Yuiko Ohara -- Iwanai kedo ne.（言わないけどね。）

Being a typical Canadian kid growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, my cartoon fix was always sated through a plentiful menu of "Peanuts" and Warner Bros. fare. Of course, some of the more compelling tropes within those cartoons were the never-ending battles between the main characters. There was Wile E. Coyote versus the Roadrunner and then nasty Lucy Van Pelt going after hapless Charlie Brown via a football.

The Roadrunner and Lucille were definitely trolls even before trolls got their current meaning. The former may have played innocent but the latter could barely contain her glee at whacking Chuck again and again.

Now just imagine a similar scene in a small Japanese town where the troll is actually not doing this out of malice (well, not completely anyways) but in some strange way, doing this out of love. There might have been some conspiracy theories about Lucy doing all that she does against Charlie to hide an actual crush on the round-headed kid but I will leave that be.

To get back on track, I am referring to a show that just finished its run in the Winter 2018 anime season, "Karakai Jouzu na Takagi-san"（からかい上手の高木さん...Skilled Teaser Takagi-san）. It's a mellow slice-of-life show whose basic premise is the titular schoolgirl Takagi-san teasing the heck out of Nishikata-kun in all directions and in all situations. Based on the manga of the same name, after seeing the first episode, I kinda wondered how in the world the show would be able to carry this premise through the usual 12-episode season. Well, crazily enough, it actually entertained me quite well, and a lot of it is due to the voice work of Rie Takahashi（高橋李依）as Takagi-san and Yuji Kaji（梶裕貴）as Nishikata-kun. Plus, along with the main arc of Nishikata eternally trying and failing spectacularly to outwit his so-called rival, I also enjoyed the more subtle part of Takagi trying to get some inkling that her target can actually return her feelings.

What I'm going to say next is gonna positively age me to Victorian times but I couldn't help think of a couple of actors from 60s American sitcoms while I was watching Takagi and Nishikata doing their schtick, and that is Donna Douglas from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and the neurotic Don Knotts from "The Andy Griffith Show". Witnessing those two becoming a lovey-dovey couple would have given us nerds so much to dream for.

The opening theme for "Karakai Jouzu na Takagi-san" has started to grow on me as well. It is "Iwanai kedo ne" (But I Won't Ever Say It) which was written and composed and sung by Yuiko Ohara（大原ゆい子）. I remember her from doing a couple of the theme songs from one of the big anime from last year "Little Witch Academia"（リトルウィッチアカデミア）, and I even wrote about one of her efforts, "Hoshi wo Tadoreba"（星を辿れば）from the series.

Although "Hoshi wo Tadoreba" had a bit of an old-fashioned urban contemporary feeling to it, "Iwanai kedo ne" is a pretty pop song for the countryside which obviously fits the setting for the show. Ohara's lyrics also seem to lay out Takagi-san's inner feelings for the lad and her melody matches the scenes of Takagi riding her bike on the various laneways of the town.

"Iwanai kedo ne" is Ohara's 5th single released on Valentine's Day and it has gone up to No. 43 on Oricon, so far her best-ranking song.

This time last year, a number of us anime fans including myself and my friend were satisfied with someone named Kobayashi-san. Well, it looks like Takagi-san is now representing some of us in early 2018.

1986 Omega Tribe -- Night Child

Wooo~ How natsukashii! I used to hear this a fair bit years ago through a BEST compilation, "BEST Remix" by 1986 Omega Tribe（1986オメガトライブ）. But I got to hear it again last night while rummaging in JTM's vast collection of music.

This is Carlos Toshiki（カルロス・トシキ）crooning "Night Child" which was originally on 1986 Omega Tribe's first album under their new configuration without the original vocalist, Kiyotaka Sugiyama（杉山清貴）, "Navigator" from July 1986. As the title would indicate, this would be the ideal ballad to hear during a romantic evening in Hawaii: candlelight, balcony, palm trees, lapping waves on the shoreline, the whole 9 yards.

