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.
Showing posts with label Momoiro Clover Z. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Momoiro Clover Z. Show all posts
Heck of a time to write about Christmas when Japan is currently roasting like a chestnut over an open fire and Toronto has just emerged from a mini-heat wave. However, it's been a sorta/kinda tradition here on KKP to throw in one song related to the Yuletide during the summer to show the whimsical (or deranged) spirit. And I'd like to remind viewers that we're now less than five months away from the Holidays.
Of course, on Scott's podcast, "Holly Jolly X'masu", everyday is Christmas and Japanese, and for his latest episode, he's focused on his annual "Christmas in July" tunes because Japanese pop culture contains a lot of Xmas-themed summer ditties. Apparently, Christmas is surprisingly seasonally pliable there. One of the acts that he's focused on is the veteran aidoru group Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ）.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find the Momoiro Clover Z song that Scott had featured on the podcast on YouTube, but on the other hand, I was able to track down another similarly-themed song of theirs on the group's November 2019 20th single, "stay gold". "HOLIDAY" is a snazzy tune written and composed by singer-songwriter CHI-MEY that has incorporated some of those old kayo kyoku elements because it was utilized as the theme song for Momoiro Clover Z's short concert tour "Momoiro Christmas 2019 ~ Fuyuzora no Mirror Ball"（ももいろクリスマス2019 〜冬空のミラーボール〜...Winter Sky Mirror Ball） in December of that year in Osaka and Saitama. The live events were patterned after the old NTV variety show "Shabondama Holiday"（シャボン玉ホリデー...Bubble Holiday） which had its initial run between 1961 and 1972.
Well, it is the anniversary of the moon landing, after all! I couldn't let the day go by without ignoring this one. So I am continuing on from today's moon-theme songs.
I recall my anime buddy showing me "Sailor Moon R: The Movie"（劇場版美少女戦士セーラームーンR）from 1993 years ago, and from what I could remember was the title character dying (again) and revived (again) on some sort of meteor with all of the other Sailors collapsing on her in a heap of relieved tears. You know it's serious when even Sailor Mars is happy to see Sailor Moon alive again.
To be honest, it's been the ending theme of that movie, "Moon Revenge", which has stuck with me in the years since. With the clamor of banging 80s synths and percussion, the song just takes off with such an intrepid beat that it could probably go up against "Moonlight Densetsu"（ムーンライト伝説）as the theme for the franchise. The music seems to be fairly screaming "I'M SAILOR MOON, B**CH!"
And for that, we have to thank singer-songwriter Akiko Kosaka（小坂明子）for that melody and lyricist Kayoko Fuyumori（冬杜花代子）. "Moon Revenge" got no higher than No. 85 on Oricon, but I think the Sailor Moon fans will always cherish it. Besides the entire main cast is behind the mike: Kotono Mitsuishi（三石琴乃）, Aya Hisakawa（久川綾）, Emi Shinohara（篠原恵美）, Michie Tomizawa（富沢美智恵）and Rika Fukami（深見梨加）.
I read that "Moon Revenge" has been covered by a few other singers including songwriter Kosaka herself back in 2013. And I did find this cover by dynamic aidoru group Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ）which was released in July 2014 as a part of their 12th single, "Moon Pride", the opening theme for the reboot series "Sailor Moon Crystal"（美少女戦士セーラームーンCrystal）. The single peaked at No. 3. Nice guitar solo but I will have to go with the original.
Because of timing and immediate affinity, when it comes to manga artist Akira Toriyama（鳥山明）, I will always side with his "Dr. Slump"（ドクター・スランプ）. although his subsequent "Dragon Ball"（ドラゴンボール）franchise is by far his greatest masterpiece. It was during my 1981 trip to Japan that summer when my host sister in Nara asked me during a trip together through her hometown whether I had heard of this manga "Dr. Slump". Having replied in the negative, she promptly stopped off at a manga store and bought me a couple of issues of the adventures of Arale-chan and Senbe Norimaki. I was enamored with the series so that I kept on collecting the original books until my odyssey was finished during my long residency in Ichikawa many years later.
