Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Kaijuutou（怪獣島）

 

I remember when I first saw Minilla, the adopted son of Godzilla, on one of the old Japanese monster movies on telly and I just went "What the heck?". Never thought that the Big G was one for settling down and having a family. But there they were...doing the parent and son thing. Of course, the NBC Buffalo affiliate showed the dubbed version and my father had a bit of a belly laugh when Minilla actually spoke goofy English (I think he was voiced by Mel Blanc since Baby G sounded like Barney Rubble!). One other scene had Godzilla show his scion some tough love while training the kid in blasting his atomic breath. It was the only time that blowing smoke rings wasn't considered cool.

Well, let's race ahead some six decades later. Looks like Minilla or Chibi Godzilla has been playing around in his own anime on TV Tokyo titled "Chibi Godzilla no Gyakushuu"（ちびゴジラの逆襲...Minilla's Counterattack） since early 2023 in the form of 3-minute comedy vignettes with chibi versions of all of those monsters from Monster Island such as Mothra and Rodan.

It is Wednesday today so why not have Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ）provide a song here and that's what they did for "Chibi Godzilla no Gyakushuu". Their "Kaijuutou" (Monster Island) is the second opening theme song for the series and the one for Season 3, with the Hidefumi Kenmochi（ケンモチヒデフミ）creation being a percolating dance club-friendly ditty which ought to have gotten the little ones prancing about in front of the television. It was released as a single a couple of months ago in July. Let's see Big G pull off a headspin!

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Summer Time Ghost（サマータイムゴースト）

Wikimedia Commons
by Rutger van der Maar

I went to Hong Kong once with a couple of students many years ago while I was still living in Japan. Very much cherish the experience since it's so different from Tokyo in a number of ways including in terms of architecture. I had a chance to visit Kowloon as well, but I would have enjoyed some further exploration of this very densely-populated area.

Recently, I heard that a manga based in Kowloon was adapted into an anime that is now showing titled "Kowloon Generic Romance"（九龍ジェネリックロマンス）. With all due respect to the title, I have a feeling that this romance in Kowloon is far from generic considering what I've read of the synopsis.

The opening theme for "Kowloon Generic Romance" is "Summer Time Ghost" by Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ...Wednesday Campanella） so perhaps I'm several weeks too early for the season and a day early for the appropriate day of the week, but I'm using my "Captain's Privilege" here. Plus, Suiyoubi no Campanella has often given some nice hook-laden songs in the past so whenever I do see them on YouTube with something new, I click. The usual good bouncy synthpop along with Utaha's（詩羽）skippity-dippity vocals.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Edison（エジソン）

 

To explain the above photo, (and nope, this time KKP AI representative Kayo Grace Kyoku isn't in there) I had meant to create a modern-day Thomas Alva Edison in a 21st-century dance club setting. However, the AI creator stopped me cold since I was breaking a rule, presumably one about involving a historical figure. Lesson learned. 

Now, the whole reason behind my attempt and hubris is that last night, I saw one of Japanese TV's signals that the current year is nigh. Namely, I watched the "Akashiya Kohaku", the NHK end-of-year special starring veteran comedian and TV personality Sanma Akashiya（明石家さんま）who brings in the latest popular singers and bands for 90 minutes of humourous talk (although at times, I wondered if it was more for Sanma to allow the musicians to bask in his glory).

It was good to see the show though because I was able to find out about singers and bands that I had never heard about such as rapper Awich and the rock band Super Beaver. Neither of them have been invited onto the actual Kohaku Utagassen which will be broadcast next Sunday night. But I got to see Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ...Wednesday Campanella） in the form of singer Utaha（詩羽）for the first time in an interview setting and though she will also not be showing up on the Kohaku, I'm hoping that she will make it onto NHK's Shibuya stage next year or the one after. 

Her contribution to the show was "Edison" which was the coupling song to her February 2022 single "Maneki-neko"（招き猫）. It's another Suiyoubi no Campanella song of synthy dance catchiness and yep, the lyrics by Hidefumi Kenmochi（ケンモチヒデフミ）are about a modern-day Edison dancing and inventing things up in the 21st century. Considering his notorious anti-social behaviour in history, one would hope that modern-day Alva is a lot more well-adjusted and happier.

