GARNiDELiA -- ambiguous

 

First off, may I give a Happy Memorial Day to everyone down Stateside? Hopefully, you've all had your own successful long weekend. It was just a regular Monday here although we did have our own long weekend the week before due to Victoria Day, but I was able to meet an old friend of mine for a ramen lunch and then a movie.

We chose "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga". The two of us had seen "Fury Road" which was literally a blast since we got to sit in those highly reactive seats in the theatre. No such luck this time, but "Furiosa" did keep us entertained for the approximately 2 1/2 hours. Of course, plenty of action and bizarre characters such as Immortan Joe (would love to see his origin story someday), and if you'll permit me to put this out there, there's actually a tonal similarity between this movie and the classic Rankin & Bass Christmas TV animated special "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Basically, both projects answer any question that fans have had about the central character. ("Oh, that's how she lost her arm!")

Coming back home late this afternoon, I realized that "Furiosa" kinda had me reminiscing about an anime regarding a young woman out for some rage-filled revenge against an evil tyrant and his gang. It's hard to believe that it's now a decade since the wild and furious "Kill La Kill"（キルラキル）hit TV screens and dropped jaws all over the anime fan realm. Every time I went to my anime buddy's house to catch the latest two episodes, I was wondering how much more architectural infrastructure and flesh would be rendered asunder by the battles between Ryuko Matoi and Satsuki Kiryuin. I think even Mad Max himself would witness some of this and react "Whoa, ladies...hold up there". 

It's almost ten years since I posted my favourite theme song from "Kill La Kill" which was the first ending theme "Gomen ne, Ii Ko Ja Irarenai"（ごめんね、いいコじゃいられない）by singer-songwriter Miku Sawai（沢井美空）, and eventually I got to post the first opening theme, "Sirius" (シリウス) by Eir Aoi（藍井エイル）. Well, the "Kill La Kill" file on "Kayo Kyoku Plus" continues with the second opening theme "ambiguous" by pop/rock duo GARNiDELiA. 

Written by meg rock, who also provided lyrics for "Sirius", and composed by band partner/keyboardist Yoshinori "toku" Abe（阿部尚徳）, this was the first single by GARNiDELiA released in March 2014. Given life by vocalist Mai "MARiA" Mizuhashi（水橋舞）, "ambiguous" was something that I heard a fair bit during the anison hour that my buddy always provided during my visits, and I noticed that the song took on that certain arrangement of rock anthem lined with strings...kinda gothic in a way...that seemed to be quite popular back then among anison. "ambiguous" did have that rock rumble but when played against the opening credits sequence for "Kill La Kill", it had that mellowing effect against all of the Ryuko vs. Satsuki mayhem as battle lines (and life fibers) were drawn. Its success wasn't ambiguous, though; it hit No. 15 on Oricon.

Yuka Iguchi -- Platinum Disco（白金ディスコ）

Yuka Iguchi（井口裕香）has been a seiyuu name that I've often seen through various anime that my buddy has shown me over the past decade, but for the life of me, I am admittedly hard-pressed to name any of the characters that she has played. In fact, the only one that I know off the top of my head is Mako Reizei（冷泉麻子）, the extremely competent yet very unmotivated tank driver in the "Girls und Panzer" franchise.

Of course, that makes the above scene all the more noteworthy (and adorable) in what might be one of the most out-of-character moments in anime.

However, I can perhaps add one more memory of Iguchi into the old brain but not especially through her character of Tsukihi Araragi（阿良々木 月火）in "Nisemonogatari"（偽物語...Fake Stories） which came out in 2012. This is a show that I never saw but I've heard about the surprisingly intriguing toothbrushing scene. In any case, my new Iguchi memory has formed due to her providing the third opening theme for the show "Platinum Disco".

