I've been a fan of Japanese popular music for 40 years, and have managed to collect a lot of material during that time. So I decided I wanted to talk about Showa Era music with like-minded fans. My particular era is the 70s and 80s (thus the "kayo kyoku"). The plus part includes a number of songs and artists from the last 30 years and also the early kayo. So, let's talk about New Music, aidoru, City Pop and enka.
Credits
I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.
I think I was still attending the currently semi-annual Fan Expo events in 2016 when Vocaloid icon Miku Hatsune（初音ミク）made her way to Toronto for a big concert. Generally, I don't do concerts since I'm about as expressive as the Canadian Shield at most social events (aside from snarky remarks), and therefore I have assumed that I would be a terrific buzzkill to those standing or sitting around me. Still, I did wonder about seeing Miku in action with my own eyes and I'm glad that someone had the foresight to get some footage of her Toronto appearance.
May 2016 was when Miku got to sing her own self-titled song, "Miku", as concocted by the chiptune pop/rock band Anamanaguchifrom New York City. Catchy as all get out, the melody and the delivery both scream out MIKU literally and figuratively, and maybe the only thing that was missing was her stalk of green onion in the music video. I did read about the seemingly more sinister end at the Vocaloid Wiki which reminded me of Sting's take on "Every Breath You Take" as more of a stalker's obsessive focus on someone rather than a dear romance. I guess if there were ever a Miku Hatsune suspense-horror flick, "Miku" would be just the theme song.
Not sure if this record has been broken but also according to the Vocaloid Wiki, "Miku" currently has the record of most YouTube views for a chiptune song as of 2018. As of today, the above video has at least 56 million views.
The bunch of us here at "Kayo Kyoku Plus" have been putting up songs for almost a dozen years now, and whenever we get some grateful comments regarding songs from folks, we are also very grateful. However, one thing that I am not is someone who can tell what the most popular memes are going to be. I'm not a hit meme predictor although I regularly take a look at "Know Your Meme".
Case in point is this whole That One Guy thing regarding that one very happy and rubbery fellow dancing himself silly to an amped-up version of a song titled "Dom Dom Yes Yes" by Biser King. I only found out about him in the last month but apparently he's been around since the beginning of the year. It's a short dance but also very contagious.
Then last week, I discovered this Cup O' Noodle commercial involving a Vocaloid and an anime girl marching in step while playing around with a recorder.
Well, I didn't make much of a dive into the rabbit hole to realize that Nissin was getting its piece of the action of a popular meme starring the Vocaloid Yuki Kaai（歌愛ユキ）which got its start in March. The catchy tune is "Kyoufuu All-Back" (Powerful Wind, Slicked-Back Hair) by Vocaloid producer Yukopi（ゆこぴ）, a song about a nonchalant schoolgirl having to fight a losing battle against gale-force winds. I was surprised that it even got its own J-Wiki article but it has become somewhat of a YouTube phenomenon since as of May 6th, the video had gotten 10 million views. The Cup O' Noodle ad, by the way, started showing from July 19th.
Yep, it's a phenomenon when variations begin popping up like a litter of baby rabbits. I've enjoyed the American version by Justen Kuwabata with some giddy rock and R&B, and it even throws in a virtuoso jazz bridge along with an English rap.
And then there is the Mega Meme Mashup thanks to JLabDX. I won't say anything here; just experience it.
Yesterday, I watched some of those epic Super Bowl commercials for upcoming blockbusters. The only one that caught my interest was the trailer for "The Flash", the speediest DC superhero, and considering all of the sturm und drang with additional Samsonite luggage that the project and its star, Ezra Miller, had been carrying, it was pretty relieving and reassuring that the movie has garnered some good buzz from test audiences.
Having said that, though, I recall a year ago when the trailer for "Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness" came out, everyone was going bonkers in a great way and I had been looking forward to it. I ended up getting mildly disappointed. So, I'm cautiously optimistic about "The Flash", although it was great seeing Michael Keaton suit up again after remembering my time in the theatre to see "Batman" in 1989.
Well, I decided to go dive into the backlog once more to search for a superhero-themed tune, and lo and behold, I found this one by Vocalo P and singer/songwriter Guiano titled "Superhero". The IA here is actually the IA software application based upon the voice of singer/songwriter Lia who does have her own song on board KKP, "Tori no Uta"（鳥の詩）.
