Rainbow Sisters -- Kanashiki Weather Girl（悲しきウェザーガール）

 

I figured that I would be incorporating the weather forecasters from Japan's Weathernews at some point. For over a year, one corner of YouTube viewers has been following forecasters including Saya Hiyama（檜山沙耶）, Yui Komaki（駒木結衣）, Ayame Muto（武藤彩芽）and others not particularly because they are desperate to hear about the weather over Japan but because they are desperate in getting their daily dose of the cute and adorable talk and reactions from the ladies themselves. Hiyama, who hails from the city of Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture, was probably the first Weathernews forecaster that the fans fell in love with and I think that she remains the most popular because of her distinctive laugh, her love of cosplay, and the fact that she seems to melt into a puddle whenever famed seiyuu Natsuki Hanae（花江夏樹）speaks.

Not sure whether the Weathernews forecasters have reached the point of cutting a song in the recording booth yet but perhaps it's just a matter of time. Even if they did, though, they wouldn't be setting any sort of precedent because another group of female weather forecasters beat them to the punch decades earlier.

I can't quite believe that TV Asahi had that many forecasters in their weather department but then again, regular announcers in the network (or any of the commercial networks) have often been assigned to do the weather for a few years at least. Anyways, seven of them: Fumiyo Sako（迫文代）, Satomi Hama（浜さとみ）, Naomi Hasebe（谷部なをみ）, Mari Kurita（栗田眞里）, Asako Yoshida（吉田麻子）, Yuka Aoki（青木ゆか）and Mami Inoue（井上摩美）all got together to form a group called Rainbow Sisters（レインボー・シスターズ）to do a one-off song titled "Kanashiki Weather Girl" (Sad Weather Girl). By the way, I'm not completely sure about my transcriptions for the names above so if any of you have any concrete corrections or confirmations, please let me know.

Written by Akira Ohtsu（大津あきら）and composed/arranged by Toshiyuki Omori（大森敏之）, I gather that everyone involved wanted to get a bit of that 60s Spector pop flavour in "Kanashiki Weather Girl". As it is, the performances by the announcers aren't too bad at all...kinda along the lines of an Onyanko Club（おニャン子クラブ）tune.

Returning to the present, this whole YouTube phenomenon surrounding the staff at Weathernews over the past several months reminds me of another Japanese pop cultural explosion which detonated on the same platform a few years ago. Sure enough, one uploader made the connection. Such is the wondrous power of the YouTube algorithm.

Claire/Yoko Takahashi/Hikaru Utada/Kotono Mitsuishi -- Fly Me To The Moon

As someone who grew up listening to standards and watching some of those old variety shows featuring folks like Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett and the original Rat Pack, the song "Fly Me To The Moon" is old hat to me.

Written and composed by Bart Howard in 1954, I was surprised to discover that the very first singer to try it out was actress and comedian Kaye Ballard. Now I believe that 99.9% of the readers of this article have probably never heard of her. In fact, aside from myself, I can only think of 2 other fellows with any connection to this blog who may have heard of her. As for me, she was one of the earliest TV personalities that I ever remember. My two adjectives for her are zany and loud-mouthed.

Usually when the title pops up in my head, the two folks who readily come to mind are Frank Sinatra and the aforementioned Tony Bennett as seen above. When these guys sang it, you knew that "Fly Me To The Moon" was a classic.

About 41 years after "Fly Me To The Moon" was first sung by Ballard, the legendary anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion"（新世紀エヴァンゲリオン）launched in October 1995. Of course, part of the show's lasting success was the opening theme, "Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze"（残酷な天使のテーゼ）that seems to be an absolute must for any anime fan to get to know. In fact, one friend even remarked that it should be sung as an anthem of sorts. Well, I like my anime but I will simply listen and enjoy "Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze".

