Yuji Mitsuya -- New York in the Rain

 

It was about in late winter of 2021 when I wrote up an article featuring seiyuu and music producer Yuji Mitsuya（三ツ矢雄二）and his City Pop/R&B "After Five At Café Bar" from his 1984 album "Hi-Touch". At the time, I never made much of a connection between anime voice actors and City Pop, but Mitsuya proved me wrong. The fact that "After Five At Café Bar" borrowed liberally from Lionel Richie's "Love Will Find a Way" and Patrice Rushen's "Forget-Me-Nots" didn't bother me too much. It was still some funky fun for me.

Although this is only the second song by Mitsuya that I've put up onto the blog, I've gotten the impression that the lad did like his urban contemporary of the times. From his 1983 album "Half-Boiled Story", I give you his "New York in the Rain". Composed by jazz guitarist Takao Naoe（直居隆雄）, the song really does give the musical imprint that a lot of Japanese folks get whenever the Big Apple is mentioned: big, bold and jazzy/brassy. That is some fine music backing up Mitsuya who also wrote the lyrics under the name Momotsugu Hanamakura（花枕桃次）...sorry, I went full kun-reading on that family name but since I'm still not sure about the pronunciation, I opted for that one. To be honest, I don't think folks like Al Jarreau and George Benson had anything to worry about from Mitsuya's vocals but the singer sure sounded earnest.

Yuji Mitsuya -- After Five At Café-Bar

 

Yuji Mitsuya（三ツ矢雄二）is a name that I've come across a number of times so I was a little surprised when I realized that he hadn't been on the blog until today. And his name is one that is probably at legendary levels since he's been active since 1976 as a seiyuu in major roles including that of Tatsuya Uesugi in the 1980s baseball anime "Touch"（タッチ）and Virgo Shaka in "Saint Seiya". In recent years, he's even played the Big Bad in "Smile Precure" along with his own contribution in the insane anime "Pop Team Epic".

What I didn't know was that the Aichi Prefecture native has also been an actor, a music producer and a TV personality. Plus, the label of singer can also be attached to his resume. Case in point: he released an album in 1984 titled "Hi-Touch" which seems to reside in the realm of City Pop.

The track on display tonight is "After Five At Café-Bar", a song created by lyricist Keiji Mizutani（水谷啓二）and composer Akira Kitazawa（北沢明）. Yup, it's very downtown and it looks like Mitsuya beat Will Smith to the punch several years before Smith's theme for "Men In Black" since it sounds like a good dollop of Patrice Rushen's 1982 "Forget-Me-Nots" was used for "After Five At Café-Bar". When I heard it for the first time, I even thought that there was even some of Lionel Richie's "Love Will Find a Way" in the way that Mitsuya first delivers his vocals, and "Love Will Find a Way" is one of my favourite soul ballads of all time (future ROY article, to be sure).

Will always appreciate a bouncy bass and twinkly Fender Rhodes in a song. And the title reminds me of the times that some of my friends and I in Tokyo met up a little earlier on a Friday night before the main group so we ended up in a nice little coffeehouse or bar somewhere to wile away the time. Hachiko in Shibuya was always packed!

Just for comparison's sake, have a listen to "Forget-Me-Nots" by Patrice Rushen.