Sukima Switch -- Lovin' Song

From ebay

I've never been a fan of the BL (Boys' Love) genre in manga or anime. However, an old friend of mine once related the time when all of us were still living in Japan during which he and another mutual buddy, a young lady, visited a famous bookstore franchise "Manga no Mori"（まんがの森）up in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. The two of them opted to go to different sections of the store and then meet up a half-hour later back at the entrance or cashier. My old friend decided to check out the magazines for mecha anime at one side. 

Well, the half-hour passed, my friend was patiently waiting at the front door but the other friend didn't show up, so he then went back into the aisles to see what was up. It turned out that she was at the back, fully engrossed in one manga which happened to be a BL story and it was the BL section. She must have lost all track of time and awareness of place since when he greeted her, she suddenly seized up and threw the manga away from herself so hard that she almost took out an entire shelf. She apparently was rationalizing that she was simply curious...that's all. Meanwhile, he was insisting that he wasn't being judgmental on her literary choices. I thought that the two did a fine live-action reenactment of a typical scene in anime.😆

Well, all that preamble ramble was for the fact that on a recent episode of "Uta Con"（うたコン）, the pop duo Sukima Switch（スキマスイッチ）appeared to perform their latest single from February 2024, "Lovin' Song". It is the theme song for the third season of "Ossan's Love"（おっさんずラブ）which had just wrapped last week. I mean, I've heard of corporate PR but this is the first time that I ever came across corporate BL. The series that first started in 2016 deals with a fellow who finds out that both his male boss and his male colleague are madly in love with him. I assume that hilarity has ensued.

"Lovin' Song" is the duo's 27th single and it has stood out for me for that wonderful piano which I've often associated with some of the 80s love ballads or AOR tunes. It does strike me as something that is hopeful and triumphant at the same time and I wouldn't be surprised if it eventually gets used as a popular tune to be played at wedding receptions. It certainly appears that it's gotten its popularity because it peaked at No. 9 on Oricon.

Sukima Switch -- Bokunote（ボクノート）

 

I think I have another new fountain of music and it's from a familiar if unexpected source. For the past few years, I've been subscribed to Japan's "Weathernews"（ウェザーニュース）YouTube channel to watch the usual hijinks among the weathercasters in Makuhari Messe, and in fact, the broadcasts have included some fine BGM via the good folks at Nash Music Library; NML is even one of the Labels here on KKP.

In the last few months, though, "Weathernews" has also brought in a new segment that might be happening once an hour. Weathermusic has been the small few-minute time and space for the weathercaster to provide a song from the past to play over some footage of photos that the fans have sent in. I gather that it's also been used for the weathercasters and production staff to get in a bit of a breather because they all have to be talking nearly non-stop for three hours per shift.

Anyways, one song that has hit my heart via Weathermusic is pop duo Sukima Switch's（スキマスイッチ）"Bokunote" (My Notes). Up to now, I've known them for their big hit "Zenryoku Shonen"（全力少年）from 2005. "Zenryoku Shonen" is high energy but "Bokunote" is a gentle and introspective ballad about the gumption to express those special words to a loved one. According to the J-Wiki article on Sukima Switch's 7th single from March 2006, the actual title was based on one lyric within the song "...boku no oto..."（僕の音...My [Musical] Notes） which sounds similar to the title. For me though, the gently rolling piano and the strings grabbed me instantly when I heard it for the song.

I also discovered that "Bokunote" was also used as the ending theme for a "Doraemon"（ドラえもん）movie: "Nobita no Kyouryuu 2006"（のび太の恐竜2006...Nobita's Dinosaur 2006）which came out in the same month as the single. The song hit No. 3 on Oricon and ended up as the 77th-ranked single of the year. Sukima Switch also got to perform "Bokunote" during their 2nd appearance on the Kohaku Utagassen that year. It is a track on the duo's 3rd original album "Yuukaze Blend"（夕風ブレンド...Evening Breeze Blend） from November 2006 which also hit No. 3 on the album charts and became not only the 53rd-ranked album for that year but also held on for another year to become the 69th-ranked album for 2007.

Sukima Switch -- Zenryoku Shonen （全力少年）

Over the last few years, Sukima Switch (スキマスイッチ) has been a band that I've kept hearing and hearing about since vocalist Takuya Ohashi（大橋卓弥）and keyboardist Shintaro Tokita（常田真太郎）have often appeared on shows such as "Uta Kon" (うたコン) and "Music Station" even when I was living in Japan. And for me, it's been one song that has symbolized the duo.

I can hardly believe that it's been almost 12 years that their 5th single "Zenryoku Shonen" (Almighty Boys) was first released. Whenever Sukima Switch has appeared on a show, I've often wished that they would perform this particular song since it is so uplifting and encouraging. Recorded for release in April 2005, it was apparently also used for some Nintendo DS game according to Wikipedia but as a general single, it was a bonkers hit and why not?

"Zenryoku Shonen" which was written and composed by Sukima Switch has that bouncy melody which can clear up an overcast sky. And folks probably couldn't help but look up at the clear blue and grin a bit on hearing Ohashi sing about getting rid of that adulthood angst and grabbing the childhood hope and ambition once more. You gotta believe and have fun!

Fans certainly did. The song peaked at No. 3 and went Double Platinum. It later became the 78th-ranked single for 2005 and earned Sukima Switch their first of three consecutive appearances on the Kohaku Utagassen. The single also appeared on their 2nd album "Kuusou Clip"（空創クリップ）from July 2005. It hit No. 1 and was the 34th-ranked album of the year.

There were a couple of questions I had about Sukima Switch. One was from reading the Wikipedia article on the duo which compared them to jazz/rock fusion group Steely Dan. I'm not quite sure about that since on hearing them, I think they tend more toward British band The Style Council. There is a bit more of a carefree and breezy feeling to Sukima Switch and The Style Council whereas Steely Dan goes for a bluesy coolness.

The other thing was that how Ohashi and Tokita came up with that name for the band. The duo has said that there isn't any particularly deep meaning to it, according to J-Wiki. Tokita had been living in an old wooden apartment during their paying-their-dues days with the wind coming through cracks in the ceiling and a light switch that was an overhanging string (hey, that was the same with me in my Ichikawa bedroom). And so as not to ever forget those early struggling days, they went with the combination of "sukima" (cracks) and "switch". Also the two of them felt that instead of going with a supposedly cool name that would possibly go uncool over time, they went with a name that they thought was uncool from the get-go to nip that problem in the bud.

Ohashi has a huge amount of respect for artists such as The Beatles, Mr. Children, Hideaki Tokunaga（德永英明）and Koji Tamaki（玉置浩二）. That last person, as many of you know, is the lead singer for Anzen Chitai（安全地帯）, another band whose name may have also had folks initially scratching their heads as well. Meanwhile partner Tokita admires singer-songwriter-keyboardist Noriyuki Makihara（槇原敬之）.