In a way, if "Superhero" could be matched with anyone on the DCEU's Justice League, it would be Miller's Flash since his Barry Allen is such an adorable little nerd who would probably be into anime (we'll see what the movie shows). The blippity-bloppity melody is something that I know that I have heard now and then as background music on some television shows in Japan. Plus the lyrics give an important message about folks who fantasize about becoming superheroes; I gather in Japan, it's all about catching that chuunibyo thing. Near the end of the song, a buddy comes in to ask the first person regarding the need to become a superhero since there's nothing wrong about being the person that they have always been. Once again, in a way, the message reminds me of what Dr. Erskine told a pre-Captain America Steve Rogers years ago. Anyways, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for "The Flash", and heck, Ant-Man has got his film coming out in a few days.
About a month ago, I provided my first article on the technopop group Hikashu which was made part of a Techno Gosanke（テクノ御三家）consisting of that band, P-Model and The Plastics. And then I figured that it's been a while since I added to the P-Model file here on KKP.
That first article for P-Model was for their 1979 debut single"Art Mania". Being a product of that time, there was plenty of New Wave thrown into the arrangement along the bleeps and bloops. Well, since doing that Hikashu article in October, I did some looking around and I discovered this P-Model song from many years down the line.
"2D or not 2D" was the second track on the band's February 1992 album"P-MODEL". There is none of that New Wave in this one. Instead, it's a purely twee technopop confection with some operatic flair and catchiness. Just think of a toy shop march on acid. The music video is also one for the "City Limits" file and it was obvious that the guys really got onto the morphing bandwagon (I remember when that became a huge special effects thing when "Terminator 2" was released back in 1991).
And before I finish up, I see that the Vocaloids got into the act, too.
Indeed, it's Halloween once more. Shibuya in Tokyo was once again filled with the milling crowds of cosplayers and curious onlookers. Here in Toronto, we may escape the rain so that the kids can go trick-or-treatin' once more. So, let's begin this Halloween special of KKP articles today.
The first time that I heard this Halloween-themed song was through a video featuring Japan's Weathernews former weathercaster Izumi Maie（眞家泉）dancing up a veritable storm in a number of settings (most likely in the Makuhari Messe area of Chiba where Weathernews headquarters is located). She's joined at the end by current weathercaster Sayane Egawa（江川 清音）.
And this song happens to be known simply as "Happy Halloween"(October 2014) by Vocaloid song producer Junky with Rin Kagamine（鏡音リン）providing the high-pitched vocals. It's a fun and child-like toy store march with the sensation of the comically spooky works of Danny Elfman, most notably for the Michael Keaton hit "Beetlejuice". In fact, I think that Elfman would be quite happy with this song of All Hallow's Eve with all of the excitement of going out and bewitching the neighbourhood. The English translation of the lyrics are available right here at Genius.com. Hopefully, tonight the kids and adults will have the same attitude going out.
As far as I know, it seems like the fans have been gloriously absorbing every bit of Miku Hatsune's（初音ミク）regular appearances on the latest season of "Jashin-chan Dropkick"（邪神ちゃんドロップキック...Dropkick on My Devil!）currently running. It seems as if she's now into Studio Ghibli delivery services.
I did find this tune by Hatsune and her Vocaloid minders which came out about a year ago in June 2021 titled "Unbalance". This light and catchy stomp apparently has Miku going a little out of sorts after falling in love...happens to the best of us at times. The virtual lass certainly looks darn serious in the thumbnail. Words and music were provided by john, and as for the latter, there's something about it that faintly screams Danny Elfman to me.
One of my students cottoned me onto this aspect of Japanese culture and interest when I was still living in Ichikawa, and I believe that I may have mentioned this before in a past KKP article, but there are folks who have this great curiosity over abandoned buildings and structures. I'm not saying that haikyo（廃墟...ruins） is a purely Japanese phenomenon; I'm sure that other nations have some small parts of their population who are into researching and observing the once-living and now-dead infrastructure, but it was in Japan where I first learned that there was a hobby surrounding haikyo.
The above video uploaded by Channel Tama is of a ghost town in the Toranomon district of Tokyo. It was quite flabbergasting to discover that there was haikyo smack dab in the middle of one of the more vibrant areas of the largest city in the nation, not far away from the Diet buildings or the luxurious Hotel Okura. Actually, I used to go to Toranomon weekly since I gave lessons at one of the companies in the area and had my Starbucks drinks nearby right across from the famous Toranomon Hospital. During that time, I had no idea of the existence of such a ghost town.
