I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
It was only a little under a month ago that anime fans and especially those of "Chibi Maruko-chan"（ちびまる子ちゃん） received word that singer and seiyuu Tarako had suddenly passed away. The voice of the title character was so distinctive and recognizable that after her final taped episode had been shown a few weeks ago, I've been left wondering who could replace Tarako although the search is on.
(20:52)
When I heard about Tarako's untimely passing, I was also reminded of the sad death in 2016 of seiyuu and singer Yuko Mizutani（水谷優子）who had played the first version of Sakiko Sakura（さくらさきこ）, Maruko's elder sister with the major crush on 70s heartthrob Hideki Saijo（西城秀樹）. A few years ago, I even posted an article on one of her own songs, "Drive Planet", from her 1994 album"Vibit".
This time, I'm posting on another one of Mizutani's songs, "Jitensha"(Bicycle), which was on her 2000 album "Purring". Written by Keiko Miura（三浦恵子）and composed by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）, it's as breezy and bouncy as a bike coasting down a hill by the ocean. The arrangement almost but not quite takes things into a Flipper's Guitar type of Shibuya-kei. Forgive me my fantastical mind, but I could see young Sakiko growing up to record this song a couple of decades following the anime's time period of the 1970s...with Hideki's assistance.
I was out most of the day today which explains why Wednesday was stuffed with a few more articles than usual including Marcos V.'s posting on "Ninna Nanna" last night so many thanks to him. Actually, I met up with my old anime buddy for brunch this morning and it was a bit of old times as we returned to his place for a truncated version of the old routine of anime and food that we'd once had before the arrival of the pandemic. I don't think we're resuming it but it was nice to visit again.
We even had a short respite of anison playing over the speakers and my friend had been steadily collecting his soundtracks and the like over the years. I was surprised then when he played a variation of a song that I've always enjoyed.
It turns out back in November 2021, in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the original manga "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）, a CD was released titled "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? 10th Anniversary Shudaika Rearrange & Hi Reso Best"（ご注文はうさぎですか? 10th Anniversary主題歌リアレンジ&ハイレゾベスト...Main Theme Rearrangements and High Resolution Best） which provides some of those "Gochiusa" songs with a new twist. My friend was able to play the new version of "Daydream Café", hands down my favourite theme song out of all of them in the anime franchise. Shoichiro Hirata（平田祥一郎） rearranged the original Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）version of the song that best reflected the atmosphere of one of the most moe anime ever made in the 2010s. I'm not saying that we'll be hearing the new "Daydream Café" being played by some DJ in a Harajuku dance club but it's got some nifty beats.
My anime buddy and I were talking the other night and he marveled at the fact that 5 years have gone by since the second season of that show of moe and coffee and rabbits had ended its run. Yes, indeed. I am talking about the franchise "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）. At one point, I thought that everything was all done with Cocoa, Chino and the rest of the characters but a couple of specials in the intervening years kept hope alive, and sure enough, last year, it was announced that a Season 3 called "Bloom" would be heading out the gates in October...which it has.
I've been able to see the first two episodes of "Bloom" via YouTube and not through the auspices of my friend's giant TV screen this time around, but that's cool. The show has been fine and what better series to keep spirits nice and light like a well-made croissant during these times? It looks like the Japanese equivalent of Colmar, France is still going through summer, and I've gotten to see the girls and Tippy handle a flea market and the adventures of Lapin.
Of course, we gotta think about the themes and although the actual release of the singles will probably be some weeks down the line, at least, we can have a listen through the credits. The opening theme is "Tenkuu Cafeteria" (Heaven Cafeteria) by Petits Rabbit's (i.e. the main five seiyuu as listed at the bottom) as usual. Written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed/arranged by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）, the same duo behind Season 1's"Daydream Café" and Season 2's"No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）, "Tenkuu Cafeteria" has the bounciness of the former and the tempo of the latter to basically create the melodic equivalent of...well, a rabbit.
In terms of the ending credits, Season 1 had that spinning wheel and the adorable and sedate "Poppin' Jump"（ぽっぴんジャンプ）to accompany it. Then Season 2 had viewers go into diabetic shock in terms of the visuals and the ending song "Tokimeki Poporon"（ときめきポポロン♪）, and the FBI in the United States was probably wondering why their offices got inundated with phone calls.
