Hitomi Yoshida -- Yay! Yay! Yay! (イェイ！イェイ！イェイ！)

 

Here I was...back in Toronto for good at the end of 2011 after many years of life in Japan. It was important and reassuring to get into a regular routine of stuff. Luckily, the idea of "Kayo Kyoku Plus" germinated in my brain fairly quickly but maybe even a few weeks earlier, the ol' biweekly Sunday ritual of meeting my anime buddy for anime and food had gotten started. Even within that ritual, there was a core viewing of a certain franchise's entries among all of the different series.

Yup, it was the "Pretty Cure"（プリティーキュア）franchise with all of their teams of super-powered magical girls and themes. I was first weaned on "Smile PreCure"（スマイルプリキュア!）because it started up right at the beginning of February 2012, and it turned out to be the one known arguably the most for its episodic comedy aspect. For example, just from the above summary of Cure March's character, I knew that she needed to lay off the Red Bull. It was ironic though that the finale of that series in early 2013 was surprisingly dark. 

Another thing that my buddy had told me was that the casting of the main characters was revelatory in that a lot of PreCure fans were really talking it up on social media when the seiyuu were announced, probably at the end of 2011. He stated that either most or all of the women cast as the five PreCures were maniac choices. I hadn't known what he was talking about at all, but later I found out that the actresses had been in previous anime or other media productions with certain bawdy reputations including Misato Fukuen（福圓美里）as leader Cure Happy. Apparently, she had been involved with eroge under different aliases. Hey, I'm not judging.

Having caught up on all of the previous shows in the PreCure franchise up to "Smile PreCure" and going forward with a few more seasons, I've seen and heard all of the opening and closing theme songs and credit sequences, and there have been ones that have been especially catchy such as the supremely poppy "Ganbalance de Dance"（ガンバランスdeダンス）used in the earlier shows and then the cool-as-anything "You make me happy!" for "Fresh Precure!"（フレッシュプリキュア!）which had its run in 2009 and whose ending credits sparked the beginning of the traditional dancing by the teams.

As the saying goes, "You always remember your first", and sure enough, that was "Yay! Yay! Yay!" at the end of each episode in the first half of the season of "Smile PreCure". As sung by frequent PreCure singer Hitomi Yoshida（吉田仁美）, this particular ending theme has been eclipsed on my favourite theme list by the aforementioned "Ganbalance de Dance" and "You make me happy!", but it's still a nice and upbeat tune to match the overall happy vibe of "Smile PreCure". Despite the presence of that electric guitar, there's something of that Swinging 60s Bacharach-friendly melody in "Yay! Yay! Yay!" which was composed by Hideaki Takatori（高取ヒデアキ）with lyrics by Minori（実ノ里）.

Hitomi Yoshida -- Love Link（ラブリンク）

 

Oh, good heavens. When I put up that article regarding the first ending theme for "Doki Doki! PreCure"(ドキドキ!プリキュア), "Kono Sora no Mukou" (この空の向こう), that was all the way back in February 2020, just a few weeks before the planet closed down for COVID-19. My anime buddy and I were still doing the biweekly Sunday routine of food and anime although I think that tradition has in all likelihood come to a permanent end. But even by that time in early 2020, my interest in the massive anime franchise known as "Pretty Cure"（プリキュア）had waned greatly, and now, it seems like even my buddy has lost his curiosity over the last few entries. We all have to grow up some time, even as semi-otaku. 😊

But last night, when we had our regular chat over the phone, we touched upon the ol' "PreCure" one more time which reminded me of the catchy synthpop of "Kono Sora no Mukou" which led to some reminiscings of the second ending theme for "Doki Doki! PreCure", "Love Link". And it wasn't too difficult to remember either because the song had the similar catchy elements and the same personnel involved as that first ending theme. The ending credits sequence even had the same concert scene going.

Hitomi Yoshida（吉田仁美）, the singer for "Kono Sora no Mukou", was on the mike for "Love Link" which was written by Takayuki Tonegawa (利根川貴之) and composed by Dr. Usui of the electropop unit MOTOCOMPO. Yoshida sounds even more chipper and squeaky on "Love Link" perhaps for the kids' enjoyment, but I can also go for the thrum of that certain synthesizer.

Hitomi Yoshida -- Kono Sora no Mukou (この空の向こう)

Another February, another new PreCure adventure with another crew of teenage girls. Unfortunately, I finally got off that bus a few seasons ago midway through "Kira Kira PreCure a la Mode" (キラキラ☆プリキュアアラモード), although I have yet to tell my anime buddy directly about my decision. As much as I've heard about kids and their parents (perhaps secretly) still going ga-ga over the long-running franchise, in my case, I think that I finally had my fill of heroine teams, monsters and transformation sequences.

Still, though, I have some heart left for a number of the opening and ending themes for the individual entries. One is the first ending theme for "Doki Doki! PreCure"(ドキドキ!プリキュア) that had its run between 2013 and 2014.

Now for the record, I don't think that "Doki Doki! PreCure" has particularly stood out as one of the classic parts, and it had to follow up the often hilarious "Smile PreCure!"(スマイルプリキュア!). However, the ending themes are the aspects that have kept the show in my mind for the past several years. The first closer was "Kono Sora no Mukou" (Beyond This Sky) performed by singer/seiyuu Hitomi Yoshida (吉田仁美). It was the coupling song for the single for the opener "Happy Go Lucky! Doki Doki! PreCure".

If I'm not mistaken, "Kono Sora no Mukou" was the first time that I had ever heard of a PreCure theme being given the technopop treatment which automatically got my attention, and with that CG ending credits sequence, it rather sealed the deal for me. Didn't buy the single but the song has stuck with me.

"Kono Sora no Mukou" was written by Takayuki Tonegawa (利根川貴之) and composed by Dr. Usui of the electropop unit MOTOCOMPO which has been influenced by the New Wave band Plastics, according to their J-Wiki file. The single with both opening and ending theme peaked at No. 11 on Oricon.

Hey, why not end this with "Kono Sora no Mukou" and the entire Takarazuka, I mean, PreCure revue (up to that point). Also, you can take a look at one MOTOCOMPO tune.