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.
Showing posts with label Yui Ogura. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yui Ogura. Show all posts

Thursday, November 10, 2022

Rie Takahashi -- Gakuen Tengoku(学園天国)/Joyful(じょいふる)

 

Last night, I wrote up an article on "Massugu"(まっすぐ), the opening theme song for Season 3 of the warmhearted anime "Karakai Jouzu na Takagi-san"(からかい上手の高木さん...Skilled Teaser Takagi-san), and I figured that I could also take care of a couple of songs from that franchise tonight. As has been the tradition ever since Season 1, seiyuu Rie Takahashi(高橋李依)as the titular Takagi-san has been providing the ending themes every couple of episodes which are covers of kayo kyoku and J-Pop tunes of the past.




Season 3's Episode 6 had the climax of the annual school culture festival in which Takagi-san and Nishikata-kun ended up in a performance of a variant on "Romeo and Juliet". One of the peak moments in the entire franchise occurred there, so of course, everyone involved was more than happy to be over and done with the festivities, which led to the celebratory karaoke session at the end.

Well, Takagi-san chose her song wisely since "Gakuen Tengoku" is a karaoke favourite for everyone to join in. It's also quite the chestnut from 1974 as originally done by the family singing group Finger Five(フィンガーファイブ)and then even more popularized through Kyoko Koizumi's(小泉今日子)1989 cover. Several of the cast also joined in the fun with Takahashi.


Couldn't find the ending credits for Episodes 7 and 8, but for those, Takahashi sang a cover of Ikimonogakari's(いきものがかり)"Joyful" from 2009. I've always had a nice feeling about that one since it was used as the commercial jingle for those Pocky commercials featuring a joyfully dancing Yui Aragaki(新垣結衣).

Wednesday, December 22, 2021

Yui Ogura -- Very Merry Happy Christmas

 

At first, when I saw the name Yui Ogura(小倉唯)and she was identified as a seiyuu, I saw her age and went "That can't be right!". I thought that she was much older. Then I realized that I mistook her for veteran voice actress Yui Horie(堀江由衣)who already has some representation on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" through articles such as "Poker Face".

In her mid-20s, Yui Ogura has popped up on anime that I have seen such as "Ryūō no Oshigoto!"(りゅうおうのおしごと!...The Ryuo's Work is Never Done!), the shogi-based manga adapted for TV, and "Karakai Jōzu no Takagi-san"(からかい上手の高木さん...Teasing Master Takagi-san) in a supporting role as Sanae Tsukimoto(月本サナエ), the quietly snarky member of the junior high school trio of buddies. Ogura has even gotten her own PreCure character, Cure Etoile, in "Hugtto! PreCure"(HUGっと!プリキュア)although by that point, I had already considered myself weaned off of the magical girl franchise.

Ogura has also had her time behind the mike as a singer and even being a member of the seiyuu group StylipS. She's released 14 singles and 3 albums thus far, but last year in December, she released her sole digital download single "Very Merry Happy Christmas". With the melody by Masaki Honda(本田正樹)matching the tenor of the adjectives in the title, we get to see a very spritely Ogura celebrating her Christmas time in the video. Aoba Hinata(日南田あおば)provided the lyrics for the singer who hardly sounds anything as laconic as her character Sanae from "Takagi-san". "Very Merry Happy Christmas" got as high as No. 64 on the Billboard Japan Download Songs chart.