Riko Fukumoto -- Shoujo wa Ano Sora wo Wataru（少女はあの空を渡る）

To all those in Canada, Happy Victoria Day! Mind you, I'm not so indebted to Queen Victoria since I grew up calling the annual holiday Firecracker Day. And sure enough, when my friends and I were out enjoying a bucket of chicken wings at Wild Wings last night, there were some starbursts taking flight.

Had the usual anime outing for the first time in a few weeks, and yes, it looks like my favourites for this season are "Hina Matsuri"（ヒナまつり）and "Hisone to Masotan"（ひそねとまそたん...Hisone and Masotan）. Both have a rather central fantastical element firmly planted within Japanese society, with the latter incorporating dragon/fighter jets battling for the Air Self-Defense Force. Not quite sure how the quirky but appealing show has merited in Japan itself but it looks like "Hisone & Masotan" has garnered a nice little audience. Plus, it seems as if a couple of memes have been generated from it including the Rain Dance thing above and even the dancing from the end credits.

The opening theme for the show has also implanted its earworm. "Shoujo wa Ano Sora wo Wataru" (The Girl Crosses That Sky) by 17-year-old Osaka actress Riko Fukumoto（福本莉子）has that sense of an inspiring song with hints of a better tomorrow just beyond the horizon. I also have the impression that Fukumoto's delivery and the composition/arrangement by Taisei Iwasaki（岩崎太整）approach Studio Ghibli levels of soundtrack. Especially, the intro strings have dug themselves into my head as something quite epic, and that same introductory riff has been used in certain dramatic scenes in the episodes. Mari Okada（岡田麿里）, the screenwriter for the show itself, provided the lyrics.

So far, I've only been able to get the song during the opening credits but I'm hoping that the full version will come out since this would be one anison that I would be more than happy to purchase.

Well, whaddaya know?

D-Pi/France Gall -- Le temps de la rentrée

It was a nice Sunday yesterday. Got some really good, really seasonal weather for the first time in several months and it wasn't just me and my anime buddy but we had a guest appearance from another old friend and his son. So it was time to go out for some spicy Szechuan fare and then some dessert.

I gotta say that there are some offbeat shows this season of Spring 2018. We got another anime about dragons although this one isn't listed as a slice-of-life comedy but more of a wartime drama according to Wikipedia. Looking at the first few scenes of "Hisone to Masotan"（ひそねとまそたん...Hisone & Masotan）, I thought it was a straight show about a young awkward lady trying to fulfill her dreams of becoming an ASDF pilot for Japan.

Then I saw the dragon Masotan and, nope, it wasn't going to be all that simple. Still, there is plenty of humour to be had with the main character of Hisone Amakasu（甘粕ひそね）who might have Asperger's and awkwardness, and her frenemy (?), the cranky and resentful punk Nao Kaizaki（貝崎名緒）. My friend told me that Mari Okada（岡田麿里）is the screenwriter for the show, and apparently she has a penchant for killing off her characters in horrible myriad ways so perhaps I shouldn't get too attached to any of them. But then again, the notorious Gen Urobuchi（虚淵玄）was actually pretty nice (relatively speaking) on "Suisei no Gargantia"（翠星のガルガンティア...Gargantia on the Verdurous Planet）, so you never know.

Although Winter 2018 didn't have any instant earworms among the anime themes (although a few of them have grown on me), it looks like Spring 2018 may unearth a few musical maggots including the ending theme for "Hisone to Masotan", a cover of the late France Gall's "Le temps de la rentrée" with the added Japanese subtitle of "Koi no Ieji (Shin Gakki)"（恋の家路（新学期）...Love's Road Home (New School Term)）. As if things couldn't get even more weirder. The show has this cover of a French ye-ye tune performed by all of the Dragon Pilots or D-Pi (although not all of them have been introduced yet as of the 2nd episode) played by Misako Kuno（久野美咲）as Hisone, Tomoyo Kurosawa（黒沢ともよ）as Nao, Maki Kawase（河瀬茉希）, Satomi Arai（新井里美）and Kaori Nazuka（名塚佳織）. Plus, the ending credits have the characters channeling their inner American Bandstand.

The original song was a track on Gall's "Baby Pop" album from 1966 with father Robert and brother Patrice creating "Le temps de la rentrée". The song is only around a minute and change long so perhaps what I heard on the ending credits is the entire version. Short but very sweet.