The other thing that I enjoyed about the song was the music video especially when Utaha demonstrates some crazy-legs dancing at her desk. For a few seconds anyways, I was wondering whether that was actually her doing it but the ending credits throw open the curtains to reveal that it was really pro dancer Miyu.

Maybe one of the greatest compliments that has been paid to Wednesday Campanella as it is now is from a commenter for the music video on YouTube. They indicated that when original vocalist komuai（コムアイ）had left, they assumed that was it for the group in terms of quality synthpop but Utaha has kept the good times rolling. To be honest, when I first saw and heard Utaha, I'd just assumed that komuai simply opted to change her looks.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Mermaid（マーメイド）

 

I remember when I first heard about Walt Disney's take on "The Little Mermaid" from 1989. Years earlier, I'd seen a televised animated version of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale which didn't pull any punches about the mermaid's ultimate fate. Well, that was bittersweet, I thought. Of course, Ariel in Disney's take had a happier ending, and for the first time in many years, a Disney animated musical actually became a hit once more.

Even since 1989, there have been other incarnations of "The Little Mermaid", including a live-action version that came out this year. It looks like even the music unit Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ）has just taken a shot at it as well. Their 11th and latest digital single is "Mermaid" which came out in July. Band songwriter Hidefumi Kenmochi（ケンモチヒデフミ）takes a pretty sharp right angle at his approach by bringing in some beats, reggae and rap. Meanwhile, vocalist Utaha（詩羽）sounds even more mature and richer as she sings about this mermaid who gains her legs in Japan and takes in a summer matsuri.

I do watch a fair number of food-based programming on NHK, so there will be the frequent visit to the port from which the fishing boats set sail for their daily catch. I don't think I've ever seen such colourful displays at the harbour as I've seen in the "Mermaid" video. By the way, the song has also been used for the latest Coca-Cola commercials in Japan.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Himiko（卑弥呼）

Studying Japanese history was not my strong point. I did my fair bit of dozing off in lectures and I paid the price for my afternoon slumber in tests. However, there were some names that I do remember, one of them being Himiko who had been a shamaness-queen in ancient Japan although where her direct domain was situated has been of some academic debate.

I'm not sure whether the track "Himiko" on Suiyoubi no Campanella's（水曜日のカンパネラ）first digital download album "Neon"（ネオン）from May 2022 illuminates the historical perspective any further, but vocalist Utaha（詩羽）and company sweetly and technologically have listeners imagine the ruler as a contemporary weather forecaster for Japan. Well, I figure that since Himiko was a shamaness, weather forecasting was a part of her duties back then, too, although I'm not sure if she ever focused on the cute animal of the day or foodie photos.

Fair warning though that some of the above video has some rapidly flashing images. I'd probably want to view this in a well-lit room.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/A4xcY6ZB2RQ

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Maneki-neko（招き猫）

commons.wikipedia.org

Ah...the maneki-neko (beckoning cat). I used to see these cute white cats up in many places in Japan and just thought it made for a nice decoration although I kinda wondered why it just seemed to be everywhere. Well, I finally found out that it was a good luck charm for whoever owned the feline figurines and with all sorts of restaurants and other stores putting them up in their front windows, the owners were hoping for a successful business. 

Well, it looks like the good folks at Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ）dedicated a quick and tasty song to the ubiquitous figure earlier this year. "Maneki-neko" was released as a single earlier in February; it's not a particularly hard-driving tune but then again, the beckoning cat was never really for the hard sell. Just like the figurine, the song is a short-and-sweet entity with that Suiyoubi no Campanella sound describing what the maneki-neko is all about. Come on in, sample the merchandise and pay what it's worth. No more, no less.