For years, though, I also heard that a version of "Fly Me To The Moon" was also used in "Evangelion". And my first thought was "Why would anyone think of using a Tony Bennett song in an anime?" At the time, jazz and anison couldn't quite mesh with me...and this was before I discovered "Tank" for the later anime hit "Cowboy Be-Bop".

Then today, I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor to find out that my bad cholesterol had decreased somewhat, and I was able to get a small translation assignment done pretty lickety-split. So my levels of whimsy were frankly off the scale and I decided to check out what "Evangelion" could do with "Fly Me To The Moon".

Dang, quite a lot actually. I had the window to my room open today so a lot of refreshingly cold air wafted in. Plus I heard the ending theme for "Evangelion" which was indeed "Fly Me To The Moon". And boy, my goose pimples were extremely exhausted! Singer and graphic designer Claire Littley had me at "Fly". Well, that's not exactly true...Toshiyuki Omori（大森俊之）who composed "Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze" arranged the old standard as a nearly tear-inducing and goosebump-exploding bossa jazz epic right from note one. I still don't know who on the production staff was inspired to get this song but I hope he got a fat bonus at the end of the year. Tony could be standing up and giving some applause.

Littley's full version is above. Apparently, a couple of versions of the CD single were released a few weeks after the beginning of "Evangelion" with Claire and "Zankoku" singer Yoko Takahashi（高橋洋子）singing their takes on "Fly Me To The Moon".

Takahashi's 4-beat version is above in its TV size. Her take is a more straight-ahead jazz combo. The CD single that had both versions peaked at No. 52 on Oricon, while the other single that had Takahashi's "Zankoku" and then Claire's "Fly Me" got all the way up to No. 17.

But that wasn't the only version of "Fly Me To The Moon" associated with Japanese pop culture that I remember. Hikaru Utada（宇多田ヒカル）recorded her tribute to the song as a coupling song to her 5th single "Wait & See ~ Risk"（Wait&See 〜リスク〜）from April 2000. Her take was officially titled "Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words)".

The famous "White Christmas", to my surprise, actually had an original opening verse which referred to boring sunny life in Los Angeles. I found out that "Fly Me To The Moon" is in the same situation. It also had an opening verse that was usually not sung but is sung here by Utada and also by Bennett above. Not surprisingly, Utada's tribute has more of that downtown grooviness but the arrangement is still light enough that I have categorized it as a pop song rather than something from the R&B genre. "Wait & See" hit No. 1 on the charts and broke the million barrier, becoming the 3rd-ranked single of 2000.

I couldn't finish this article without mentioning that one of the seiyuu in "Evangelion", veteran Kotono Mitsuishi（三石琴乃）, also covered "Fly Me To The Moon" along with some of the other voice actresses on the show. Considering her most famous role, I kinda wonder if it shouldn't have been titled "Fly Me To The (Sailor) Moon". Har de har har!

Yoko Takahashi -- Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze （残酷な天使のテーゼ）

Well, another anime season has come and gone...so, a fond farewell to shows like "Hibike! Euphonium" and "Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works", and welcome to the new summer season. One of the shows that my anime buddy introduced to me was something called "Sore ga Seiyuu!" about the trials, tribulations and thrills of a trio of voice actors trying to get that break in the industry. The first episode was...OK. There was nothing particularly incredible. It was just the usual cute characters, including the lead who looked curiously like the goofy Yuki Nagato from "Nagato Yuki-chan no Shoushitsu", and a similarity to "Shiro Bako". However, what got my interest was at the very end when the actual seiyuu finished up with the jolly ending theme that will include an excerpt from a famous anison each week. The producers couldn't have done better to start off the series with a rather beloved song.

Yup, hearing the ladies sing "Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze" (A Cruel Angel's Thesis) definitely perked up my eyes and ears. And I was never an Evangelion fan, either. The anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion" started up a month before I arrived in Japan in November 1994 for my longer second stint as an English teacher. However, since I didn't get into anime during my time there, it would be months before I started noticing that word "Evangelion" being bandied about on the telly and then seeing the gigantic posters of one Rei Ayanami and the Evangelion all over Akihabara. I kinda thought the latter was a mecha as designed by Charles Addams...there was something quite Lurch-like about it.

