Anison thread

[tenshi_a]

I decided to start up a general thread for anison fans to talk on, in case Tomoe & AkanegasakiSora & anyone else want to talk about anything anison with me.

What is there to talk about at the moment? Well, looks like SRS 2007 took place in Hong Kong last night, here's a link to a report (http://www.butterboom.com/2007/05/21/review-super-robot-show-2007-concert/) from the event. There are some great pics there and a video of Aniki singing Mazinger Z. ^_^

Me personally, I'm looking forward to receiving an old 2nd hand Horie Mitsuko LP I bought, it's coming in the post. It's called Horie Mitsuko Best 24 (http://tenshi-a.blogspot.com/2007/05/i-just-bought-scratched-record-yay.html). Too many of her albums are called "Best"! I know it's accurate, because they're all the best, but...

I'm currently listening to Daitokai by Crystal King on non-stop repeat. It's not anison, I know. It's somewhat sad to think that Tanaka Masayuki had such an incredible voice and it's just not there anymore... and the singers on this song became anison singers ever since "Ai Wo Torimodose", so...

I'm also looking forward to the Kushida Akira CDs I have on order, his "Best & Live" comes out in a few days, and looking forward to momo-i's next Famison album. Now that Animetal have split up again, she's the only source of cross-genre anison cover versions I know of...

So, yeah. Anyone want to talk about anything anison related?

[Tomoe]

Not only SRS, there was also a big Super Anison Spirits the previous day in Hong Kong. During that event Endou performed "Ai o Torimodose", while MIQ covered "Kimi o Nosete" (Laputa) and "Zankokuna Tenshi no Thesis" (Evangelion). There are more interesting pics at Kageyama's (http://airblanca.com/paseo/index.html) and Gunta's (http://blog.livedoor.jp/m-91_73914/) online diaries. A fantastic tour abroad, without any doubt. They should also visit other countries.
I recommend all songs from the Best albums of Crystal King. I think they should get Tanaka sing more Anison stuff nowadays, instead of constantly inviting Moush to the live events.
The big news is that after Ken Narita returned to Anison during SAS in January, now he opened his official website (Evergreen (http://evergreen009.web.fc2.com/EVERGREENTOP.htm)) and he's also releasing a Best album. Moreover, he's got a brand new IN song for Gekiranger! Good, now we want Shimon back. :D
I'm wondering whether to go to Yumi Matsuzawa's Anicapella live next month... It's the first time they're making an acapella project with Anison stuff only, and Matsuzawa is good enough to enjoy that. But I haven't heard her Anicapella CD and I have no idea how it sounds. Besides, it's always the money problem, I'm trying to save some money for about 5 concerts... oh, well, I'll decide soon.

[AkanegasakiSora]

I heard that there's a new JAM Project CD for Super Robot Taisen OGs coming out in August (Rocks and Portal). I can't say I'm really looking forward to it, though. Aside from Kitadani Hiroshi and Okui Masami (mainly with her solo work), they haven't really impressed me at all recently...

I'm really looking forward to Momoi Halko's upcoming works. She's been really impressive recently with her range and talent, not just with cover songs but new songs as well such as Seto no Hanayome OP Romantic Summer with Nogawa Sakura which is lots of fun, and the Momoi coupling song is really surprising... she's really good at enka... O_O!! ... It doesn't beat the surprise of hearing Akihabarapsody where she somehow sings in a style which is reminiscent of both Shimon and Oosugi Kumiko... at least to me that is. ^_^;;

Recently, I've been listening to lots of different anison, new and old while I revise for exams etc. Lots of Shimon Masato anisongs, then lots of Sakai Mikio (and Sakai Mikio composed etc) anisongs, and now a wide-range of recent anime-songs and soundtracks that I specifically targeted for their artists/titles etc e.g. with songs, some yozuca*, CooRie, KOTOKO, Kuribayashi Minami, Mizuki Nana, Horie Yui and Aice5, Kitadani Hiroshi, Okui Masami, Teikoku Yousei, Momoi Halko, Nogawa Sakura, FictionJunction YUUKA etc, angela, Wada Kouji, savage genius, KAORI, Tamura Yukari, some Yes! Precure 5 songs etc etc. I still want to hear the recent ALI Project stuff which I haven't been able to hear properly, yet.
I've been listening to the Code Geass soundtracks quite a bit recently as well. The Nakagawa Koutarou, Kuroishi Hitomi, Sakai Mikio combination is as wonderful as ever. Kuroishi Hitomi and Sakai Mikio's lyrics are beautiful and really show the inner feelings of the characters and events/scenes the songs portray. It's understandable why Taniguchi likes working with them for his works. I've managed to hear a Yukana song (as C.C) which is not from the two OSTs, which is a Kuroishi song (composition, arrangement, lyrics), and is really beautiful... I'll have to find the drama CD it comes from some time... ^__^