Well, this time around, the ending credits and song have their cuteness but quite a bit more toned down compared to Season 2. Going mostly with an "Alice in Wonderland" motif, Chimame Tai（チマメ隊）consisting of seiyuu Inori Minase（水瀬いのり）, Sora Tokui（徳井青空）and Rie Murakami（村川梨衣）sing, as they did for the above two enders, and go a bit jazzier with "Nakayoshi! Maru! Nakayoshi!" (Buddies! Circle! Buddies!). Although I like both the new opening and ending themes, I am even more curious about how the full version of "Nakayoshi! Maru! Nakayoshi!" will sound since I would like to hear the jazz band get even more into the riff during the instrumental bridge. Hata was again providing the lyrics while Tomotaka Ohsumi（大隅知宇）took care of music and arrangement. It's nice and catchy and this time, I don't think the FBI will need to hire more operators.
Welcome to another new week. News has perhaps not been the happiest of late but for those fans of "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか）, I think there's something to celebrate. Late last month, it was announced that the third season of high school girls, rabbits and cafes that can soothe the heck out of viewers has been slated for October 2020, so hopefully, in another 6 months, we can all see the latest adventures of Cocoa, Chino and the rest of the hot drink-loving gang in their lovely town.
In the meantime, we can all enjoy "Takarabako no Jet Coaster"(Treasure Box Roller Coaster) that came out in July 2015, between the first and second seasons. Performed by Petits Rabbit's, namely the main quintet of the cast: Ayane Sakura（佐倉綾音）, Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）, Inori Minase（水瀬いのり）, Risa Taneda（種田梨沙）and Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）, it's a supremely breezy and bouncy number which brings to mind the opening theme for the second season, "No Poi!". Not surprisingly, it was made by the same duo, lyricist Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composer Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）.
This is probably a very cornball thing to say, but I think if there is that hidden character that makes "GochiUsa" the adorable and popular franchise it is, it would have to be the town itself. The architecture and layout have always struck me as being so heartwarming and welcoming that I would love to visit it. Of course, with the money and time, I can because it does exist as the city of Colmar in northeastern France (the above video is given in French). Perhaps a good chunk of the inbound tourism to Colmar in the last few years has perhaps been due to those particular anime fans themselves. I can add that the original manga artist Koi should have earned a key to the city from the mayor.
Anyways, here's hoping that our current problems will blow away soon enough so that "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka? Bloom" will hit screens on schedule later this fall, and tourism will return in good numbers again to Colmar.
Last month, I wrote about the joyful jazz/pop waltz "Gin no Spoon ~ Blend of Memory"（銀のスプーン）that ended the Fall 2019 special in the "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？）franchise with a duet between seiyuu Minori Inase（水瀬いのり）and Nana Mizuki（水樹奈々）that would have put a tear in a number of Gochiusa fans' eyes.
Well, along with that OVA, "Sing For You", came a DVD-ROM containing the songs that were created and performed during the special, including "Gin no Spoon". Unfortunately, a lot of those full versions of those tracks have been taken down by the powers-that-be, so I had to do some scrambling around. Basically, most of what I could find are just the montage-type snippets during the show.
The one that I really wanted to put up is the contribution by demure (but with a sly sense of humour) Chiya as played by Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）since she actually puts up an enka number with the title of "Furimukeba Tsuki, Iie Dango"（振り向けば月、いいえ団子。...When I Turn, There is the Moon...Nope, It's a Dumpling.）as befitting her Wa style. With lyrics by the prolific Aki Hata（畑亜貴）, I tip my hat off to composer Masahiro Mizoguchi（溝口雅大）since "Furimukeba" has some similarity to an enka classic by Sayuri Ishikawa（石川さゆり）, "Amagi Goe"（天城越え）.
Once again, just the briefest of snippets here but the song list also includes Syaro's aidoru-tastic "Hi Hi High☆" which has the usually button-down waitress of the Fleur de Lapin going bonkers on the stage, thanks to that most dangerous of drinks, coffee. Written by Aiko Takase（高瀬愛虹）and composed by Tako Yamaguchi（山口たこ）, the song is well-titled since it may refer to Syaro's state of mind. It's for one of those times when decaffeinated simply won't do.