The piece de resistance was then the opening theme itself. Whenever I watched TBS' "Countdown TV" in the wee hours of Sunday morning, it seemed that "Zankoku na Tenshi no Tehze" would always be showing up in the rankings over and over for weeks and weeks on end. For an anison, I thought that the song had gone further up the Oricon list than it actually did which was No. 27 at its peak. But it was a very long resident on the charts as it placed at No. 191 in 1995 when it was released in October of that year (a whole year after the show began?!), No. 161 in 1996 and then No. 156 in 1997.

Just a brief detour, but the opening credits for "Neon Genesis Evangelion" were something that I had only discovered quite recently. They were very well done so I guess I am indeed a sucker for quick-cut openings with a killer theme song..."Mission: Impossible" and "Space: 1999" come to mind here.

Amazing thing that "Zankoku" came out almost 20 years ago. Aside from the other "Evangelion" theme that Yoko Takahashi（高橋洋子）sang, "Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore" (心よ原始に戻れ), this song is the only other contribution I know by her. Neko Oikawa（及川眠子）provided the lyrics, and she is the one who wrote up a number of songs for the late80s/early 90s aidoru duo, Wink, including their famous hit, "Samishii Nettaigyo"（淋しい熱帯魚）back in 1989. Meanwhile Toshiyuki Omori（大森俊之）took care of the melody which seems to have that successful mix of Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）and late 80s anison. It may not have actually cracked the Top 10 on Oricon but it did make TV Asahi's list of the Top 100 Anime Songs at No. 55. And I gather that the anime fans would have probably stood up and saluted if the song were played at any convention.

Yes, indeedy...get those glowsticks out!

And those amazing opening credits were just ripe for parody...even on live-action TV.

One of the craziest things that I read regarding "Zankoku" on the Wikipedia writeup was that initially during production of "Evangelion", director Hideaki Anno had apparently wanted to use excerpts from Borodin's "Polovetsian Dances No. 2" as the opening theme. My boyhood memories suddenly bubbled up at that cheap commercial (that you see above) I used to see for years and years where the old fellow explained how the 50s standard ballad of "Stranger In Paradise" was adapted from "Polovetsian Dances". The crazier thing was that a recording of "Stranger In Paradise" was something that I had heard even earlier on the old RCA Victor over and over. Y'know...I did like both versions but frankly, I'm happy that Yoko Takahashi got her chance for the anime.

Yoko Takahashi's backup singers?

Megumi Hayashibara -- Half and, Half

Being my first full album entry, I had to talk about Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ), as she is the artist I had listened the most in the past 10 years. Also, it's no mystery that her discography is the biggest treasure in my music collection (Yeah, I'm like a proud dad when it comes to my Megumi's CDs). But trying to pick one album from her big discography was kind of difficult for me. In the end, I chose “Half and, Half”, her debut album and, surprisingly, the one I find most cohesive (“SpHERE”, her fifth album, and “Fuwari” [ふわり], her ninth, are two close runner-ups).

Released in March 1991, “Half and, Half” is an interesting aidoru crafted album. Strange enough, besides Megumi being almost 23 years old when the album was released, the team responsible for the “artist image” decided to make her a kawaii aidoru. Based on that, we can take the “Why Don’t You Come Into My Heart?” question placed in red right below the album title as a warm invitation from a Japanese aidoru singer aiming at the public to follow her in this new path (not so new if we take in consideration that Megumi started recording some anime songs back in 1989). Talking about anime, it's worth note that "Half and, Half" is Megumi's only album to date with no anime-related songs placed in it. I only put the anime tag in this article because of Megumi's huge relation with the genre.