The discussion about anison singers that have virtually disappeared reminded me, does anyone know what happened to Ishihara Shinichi? I haven't heard anything from him in a few years (not since stuff like pop'n music, live concerts, as a seiyuu in Nanami-chan...). Has he retired or something?

While I'm asking questions, with game music, does anyone know if the opening and two endings for A-RANK THUNDER were ever released on CD (Shimon Masato and Peter Simon, who is really Shimon under a different name possibly to do with the style he's singing in?)? I've only heard them on youtube in low quality, but they are really beautiful songs...
Also, were the Geppy-X songs ever released on CD and do the songs (apart from the opening/ending themes) have names? All I know is who the artists are, not the song titles.

Anything else... I've noticed in the past few months a few songs with Young Fresh on (e.g. for Yes! Precure 5, Gekiranger). It's nice to see that style of singer combination is still around. ^_^
If only there was a revival of Koorogi'73's distinct singing style as well...

(we can all dream of a Shimon comeback... the question will be... under what name? ^__^)

[Tomoe]

What do you mean, Ishihara is still there, often taking part in the Anison concerts. He even released his Best album today, just like Akira Kushida and Ken Narita. In August, he'll participate in Super Hero Spirits, I hope I'll be there as well. Besides, he did the CM song for Gekiranger (not released though). The problem with Ishihara is that, just like our beloved Gao the Beast (Yukio Yamagata), he's more a stage actor than a singer. So he's quite busy with various stage plays, musicals, etc. But he hasn't retired at all, no way. :)
Of course Geppy-X songs were released, and surely they have names, check: http://anison.info/db/program/3754/. I have all tracks, there's an especially good one of Moush Yoshizaki where he's singing using two different voices.
I don't know if these Shimon songs were released. If they were, it might be only on some of his rare collection CDs.
However, I don't expect Shimon to return. And neither do the Japanese. Maybe I've talked about that before, but a few months ago there was an article about Shimon in one of the weekly magazines. Although written more in a gossip-style, it revealed quite a few interesting facts. It turned out that some 5 years ago Shimon and his family returned to Tokyo to live near Ueno. His wife's family had a small building-construction company which however came to a bankruptcy, so they lost the building they lived in and had to move to another, unknown place 2 years ago. During that time neighbours describe Shimon as a totally anti-social and strange person, who never liked to talk much to any of them. They often listened to him singing "Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun" at his home karaoke machine. When he had to move out, they asked him where he's going, but he didn't answer. The article also reveals that although Taiyaki-kun is the top seller of Japanese music history ever, Shimon had to pay enormous taxes for that song, and eventually received only about 40 000 yen. The article also reminds us that Shimon presumably retired from singing and public appearance because of an "I-don't-like-people" policy. So, no, I don't believe he'd ever return. And better not, Shimon is a legend just the way it is now.

[tenshi_a]

Good luck on your exams, AkanegasakiSora ^_^

Momoi Halko's Akahabarhapsody sounds like a cross between Shimon and Ohsugi Kumiko to me, too... it's very strange! It's my favourite song on that CD, too! I haven't heard her singing enka yet... the thought scares me slightly...!

I spent last night trying to convert one of my old anime records (http://tenshi-a.blogspot.com/2007/05/horie-mitsuko-hana-no-uranai.html) to mp3s last night... a 7" single of Hana no Ko Lun Lun insert songs. It didn't really work out... I need to improve at this...

I just happened to find a copy of the Kamen Rider Song Collection (http://tenshi-a.blogspot.com/2007/05/kamen-rider-masked-rider-song.html) in a shop yesterday. It's got 7 Shimon songs on it, and on two of them he's under a different name!

He does seem very elusive; there doesn't seem to be much information around about him, and hardly any photos of him. Plus he's recorded under so many different names! At first I suspected that it's because he was tied in with various recording contracts, as he's recorded songs for so many companies (unlike, say Horie Mitsuko only releasing records under Columbia), but it could be for all sorts of reasons... it makes it hard for me to try and track down his songs...!