The only full version of a song on the soundtrack that I could find is the ultra-cheerful "Sing a Song Paya Poya Melody"（しんがーそんぐぱやぽやメロディー）that has the entire main cast of Petits Rabbit's and Chimame-tai（チマメ隊）performing. With lyricist Hata paired with Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）again, after creating the adorable "Daydream Cafe", the very first opening theme for "Gochiusa", the two of them came up with "Sing a Song Paya Poya Melody" which could easily suffice as a possible opening theme for the the third season of the franchise next year. The beat is such that it could even rival the strongest rabbits in terms of how much bounce it can attain, and the song is quite similar to the opening for the second season, "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）.
Hopefully, the other full versions of the songs will return someday, and there is one more song from the soundtrack that I would like to cover if the original gets put back up.
After several months of waiting following the release of the 60-minute special for "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??"（ご注文はうさぎですか??...Is The Order A Rabbit??）titled "Dear My Sister" in theatres late last year, my anime buddy was finally able to get his hands onto the Blu-Ray (although he did see it at the theatre in Japan when he visited).
Yup, yesterday was the usual biweekly session of anime-and-food, and there was a fair bit of drama mixed in with the comedy for the afternoon part. However, after coming back from dinner (a lot of dumplings and fried rice), my buddy warned me that watching this short movie of the cafe-based adventures of Cocoa, Chino and the rest could potentially plunge me into either sugar shock or cotton-swaddled euphoria. Actually, it wasn't nearly that fatal although it was rather pleasant to see something so harmless that wouldn't even hint at psychological damage.
Heck, even in the rare moments when characters are angry (yes, even Cocoa has a momentary snit), they are cute angry. And any drama generated in "Dear My Sister" was basically at the beginning of the movie with some of the girls overreacting to Cocoa leaving town...for an entire week.
The ending theme for the movie is "Sekai ga Cafe ni Nacchatta!" (The World Has Become A Cafe!). Now, my favourite theme song for the entire "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??" franchise will always be "Daydream Cafe", but "Sekai ga Cafe ni Nacchatta!" is pretty nice and is more reminiscent of the really genki second season opening theme "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）with some of that sunny 60s and some disco thrown in there. No surprise since both songs were written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）who also took care of "Daydream Cafe".
The only difference with "Sekai ga Cafe ni Nacchatta!" is that all of the seiyuu voicing the teen baristas, aka Petit Rabbit's and Chimame Tai are together for perhaps the first time singing a theme song in the form of Petit Rabbit's with beans. And, yes, I would say that they probably would have needed to have downed quite a lot of coffee to record this with the energy that was mustered here.
On the way home, I asked my friend whether there could be another series or another movie from the franchise since one of the characters had hinted the possibility of the baristas going over to Cocoa's smaller hometown to the Hot Bakery. We both later agreed that chances are possible if small since we've heard that most of the material from the original manga has been used up for the original anime and that "Dear My Sister" is a wholly new work not based on the manga. Well, if so, then the movie was a nice way of saying goodbye to everybody in the world of coffee and rabbits.
There have been a few out-of-left-field anime this Spring 2018 season. I've already spoken about one of them, "Hisone & Masotan"（ひそねとまそたん）with ASDF dragons and a France Gall ending theme.
Another one is "Last Period: Owarinaki Rasen no Monogatari"（ラストピリオド -終わりなき螺旋の物語-...Last Period: The Story of an Endless Spiral）which is based on an RPG and is something of a parody on the RPG itself with one of its characters regularly bashing down the Fourth Wall. It's a fun enough comedy which reminds me a bit of "Mahoujin Guru Guru"（魔法陣グルグル）although from watching the first couple of episodes, it hasn't quite reached that show's zaniness yet. So far, the breakout characters to me are the trio that make up Wiseman (check from about 12:30 in the above video).