Written by Asako Yano（矢野朝子）and composed by Omega Tribe keyboardist Toshitsugu Nishihara（西原俊次）, "Night Child" is as much about the band's representative sound which is kinda like the yang to TUBE's yin. I still don't consider myself an expert on the band throughout its name changes, but even so, one of the points of comparison for me involves vocalists Sugiyama and Toshiki. I've always considered Omega Tribe to be one of the mellower bands in Japanese pop history but there was something even creamier about Toshiki's voice which makes it a great fit when it comes to those ballads.

"Navigator" itself went all the way up to No. 2 on the Oricon weeklies and achieved No. 20 on the 1986 yearly rankings. The album also has another Omega Tribe classic in "Kimi wa 1000%"（君は１０００％）.

Yukari Isshiki -- Ghost Town（ゴースト･タウン）

Had my annual physical today. No big surprises so far in terms of my weight and blood pressure but there's still a blood-and-urine test to get out of the way. Of course, right after that, we all went to McDonalds. Strangely enough, though, I hadn't had a Big Mac meal in several months and never garnered any sort of craving which I think is a good thing. However, my observation was that the Big Mac has somewhat shrunk; it was actually more of a Moderate Mac. Again, that shouldn't be a bad thing for someone my age and physical condition but I'm beginning to think that the Golden Arches may soon end up with a false advertising charge.

Anyways, enough of my dinnertime indulgence. Ten days ago, I wrote an article featuring some interesting websites proffered by a couple of the faithful commenters, one of which showed a huge list of singers and their debut years. So I took a look at 1981. I was entranced by the visage of one such singer by the name of Yukari Isshiki（一色ゆかり）because of those come-hither eyes.

For some reason, the description at that site hinted that Isshiki had initially been marketed as an aidoru. But listening to this track, "Ghost Town", from her sole album "Let's Begin" from June 1981, I think she should have been labeled more as a pop/rock singer. That husky voice of hers had me associating her more with singers such as Ann Lewis（アン・ルイス）and Yuki Katsuragi（葛城ユキ）than Seiko Matsuda（松田聖子）and Naoko Kawai（河合奈保子）. Shosuke Nagato（長戸秀介）took care of the lyrics while Junichi Kawauchi（河内淳一）composed the song whose guitar solo reminded me somewhat of The Eagles.

Plus, the Aichi Prefecture-born Isshiki, who was born Youri Sugimoto（杉本誘里）in 1962, once she entered high school in Chiba Prefecture, helped create a band by the name of...well, Fuckt...where she served as guitarist and vocalist. Not sure how that name got past the PTA and teachers but then again, perhaps back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, English slang didn't quite permeate Japan as much as it does now. The band covered songs by Prism and Masayoshi Takanaka（高中正義）which I don't think were quite all that punk or hard rock (I'm taking the band name into consideration here), but it's hard to believe that a member of a band with that name would be modeled into a boppy frilly dress-wearing aidoru.

Under the name of Yukari Isshiki, the singer released one single "Gambler"（ギャンブラー）and that one album "Let's Begin" in 1981. She would go back to her real name and release four more singles up to the end of 1987, and one more album "Dynamyte"（ダイナマイト）in 1984. By that point, she was apparently going for a more heavy metal sound. She even went into the anison and seiyuu business as well.

Misia -- The Glory Day

Years ago, I heard that R&B singer Misia had been inspired to enter a music career because of the musical "Mama, I Want to Sing!". I saw the commercial advertising it on TV years before that and saw one of the cast belting out the title song as a soaring gospel tune.

So I wonder if "The Glory Day", which was the gospel-influenced title track on her 1st mini-album from November 1998, was a tribute to that musical that so inspired Misia. Rousing and yep, I'm using that word again, inspirational, if you are going through the blues in Japan, track down this album and put it into the player (or download it into your computer). Chances are that you won't stay blue for long.

Pretty much every song that I've put onto the blog by Misia is a home run out of Candlestick Park but with "The Glory Day", I think I got a peek into where the singer-songwriter's roots first emerged. Misia and musician MASH wrote the lyrics while Shiro Sagisu（鷺巣詩郎）composed and arranged the song. The mini-album peaked at No. 6 on the charts while it ended up as the 174th-ranked release for 1998. However, it rocketed up to No. 46 on the 1999 yearly rankings and went Double Platinum.