I never got into "Dragon Ball", the manga or the anime, the latter which started up immediately after the end of the run of "Dr. Slump" in 1986. For some reason, that particular Toriyama bug never got to bite me, although its fame has been such that even I know the characters of Goku and Gohan, and I even saw its parody on Adult Swim's"Robot Chicken". Indeed, I knew about the Hollywood adaptation, and from what I've heard about it, that is all I will say about it.
The other aspect of the anime franchise that has seeped into general pop culture legend, Japan and elsewhere, is the theme song, and what I learned was a bit surprising for a non-Dragon Ball fan like me. "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA", a rocker that I had thought was the only opening theme for the entire series, was actually the song for the first half of "Dragon Ball Z", the sequel to the original series which had run from February 1986 to April 1989. The sequel itself lasted from April 1989 to January 1996 with "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" fronting over two-thirds of the episodes.
"CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" may have been one theme song for "Dragon Ball", but I think me and a lot of the fans would say that it is the theme. It is certainly the only song that I know from the show, and any time that I've seen a retrospective on anime or anison on TV in Japan, "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" will always be featured without failure. Heck, one YouTube commenter stated that it ought to be made into the Japanese national anthem.😆
But I gotta say that "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" is one spicy and attractive anison for the kids (and probably adults, too) who loved "Dragon Ball". As sung by Hironobu Kageyama（影山ヒロノブ）, it, through the lyrics and music, really does get the excitement flowing for the adventures and battles to come, and man, did that improbable combination of syllables in the title become a legend itself! It's kinda of a musical Super Saiyan (did I use that term correctly?).
Now that is one guy who is in his element, in the zone! Nothing happier to see a singer who loves to sing a particular song. I'm not sure whether Kageyama ever performed this at an overseas Fan Expo or Comicon, but I can only imagine the joyful mayhem that would erupt from the masses. Yukinojo Mori（森雪之丞）came up with the lyrics while Chiho Kiyooka（清岡千穂）composed the song. It was released as the 16th single by Kageyama in May 1989 with a re-recording done in 2005. It got no higher than No. 118 on the regular Oricon charts, but I think its fame and popularity have far outlasted any stat.
According to J-Wiki, "CHA-LA HEAD-CHA-LA" has been covered by a number of other singers, although this seiyuu wasn't listed, I did find Aya Hirano's（平野綾）version under her character on "Lucky☆Star".
One group that was listed was Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ）who did their cover on the Z-edition of their 15th single, "Zetto no Chikai"（『Z』の誓い...Pledge of "Z"）, released in April 2015. The single reached No. 4.
Finishing off with Kageyama, he's also become famous for another leather-lunged performance recently.
Happy Monday! Back in early 2013, I wrote about Ramjet Pulley and their dreamy "Overjoyed" that I purchased on a whim after seeing their music video on one of the music channels one Sunday. It was quite the different song.
I had been wondering for a while about finding another Ramjet Pulley tune since until now it was the only such tune represented on the blog, and I was interested in hearing any other stuff from them. Well, this morning I encountered their debut single from November 2000, "Hello...good bye".
Written by RP bassist Satomi Makashi（麻越さとみ）and composed by guitarist Kazunobu Majima（間島和伸）, vocalist Akiko Matsuda（松田明子）sings with a bit more of an understated smokier funk when it comes to "Hello...good bye". I couldn't quite understand the lyrics but they are a mix of English and Japanese, delivered in a way that made me wonder whether Matsuda wanted to reveal a new sort of pidgin language. Furthermore, the other remarkable thing was that the song in general reminded me of another band that was coming to the fore at about the same time, Love Psychedelico.
"Hello...good bye" was also on Ramjet Pulley's debut album"a cup of day" which was released in September 2001. It peaked at No. 100.
(from about 8:23)
In 2013, the group Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ）performed a cover version of "Hello...good bye" with a bit more aidoru oomph and completely different lyrics by Makoshi. It was recorded onto MomoClo's collection of their indies best, "Iriguchi no nai Deguchi"（入口のない出口...An Exit Without An Entrance）which hit No. 2 after its release in June of that year.