The poor guy, having the biggest selling record ever, and not getting much money for it, but instead getting a load of completely unwanted fame, and having all these gossipy neighbours who think he's strange...! I wouldn't want to talk to neighbours like that either...!

Thanks for the heads-up on the Ishihara Shinichi Song Best (http://columbia.jp/prod-info/COCX-34289/) album; I might try and find myself a copy of that. I hadn't heard anything about it until now. It's hard to keep up with these things... especially if you can't really read Japanese (like me).

[Tomoe]

Micchi has released songs for other companies, too. Just that most of her stuff is produced by Columbia.
Much to my dismay, I found that Ishihara's new song is a cover of the famous Y.M.C.A.. Check a sample here:
http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCE-34141
There's really something about Ishihara specializing in gay songs. :D :D :D

[tenshi_a]

Ah, there was a cover of YMCA with those same lyrics on one of the recent Taiko No Tatsujin games... I didn't know it had been a hit song in Japan.

I think Ishihara Shinichi got to sing a lot of stuff for yaoi shows because his voice is so masculine, and yet beautiful, and is likely to make yaoi fan girls go *_*

That cover of YMCA doesn't seem to be either masculine or beautiful, though. :unsure:

That CD has 4 Koorogi '73 tracks on it, all taiko drums? I thought they were a group of male singers, and the group broke up years ago...?

[Tomoe]

AhThat cover of YMCA doesn't seem to be either masculine or beautiful, though. :unsure:


Because that's an Undou CD. It's used for your morning body-stretching purpose, not for any other kind of excitement. :D :D

[AkanegasakiSora]

Ishihara is still there, often taking part in the Anison concerts. He even released his Best album today, just like Akira Kushida and Ken Narita. In August, he'll participate in Super Hero Spirits, I hope I'll be there as well. Besides, he did the CM song for Gekiranger (not released though). The problem with Ishihara is that, just like our beloved Gao the Beast (Yukio Yamagata), he's more a stage actor than a singer. So he's quite busy with various stage plays, musicals, etc. But he hasn't retired at all, no way. :)
It's good if he's still recording new songs. ^__^

That CD has 4 Koorogi '73 tracks on it, all taiko drums? I thought they were a group of male singers, and the group broke up years ago...?
Don't assume those are all new songs. Those four tracks are from 1985 (http://krg73.sarm.net/sb.cgi?eid=374#sequel) as far as I can tell. There's another Koorogi'73 track on the second CD (http://columbia.jp/ide/sakuhin.html) in that series that appears to be from 1987 (http://krg73.sarm.net/sb.cgi?eid=25#sequel) as well.

...unlike, say Horie Mitsuko only releasing records under Columbia...
I know that Micchi has recorded quite a few songs where she is there 'courtesy of Columbia Music Entertainment/Nippon Columbia' so not released under them but with permission from them or something like that...

[tenshi_a]

Don't assume those are all new songs. Those four tracks are from 1985 (http://krg73.sarm.net/sb.cgi?eid=374#sequel) as far as I can tell. There's another Koorogi'73 track on the second CD (http://columbia.jp/ide/sakuhin.html) in that series that appears to be from 1987 (http://krg73.sarm.net/sb.cgi?eid=25#sequel) as well.
Oh! Fair enough. I didn't know they recorded taiko drum tracks like this... it's new to me...

I still haven't listened to my Koorogi '73 7" single yet. I gave up on the vinyl-to-MP3 project of mine for the evening because my computer didn't seem to be able to pick up anything on line-in. Grr.

It's got a cartoon panda on the front and is clearly a "sample" record, and was from a TV CM. There's a tiny little black and white picture of them, on the lyrics sheet, too! ^_^

I know that Micchi has recorded quite a few songs where she is there 'courtesy of Columbia Music Entertainment/Nippon Columbia' so not released under them but with permission from them or something like that...

My guess is that there's some payment involved in getting her from Columbia, what I was thinking was that Shimon was avoiding that by recording under various different names. I'd have to look at which songs were recorded under which label under which name to find out if this theory could be true... it could be another reason... like he didn't want too many hits under the identity of Masato Shimon, to limit his fame, or something like that...