For anyone traveling in Japan right now and looking at this blog (rare as that demographic may be), perhaps you can observe how many times you have seen the maneki-neko.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Buckingham（バッキンガム）

 

OK, the first time that I saw this music video by the eclectic music unit Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ）, I'd thought that the face of the group, vocalist KOM_I（コムアイ）, looked a little different and a little wild. Maybe she changed her makeup and hair style, I first went. Well, actually, I didn't get the memo until too late but last September, KOM_I left Suiyoubi no Campanella.

In her place, came in model and new vocalist Utaha（詩羽）and she has made quite the impression with her first music video with Suiyoubi no Campanella, "Buckingham", a song from the group's 7th single "Alice/Buckingham"（アリス / バッキンガム）which was released in October 2021. Her voice warps out at a parsec a minute to some exotic-sounding technopop set to band songwriter Hidefumi Kenmochi's（ケンモチヒデフミ）patter that I couldn't quite understand until I checked out his lyrics. The key is the word kyuuden（きゅうでん）which is represented by two sets of kanji: 「宮殿」and「給田」. The first set is translated as palace as in Buckingham Palace in London, and the second set refers to a local area known as Kyuuden in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. 

From then on, the lyrics take on parallel routes of palaces from various other countries and that area of Kyuuden with Utaha even throwing out the exact coordinates and postal number for it (maybe she's from the area). Talk about giving a shoutout to a geographical location! I just wonder when it does become much easier to travel between Japan and the rest of the world whether Suiyoubi no Campanella fans will flock to Kyuuden as a pop cultural pilgrimage (and by the way, take the Keio Line westbound from Shinjuku to either Chitose-Karasuyama or Sengawa Stations since Kyuuden is smack-dab in between them). I'd be curious enough to try!

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Shakushain（シャクシャイン）

 

Ahh...those delectable Marusei Butter Cookies with raisins! 😋 I haven't had those in many years and if I ever return to Japan again, I have to devour a box of those at the risk of elevating my cholesterol. Those are just one of the many gastronomic delights in Hokkaido.

Usually if there is any song about Hokkaido and its municipalities or natural habitats on this blog, it's been in the form of an enka tune or a Mood Kayo like Yujiro Ishihara's（石原裕次郎）"Koi no Machi Sapporo" （恋の街札幌）. However, today to start off the first Thursday of 2022 on "Kayo Kyoku Plus", we have a Hokkaido-based song that's completely different.

I was saddened to hear that quirky pop unit Suiyoubi no Campanella's（水曜日のカンパネラ）vocalist KOM_I（コムアイ）had left the group last September, but I am interested in hearing the new vocalist sometime soon. But quickly getting back to the matter at hand, back during their indies period between 2012 and 2015, they released a number of demos with one of them being "Shakushain" in April 2015 which is chock-filled with more examples of Hokkaido sites and dishes than a tourist information centre in the prefecture. There's even a shoutout to my beloved Marusei cookies in the lyrics themselves.

Even the title "Shakushain" refers to the Ainu chieftain who led a rebellion against the government in Hokkaido in the late 17th century. Suiyoubi no Campanella's sound producer Hidefumi Kenmochi（ケンモチヒデフミ）was responsible for the tribal rhythms and the lyrics for KOM_I to rap out before some melody rolls out in the last third of the song. I'm kinda glad that the singer threw out the words at Gatling Gun speed since I would have gotten rather hungry at all of that food that comes out.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Diablo（ディアブロ）

Let me be honest with you here. I was never a huge onsen（温泉...hot spring）fan. For that matter, I wasn't even all that enthused about o-furo（お風呂...bath）. It's rather strange...I usually think of myself as being a patient person but that quality goes out the window when the bath comes into the picture. I've taken dips at the onsen such as the ones at the Daitokan ryokan in the city of Ito as seen above but frankly all I can endure is 5 minutes before I have to get out of the hot water with many beneficial effects.