Another interesting thing I found out about "Hello...good bye" was that it had also been covered back in the same year as the original Ramjet Pulley release by The Launchers. This group is not to be mistaken with the Group Sounds band of the 1960s. Instead, these Launchers were born from a late afternoon BS Asahi variety program called "Harajuku Launchers" (Harajukuロンチャーズ...as I've dubbed the band in the Labels) which had its run between December 2000 and September 2003.
One of the things about Japanese TV broadcasting that I learned was that the near-dinner and dinner hours during the weekdays had some of the more local channels delve more into niche programming geared toward kids or housewives instead of the usual anime or news shows. "Harajuku Launchers" wove between 5 and 7 pm on the weeknights from Monday to Friday and touted itself as a girls' program made by girls and made for girls.
From what I saw on the J-Wiki article for "Harajuku Launchers" was that during its relatively brief time on the airwaves, there was a battalion of young women who represented the new up-and-coming members of the Stardust Promotion talent agency and some of them who appeared on the show included actress Erika Sawajiri（沢尻エリカ）and seiyuu-singer Megumi Nakajima（中島愛）.
Welcome to December! The above photo was actually taken in January of this year but going outside today to take my walk, the intersection near my place didn't appear all that much different from above. It has been a drab day to match the drab environment without snow to brighten up things.
Since my good friend and collaborator Marcos V. decided to talk about some of the old stuff featuring Hikaru Utada'smother yesterday, I decided to start the month with something from his usual neighbourhood, Momoiro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ).
From what I've read from Marcos and other sources is that Momoiro Clover Z has been quite the aidoru phenom in terms of trying a bit of everything in the music spectrum. My first article on them was their mix of traditional Japanese and dance music in "Nippon Egao Hyakkei"（ニッポン笑顔百景）which was the ending theme for one of my favourite anime "Joshiraku" (じょしらく), and in retrospect, I think that it was certainly the interesting musical concoction.
Momoclo's 6th single, "Rodo Sanka", came out several months before that one in November 2011. Translated as "Hymn to Labor", it is a tribute to the working man as the cog in the corporate machine of Japan. The Wikipedia article on the song even went into the music video by talking about the fact that the ladies sported these so-called energy-saving suits that were heavily promoted in the late 1970s during the 2nd Oil Shock in Japan. My take on the video is that Momoclo was trying their darndest to show off that the salarymen not only worked hard but played hard as well. Those ties around their heads are the typical symbol of the guys immersing themselves in drink and carousing after another 12-hour day.
What got my attention was the arrangement behind "Rodo Sanka" which sounded like something to be found in a Quentin Tarentino flick or a rerun of "Shaft". There is quite the 1970s funk in there, and it turns out that the melody was provided by a fellow by the name of Ian Parton. He and his UK band The Go! Team specialize in a mix of genres including rock and blaxploitation music. In fact, he and his former fellow bandmate, Jamie Bell, also participated in the recording of the song on guitar, drums and bass. Kenji Otsuki（大槻ケンヂ）took care of the lyrics.
Now, what got me to write about Momoclo today was this song which was included on the CD alongside "Rodo Sanka". "Santa-san" (サンタさん) was one of the tunes performed by the unit when they had their first concert in New York City recently. "TV Japan Club" had some excerpts from their visit to the Big Apple, and I figured that with the Yuletide around the corner, it was time to put up an Xmas song on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".
Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）took care of words, music and arrangement for "Santa-san" which is this hyperkinetic experience of Momoclo enjoying a typical Xmas party in Japan after the ladies have had a few too many candy canes and slices of fruitcake. Speaking of fruitcake, Maeyamada combines in that frenzied aidoru music with bits from "Jingle Bells" and "Joy to the World". Hope they didn't sugar crash too badly after making that video.
The third and final song before the karaoke versions come into play is "Bionic Cherry". Now I've actually heard and seen "The Bionic Watermelon" which was a silly-as-heck parody segment of the old ABC 1970s sci-fi series "The Six Million Dollar Man" (yep, they actually had successful sci-fi shows back then) that was featured sometimes on the old variety show starring singing duo The Captain & Tennille. But "Bionic Cherry"? That was a new one.
