Mutsumi Tamura, Yuki Kuwahara and Tomomi Mineuchi/fhana -- Give Me Love

 

Well, the second season of "Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon"（小林さんちのメイドラゴン...Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid） finished this week, and I was able to catch it yesterday. It was somewhat surprising because I had been expecting something a little more dramatic and action-packed as was the case for the finale of Season 1, but instead, it turned out to be a very relaxing and humour-filled ending (I guess the penultimate episode was going for the drama). No complaints on my part, however, and it was nice to see the show cover not just one but two annual Japanese outdoor traditions. We can only wait for Season 3 to come out sometime in the next couple of years, I hope.

I'd thought that my article on "Ishukan Relationship"（イシュカン♡リレーションシップ）, the special ending theme for one episode in Season 2 as sung by Yuki Kuwahara（桑原由気）, the seiyuu behind the chipper-but-powerful Tohru, would be the final one for the "Kobayashi-san" file for the foreseeable future. However, I'm happily wrong since while browsing through YouTube late last night, I encountered a track from that necessary part of any successful anime franchise merchandise: the character song album.

Sure enough, the Lantis label released "L・O・V・E" yesterday with the main seiyuu providing various songs. The track that I heard was the very first one that starts off the album, "Give Me Love", featuring Kobayashi-san herself, Mutsumi Tamura（田村睦心）, along with Kuwahara, and seiyuu Tomomi Mineuchi（嶺内ともみ）as the new character of Ilulu. fhana's Hideki Hayashi（林英樹）and Junichi Sato（佐藤純一）were responsible for words, music and arrangement of this short-and-sweet-and-fun song with a mix of cute rap, dance beats and Latin. Maybe for next season, instead of just Kanna heading to New York City, it could be the whole gang vacationing in Rio.

From what I see of "L・O・V・E" at the Lantis website itself, it also has Super Chorogons'（スーパーちょろゴンず）version of "Aozora no Rhapsody"（青空のラプソディ）, the opening theme for the first season, and "Maid with Dragons"（めいど・うぃず・どらごんず︎❤︎）, the ending theme for the second season, as sung individually by the seiyuu.

When I was writing up the article, I'd assumed that this would be Tamura's first appearance on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", but I had completely forgotten that she was already up here as of 2015, thanks to her singing for the anime "Kill Me Baby".

Should've realized that fhana did do the original as the coupling song for "Ai no Supreme"（愛のシュプリーム！）.

Shiori Muto, Yū Asakawa, Sumire Uesaka, Chiwa Saito, Mutsumi Tamura and Ayumu Murase -- Chiisana Hoshi (ちいさな星)

Finally, I got to watch "X-Men: Apocalypse" last night some 3 weeks after its premiere (I think you folks in Japan will have to wait another couple of months before it hits your shores). Considering the mediocre reviews, the lack of buzz behind the movie, and my talk with JTM last weekend, my expectations had been brought lower than The Blob's centre of gravity, so I was actually quite happy with the finished product. Nope, it's not quite up there with Marvel's big superhero grand prize fight "Civil War" but it's also no "X-Men: The Last Stand" either. And once again, Evan Peters' Quicksilver stole the show again. I am actually hoping that that scene gets onto YouTube fairly soon.

Speaking of superhero movies, I have got quite the cast listing up there in the title line this time, don't I? Well, following up on my article for Pay money To my Pain's "Respect for the deadman", the opening theme for "Nobunagun"（ノブナガン）, here is the ending theme for that same 2014 anime. I'm now approaching the end of that entertaining show about mutants of another kind although it seems as if there won't be any large franchise coming out of this manga adaptation, unfortunately.

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm22734364

Unlike the thrashy rock of "Respect for the deadman", the ending theme of "Chiisana Hoshi" (A Little Star) is all cute technopop starring a large chunk of the cast from "Nobunagun". And the song is divided into two versions with "Chiisana Hoshi ver.α" first hitting the ending credits with seiyuu Shiori Muto（武藤志織）as the main character Sio Ogura, Yū Asakawa（浅川悠）as French kiss-crazy Isaac Newton and Sumire Uesaka（上坂すみれ）as moe (and now perhaps cyclopean) Galileo behind the mike.

https://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm22981292

Then, there is "Chiisana Hoshi ver.β" with Muto again but this time, she's joined by Chiwa Saito（斉藤千和）as good-but-not-nice Geronimo, Mutsumi Tamura（田村睦心）as just-as-good-but-just-as-not-nice Cyx and Ayumu Murase（村瀬歩）as fellow hero and frequent doormat Gaudi. This was the version that finally got my ear when it was first introduced at the end of episode 6. For some reason, it sounds fuller and so the Beta version is the one I actually prefer.

With lyrics by Rie Otsuka（大塚利恵）and music by Kenichi Maeyamada（前山田健一）, "Chiisana Hoshi" shares something with the opener of "Respect for the deadman" in that it has unexpectedly got my ear although I wouldn't say it has leveled up to an earworm. But there is a lot about "Nobunagun" that was unexpected in a happy way.

In any case, I'm looking forward to "Suicide Squad" and "Doctor Strange".

Chinatsu Akasaki & Mutsumi Tamura -- Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu （ふたりのきもちのほんとのひみつ）

AAAAAAAAAAAUGH! That earworm is wrapping itself around my cerebral cortex!!

Yup, I got drilled again with a song that just won't leave my head. And it's the ending theme of an anime that I had never heard of and haven't seen a single episode as of yet. The show is called "Kill Me Baby" and it was on back about 3 years ago. It was one of those "anything goes" anime that starred an airheaded student by the name of Yasuna who one day meets a blonde assassin by the name of Sonya. Hilarity results....apparently.

However, it is the ending theme, "Futari no Kimochi no Honto no Himitsu" (The True Secret of the Pair's Feelings) that has me in thrall. It is simply one of those melodies that just sticks to one like amber. And that intro reminds me a whole lot of a typical Pet Shop Boys song. However, the piece de resistance has been the ending credits which features Sonya and Yasuna prancing about and breaking physics at the same time.

In any case, the two main seiyuu of Chinatsu Akasaki (赤崎千夏...Yasuna) and Mutsumi Tamura (田村睦心...Sonya) took care of the song which was created by Kouichi Fujimoto（藤本功一）and Kimitaka Matsumae（松前公高）. The two, according to J-Wiki, were going for a kayo kyoku-esque feel with the help of some of those traditional Japanese instruments. It was released in January 2012 as part of the maxi-single featuring the opening theme, "Kill Me Baby". It peaked at No. 13 on Oricon.

April 6, 2022 -- OK, I just had to put this one up. The person behind this is a craftsman with a capital C!