The aidoru approach per se is more than enough for we to conclude that “Half and, Half” is full of cute, dreamy, playful and saccharine songs, like “a Late Comer”, “Don’t Say ‘Wake Up Baby’” and “College Ring wo Kai ni Yukou” (カレッジリングを買いにゆこう). Of that bunch I selected just “A Late Comer” to talk about, as the other two are kind of too much for me in normal days. So, please, enjoy the “A Late Comer” video (sorry the video has been taken down) where Megumi acts like the typical innocent and girly aidoru.

http://www.amazon.co.jp/Half-%E6%9E%97%E5%8E%9F%E3%82%81%E3%81%90%E3%81%BF/dp/B00078XEOE

(excerpts only)

“a Late Comer” is the second song of the album and, although cute and silly, shows some interesting musical elements accompanying Megumi’s vocals. Maybe it’s too much, but “A Late Comer” is for me a “Nu jazz” song, where the traditional feel and sound of Jazz is mixed with other styles and instruments. If anything, it can also be called “aidoru Jazz” (if that means something at all). I don’t know how to categorize it, but I can hear some Jazz in it, and it’s a nice variation to the album, while not sounding too out of place.

On the other extreme, songs like “Kimi no Answer” (君のAnswer), “Nijiiro no Sneaker” (虹色のSneaker) and “Manatsu no Valentine” (真夏のバレンタイン) are perfect examples of the heavy “eurobeat-esque” synth-pop sound that was so used in Japanese aidoru songs during the late 80s/early 90s. These three are very nice songs, and just like “A Late Comer”, they have videos, so I recommend the reader/listener take some time to watch them while enjoying the songs. After all, who doesn’t like to have fun watching a young Megumi running and smiling to the camera? As for the other selected songs, they are just audio videos from YouTube.

Apparently, a video for “Kimi no Answer” exists as it was released in a Video Single Format back in the days. It’s nothing more than a compilation of scenes from her other videos of the era and some backing scenes as well. Quality is horrible, but this is a rare video. As for the song, aside being the album opener and a nice synth-pop tune, it has quite an story behind, as Megumi, in her “VINTAGE A” compilation liner notes, remembers that she was recording the song while the Operation Desert Storm was taking place in the Gulf War and somehow she connected the lyrics with that moment. As I know nothing about “Kimi no Answer” lyrics, I can’t share my own opinions about the subject, though.

“Nijiiro no Sneaker” is the mellow synth-pop aidoru song, which has also served as Megumi’s major label debut and lead single of “Half and, Half”, released a few weeks before the album. Also, the song was used as the theme song of Megumi’s “Heartful Station” radio program until 2003, when it was replaced by “Makenaide, Makenaide…” (負けないで、負けないで…), a beautiful Megumi song, more mature than the “Half and, Half” stuff. Back to “Nijiiro no Sneaker”, I find the guitar solo at the end quite nostalgic.

(Unfortunately the video has been taken down. Please refer to the Amazon link above.)

About “Manatsu no Valentine”, the summer tune about Valentine’s Day, I consider it one of the strongest songs of the whole bunch. It’s very bouncy and cute with the whole “in-your-face” aidoru vibe. As I’ve already talked in Megumi’s “Forever Dreamer” entry, “Manatsu no Valentine” serves as a good example of an eurobeat song with an aidoru approach, or vice-versa, which was a very common combination at the time.

“Ame no Hi no Shakespeare -TO FLY AWAY-” (雨の日のシェイクスピア-TO FLY AWAY-), is easily one of my favorites. It has a more serious vibe than the other songs presented until now. It also gives me an airy feeling when the song breaks for a bit and Megumi starts the “la la la” thing before the full arrangement moves it forward again. Also, Megumi’s vocals are very lovely in this song.

(Unfortunately the video has been taken down. Please refer to the Amazon link above.)

NOTE: The name of the song is mistaken in this video. The actual song is "Friends". As for "College Ring wo Kai ni Yukou", it's a song from "Half and, Half" that I chose not to feature in the article.