[Tomoe]

Shimon just doesn't like to be famous, he never liked that. It's not easy to be the singer of the best selling song ever, you know. I bet younger dudes like Gackt, Yamapi and Kumi Koda would do everything to be in his place, but there's no chance for them (luckily).

[tenshi_a]

Also, were the Geppy-X songs ever released on CD and do the songs (apart from the opening/ending themes) have names? All I know is who the artists are, not the song titles.
I know Tomoe already said yes he has a copy, but I decided to look up the actual CD today, and found an entry on Japanese wikipedia (http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/70%E5%B9%B4%E4%BB%A3%E9%A2%A8%E3%83%AD%E 3%83%9C%E3%83%83%E3%83%88%E3%82%A2%E3%83 %8B%E3%83%A1_%E3%82%B2%E3%83%83P-X), listing the songs and who sings them, and I think it says something about there being a CD album release by Toshiba EMI on 1999-03-25, but it doesn't give a catalogue number for me to try and track down the CD with. Not that I expect it would be possible for me to find that CD...

I notice that the game itself was 4 discs long and currently retails for about £40 2nd-hand on ebay... quite a lot for an old game for PS1!

EDIT: ooh, I found it. It's an album called "Geppy-X no uta" (ゲッP-Xのうた), the catalogue number is TOCT-24088 and it is currently 13500yen for a *used* copy of the CD on Amazon JP (http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B000064UJZ/). Wow, that's a lot of money for one 2nd hand CD... -_-;

[Tomoe]

Some new videos! Here's a video report of the big SRS concert in Hong Kong:
http://jptime.tv/070527sr/main_page/main_jp.html
MIQ speaking in English while Mizuki trying to speak in Chinese, that's a highlight. :D
Still early, but already some video clip from NHK's Anime Shudaika Daizenshuu (which was on air last week) appeared in YouTube:
At the beginning, songs of Mizuki, Maekawa and Micchi (Maekawa dancing with the girls was superb!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEHtLspZOkg
Azumi Inoue's "Kimi o Nosete" (from Laputa): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-WUiikGJmE
Kage-chan covering Lupin III: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WjV1YAOytA
And Miho-sama's "Blue Water" (from Nadia): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUxpnq3S_D0
It was really a great concert, too bad I couldn't watch it last week, but at least I was there for the recording. :P I hope they upload more videos soon.

[Tomoe]

More clips from NHK's concert!:
Yui Makino's "Amurita" (from Tsubasa Chronicle movie): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXc3tdcEUlE
Charlie Kosei's "Lupin III Sono 2": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG2PbqTWf7k
Mami Ayukawa and Tomohiza Kawazoe (Gundam Z and Gundam V OPs): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26s4PqHHVQA (Ayukawa is sexy!)
Tetsujin 28 by Duke Aces (original singers): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1cx19W-b2Y
Mayumi Gojo's Pretty Cure OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1IjK0huzDQ
Yoko Takahashi's Evangelion OP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uy-aMicA_t4
Aniki's "Captain Harlock": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qqts2qWGig
Wow, those evil Japanese don't put proper tags to the clips, it's absurdly hard to find them.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

Man, rocking out Daikengo style in HONG KONG? WITH CANTONESE SUBTITLES? Best video I ever seen, I wish they had a more HIGH QUALITY version so I could read the Canto subs better.

BTW Tomoe is my hero.

[tenshi_a]

Oh, there's so much to watch and listen to! ^_^

Thank you, Tomoe!! (*^__^*)

Is this video of the Totoro (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkng1JOmTeE) song from the same show?

Prons: If you want to watch that a little bigger, so you can actually see the subs -_-; you can download the file to watch in your favourite media player program using this link (http://jptime.tv/070527sr/navi/weekly/01.wmv). It's quite a large file, 70MB, so I'm still waiting for it, but I'm sure it's the video embedded into the page!

I just found a video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yS8IgwXv84) of Mizuki Ichirou singing a medley of Babel II, Barom One, Robocon, Samurai Giants and Mazinger Z.... and he gets the lyrics to Mazinger Z wrong!! I feel embarrassed for him. He ought to know that song by now!

