Naomi Tamura -- Eien no Ichibyo（永遠の一秒）

 

Had never heard of singer-songwriter Naomi Tamura（田村直美）until all of my anime-loving buddies breathlessly told me about her impending appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen to sing the opening theme for "Magic Knight Rayearth", "Yuzurenai Onegai" （ゆずれないお願い）.

"Yuzurenai Onegai" was Tamura's 4th single in November 1994. Well, I'm talking about her 3rd single this time which came out just a couple of months earlier in September. "Eien no Ichibyo" (One Second of Eternity) was created by Tamura and Hiroto Ishikawa（石川寛門）, the same tandem behind "Yuzurenai Onegai" and it depicts more of an uncertain time when compared to the triumphant follow-up single. The lyrics in "Eien no Ichibyo" talk of two people who just can't seem find the gumption to finally come together and time's being frittered away.

I've got to say that Tamura has got that remarkable voice and the entire song thrums with all of that nostalgic 90s pop/rock that I remember. Strange for me to say, perhaps, but "Eien no Ichibyo" strikes me as being the equivalent of a very efficient assassin...just make that path toward the next target, get the target and then move on. No extraneous tangents or electric guitar wailing away. 

However, the song was used on a commercial for Camellia Diamonds, and it was Tamura's first Top 10 hit as it peaked at No. 10. It also became a track on her debut album "Excellent" which came out at the same time as the single. That one made it as high as No. 19 on the album charts.

Naomi Tamura -- Hikari to Kage wo Dakishimeta Mama （光と影を抱きしめたまま）

Yesterday, I finally got to see the first few episodes of the anime that my friend and others have been raving about for years. From those early episodes of "Magic Knight Rayearth", the adventure of three Tokyo high school girls being shanghai'ed into a quest in another dimension was charming enough with the usual mix of zany humour and stalwart camaraderie, but my anime buddy assured me that things became very serious and bitter for Hikari, Umi and Fuu. Afterwards, he played the theme songs for the series, one of which I've already written about, "Yuzurenai Onegai"（ゆずれないお願い）by Naomi Tamura（田村直美）.

I also bought Tamura's second contribution to "Rayearth" solely on her powerful vocals rather than on the merits of the anime itself. My buddy told me that "Hikari to Kage wo Dakishimeta Mama" (Still Embracing Light and Dark) was used in the opening credits for just the final 7 episodes of the second season which was rather too bad since I think this theme song is just as great as the first opening theme. Moreover, the somewhat more leisurely and regal "Hikari to Kage" seems to synch in better with the feeling of going on a quest than the pop/rock of "Yuzurenai Onegai".

For further superficial comparison, the official music video for "Hikari to Kage" has a different primary colour of blue when compared to the gold in the video for "Yuzurenai Onegai". No matter the colour differences, it was the same duo of Tamura and Hiroto Ishikawa（石川寛門）behind the creation of this song as well as the previous theme. Released in October 1995, it went as high as No. 8 on the Oricon weeklies and was also in Tamura's 3rd album, "Monster of Pop" which came out in March 1996 and peaked at No. 3.

Naomi Tamura -- Ready Go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEKnSvosXl8

When I listen to Naomi Tamura's (田村直美) "Ready Go!", I instantly think about a colorful paradise-like place full of happiness. Ok, that's exaggeratedly sugary, but we're truly talking about a happy song.

Released in March 2002, it served as the fifth opening theme for the popular Pokémon (ポケットモンスター) anime. That kind of explains the dynamic adventure feeling portrayed by the light techno synths and Naomi's beautiful vocals. Also, besides being a great pop song, "Ready Go!" was one of the first J-Pop songs I listened ten years ago. I remember that its type of sound shocked me (I was young and not aware of many music genres), and made me think of J-Pop in a very special way, or, in other words, as something quite distinct from what American pop music sounded at the time (Hip hop was everywhere around 2003~2004 and, personally, I don't like it as a music genre at all). Based on that, I get nostalgic every time I listen to "Ready Go!".

While lyrics were written by Naomi herself and Kunimi Kwamura (川村久仁美), music and arrangement were done by Tanaka Hirokazu (たなかひろかず). The single reached #95 on the Oricon charts.

Naomi Tamura -- Yuzurenai Onegai （ゆずれないお願い）

I remember seeing the official music video for the theme of "Magic Knight Rayearth" on "Countdown TV" with that bobbing pretty head of singer-songwriter Naomi Tamura (田村直美...good hair, by the way) all the time. Then when I went back to Toronto for a vacation, some of my anime buddies were going downright teenage on me when they found out that Tamura was slated to appear on the 1995 Kohaku Utagassen.

Truth be told, the dynamic style of "Yuzurenai Onegai" (An Unshakeable Request) coming at me week after week on the ranking shows was nigh unshakeable indeed, so that I ended up buying the CD single. It was released in November 1994, and was written by Tamura and composed by Tamura and Hiroto Ishikawa（石川寛門） as her 4th single. The racing adventurous beat of the song reminded me of a similar drive in Miho Morikawa's（森川美穂） "Blue Water", itself a theme of another anime from a few years back.

I also have to say that I like the video as well. The first several seconds are filmed in black-&-white with Tamura looking pretty darn serious (and perhaps in need of a Tylenol....just like on the CD cover), before the refrain has Tamura exploding in a million-watt smile and in colour. "Yuzurenai Onegai" sold over 1.2 million copies, and stayed in the Top 10 for 9 straight weeks, peaking at No. 7 and becoming the 31st-ranked song for 1995. It also won the Theme Song Prize at the Animation Kobe '96 festival, and of course, there was that invitation to the Kohaku.

I've gotta also mention that Tamura's expression rather resembles that of another dynamic singer, Misato Watanabe（渡辺美里）, although the delivery of the former here is a bit more ethereal if still powerful.

Naomi Tamura -- Yuzurenai Onegai