In any case, the song composed by AKIRASTAR starts off a bit techno but then goes into full frenetic pop/rock mode with Natsumi Tadano's（只野菜摘）lyrics also acting as the orange juice to kick you on to tackle the planet. So it was rather appropriate as the theme song for the 2011 tongue-in-cheek action flick "Salvage Mice". Still, I also like the original music video for the song itself. Apparently the song has been officially labeled Melodic Hardcore, a genre of punk.
The entire song under "Rodo Sanka" managed to peak at No. 7 on Oricon.
Just to end things, I actually found one video about "The Bionic Watermelon". Yes, we were easily amused back then.
Ah, look at that okonomiyaki frying away there. I took that photo at Chibo, a restaurant way up the Ebisu Garden Place, back in late 2014. That was my second dinner during my trip back to Tokyo. The okonomiyaki had all the typical toppings: wavy bonito flakes with a collective mind of their own, tangy sauce, and nori powder. And before I forget, there were the streaks of whole-egg mayonnaise. In all likelihood, that mayonnaise was by the famed Kewpie Corporation, the one with the logo of the cute baby wanting a hug.
About 6 weeks ago, I did an article focusing on the theme song of a venerable cooking show on NHK called "Kyo no Ryori"（今日の料理）by the late Isao Tomita（冨田勲）. That was and still is quite the long-running theme tune, but there has also been another theme song for yet another decades-old cooking program on Japanese TV, "Kewpie San-pun Cooking" (the segue is now complete), on NTV. That staccato organ riff in the intro probably has reached partial earworm status as well.
However, unlike the Tomita theme for "Kyo no Ryori", the theme for "Kewpie San-pun Cooking"（キユーピー3分クッキング...Kewpie 3-Minute Cooking） had a distinctly foreign origin.
It was actually a marching tune that was created all the way back in 1897 (our third-oldest year listed on "Kayo Kyoku Plus") by German composer Leon Jessel titled "The Parade of the Tin Soldiers"or as it was translated in Japanese, "Omocha no Heitai no March". I kinda figured that the song had a Xmas toy sort of feeling to it, but instead in Japan, it has become the tune representing all things culinary instead of military.
One of the questions that I had about the show was that although the title refers to 3-minute cooking, the actual program is 10 minutes or more than 3 times the original length that the title boasts. It rather reminds me of the fact that the American sitcom "MASH" lasted 3 times longer than the actual Korean War where the show was set. Well, according to the J-Wiki article on the show, "San-pun Cooking" had originally been scheduled for a 5-minute slot in which the actual cooking took place within 3 of those minutes. I could only imagine that the incidence for nervous breakdowns was probably higher for all involved during those early days. The NTV show, by the way, premiered in January 1963.
And gosh darn it, the powers-that-be just had to do something cute one day by having aidoru group Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ）do a guest cameo in the opening and ending credits for one show.
Finally to add further risk of diabetes, here is Miku Hatsune's（初音ミク）version of the theme.
Yesterday
I was listening to some Masayuki Suzuki's (鈴木雅之)
songs, such as “Chigau, Sou Janai” (違う、そうじゃない), “Koibito” (恋人),
“Private Hotel” (プライベートホテル), “First Love” and “Kirai da yo” (きらいだよ),
when I finally came across his collaboration compilation, “Martinit Duet”,
released in June 2008.
His
classic duet with Momoko Kikuchi, “Shibuya de Go-ji” (渋谷で5時),
was the song that introduced me to Suzuki’s soulful voice, thanks to J-Canuck’s
article a couple of years ago. Besides it, and also a newer duet with Kikuchi,
called “Koi no Flight Time ~12pm~” (恋のフライトタイム〜12pm〜),
the one song that I like in “Martini Duet” is Suzuki’s duet with Hitomi
Shimatani (島谷ひとみ), “Futari de Ii Janai”.