Still pretty early on in the series so the full versions of the theme songs aren't up yet (now they are) but both the opening and ending themes are pretty darn catchy, maybe even earworm level. The opening theme is "Yokubari Dreamer" (Greed Dreamer) as performed by Natsuki Hanae & Yukari Tamura（花江夏樹・田村ゆかり）who play the characters of Haru and Choko respectively. There is something about the song that reminds me of a Disney musical (I almost expected Lumiere from "Beauty & The Beast" to welcome viewers most cordially) especially in the beginning until it returned to the usual bouncy comedy anime theme style. The song was written and composed by songwriter-guitarist no_my.
Then, comes the ending theme titled "The Wiseman Theme" by Wiseman（ワイズマン）themselves, the rival team of roving helpers and fixers that disrupt our heroes' attempts to do good each episode. The ladies are just as goofy and clueless as the protagonist Periods but they are also luckier for the most part.
"The Wiseman Theme" has those hints of old-fashioned tokusatsu hero music and perhaps even early 2000s Para Para dance music. Plus the dancing by Wiseman in the ending credits will most likely have videos of real-life people trying to emulate the characters. Sayaka Harada（原田彩楓）, Akari Kitou（鬼頭明里）and Ayumi Mano（真野あゆみ）portray Mizaru, Kikazaru and Iwazaru respectively. Shoko Fujibayashi（藤林聖子）provided the lyrics while Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）took care of the earworm-y music.
I thought the above Niigata bamboo dumpling flavoured Langue de chat confection that I kindly received from my lone student would be the ideal thumbnail image for this article since it is covering the opening and ending themes for a personally anticipated sequel to the snack-themed anime "Dagashi Kashi"（だがしかし）.
I've noticed a couple of the differences with "Dagashi Kashi 2". One is that the animation is slightly different; my anime buddy told me that this time the studio is trying to get it to resemble the original manga illustrations. OK, no problems there. However, the second difference was disappointing in that this time the show is only 15 minutes long compared to the full 30 minutes for each episode in the first season back in 2016. There is also a bit more drama in the proceedings along with the feeling of transition...that things won't quite be the same anymore.
First off, let me say that there haven't been any anison earworms this Winter 2018 season. Still, the opening theme of "Oh My Sugar Feeling!!" is quirky and pleasant enough so that it has grown on me to a certain extent. Sung by seiyuu Ayana Taketatsu（竹達彩奈）who voices the main character of Hotaru, it really does feel like the aftermath of gobbling down an entire bag of M&Ms in 5 seconds flat.
Written by Kanata Nakamura（中村彼方）, composed by Motokiyo and arranged by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫 ）, this is Taketatsu's 10th single from January 2018. It peaked at No. 19 on Oricon.
The ending theme for "Dagashi Kashi 2" has had a bigger attraction for me. Once again, the ending credits have been quite colourful. But instead of the Alice In Wonderland theme (with dancing from Hotaru and Saya) from the first season's credits with Taketatsu, it's more a combination of Candyland and cheesecake among the female characters.
Plus, although "Okashi na Watashi to Hachimitsu no Kimi" (Weird Me & Honey You) hasn't quite had me running for the repeat button on YouTube, it is another sugar rush of a song by this aidoru group called Hachimitsu Rocket（はちみつロケット）that launched in 2014. I definitely don't need to get any Kit Kats for several hours after hearing this one.
Composed of 7 ladies in their late teens from the Kanto region, this song is just their 2nd single and it hasn't even been released yet. Release has been set for early March. Apparently, Hachimitsu Rocket originated from 3B Junior, the aidoru training department of Stardust Promotions. Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ ）and Shiritsu Ebisu Chugaku（私立恵比寿中学）were also founded through this department. "Okashi na Watashi to Hachimitsu no Kimi" was written and composed by Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）.
Well, another Sunday of anime and food. And I got to see more of the 2009 TBS anime "Taisho Yakyu Musume"（大正野球娘。...Taisho Baseball Girls）, the heartwarming tale of a group of high school girls in Taisho Era Japan trying to create their own baseball team. I did mention in the article for "Tokyo Bushi"（東京節）, the musical number that the main character of Koume sings in the first episode, that her performance was the only spot of zany humour I saw. Ah, once again I spoke too soon. Last night, I saw a couple of later episodes which were downright out in left field (pun fully intended) and then I came across the above YouTube capture of a scene that I will probably catch next time at my friend's place which covers the usual anime trope of walking through a scary forest. Much hilarity ensues.