[Tomoe]

Lots of new videos from NHK's concert at the video library of this user:
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=sangan222
Some highlights are:
- Mitsuko Horie's new song "Kaze no Shoujo Emily", which was an awesome performance, even though she was ill at the time of the concert recording;
- Ado Mizumori's adorable performance of Dr. Slump's OP "Wai Wai World". Ado Mizumori is nearly 70-years-old!!!;
- Yumi Kimura singing the theme from Ghibli's "Sen to Chihiro". That was beautiful;
There's also the controversial cover of Macross by Kitadani, which all Japanese hated, but I found surprisingly good.
The same user also has plenty of videos from this year's JAM Project tour, as well as videos from Masaaki Endou's private live.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

Everyoen in Japan singing the Doraemon op wins

[tenshi_a]

Yay! Thanks for the link! More of the artists I was waiting for have arrived ^_^

I'm all :wub: :wub: :wub: at the Ginga Tetsudo 999 song... Sasaki Isao has a somewhat surprised look on his face as his own voice joins in and starts singing (what happened there? Is that the backing track?)

- Mitsuko Horie's new song "Kaze no Shoujo Emily", which was an awesome performance, even though she was ill at the time of the concert recording;
She sounds about as perfect as ever, to me... I wouldn't have known she was ill at all if you hadn't mentioned it.

- Ado Mizumori's adorable performance of Dr. Slump's OP "Wai Wai World". Ado Mizumori is nearly 70-years-old!!!;
Really? She's very good at pretending to be about 10% of her real age! N'cha! Yaho~!

There's also the controversial cover of Macross by Kitadani, which all Japanese hated, but I found surprisingly good.
He's too out-of-time and misses too many notes, for me. I'd have liked to hear someone with a really deep voice like Sasaki Isao cover it... or maybe Kushida Akira... I think if he'd traded the Gatchaman song for Macross, it would have worked better.

Kitadani Hiroshi was just fantastic singing One Piece, as always, though.

Is there much missing from the concert of the videos online, now? Those identical twins singing their Anpanman song? I'm not sure what else just by looking at who's running away before and after each clip... I see all the men leaving the stage before Sazae-san, I wonder what they were singing...

I love the group version of the Chibi-Maruko-chan song too!

[Tomoe]

Yes, there are lots of videos still missing. I'd want someone to upload Mami Ayukawa's cover of "Little Princess Sara" which was more than brilliant. And Yukihide Takekawa with "Captain Future"! We listened to that song 3 times, as there were problems and mistakes with the recording. ^o^
Dreaming's Anpanman was the song which opened the show.
Before Sazae-san the men performed Eightman.
There were also rare combos, like Micchi and Kageyama singing "Midori no Hidamari", and Aniki and Isao Sasaki covering Devilman together. Maekawa and Kushida also had a song together. :)

[tenshi_a]

I didn't recognise the title "Little Princess Sara", so I just looked it up. It's a beautiful song, I look forward to hearing the cover... I hope people continue to post clips... :)

I also thought it's strange to have someone called Yukihide covering a song originally by Yuki Hide -_-; I didn't recognise Yukihide Takekawa's name at first; I only know him as the lead singer of Godiego... Monkey Magic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iUMWy4hqAg) was probably the first anison I ever heard, since they broadcast it on the dub version of the show here in England and it was a hit record in the charts. It's one of my all-time favourites ^_^

I just found a very old video of Godiego doing the theme to the Galaxy Express 999 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hn0kjNnUBs) film. Yay! (I'm still in a 999 kind of mood)

So many great performances on youtube... (oh, I should be concentrating on my work here...)

[Tomoe]

Both Yukihide Takekawa and late Yuuki Hide are the original singers of Captain Future's OP. It's the same song, just that it has two versions, both used in the anime.
I also hope they'll upload Miho Morikawa's cover of Utena OP. All Japanese say that she was much better than original singer Masami Okui, and I completely agree.

[Tomoe]

Veteran composer Kentarou Haneda died last week at the age of 58. Among his many works are songs for Macross (the famous OP), Baldios, Abaranger, 3x3 Eyes, Takarajima, etc.
Not funny though, but most Japanese were so pissed off with Kitadani's cover of Macross, that you never know.....

[tenshi_a]

CD Japan have just sent me an email telling me about an upcoming Anipara Ongakuen (http://www.kids-station.com/minisite/anion/) DVD coming out on 2007/08/22: Anipara Ongakuken Extreme Live (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=AVBA-26402). Catalogue number: AVBA-26402.

