Aoi Tori" indeed, as "TV Tropes" puts it, does well as a separate story although it is part of "Hibike Euphonium!".

Akito Matsuda -- Mikazuki no Mai （三日月の舞）

Yes, "Hibike! Euphonium 2"（響け! ユーフォニアム２）finished up its run more or less triumphantly in the last week of 2016, and by all accounts, it seems like the anime has finished for good at 2 seasons. I've yet to see the final two episodes since my anime buddy has been enjoying the Holidays in Japan (he returns tomorrow) but I already did catch the final scene on YouTube, and it's a bit of a switch considering all the shipping that had gone on in the past. However, the reaction from the overseas fandom has been mostly overwhelmingly positive from what I've read online. For myself, I didn't think the second season was a home run but more of a solid running triple. There was just a little too much melodrama in the middle of the show for my liking, but it looks like things ended pretty well.

Aside from the successful arrangements for concert band of "Rydeen" in Season 1 and "Takarajima"（宝島）for Season 2, the Kitauji High School Band has become known for its orchestral pop theme song, "Mikazuki no Mai" (Crescent Moon Dance) that it played to success at the end of the first season. At first, I thought it had been created long ago by some American composer but it was actually composed by Akito Matsuda（松田彬人）who was in charge for the soundtrack for "Hibike! Euphonium". In-universe, the credit for the piece has gone to Namie Horikawa（堀川奈美恵）.

Listening to it in full, I couldn't help but feel that there was some tribute to the Gershwins' "Rhapsody in Blue" in that I felt a certain early 20th-century hustle and bustle of urban living. According to the write-up for "Hibike! Euphonium" on J-Wiki, excerpts from British composer Nigel Hess' "East Coast Pictures" was also used in the show, and after listening to the 2nd and 3rd movements of "The Catskills" and "New York" respectively, I could also imagine that there was some influence from them as well.

In any case, it will be interesting talking with my anime buddy when he does come back about "Hibike! Euphonium". I have a feeling though that he will be much more praising of it than I am but that's cool. I don't think there will be any more sequels to the franchise aside from a condensed cinematic version of Season 2 but it might be interesting to have a spin-off based on the complicated character of Asuka.

The Square/Sound! Euphonium -- Takarajima （宝島）

Happy Monday to all! Last year, when the anime "Hibike Euphonium"（響け!ユーフォニアム...Sound Euphonium）had its debut season, things were running well enough when Episode 5 was broadcast, but then delights and ears were further raised with the Kitauji High School Band doing their own version of Yellow Magic Orchestra's classic "Rydeen". After the ultimately successful first run of the show, all of us including myself and my anime buddy were wondering if something similar were going to happen in the second season which is starting to approach its endgame.

Sure enough, there were the band versions of "Gakuen Tengoku"（学園天国）and an old Eiichi Ohtaki（大瀧詠一）tune but they were excerpts and there was the feeling that these weren't the big songs. Well, it took 7 episodes this time and it came in the middle of some rather turbulent (and frankly overwrought) drama (did I mention that I'm no longer a huge fan of J-dramas?), but this season's "Rydeen" finally entered the picture. The Kitauji High School Band did their own take on another 80s song "Takarajima" (Treasure Island) at Kyoto Station, and once again the animators stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. I loved everything about the scene since it emulated the buildup for the "Rydeen" performance...a quiet happy scene before it, closeups of the individual sections of the band clearly enjoying themselves this time, and even the leader of the band club, the much put-upon Haruka Ogasawara (played by the popular Saori Hayami/早見沙織), not only getting some redemption in the series but also her 15 seconds of fame with a solo on the baritone sax. And it was thrilling hearing those French horns as well.

However, unlike my beloved "Rydeen", "Takarajima" and the original band, The Square, were completely unknown to me. The Square (now known as T-Square) is a jazz fusion band that started its long run in 1976 at about the same time as another famous genre band, Casiopea. Apparently, according to J-Wiki, its name was inspired by a piece of apparel...the Madison Square Bag from New York City.

"Takarajima" which has become one of The Square's signature songs, was a track on the band's 11th album, "S・P・O・R・T・S" from March 1986. The description for this track is the longest among the tracks on the album as written up in the J-Wiki article on the album, but the biggest thing I got out of it was that it was voted No. 1 in the categories of "Favourite Song" and "Most Memorable Song" by EMI Music Japan which has been releasing the long-running record/CD series "New Sounds in Brass" since the early 1970s. It might explain why this particular song was chosen for "Sound! Euphonium".