The other observation was realizing how many well-known seiyuu were crammed into this show. Of course, back then perhaps not all of them were as famous as they are now, but still to know that a number of these ladies would end up in some of my favourite anime such as the "Fate/Stay Night" franchise, "Uchoten Kazoku"（有頂天家族）and "Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun"（月刊少女野崎くん）was enough to feel that with "Taisho Yakyu Musume", I was watching something even more special.
Anyways on to the topic of the article. The opening theme song "Romantic Strike" hasn't exactly become an earworm like seiyuu Kanae Ito's（伊藤かな恵）rendition of "Tokyo Bushi", and in fact, I had to refer to the video on YouTube to remember how exactly the song went, but still listening to it again with Ito and her fellow cast members Mai Nakahara（中原麻衣）, Kana Ueda（植田佳奈）and Mamiko Noto（能登麻美子）had me getting happy again. Written by rino and composed by Takayuki Hattori（服部隆之）who I just wrote about the other day for creating the dramatic soundtrack to the old PS1 game "I.Q.", the song is all sunniness and cherry blossoms that had me pining for some of the J-Pop tinged with a bit of disco or Shibuya-kei at around the turn of the century with Misia and bird among other singers. It was arranged by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）who would come up with an even breezier and happier anison some years later.
I love the horns in the opening credits but boy, do they turn loose in the full version of the song. Kinda wonder if Ito and company looked pleasantly surprised when the trombone and trumpet burst out in the second verse. "Romantic Strike" managed to hit a double of sorts when it reached No. 58 on Oricon.
Yes, I guess I'm on the "GochiUsa" kick tonight after writing about "No Poi!"（ノーポイッ!）earlier. But I came across a rather delightful version of the first opening theme "Daydream Cafe" so would like to show that to you but allow me a little space for some prefacing.
Along with the main female cast of "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）, there are a couple of minor characters. One is Blue Mountain (Midori) Aoyama（青山 ブルーマウンテン）, the somewhat spacey-sounding author as played by Saori Hayami（早見沙織）whom I've seen in other anime such as "Mangaka-san to Ashisutanto-san to"（マンガ家さんとアシスタントさんと...The Comic Artist and Assistants）as the oft-harassed Sahoto Ashisu and "Soul Eater Not!" as the slightly snooty Anya Hepburn. In "GochiUsa", her character of Blue Mountain is truly mellow (maybe that's not just coffee in her cup) although she has a rather disturbing habit of staring at Sharo's lower extremities.
The other character has far less time on the show: Chino's father, Takahiro Kafuu（香風タカヒロ）, the master of Rabbit House the Bar, and a truly amiable ex-soldier with a darn fine voice. He is played by veteran seiyuu Show Hayami（速水奨）, who is incidentally no relation to Saori Hayami (as you can tell from the kanji). I was surprised to find out that he had voiced Maximilian Jenius, the bespectacled ace pilot from the original "Macross" decades back (only knew Max from "Robotech"; can barely remember him from the "Macross" movie).
I tried to find a scene from the anime with the two of them conversing together but couldn't find the particular scene I wanted, but at least I have them in one short video.
Enough prefacing. Purely by accident, I found a version of "Daydream Cafe" on YouTube featuring the Hayamis dueting. I will always enjoy the original by Petit's Rabbits but this cover has got a fun vibe to it. I'm not quite sure if it's an especially upbeat Xmas version or a take of the song filtered through snazzy Shibuya-kei, and I have no idea where it came from (please let me know if any of you know). Still, it's amusing to listen to especially with Takahiro sounding so self-controlled usually on the show.