Right after “Ame no Hi no Shakespeare -TO FLY AWAY-”, “Friends”, one of the catchiest songs of “Half and, Half” and another personal favorite, sees Megumi using her deeper tone in the verses just to release her cute and child-like voice for the joyful chorus. Also worth of note is the very well put together arrangement of the song. It’s full of infectious guitar solos and sharp synth riffs that make me feel truly happy every time I hear it.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm28981697

(Miku Hatsune version)

With “Regret ga Naiteiru” (リクレットが泣いている), we’re facing one of the two ballads of the album. Megumi’s voice is very lovely in this beautiful song, probably making this her best deliver in the album. As a side note, “Regret ga Naiteiru” is another favorite of mine (Yeah, I really like this album).

(Sorry but the video has been taken down.)

Near the end, we have “EL WAKT”, your typical Latin inspired song that must appear in almost all pop albums. Megumi has a bunch of Latin songs in her discography, and this one was her first try. It’s an OK song that, unfortunately, kind of drags a bit because of the elongated notes. Also, I’d love to know what “EL WAKT” means.

The last song of the album is the classical inspired ballad “BECAUSE”. This one always makes me sad because I know the album is almost finishing, and the song itself is, in essence, well, …kind of sad. Megumi’s vocals are very angelic and vulnerable. As for the arrangement, the orchestra is just beautiful, which makes “BECAUSE” a great way to finish Megumi’s first album, “Half and, Half”.

All in all, “Half and, Half” is a very nostalgic album with a specific sound that throws the listener back to the mainstream dance-pop sound of the early 90s combined with the usual aidoru cuteness. It’s a very dated sound to today’s standards but, in my opinion, that just adds fun to the game. Also, it’s important to note that Megumi was a very raw singer at the time, which makes the whole “Half and, Half” album an interesting listen. This notable rawness was also something that, alongside the arrangements, added a naïve feeling to most of the songs. I remember reading in Megumi’s manga autobiography that she sounded awful during the recording sessions for the album, but her producer, then, said that the way she sang it was more important than the actual quality of the singing. And, to be honest, that’s probably the true essence of a Japanese aidoru. And for a registered nurse who turned into a seiyuu (voice actress), and then into a singer, Megumi did quite a good job in this album. Of course she got better with time, but that’s subject for future posts.

The album reached #45 on the Oricon chart, selling 20,180 copies. The edition I bought is a 2005 reissue that reached #288 and sold 763 copies.

And here are the names responsible for lyrics, music and arrangement of each song presented in this article.

Track 1 - "Kimi no Answer": lyrics by Yumi Yoshimoto (吉元由美), music and arrangement by Haruhiko Nishioka (西岡治彦).

Track 2 - "a Late Comer": lyrics by Keiko Kimoto (木本慶子), music by Masaya Ozeki (尾関昌也) and arrangement by Toshiyuki Omori (大森俊之).

Track 3 - "Nijiiro no Sneaker": lyrics and music by Midori Karashima (辛島美登里), and arrangement by Yasuhisa Murase (村瀬恭久).

Track 4 - "Manatsu no Valentine": lyrics by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), music by Cozy Kubo and arrangement by Takashi Furukawa (古川貴司).

Track 6 - "Ame no Hi no Shakespeare -TO FLY AWAY-": lyrics by Miho Matsuba (松葉みほ), music and arrangement by Toro Okada (岡田徹).

Track 7 - "Friends": lyrics by Keiko Kimoto (木本慶子), music by Masaya Ozaki (尾関昌也) and arrangement by Toshiyuki Omori (大森俊之).

Track 9 - "Regret ga Naiteru": lyrics by Yumi Yoshimoto (吉元由美), music by Katsuki Yamaura (山浦克己) and arrangement by Norimasa Yamanaka (山中紀昌).