So last season it was technopop. This season, it is AOR. "Takarajima" as composed by then-band keyboardist Hirotaka Izumi（和泉宏隆）is as relaxing as a slowly fizzing glass of Perrier. And the strange thing is that I may have heard this song a number of times before especially when that weird woodwind comes in right after the intro. If that is the case, then it's been used for many a feature on the wide shows and variety shows over the years. I might have discovered that "Takarajima" is the Japanese pop equivalent of Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good".

In any case, I was so charmed by "Takarajima" that I've just bought the band's self-cover album tonight with the song, "Takaranouta ~T-SQUARE plays THE SQUARE~"（宝曲~T-SQUARE plays THE SQUARE~）from 2010 at Tower Records. Hopefully, it will get here by Xmas.

And here is the real band performance at Kyoto Station by Heian High School in the city of Kyoto. Too bad about the sound, though.

January 13 2017: Well, whaddaya know?

TRUE -- Dream Solister

It hasn't happened to me all that often in the past few years of watching anime, but once in a while, there is a WOW! moment when I watch a show and I realize that this particular piece of Japanimation (yep, I'm using that hoary expression) may be going places...or at the very least, will be generating conversation. That moment for me came on that anime about the high school band that could, "Hibike! Euphonium"（響け! ユーフォニアム）over the past summer. Seeing the Kitauji High School Band perform YMO's "Rydeen" was enough to drop my lower jaw, and even enough to devote some "Kayo Kyoku Plus" space to it.

But "Hibike! Euphonium" was one of those likable anime that didn't have magical super powers or flesh-eating giants. And nor was it just a slice-of-life show with some of those whimsically humorous vignettes. It was about a band of high school students with their own talents and weaknesses led by a nice-if-deceptively harsh teacher with his own lessons to learn for his career, who over the course of a typical cour, handle their relationships through rough and smooth while practicing and improving their way to Regionals. Sounds somewhat like "Glee". After finishing the triumphant finale, both my anime buddy and I agreed that we would be looking for a potential sequel next year.

Until that announcement comes out, I will also enjoy the triumphant opening theme to the show, "Dream Solister" by TRUE, aka Miho Karasawa（唐沢美帆）from Tokyo. It's not quite the earworm...there is none of that onomatopoeia which has enabled some of those other themes to burrow into my brain. But it's a band-assisted ode to joy was written by Karasawa and composed by Yusuke Kato（加藤裕介）that has grown on me over the weeks as that happy introductory theme which manages to keep things optimistic even following the latest dramatic cliffhanger from the previous episode.

When I first saw the title, I slightly scoffed at the word "solister", thinking it was another one of those invented Japanese-English words on the level of classics such as "pokeberu" and "purikura".  Well, as it turns out, it actually comes from Norwegian and is the indefinite plural form for "solist" meaning "soloist". My apologies to TRUE on this and thanks to Wiktionary.

As for my own band experience, I didn't quite go through as amazing or as dramatic an experience as the kids at Kitauji High did. But I did do my three years of junior high band, notably playing the theme from "MASH" on clarinet. It wasn't any walk in the park but I certainly preferred that instrument over my first attempts on the French horn. Now, that was truly Hell on Earth!

YMO -- Rydeen via Sound! Euphonium

I don't think I've ever done this in the blog before. This isn't an official cover of one of my favourite Yellow Magic Orchestra songs and the excerpt lasts just a bit over a minute but when I saw this scene on "Sound! Euphonium" which is one of the current anime that I've been watching, I was caught completely off-guard (I think in today's vernacular, it would be called "squeeing", but frankly I don't think you young folk would want to imagine a middle-aged man squeeing, would you?).

Now, I'm pretty sure "Rydeen", in its 35 years of existence, has managed to find itself in the playlist of Japanese high school marching bands, but it is the first time for me to hear an example of it done this way. And just as the spectators along the street took notice of the Kitauji High School Band playing an old technopop classic, I certainly popped up in my seat. And it seems from the YouTube comments that the folks there did so as well. After checking the official music video for "Rydeen", I found a number of new comments stating that they came over because of "Sound! Euphonium".

"Sound! Euphonium" (known as Hibike! Euphonium「響け! ユーフォニアム」 in the original Japanese) is the story of a down-on-its-luck high school band that re-discovers its own mojo thanks to a pluckier group of students and a young music teacher who initially looks like an adorkable pushover but is anything but. I've been enjoying the first half of it but it was the above scene that sealed the deal for me.

This was a video that I saw on the side of the "Sound! Euphonium" excerpt. It's the performance of "Rydeen" by a high school band from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, and after listening to it, I wonder if this was also the group who took care of the performance on the anime. I also muse if it or some other orchestra has done other tributes to YMO.

Just couldn't resist...

And finally, here's the long version.