But all that preamble ramble was for me to introduce "Yuurei Tokyo" (Ghost Town Tokyo) featuring Vocaloid's premier Miku Hatsune（初音ミク）. It's the title track on singer-songwriter and Vocaloid producer Ayase's first EP, released in November 2019. Not that "Yuurei Tokyo" is about haikyo like that Toranomon neighbourhood, it's actually all about a songwriter trying to make it big in Tokyo and initially being euphoria-struck by the bright lights before realizing that life in the megalopolis is not all that it's cracked up to be. Basically, it's going through culture shock within three minutes and change.
It's not mentioned in the J-Wiki article for "Yuurei Tokyo", but I've found that there are melodic passages in the song that reminded me of Barry Manilow's"Copacabana", as crazy as that might seem. Not sure whether Ayase is even cognizant of the famous disco tune but Manilow's lyrics also have to do with the main character starting off as fresh-faced and vibrant but ending up spiritually wrecked by the end.
As for Ayase, he's also one-half of the pop duo YOASOBI which has had a couple of appearances on the Kohaku Utagassen already. I'll have to see some of their hits soon enough. Oh, by the way, if you're interested, here is the haikyo site that my student introduced me to all those years ago. When I showed another student this site, he politely asked me to get it away from him ASAP, so you've been warned.😁
As Larry Chan and I had mentioned in our individual commentaries on last week's Kohaku Utagassen, there was one participant in the show that may have become the talk of the town over osechi over the weekend, and that was Mafumafu（まふまふ）.
Seeing hard rock acts on the Kohaku is nothing new and hasn't been for years. However, seeing Mafumafu in his shock of white hair and black gown singing and screaming of a visceral struggle between giving up on life and grabbing it by the neck in a voice so impossibly high but clear with intimidating kanji flying across the screen was something jaw-dropping. I'm sure that there were viewers who were absolutely stunned, dismayed, impressed...and all of the other adjectives at the performance.
According to his Wikipedia article, Mafumafu is an utaite（歌い手）singer and songwriter that has been around since 2010. Now, until today, I had no idea what an utaite was but going to the Utaite Wiki, I discovered that it is "...a Japanese term for people who cover previously released songs and post them on Nico Nico Douga under the utattemita category. The term "utaite" is unique to Nico Nico Douga singers...". As for "utattemita", it means "tried to sing" and I've seen this term a lot of times on YouTube videos for regular folks who decided to give their favourite songs a whirl on the platform. But again, utaite is only used for those folks on Nico Nico Douga.
Mafumafu, who hails from Tokyo, has a four-octave range and according to his own entry on the dictionary, he has a regular and soothing voice when speaking. However, it's that high and feminine voice that is probably gaining a lot of traction with listeners right now. For his performance of "Inochi ni Kiwareteiru"(Hated By Life Itself), he starts out with a light and slightly frantic delivery before his voice launches into an anguished and defiant force of nature.
Apparently from what I could find out, Mafumafu may have released his "Inochi ni Kiwareteiru" in 2020 as a digital download single although I couldn't find it on his own website. The song was created by utaite and songwriter Inori Kanzaki（カンザキイオリ）for Vocaloid performances in August 2017, and you can listen to the above video for Miku Hatsune's（初音ミク）take.
It's hard to imagine bringing up the topic of watercooler chatter to something like the Kohaku Utagassen but with Mafumafu's appearance on New Year's Eve, I think some equivalent has probably occurred online and in-person.
For the 2019 Kohaku Utagassen last year, one of the most anticipated segments on NHK's annual New Year's Eve special was the "return" of the legendary kayo kyoku singer Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）, who had passed away in 1989 at the age of 52, through the assistance of computer technology. There was a CG-represented Misora on the Shibuya stage with her voice created from Vocaloid technology and a wealth of voice samples via her huge discography to sing a totally new song, "Arekara"(Since Then).
From what I've read online through YouTube and one article regarding the Kohaku appearance and the earlier debut of AI Hibari Misora last September has been mixed, to say the least. I've seen comments rejoicing this return with many people admitting that they cried a good bucket of tears on hearing the song and seeing her. On the other hand, there were people who criticized the finished rendition of Misora and the song. Even Tatsuro Yamashita（山下達郎）gave his own very blunt opinion, calling the Kohaku performance and the use of the technology in this manner "Blasphemy!".
My take on it? I was only half-impressed with the execution. The CG did look pretty clunky considering all of the hype surrounding the creation (I'm only half-joking when I say that I had been expecting something along the lines of "Star Trek" holographic characters). One YouTube commenter compared it to PlayStation 2-age characters, and sure enough, I also thought that it seemed more like a computer-designed figure created circa 2000 which was when the PS2 came out.