Quite
different from Suzuki’s typical nightlife and melancholic R&B songs, or
even his funky tunes, “Futari de Ii Janai” is a disco-pop song with very bright
and soaring strings, which almost gives me a happy vibe. Suzuki is great as ever
in the recording, but Shimatani was truly strong as well. I already knew she
was a good singer, thanks to Noelle Tham’s past article on her song "Falco", and also my own article about her hit "Perseus", but it was
a pleasant surprise to see how she worked with Martin. It also contrasts nicely
with the whispery tone used by Momoko Kikuchi in “Shibuya de Go-ji” and “Koi no
Flight Time ~12pm~”.
As a bonus, here's Suzuki performing "Shibuya de Go-ji" with Momoiro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ). Even though A-rin (佐々木彩夏 / あーりん) is not a strong singer, she's my favorite aidoru from the group, thanks to her personality and cute charms. It's also great that she got dressed as an early 90s OL with proper bangs.
Before
being included in “Martini Duet”, “Futari de Ii Janai” was released as a single
in January 2007, and was also included in Suzuki’s “Champagne Royale” album.
The single ended reaching a respectable #25 on the Oricon charts.
Lyrics were written
by Takehiko Hata (秦建日子) and Kiyoshi Matsuo
(松尾潔), while music and arrangement were done by
Hidefumi Usami (宇佐美秀文).
Today
is a big day for any Momoiro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ) fan out there, as the girls are releasing their 3th and
4th albums, “AMARANTHUS” and “Hakkin no Yoake”, simultaneously.
I’ve
already listened to both albums a couple of times, and, as anything in life,
they have both positive and negative things. The main aspect that kept me
thinking, though, was how the new Momoclo isn’t that wild and crazy Momoclo we
were used to around 2012. Nowadays, their sound is more standard aidoru-pop than ever.
Yeah,
Momoclo’s unpredictable energy cooled down a little bit, and, in all honesty,
I don’t find it a bad thing. Sure, they have less stellar songs like “Mouretsu Uchuu...” (猛烈宇宙交響曲・第七楽章「無限の愛」) or “Saraba, Itoshiki Kanashimi-tachi yo” (サラバ、愛しき悲しみたちよ), but, at the same time, awkward
experimentalisms such as “Neo STARGATE” and “BIRTH BIRTH” (BIRTH Ø BIRTH) are
not in our way anymore.
The
thing is, the girls have achieved an important, but questionable, balance in
the long run, which is the ability to maintain a reasonable level of quality...
to the prejudice of more experimental or unusual sounds, of course. In other
words, they started recording fun pop songs without the attention-grabbing
elements they were known in the past. Or they sold their souls, if you prefer.
Now, for the music, I
wanted to highlight three songs that are somehow being used to promote the
albums. They all have official music videos, but, unfortunately, two of them
are just short versions (I hate short versions, but it became a thing in Japan
since 2014. It’s funny how conservative and obtuse the Japanese music industry
is towards YouTube).
“Maholo
Vacation” (マホロバケーション) is easily my favorite song from both
albums (it can be found in “Hakkin no Yoake”), and it’s not hard to understand
why: the song is funky and the fat bassline is just perfetct. To crown it, I’m
in love with the catchy chorus.
This adds to my
thesis that Momoclo is keeping things simple, but fun. Also, it’s no mystery
how the vocals are one of the weakest points of the group, so songs like “Maholo
Vacation”, that don’t require high or overcomplicated notes, are just perfect
for them. If you take a look at past songs “Neo STARGATE” and “BIRTH BIRTH”,
you’ll easily notice how painfully annoying their voices could get at some
parts. Momoclo is an outstanding performance group with charismatic girls, but
they have to work properly with their weaknesses. To a world with more “Maholo
Vacation”!
“WE ARE BORN” was the first song from the new albums I listened to, besides
the singles, of course. As the lead song of “AMARANTHUS”, it instantly got me
pumped with the more pop-rock vibe, and is probably the nearest Momoclo gets to
their old selves with its quirky and silly nature. Also, the chorus has the
right ammount of drama, in a way “Neo STARGATE” and “BIRTH BIRTH” tried to
deliver in the past, but failed badly because of uncomfortable vocal choices.
Yeah,
“Hakkin no Yoake” is a ballad. Not only, it’s a ballad coming from Momoclo.
That said, it had all the elements to be a bad song, but it turned out quite
good.