Izumi Yukimura & Motoharu Sano -- Tokyo Chic（トーキョー・シック）

Happy Monday! I guess this article will feature one of the more unusual duets that I have ever come across in kayo kyoku. You have one of the Sannin Musume（三人娘）, the three popular songstresses who also included Hibari Misora（美空ひばり）and Chiemi Eri（江利チエミ）from the early postwar period, paired up with a pop/rock balladeer of the 1980s for a jazz number in 2014.

And yet, this is what happened. Izumi Yukimura and Motoharu Sano（雪村いづみ＆佐野元春）collaborated to make a single together titled "Tokyo Chic" in February of that year. I've been quite impressed with Sano, who composed and wrote this song, since he's gone beyond my initial images of him as that jeans-and-T-shirt type of guy on the same lines of The Boss and The Piano Man from the late 70s and early 80s. Even before his official debut as a singer, he helped with Nanako Sato（佐藤奈々子）back during the 1970s through some City Pop and then for this decade, he came up with a wonderful tribute to Big Band/Swing jazz.

However I have to admit that Yukimura at the age of 76 back when this was recorded has definitely got the lead role here. I'm not sure if this is so much a duet as it is Sano trying to keep up with his partner. In any case, the duo has come up with a cheer-up song to get folks out of the blues and into painting the town red through one of the largest cities on the planet Earth. Plenty to see and do in Tokyo, to be sure. Just bring lots of yen!

Takako Okamura -- Good-Day ~ Omoide ni Kawarunaraba（Good-Day 〜思い出に変わるならば〜）

Fireminer asked me whether I would put up a Takako Okamura（岡村孝子）song in the near future, and to be honest, it has been quite a while. My memories of her music have been sweet and dreamy, and my images would be of working in the garden of some quiet chalet deep in the forest.

I was surprised to find out that although four of the singer-songwriter's albums went all the way to No. 1 on Oricon, there has only been one single of hers that even broke the Top 10. That would be her 14th single, "Good-Day ~ Omoide ni Kawarunaraba" (Good Day ~ Turning Into Memories) from May 1991 which peaked at No. 9.

Those memories of her music are further reinforced through "Good-Day", thanks to Okamura's writing and her sweet reassuring vocals. That "chan-chan-chan" keyboard riff starting from the intro sure sounds familiar and Okamura sounds like the type of friend who would offer a shoulder to that person who is recovering from a lost romance. Her lyrics talk of picking oneself up and stepping forward after that breakup.

"Good-Day" was also placed as a track on "Chou-fleur", Okamura's 7th original album from July 1991. "Chou-fleur" was one of Okamura's No. 1 albums. The single was also used as the theme song for a special drama on NTV titled "Go-gatsu no Kaze ~ Hitori Hitori no Futari"（5月の風 〜ひとりひとりの2人〜...The Winds of May ~ One by One a Couple） which starred the It Girl of Japanese dramas at the time, Honami Suzuki.

Masayuki Kishi -- See You Again

Discovered this nice little ditty on YouTube tonight, courtesy of singer-songwriter Masayuki Kishi（岸正之）who has provided songs for a number of singers including 80s aidoru Marina Watanabe's（渡辺満里奈）"Marina no Natsu"（マリーナの夏）, and even wrote tunes for anime and commercials.

For a brief time, the Yokohama-born Kishi even released some of his own material through 2 singles and 2 albums. His debut album was "Warm Front" which came out in 1982. And the ditty that I'm referring to is a track from that album "See You Again" which has that sort of European-feeling whimsy. I wasn't quite sure whether this would fall into the genres of either City Pop or J-AOR although I get a slight impression of Taeko Ohnuki（大貫妙子）from that time. In the end, I decided to go with straight pop.

Hearing the song, I'm almost tempted to imagine Kishi in a tuxedo, straw hat and cane dancing about in Paris. Looking at that still image for the video above, he does look like a very young Hiroshi Abe, the actor. On his website, "kishi masayuki on the web", it looks like those two albums "Warm Front" and the 1984 "Pretender" were given their CD releases for the first time back in 2014.