fhana -- divine intervention

Realizing that it's quite late to put this one into "Kayo Kyoku Plus", I still have to pipe up in my defense that when an anime has such an earworm ending theme such as "Witchcraft Activity"（ウィッチ☆アクティビティ）, any opening theme would have a difficult time standing out.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the anime "Witchcraft Works"（ウィッチクラフトワークス）which aired in early 2014. The series itself frankly went over my head without subtitles but it was all about these different covens of witches jockeying for position within the usually mundane environment of a suburban Japanese neighbourhood. I have to say that a lot of it was very gorgeously animated, though.

Anyways, the opening theme was fhana's "divine intervention" and I think it's only been within the last little while that I've finally started to appreciate it. Ending theme "Witchcraft Activity" simply burrowed itself into my head so much that it had been the only song that I associated the anime with. But after enjoying the band's first single, the lovely and fitting ending theme for the first season of "Uchoten Kazoku"（有頂天家族）, "Que Sera Sera"（ケセラセラ）, and then last year's so-happy-that-it-kills "Aozora no Rhapsody"（青空のラプソディ）, I got to hear "divine intervention" again through my anime buddy's anison hour.

The song was fhana's 3rd single released in January 2014. Written by Hideki Hayashi（林英樹）and composed by fhana keyboardist Junichi Sato（佐藤純一）, "divine intervention" flies in like a witch on the warpath with the keyboards and the rock but then also has these quieter passages that almost takes things into a humming disco ballad thanks to the addition of those strings. Well, being someone who likes the ancient music, I appreciated the disco of it.

"divine intervention" got as high as No. 52 on Oricon. It also became a track on fhana's debut album "Outside of Melancholy" released in February 2015 which peaked at No. 8. This song will still be a fairly distant third behind "Aozora no Rhapsody" and "Que Sera Sera" for me but from now on it will not be forgotten.

KMM Dan -- Saturday Night Witches

I think this might strike readers from outside of North America rather ironically but currently there is a massive snowstorm smashing into the eastern half of the United States while Canada stays quite calm. CNN is doing a full court press.

Meanwhile, KMM Dan（KMM団）will probably have a grand old time at the karaoke box singing this tune, if the above video is any indication. Yup, it's been a couple of years but I'm finally putting up the other song by the group of seiyuu involved in "Witchcraft Works". Not as much of an earworm as "Witchcraft Activity", "Saturday Night Witches" was also written and composed by the technopop unit TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN FUND as an interesting tribute to what I think is old 80s synthpop. It's not quite full funky R&B and not quite full New Wave but it is an intriguing Japanese tribute to the music of the big hair, gaudy makeup and broad shoulders that was all the rage back in the decade of my high school and university years.

In terms of the lyrics, it's all about having a great time downtown tripping the light fantastic, preferably without the gigantic violent bunnies. I very barely head out on Saturday nights nowadays so there is definitely a natsukashii element listening to "Saturday Night Witches"...all those old discos, trips to Kuri and late-night midnight snacks.

KMM Dan -- Witch Activity （ウィッチ☆アクティビティ）

Not too long ago, I wrote on Yasuyuki Okamura's（岡村靖幸）funky little number, "Viva Namida", the opening theme for "Space Dandy"...one of the number of anime that I've been watching since the beginning of the new year. Well, during the same showing, I was also witness to another anime by the title of "Witchcraft Works" which seems to have become the big hit of the season.

As I did with "Space Dandy", I will also give my brief fractured description of "Witchcraft Works" through comparison with examples of old TV programs and movies. The show seems to be a mix of "Terminator", "Bewitched" and "I Dream of Jeannie" with some pretty nifty special effects. However, as much as I have enjoyed the first few episodes featuring the adventures of Honoka and Ayaka, my ears and brain pricked up at the very end of the episodes when this Ceti Alpha Eel of an ending theme managed to burrow deep into my brain where it still resides.

This would be "Witch Activity" by KMM Dan（ＫＭＭ団...The KMM Group）, the coven of teenage witches which has so far antagonized our aforementioned heroes with all manners of hocus pocus, giant bears and bunnies. And I think the coven is having better success breaking the fourth wall and ripping us anime fans down to size with this earworm than getting at Ayaka the witch. The technopop unit TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND was responsible for unleashing this infectious melody. The unit itself was formed all the way back in 1995, but with their first album, "music laundering" coming out over a decade later in 2006.

The music alone should be investigated by the CDC, but what got me at "Hello" was the staccato opening by the KMM girls (voiced by their respective seiyuu) themselves. With the music and the vocals, I didn't stand a chance. I ended up listening to the YouTube video for the ending credits of "Witchcraft Works" a few times after getting home from my anime buddy's place that night, and then a few more times after that until the official single was finally released a few days ago, and a Good Samaritan uploaded the song onto YouTube. Frankly, I don't think the full version of "Witchcraft Activity" actually adds any further audio Valhalla than what I have already heard through the credits, but it's early days.

From CD Japan

Now, when you check out the photo above for the single, you will see the cover in which the KMM Dan is positioned eerily like the famed German techno band, Kraftwerk, for "The Man-Machine". My anime buddy also pointed out that "Witch Activity" also sounded like the band's "Radioactivity".

Well, I'm not quite sure about that....perhaps if the melody for "Radioactivity" were sped up? But in any case, I did enjoy seeing the parody cover.