Is it the heat? Nope, in fact, I've been witness to some fellow JET Programme teachers flying out of the water in an onsen in Gunma Prefecture 30 years ago, looking as red as cooked lobsters while I calmly stayed in the water...for a few more minutes (well, maybe 10...I was more patient back then, I guess). The real reason is that I simply never enjoyed sitting in a bathtub for an extended period of time. Showers have been more my thing: get in, soap up, rinse off and then out of there in less than 5 minutes. And yet, there is all that culture surrounding this very beloved of Japanese traditions, from the onsen towns that have been built up around the hot springs to the luscious dinners that have often come after the good ol' soak. Plus at the neigbourhood sento（銭湯...public baths）, people can also look forward to fans, massage chairs and old-style bottles of milk to slake their thirst.

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tgetd

Recently on NHK via TV Japan, there's been a show on Wednesday nights called "Sando no O-furo Itadakimasu"（サンドのお風呂いただきます...Sandwichman's Bath, Please） which stars the popular manzai comedy duo, Sandwichman（サンドウィッチマン）, as they tour the various onsen areas, large and small, throughout Japan. Included in each episode is narration by KOM_I（コムアイ）, the performer of eclectic music unit, Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ）.

Also, each time the scene changes, there is a KOM_I-generated "Ii yu da ne~"（いい湯だね...Nice bath, huh?）voice clip. I had just regarded it as merely something that the singer concocted for "Sando", but later on I discovered that the line was actually part of a song titled "Diablo"（ディアブロ）from their first EP single as an indies unit back in April 2015, "Triathlon"（トライアスロン）.

Created by fellow Suiyoubi member Hidefumi Kenmochi（ケンモチヒデフミ）, I can't really say that "Diablo" is one of their electropop songs. The music is pretty subtle (with some zigs and zags) actually, maybe even minimalist with some beats with the stress on KOM_I's rapping of the benefits and potential banes of the sento experience. The music video with her acting as an old-fashioned proprietress of a public bath makes this the most comical exposure I've had with the band thus far. Even the title, "Diablo", as was made clear at the end of the video, is a Japanese pun on "Dear Buro" (Dear Bath).

As for "Triathlon", it made it up to No. 23 on Oricon. To wrap up, to show that I bear no ill will to those who love being immersed in hot/warm water for an extended period of time, here is a video on bathing in a sento.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Ikkyu-san （一休さん）

The above picture is of a place called a so-called chocolatery belonging to the world-famous Kit-Kat located underneath Tokyo Station. My friend and I visited the place since we could get all sorts of tasty souvenirs there, and next time I go, I will most definitely be invading the place again. Japan may not have achieved the status yet but it's sure going for the record of being the nation with the most varied types of Kit-Kat chocolate bars on the planet. I have tasted their sake-flavoured version (just a hint of that famous taste, mind you) along with sakura and orange-peach, I believe. It will be interesting to see what I can find this time.

The reason I mentioned the above is that Kit-Kat gets a shout-out within the lyrics of "Ikkyu-san", which is a track on the first major album from February 2017 by the quirky and slinky Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ）, "Superman". Heck, there's even a sly tap at the famous catchphrase for the product.

Watching the above music video with vocalist KOM_I being ever watchable, I couldn't help but feel it and the video for Mondo Grosso's "Labyrinth" were somehow cousins, although I now have the impression that "Ikkyu-san" may have been filmed on an elaborate sound stage emulating Hong Kong instead of being the real thing. In any case, while it looked like Hikari Mitsushima（満島ひかり）was tripping the light fantastic in a quieter zone of the metropolis, KOM_I was raving it up a few blocks down at some sort of cosplay dance party.

As for the title, at first I wasn't quite sure about it. I thought it was translated as "Mr. Breather" but then I found out that there was an old anime from the 1970s with the exact title "Ikkyu-san" about the historical Zen Buddhist monk and his adventures as a cute problem-solving kid. Although I couldn't find any written evidence for it, I think Suiyoubi no Campanella may have been referring to him according to the lyrics which describe the titular figure as a good and witty fellow. We can all use an Ikkyu-san in our lives.

In any case, I enjoyed KOM_I's high-and-breathy vocals in the refrain along with her customary rap plus the mix of funk and light technopop. You know, it wouldn't be too bad if she and the rest of Campanella ended up as part of the entertainment for the 2020 Games.