However, the aspect that I found intriguing and far more successful was the creation of Misora's voice. Dyed-in-the-wool fans may take issue with how her voice was emulated in the computer, but I thought it was pretty authentic and nothing sounding like Miku Hatsune（初音ミク）singing like Misora. I realize that this obviously isn't the real person herself, but listening to "Arekara", I could pick up on that familiar voice which enthralled people from the late 1940s to the late 1980s. Strangely, I didn't think that her performance was devoid of soul; that Misora warmth did come out. Listening to it a few times now, yep, perhaps I can pick out certain points where the Vocaloid was peeking through, but picking through it like that is kinda like me spending an hour doing a taste comparison between real butter and "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" spread. And I do love both...in moderation!
Ultimately, I think that how the voice came out is the main thrust. The creation of the not-so-great physical Misora character was just there so that the audience didn't have only beloved photos of the singer flashing on the screen as "Arekara" was playing.
Following the Kohaku performance, I started thinking about the benefits and implications on what had been attained with the near-perfect creation of the voice of a long-dead singer. Could that mean now that software exists to pull this off, will there be new songs by a "resurrected" Misora being released in shops or online? If so, who would be making profits? Would the software maker or the songwriter be getting the majority of the money? Would the estate of the original singer get a cut as well? Moreover, what if an unscrupulous entity steals the software with the ability to emulate any singer's voice authentically without permission? Using Misora's voice as an example, would that person end up uploading videos or music files with the kayo kyoku legend singing profanity-laced lyrics in a genre far from enka or even saying things that would end up demeaning Misora? I think that might be the issue that Yamashita was hinting at in his opinion. He certainly doesn't want an AI version of himself gallivanting away after he's gone, but how would other singers feel?
As for "Arekara", the single came out last December. The song is very reminiscent of Misora's swan song hit from 1989, "Kawa no Nagare no you ni"（川の流れのように）, and its delivery sounds as if the lady herself came back to Earth to greet and give thanks to the fans once more. Lyricist Yasushi Akimoto（秋元康）and composer Yoshinori Sato（佐藤嘉風）did a good job at creating this very late-age Misora addition to her discography, although I'm not certain how well "Arekara" did on the charts.
Thrilled? Disturbed? Oblivious? Whatever the reaction, I think this Pandora's Box is now fully open. Will it be possible to hear an AI Yukiko Okada（岡田有希子）or an AI Yutaka Ozaki（尾崎豊）with new material in the next five to ten years?
Some months ago, I found this rather fascinating short song on YouTube titled "Lupinus". Voiced by a Vocaloid named Maiko Hino（日野舞子）, "Lupinus" is said to be an 80s technopop-ish number created by a fellow named Tomozo（友蔵）.
With Hino in there along with the various examples of technology, yes, I would say that it was a technopop song but instead of it being an 80s thing, I would opine that "Lupinus" actually has a certain timeless quality. There's something traditional Japanese and also traditionally classical infused into it so that I believe that I've heard this sort of soundscape in the 1990s and the 2000s as well.
Tomozo's lyrics are also pretty atmospheric and fantastical. The images I get are of someone in a vast desert approaching an amazing oasis while visions of the past come flying at warp speed. Perhaps there is something rather therapeutic about this Lupinus.
According to his history on his website, the Tottori-born, Osaka-residing Tomozo encountered his first synthesizer in 1990 and it was apparently love at first sight. Since then, he's been collecting his variety of electronic instruments much in the same way that my anime buddy has been harvesting electric guitars. On his YouTube channel, Tomozo Hokanko（友蔵保管庫...Tomozo Vault）, he's quite self-effacing in his introduction stating that if you're looking for the power of rock, the technique of classical and the passionate soul of enka...look elsewhere.😀 Instead, he states that if his creations can get even a smirk and a slightly more relaxed mind from viewers, then he's perfectly fine with that. That's good with me.
It's been a few weeks now since the zany "Joshikousei no Mudazukai"（女子高生の無駄づかい...Wasteful Days of High School Girls） finished up its episodes (hoping for a Season 2), and for the most part, Baka, Wota and Robo and the rest of their fellow schoolmates would provide proof why they should be initially monitored once they enter adult society.
Akane "Wota" Kikuchi（菊池"ヲタ" 茜）as played by Haruka Tomatsu（戸松遥）was usually the most normal of the three main characters, but even she had her moments.