Track 11 - "EL WAKT": lyrics by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), music by Katsuki Yamaura (山浦克己) and arrangement by Yasunori Nakamura (中村康就).

Track 12 - "BECAUSE": lyrics and music by Yui Nishiwaki (西脇唯), and arrangement by Tomoki Hasegawa (長谷川智樹).

To finish, here are some photos of my “Half and, Half”.

Cute Megumi with Hello Kitty in bed!

Megumi preparing some great food in the kitchen!

She surely eats a lot!

Cute Megumi with an old phone!

Early 90s fashion style!

The whole "Half and, Half" package!

CD back!

Yoko Takahashi/Megumi Hayashibara -- Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore (心よ原始に戻れ)

“Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore” (心よ原始に戻れ) is probably a well known song in the anime fandom, because it's an image song for the "Neon Genesis Evangelion: Death & Rebirth" 1997 movie. As the title of the post suggests, I’m going to introduce two different renditions of this song, both released around the same time. The original one, sang by Yoko Takahashi (高橋洋子), is the b-side of her famous “Tamashii no Rufuran” (魂のルフラン) single, released in February 1997. The other version is sang by Megumi Hayashibara (林原めぐみ) and  it's an album track of her best-selling album, “Iravati”, released in August 1997. An ethereal downtempo version of “Tamashii no Rufuran” is also included in “Iravati”, but that’s not subject for today.

About the original version, featured at the beginning of the post, I can say that Yoko’s voice is very strong. The arrangement is upbeat and rich, with lots of cool electronic elements thrown here and there. The chorus is made of call and response sentences between the singer and the backing vocalists, which is very nice. Finally, the violin (not 100% sure if it's a violin) introduced at the last minute of the song is just beautiful. It's probably my favorite part of this version.

Now, let’s check out Megumi’s version. Listen to it below.

Megumi’s version, called “Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore (Naked Flower Version)”, in contrast, is not as upbeat as the original. The arrangement is filled with latin elements and a mystic atmosphere pervades it. About Megumi’s voice, it’s ethereal and gentle at the same time, which I find truly amazing (in my opinion, it’s one of her best vocal performances). Moreover, the call and response chorus is even more evident in this version, because the slower arrangement fits it better (in my opinion, of course). I’m probably being biased as Megumi is my favorite singer, but I find her version way more beautiful than the original. Being fair with Yoko, though, we can’t really compare the versions because both are different with very distinct vibes.

As my humble Japanese music knowledge started mostly with Megumi Hayashibara, her version was the first one I came across when I got a huge MP3 file with all of her albums in very low quality back in 2005. But shortly after, I discovered Yoko’s original recording. At the time, I enjoyed both and listened to them a lot. I dare to say that I used to listen to Yoko's version more times because it's upbeat and I was not very fond of ballads and slow songs back then. Nowadays I listen to Megumi’s version with more frequency than Yoko’s one, which reflects my preference. The fact that I own Megumi’s “Iravati” helps a lot too as I really like to sit on the couch and listen to an album while looking at the booklets and photo books that are part of the package. All in all, “Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore” is a great song and both versions are offering something different to the listener.

Yoko’s “Tamashii no Rufuran” single reached #3 on the Oricon charts, selling over 631,320 copies. It also reached #41 on the yearly chart of 1997. As for Megumi’s “Iravati” album, it reached #5 on the Oricon charts, selling 277,060 copies (source: generasia). It’s important to note that “Iravati” isn’t only Hayashibara’s best-selling album, but still is the best-selling seiyuu album of all time. “Kokoro yo Genshi ni Modore” was written by Neko Oikawa (及川眠子), while the composition and arrangement were made by Toshiyuki Ohmori (大森俊之). Hayashibara’s “Naked Flower Version” was also arranged by Ohmori.

To finish the article, here's a photo of my own copy of Megumi's "Iravati" album. It came with a  slipcase and a hardcover photo book, which is always very nice.