First off, my compliments to the director for the opening credits, Yukio Takatsu（高津幸央）. But Iguchi has also given me a fine aural memory due to her catchy and adorable song which seems to inject some of that titular disco into a piece of soundtrack from a chambara series. Let's just imagine John Travolta back in the late 1970s prancing around medieval Japan in a chonmage and that would be my "Platinum Disco". The song was written by Satoru Kousaki（神前暁）and composed by meg rock, the same duo behind "Ren'ai Circulation"（恋愛サーキュレーション）which was an opening theme for "Bakemonogatari"（化物語）, a sister series to "Nisemonogatari". And like that one, I first heard "Platinum Disco" when it used to be played on a lot of those zany Anime Brain videos.

Nice way to finish off tonight with an earworm once again burrowing through my head.

Kana Hanazawa -- Ren'ai Circulation（恋愛サーキュレーション）

Happy Monday to you folks! Feeling nice and seasonal out there today and I gotta pick up my cleaning tomorrow morning. Anyways, for the past several months, I've often watched the compilation videos made by Anime Brain which mixes in anime excerpts with the brain of Monty Python, it seems. It's been fun for the most part, but there are only so many Beyblade and "nikko, nikko, nii~" gags before things get repetitive. Still, one of the anison that has frequently been used in the videos has been burrowing relentlessly into my skull due to its incredibly cheerful delivery, and I've been somewhat curious as to the title and singer behind it.

Well, last night, I finally found out by chance. I saw this concert video featuring famous seiyuu Kana Hanazawa（花澤香菜）hovering on the YouTube page, so I decided to take a gander. Yup, it was indeed the song, and I realized that Anime Brain had not only used the beginning but also the middle in its videos all these months.

The earworm in question is titled "Ren'ai Circulation" (Love Circulation), and it was one of the opening theme songs for the 2009 anime "Bakemonogatari"（化物語...Monster Tales）. I never saw the show since I was out of the anime world at the time but according to TV Tropes, it was a fairly polarizing program depending on which side of the Pacific Ocean anime fans lived on. However, the same site also reported that Hanazawa's character of Nadeko Sengoku and "Ren'ai Circulation" were her breakout role and song respectively.

I've gotten a fair number of Hanazawa songs now due to her later contributions in fare including "Gabriel Dropout"（ガヴリールドロップアウト）and "Shirokuma Cafe"（しろくまカフェ）, so I will kindly invite her fluffy "Ren'ai Circulation" to the category. Perhaps it might be my first time that I have ever heard of moe groove before. Satoru Kousaki（神前暁）was behind the circus-like melody while meg rock took care of the lyrics.

Eir Aoi -- Sirius (シリウス)

It's been a few years since I've seen one of the craziest anime to greet my eyes and ears, "Kill La Kill" (キルラキル) with its battle scenes...well, pretty much every scene...on acid. I did write about the first ending theme, "Gomen ne, Ii Ko Ja Irarenai" (ごめんね、いいコじゃいられない) which is still my favourite of the four theme songs used during the original run from 2013.

However, the first opening theme, although it never became an earworm to me, is not too bad either, in retrospect. Eir Aoi's（藍井エイル）"Sirius" helps all of us viewers blast into the action along with the opening credits. A fluffier song wouldn't do the show justice and every time I hear "Sirius", I always see Ryuko and Satsuki trying to bash each other into pulp.

"Sirius" is Aoi's 5th single from November 2013. According to Aoi herself on J-Wiki, the song was meant to be an upbeat work filled with the brightness of the teenage years. Well, if it's anything like the adolescence experienced by any of the main characters from "Kill La Kill", I would probably replace that word "brightness" with concepts such as "craziness", "psychosis" and "insanity".

Written by meg rock and composed by Ryosuke Shigenaga（重永亮介）, "Sirius" peaked at No. 21 on Oricon. It is also included on Aoi's 2nd album "Aube" from January 2014. That album got all the way to No. 6 on the charts.

Unfortunately, due to ill health, Aoi brought a stop to her career in late 2016 and for the meantime, it's unknown when or whether she will pick up the mike again.

Now here is Ryuko to show how NOT to drive a bus.