The penultimate episode, "Yume"（夢...Dreams）, though, took on a more poignant tone which contrasted greatly with the nuttiness seen in the other shows. It all involved Wota falling for the words and music of the secretive TeishotokuP (perhaps even for the man himself), a producer of Vocaloid songs. The lass finally got the long-desired opportunity to meet her hero at some sort of autograph session...only to find out that TeishotokuP（低所得P）was none other than Masataka "Waseda" Sawatari（佐渡 "ワセダ" 正敬）, her stoic and long-suffering homeroom teacher with a self-admitted attraction for university students. Wota's shock was real.
Thing is, TeishotokuP is a real Vocaloid song producer with his own YouTube channel, and Waseda-sensei, according to TV Tropes, has a character which consists of a mix of "Joshikousei" author Bino's（ビーノ）buddy's personality and the "real" personality of TeishotokuP (not sure why there were quotations around real at TV Tropes). It's his actual song, "little bunny" which gets featured in "Yume", the original version and the one sung by Wota herself in her bedroom.
One small thing that I've appreciated in the past number of years watching anime is whenever a pretty good insert song comes out of nowhere to be played in an episode. "little bunny" as performed by Vocaloid GUMI is a surprisingly heartwarming pop/rock ballad for a tune created from synths and a computer vocal program, and the music video above has that poignancy in spades with that young melancholy lass walking the streets one winter night trying to figure things out. She could easily be replaced by Wota attempting to get back on balance after her discovery of TeishotokuP's true identity.
I'd assumed that this would be my first article on GUMI. However, I was wrong here since she's already gotten at least one article, thanks to her being the original singer for "Kokoro Palette"(ココロ＊パレット) which would later be used as an insert song for another anime that I enjoyed in the past, "Kono Bijutsu-bu ni wa Mondai ga aru!" (この美術部には問題がある!). That would be another show that I wouldn't mind seeing return.
It's been several months since one of my favourite anime from the Summer 2016 season, "Kono Bijutsu-bu ni wa Mondai ga aru!" (この美術部には問題がある!), finished its run, and being a fan of the comedic slice-of-life sub-genre, the show managed to fulfill a promise that any televised project wants to achieve...leave the audience wanting more. I've read that the original manga is still plowing ahead but I don't know whether there will be a second season. However, that ending scene in the final episode was good enough for me.
Of course with this blog, I've brought in the anime for the purpose of introducing anison earworms and near-earworms, and what also helped "Konobi" was the really catchy themes of Nana Mizuki's（水樹奈々）"STARTING NOW!" and Sumire Uesaka's（上坂すみれ）"Koi suru Zukei (cubic futurismo)"（恋する図形）. And of course, I already wrote about those two tunes as the series was wrapping up.
However, I neglected to talk about a cute little tune adorably sung by Ari Ozawa's（小澤亜李）main character of Mizuki Usami（宇佐美みずき）during a brief montage scene in the penultimate episode which involved prepping for the annual Culture Day festival at the school. I later found out that the song was titled "Kokoro Palette" (Heart Palette).
Then "Kokoro Palette" came out in its full rousing glory as the ending theme for that final episode with the four main female seiyuu, Ozawa, Mizuki, Uesaka and Nao Toyama（東山奈央）bringing the group effort. I was finally able to get my own copy of "Konobi" and enjoyed my second round; listening to the song once more made me realize that this was a pleasant and worthy song to talk about.
But the final trigger was when I was reading the "TV Tropes" entry on the show and I discovered this kernel of knowledge in the YMMV section. Apparently, the song wasn't a product of the anime and was actually a campaign song for the manga by Imigimuru (いみぎむる) a number of years before. I couldn't be sure of the actual year that "Kokoro Palette" was recorded but considering that the original manga came out in 2012 and the YouTube video above was uploaded in 2013, I think 2013 is a fairly safe bet.
The original recording artist was a Vocaloid by the name of GUMI with "Kokoro Palette" written and composed by musician 40mP. It was a hard choice but ultimately I went with this original version as my favourite due to that hint of Shibuya-kei in there. Plus, that video above with the manga characters being drawn in as the song is playing struck me as a true labour of love. I wouldn't have been surprised if the author got slightly misty-eyed watching it.
And perhaps some of the fans of "Konobi" even before the anime must have gotten a thrill at hearing the song performed in the show, thinking that it should have been used as either the opening or closing theme.