“Hakkin
no Yoake” starts slow with minimal elements in the arrangement until it gets to the
emotiveand melodic chorus. After that, the song becomes a little fuller with a proper beat and synth details in the background. The strings, which were
beautifully introduced in the first chorus, also continues to make appearances
through the song, which is always a good thing. Even the vocals are not that
bad (they still fail sometimes, I know), and, although it can sound like a
cheesy AKB48 ballad at times, I forgive Momoclo and congratulate them for such
effort. Also, the video is a gorgeous collection of phases from Momoclo’s
career, which, coupled with the song, probably softened my heart a little bit.
Now,
wrapping things up, I read the entire post and realised how I talked good about
the new songs and bashed both “Neo STARGATE” and “BIRTH BIRTH”, which,
coincidentally or not, were the promotional songs to Momoclo’s last album “5TH
DIMENSION”. The thing is, “Maholo Vacation”, “WE ARE BORN” and “Hakkin no Yoake”
are also promotional songs, so they’re exactly what the two aforementioned past
songs should have been back in 2013, but, in my opinion, failed. In other words, they were very ambitious songs that didn't work well with the girls' vocal limitations. This mistake was finally solved with the songs in "AMARANTHUS" and "Hakkin no Yoake", though. Momoclo has redeemed themselves.
Also, this
somewhat comparative work wasn’t my true intention when I started writing this
post, but, well... it just happened. With that in mind, let’s say the new
Momoiro Clover Z evolved in a dubious way: their singles have been lackluster,
but they compensated with fun and solid album songs that, even though far from
the group’s peak, are able to indicate a new horizon or path to them.
“AMARANTHUS”
and “Hakkin no Yoake” were released together in February 2016. Lyrics for “WE
ARE BORN” were written by Naoko Fujibayashi (藤林直子),
while music and arrangement were done by tatsuo. As for “Hakkin no Yoake”,
lyrics were written by Takahiro Maeda (前田たかひろ),
while music and arrangement were done by Katsu Yokoyama (横山克).
Finally, lyrics for were written by Sumiyo Mutsumi (六ツ見純代),
while music and arrangement were done by
invisible manners.
A few years back, I was enjoying the nutso comedy in the 2012 anime "Joshiraku"（じょしらく）along with both opening and ending themes. The ending theme, "Nippon Egao Hyakkei"（ニッポン笑顔百景）, was especially something that got batted beyond the outfield wall with Momoiro Clover Z（ももいろクローバーZ）as the girls sang the lyrics at something like the speed of sound. It was the first time that I had ever heard of the group and I felt like bowing in respect at how they handled it.
Earlier in the same year, there was another anime that got released but didn't get shown to me until much later in 2012 at about the same time that I got to see "Joshiraku". Once again, I got to hear Momoiro Clover Z rip through the opening theme like The Flash and with some shredding rock guitar accompaniment by former Megadeth guitarist and current tarento Marty Friedman. With the amazingly epic title of "Mōretsu Uchū Kōkyōkyoku Dai 7 Gakushō "Mugen no Ai"" (Bodacious Space Symphony's Movement VII 'Infinite Love'), the theme song welcomed all to the world of "Moretsu Space Pirates"（モーレツ宇宙海賊...Bodacious Space Pirates）, the adventures of Captain Marika Kato and the mighty crew of the Bentenmaru. I enjoyed the series although some of the unsubtitled episodes dealing with the nitty-gritty of space yacht training had me dozing off sometimes....but that's why we have Crunchyroll, isn't it?
Got to see the official music video for "Mugen no Ai", and neither does it skimp on the excitement either. Cute girls in pirate costumes, somewhat dated special effects and tributes to a key scene from "E.T."...it's all good. Plus the whole song itself comes off as a mighty battle hymn given "Les Miserables" heights of epicness. Captain Kato would have been proud...or knowing her modest personality, perhaps a bit bashful. And I rather muse if the late Freddie Mercury had ever gotten his hands on the song. :)
Written and composed by Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）, Momoclo's 7th single was released in March 2012, and did very well for an anison, peaking at No. 5 on Oricon. and ending up as the 95th-ranked song of the year. To be honest, I was a bit disappointed that the group didn't perform this particular tune at the Kohaku Utagassen.