Well, almost 3 months ago, I put up an article about what could be one of the most diabetes-inducing anison themes of the year with "Tokimeki Poporon"（ときめきポポロン♪） which has been the ending theme for the mellow "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka??"（ご注文はうさぎですか？？）
Now that the 2nd series of moe girls in cafes is about to wrap up this weekend, I thought it was as a good time as any to talk about the opening theme "No Poi!" Compared to the adorable "Daydream Cafe" from the 1st series, "No Poi!" has more of a dynamic streak which rather fits the slightly more fantastical opening credits. I would say that there was even a bit of Swinging 60s pop fueling the song created by Aki Hata and Kaoru Okubo（畑亜貴・大久保薫）, the same duo behind "Daydream Cafe".
(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)
I've got to give my compliments to XLEZZYTECHNIKA, the YouTube uploader and one of the folks who brought the band together to give their extended take on "No Poi!" After listening to this version, I'm now reconsidering whether I like the opening or ending themes better. I had thought that "No Poi!" was in an unenviable position being the 2nd opening theme after the great and still my favourite of all the themes for "GochiUsa", but listening to the full version on a cloud service, I've come to appreciate the joyful aspects of the song especially with the main voice cast being further challenged here.
And as it turned out, "No Poi!" has become the most successful of the themes on Oricon, getting as high as No. 4 on the charts.
According to the good folks at Wikipedia, an earworm is "...a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person's mind after it is no longer playing...The word earworm is a calque from the German Ohrwurm...first used in the 1980s".
I myself also like to envision the earworm as the Ceti Eel used to torture and subdue Commander Chekov and poor Captain Terrell in the original version of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" all the way back in 1982. One wonders whether a German Trekkie was inspired by that movie to come up with the name for a song that just...blast it all...won't leave your mind.
For this year, I've got a couple of those aural larvae hanging out in my brain, and they just happen to come from the same anime. My buddy unleashed "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?"（ご注文はうさぎですか？...Is The Order A Rabbit?）on me earlier this year, complete with the opening and ending themes. As for the show itself, it was adapted from a manga, and it's basically a pleasant half hour of watching 5 cute girls going through life while working at 3 different cafés in a small European-type town. Mind you, among those kids are a girl with a sister complex, a future NRA member and a moe version of Mr. Spock (yes, another "Star Trek" reference). Bringing in the foodie analogy, when I view "Space Cruiser Yamato" as some serious kaiseki ryori and "Space Dandy" as delectable junk food, "Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?" is basically a nice cup of coffee with a small slice of strawberry shortcake. And I do appreciate my cup of joe and shortcake.
"Daydream Café" is the opening theme, and just like the show itself, it is an adorable and breezy ditty featuring all of the 5 main seiyuu put together as the group Petits Rabbit's (as a former English teacher, that apostrophe in there annoys me to no end). Written by Aki Hata（畑亜貴）and composed by Kaoru Okubo（大久保薫）, it is as sugary as a Xmas candy cane but without the added calories and can almost get me to skip on the street whenever I hear it...over and over again. I was surprised to find out that Petits Rabbit's Ayane Sakura（佐倉綾音）, Inori Minase（水瀬いのり）, Risa Taneda（種田梨沙）, Satomi Sato（佐藤聡美）and Maaya Uchida（内田真礼）even pull off a nice little song-and-dance in the official music video as above.
Ceti Eel II is the ending theme, "Poppin' Jump" by Chimame Tai（ チマメ隊）. Inori Minase is joined by Sora Tokui and Rie Murakawa（徳井青空・村川梨衣）who voice two of the minor characters, and the name chimame is an acronym of the three characters of Chino, Maya and Megu who are classmates. If anything, "Poppin' Jump" is even cuter than the opening theme and if taken in large doses, could induce uncontrollable hopping just like the titular animal in the show's title. As it is, though, it has just gotten me to sway my head. Still, it is what it's doing inside my head that's been the problem. I can blame the creators of the song, Uran（うらん）and Yuuki Kimura（木村有希）for making me feel like a 5-year-old at Xmas time.
"Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka?" will most likely not enter the annals of significant anime in the 2010s (note from 2019 me: Oh, really?) but neither will it send me to bed racking my brain about what the meaning of life is or trying to purge existential horrors. And you know what? The songs there are probably what I would like to hear in my brain when I enter and exit a particularly welcoming small café...not a Starbucks or even a Timmies.
Tiramisu and coffee at Cova
in Shinjuku Times Square
