Misia -- Amazing Life

Just caught an episode of NHK's "Darwin ga Kita! - Ikimono Shin Densetsu"（ダーウィンが来た! 〜生きもの新伝説〜...Darwin Has Come! New Legends of the Animals） less than an hour ago on TV Japan. The episode focused on the seemingly loopy Lawe's parotia of New Guinea which really needs to put on a show to attract a mate, including the magical appearance of a happy face from its own plumage.

But of course, this isn't a bird blog...it is indeed a kayo/J-Pop one. So I wanted to bring your attention to the relatively new theme song for "Darwin ga Kita!". Since around April, the new tune to replace Ayaka Hirahara's（平原綾香）long-running "Smile Smile" is "Amazing Life" by amazing singer Misia.

A mellow R&B-flavoured ballad of inspiration for the animal kingdom, I've been entranced by Misia's latest from her December 2018 album "Life is going on and on". There's that mix of orchestral strings and gospel soul in there that is pure Misia. If it weren't for the fact that it's already been spoken for by NHK, it probably could have ended up on the Japanese editions for the upcoming new version of "The Lion King". Misia took care of the lyrics while Hidekazu Uchiike（内池秀和）, the same composer for "Smile Smile", provided the new melody.

Ayaka Hirahara -- Smile Smile （スマイル スマイル）

When it comes to my family's viewing habits, one thing hasn't changed in over 50 years. We're still suckers for animal documentaries. Yup, when the weekend came during the 60s and 70s, it would often be "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom" (Mutual of Omaha being the name of an insurance company; considering some of the animals the cast literally tackled weekly, the producers were really hedging their bets here). The late Marlin Perkins, director of the St. Louis Zoo, would host the show about some of those big animals in the wild while two of his assistants, Jim Fowler and Stan Brock tried to make sure they weren't mauled or eaten.

Now that we're all in the teens of the 21st century, things seemed to have come full circle...or perhaps half of one since my family is watching an animal show on the weekends again but this one is produced in Japan. "Darwin ga Kita! - Ikimono Shin Densetsu"（ダーウィンが来た! 〜生きもの新伝説〜...Darwin Has Come! New Legends of the Animals） has been showing on NHK since 2006, and we get it here on Saturdays on TV Japan at 6:45 p.m. Completely devoid of animal wrestling, it involves an offscreen announcer and a cute anime figure called Hige-ji talking and broadcasting the exploits of animals in the wild ranging from the slow loris of Southeast Asia to the recovering if still endangered cranes in Japan. It's all very comfy viewing after a hearty dinner; I've certainly nodded off at times during the 30 minutes.

The current theme song for the show has been "Smile Smile" by the lovely Ayaka Hirahara（平原綾香）since 2012. And as you can see in the official video above, it's obvious that Hirahara has a love for the animals as well. Her rendition is just as comfortable as the typical episode of "Darwin ga Kita!". I've always liked her voice which I wouldn't say is completely husky; it's a bit lighter, perhaps the term sandy might be a better description.

"Smile Smile" was written by Hirahara and composed by Hidekazu Uchiike（内池秀和）as the singer's 29th single for release in July 2012. It didn't get too high on the Oricon charts, just topping off at No. 87. However, the song is such that I will probably want to pet my local squirrels on the head whenever it gets into my head.