As Momoiro Clover Z’s (ももいろクローバーZ) youngest sister group, Team Syachihoko (チームしゃちほこ) delivers what must aidoru fans learned to expect from a group promoted by Stardust Promotion Agency’s 3B Junior section: quirky and over the top songs with dubious vocals.
That’s the case with “Iikurashi”, an interesting attempt that mixes aidoru pop with late 80s/early 90s style of house music (something in the lines of Madonna’s hit single “Vogue”, Black Box’s classic “Ride On Time”, or, staying in J-Pop’s domains, Perfume’s “GLITTER”). The result is an edgy song that still sounds cute. Let’s say that while the vocal lines during the verses are cute and strangely hypnotic (Team Syachihoko is good in this department, as we can see in "Ai no Chikyuusai" [愛の地球祭], their previous single, which was released in late 2013), the background arrangement just goes along between steady beats and dynamic synths.
Based on the pop music standards, “Iikurashi” is a fairly long song with its six and a half minutes, something that made me remember of the extended and 12’’ singles that were around mostly during the mid-to-late 70s, 80s and early 90s. In “Iikurashi’s” case, it’s never a boring or very linear song, thanks to a cute rap interlude and some instrumental buildups. The vocals can be considered a weak point, but an aidoru listener is more than used to rough and endless out of tone notes.
To finish, I found quite educational to post this amazing video of SynthMania, an YouTube channel that I like very much. In this video, he shows how a typical Italo house song of the early 90s was created. Enjoy!
“Iikurashi” was released in May 2014 and reached #2 on the Oricon charts, selling 34,830 copies in its first week. Lyrics were written by Mochiishiriri (もちいしりり), while music and arrangement were done by Tetsuto Yoshida (吉田哲人).
One of the other anime along with "Mawaru Penguindrum" and "Kamisama wo Hajimemashita" that I enjoyed last year was "Joshiraku"（じょしらく....Girls In Rakugo), a show about 5 zany rakugo comediennes bantering backstage and in the famous neighbourhoods of Tokyo. Based on the manga by Koji Kumeta（久米田康治）, it was a Japanese cartoon mix of the irreverent and irrelevant wordplay of "Seinfeld" and the gags of "Airplane" which took aim at just about anything within the Land of the Rising Sun including politics, restaurants, lottery tickets and Akihabara. There was even the most sociopathic rabbit since the little bunny from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". What's not to love?
The beginning and ending theme songs have also become the proverbial earworms in my noggin since I first started watching the show. The opening song which is sung by the cast is "O-Ato ga Yoroshikutte....YO!" (Thank You For Your Continued Support), the signoff that is given by the rakugo-ka at the end of the performance. It is a fun frenetic blast of electric guitar, synth and shamisen that goes well with the crackpot joy of the opening credit sequence.
The song was released as a single in August 2012, and created by Aki Hata and Satoru Kousaki（畑亜貴・神前暁）. The theme kinda reminds me in spirit of the theme song for that old American cartoon, "The Flintstones" back in the 60s. Both of them have that welcoming feeling in asking the viewers to come and join the characters for a little while. "O-Ato ga Yoroshikutte....YO!" actually went as high as No. 20 on Oricon.
The ending theme by Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）, "Nippon Egao Hyakkei" (100 Views of Japanese Smiles), probably singlehandedly shredded the larynxes of the members of the aidoru group, Momoiro Clover Z (under the guise of Momokuro Tei Ichimon....桃黒亭一門) before they got it recorded for release, especially the pun-filled rap at the beginning. It has that mix of dance beats and festival-fueled patter and melody while the girls ham it up during the ending credits. Not sure if the DJ was wearing a backwards cap or a hachimaki.
Released in September 2012, the song peaked at No. 6 on Oricon, and guest-starred The Yoshida Brothers（吉田兄弟）, a shamisen act that has garnered attention within Japan and overseas. I've heard both themes on my anime buddy's massive stereo system, and afterwards, I needed something distinctly decaffeinated to calm myself down.