It's the weekend, folks. Have a break!

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Aladdin (アラジン)

Well, whatever you want to say about electronic music collective Suiyoubi no Campanella（水曜日のカンパネラ...Wednesday Campanella）, they do not lack in imagination when it comes to their music videos.

Nikala provided the first article on KOM_I, Hidefumi Kenmochi（ケンモチヒデフミ）and Dir.F back in April 2015 with "Marie Antoinette" which I thought was a pretty odd title for a technopop tune. But then I read that the band has a thing for naming their songs after figures of folklore and history. Since I first heard about Suiyoubi no Campanella through nikala's article, they've made the leap from indies to major and they've also popped up now and then on episodes of "Music Station".

As I've said, their music videos are all part of the fun. Case in point: "Aladdin" which is a track on their November 2016 digital single, "Superkid". Its music video looks like the group decided to hijack one of the sets from "The Big Lebowski" and have its own little musical. KOM_I provides what looks like her usual off-the-cuff dancing, and even she puts in her own "Lebowski" tribute by licking the bowling ball. All this while I'm hearing a rhythm track that sounds quite a bit like the one that anchored Michael Jackson's "Thriller".

"Aladdin" will be making another appearance in about another week when it shows up as the first track on Suiyoubi no Campanella's 1st album as a major act, "Superman". It's due out on February 8th 2017.

Suiyoubi no Campanella -- Marie Antoinette (マリー・アントワネット)

Suiyoubi no Campanella (水曜日のカンパネラ) is one of the standout contemporary J-Music acts for me and one of favorite findings from the past year. My first reaction upon hearing “Marie Antoinette” (マリー・アントワネット) was: “Hah, what a glorious return of trance music!” After playing it several times, I picked up some experimental and dream pop influences. The Asakusa setting from the video has also deceived me into hearing traditional Japanese influences in some parts, but maybe there are some. The vocalist and the group’s face Komuai (コムアイ) is one quirky persona, and there’s something addicting about her playful manner of rapping. A bit like early Halcali, but more indie-spirited. Komuai herself has stated that she prefers not to rap because she isn’t trained at rhyming and thinks her rap sounds fluffy, but Kenmochi Hidefumi (釼持英郁), the group’s musician, constantly persuades her to. I personally like it because it adds personality to the music.

As I mentioned, Suiyoubi no Campanella is a group act, but we only see Komuai because the other two members don’t like being in public. There’s Hidefumi who composes and creates all the music using his sampling magic and the elusive Dir.F, a.k.a. the “jack of all trades” according to their official website. They formed in 2012, releasing a demo and launching a Youtube channel, through which they promote their music. (Do take some time to watch the videos, tons of fun.) So far, they’ve released 5 mini albums (one containing covers), some demos and special digital releases. While it’s difficult to obtain the physical copies of their material from overseas, you can easily buy it digitally from OTOTOY in lossless 24-bit format. “Marie Antoinette” appears on their second mini-album “Rashomon” (羅生門), which came out in October 2013.

One of the things that makes this group interesting is all the historical and pop culture references in their lyrics, Japanese or otherwise. “Marie Antoinette”, for instance, playfully bites at the context of Revolution-era France while scattering references to shopping craze and snacking in modern Japan. It doesn’t make a lot of sense actually, but it’s a fun listen. The last line “Okashi wo tabereba ii janai” is a jab at the popular quote attributed to the titular French princess, “Let them eat cake” (“Cake wo tabereba ii janai” in Japanese), with “okashi”, the Japanese snacks, replacing cake.

As for their name, it’s a Japanese/Italian hybrid that translates to Wednesday’s Little Bell. The “Wednesday” part refers to the fact that in the group’s early days, they would routinely meet on Wednesdays, though the profile on their official website also states tongue-in-cheek that “there are other theories”.

You can learn more about Suiyoubi no Campanella’s music and ideas through MTV Japan’s interview with Komuai (available in English). Some of the trivia available in this post was lifted from there.

Source: okmusic.jp