The description it has is:

Concert DVD release from Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endo, Psychic Lover, and Tomoe Oumi featuring tons of guest performances for a number of your favorite anime songs. Also includes guest appearances by Hiroshi Kitadani, Sakura Nogawa, Clover, and more!

I think it's this concert from last year (http://www.kids-station.com/minisite/anion/backstage/)?

EDIT: If it's last year's, it might be the exact same show that there are already a bunch of videos from on youtube (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=%E3%82%A2%E3%83%8B% E3%81%B1%E3%82%89%E9%9F%B3%E6%A5%BD%E9%A 4%A8+extreme+2006&search=)... Probably? If so, there's not too much worth watching in there... though I'm quite enjoying this Yoffy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hwf6mywiU4) (Psychic Lover) sentai songs clip I just found... none of the Extreme Live 2006 clips seem nearly as good as the quality of the tv studio clips that are also available there...

EDIT 2:

I took a look at the videos from one of the kind people providing the NHK anison live show... who's singing this version of Sougen no Marco (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go-A90X7glg) (OP of "Haha o Tazunete Sanzeri", or "3000 leagues in search of mother")?

[Tomoe]

Azumi Inoue covered Sougen no Marco. :)

[Tomoe]

Sorry for short reply last time, I was busy.
Well, I don't really follow Anipara Ongakukan shows, probably because Kageyama invites mainly the new Lantis stars for guests, and I'm not a big fan of any of them. I now see that they're making a special Kage show for his 30th Anniversary, and have opened a public poll "Which is Kage's best song?". I have no idea why is that, it's more than obvious "Cha La Head Cha La" will get the first place. Not that it's the best Kageyama song, but it's the most popular one.
Meanwhile I went to two private concerts this week:
1. Eizou Sakamoto's acoustic "Showa Handsome Man" where he played and sang old-time J-pop hits. He's surprisingly versatile, doing his best for hard-rock style, Anison style and now for acoustic singing. :)
2. Yumi Matsuzawa and Voix Douces' Anicapella project, which is anime songs done in acapella style. There are already about 3 such albums released, with more to come. I should mention that Yumi Matsuzawa's version of Macross' "Ai Oboete Imasu ka" is much better than Mari Iijima's.
Also, it's the Anison Grand Prix now. A jury of Mizuki, Horie and Matsuzawa are going to several cities all over Japan to look for new singers. The winner of the contest will become a full-fledged Anison singer starting from next year. :)
I'm also expecting the release of Mizuki and Horie's new duet from "Happy! Lucky! Bikkuriman", which is a parody of their robot hit "Magnerobo Gakeen".

[GreatNekoKoneko]

I should mention that Yumi Matsuzawa's version of Macross' "Ai Oboete Imasu ka" is much better than Mari Iijima's.


...Mari Iijima never did do the song justice. heck, even Mikuni Shimokawa can do a better job.

<please don't kill me Minmay fans.>

[Tomoe]

New videos from NHK's concert!
First, "Midori no Hidamari", by Mitsuko Horie, Kageyama and Kitadani. That's the song Kageyama wanted to decline at the beginning. No wonder, just look at the dance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GHiE0lnD3Y
Mitsuko Horie's "Himitsu no Akko-chan": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r24ZnRLdCeM
Ichiro Mizuki's "Combattler V": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMdSo2TYaYI
And finally, my favorite one - Mami Ayukawa's beautiful cover of "Hana no Sasayaki", OP to "Little Princess Sara": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HO44HO_Q2Ng
:)

[tenshi_a]

Thanks for the links, Tomoe!

I got more advertising emails in my inbox while I was away last week, advertising a new Horie Mitsuko CD - "Choshin Neiga Utakko Zenshu". On 27th June, the day the CD was released.

The only videos with music I could find on youtube have this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKxGSfC4KCU
which sounds like Mizuki Ichirou to me...

I'm not sure if it's a TV hero show or stage hero show or both...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc87jITrPj4

^-- that video has an amusing bit at the end where a monster gets up on stage with a guitar and starts to sing "Mach Baron (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz_oWWclHeA)" really badly... -_-;

[Tomoe]

Hey, I didn't know about this Neiger song, thanks! Mizuki performed several songs for Neiger last year.
Micchi is also releasing a Chou Ninjatai Inazuma song, and also a duet with Mizuki from "Happy! Lucky! Bikkuriman" which will be a parody of their robot hit "Magnerobo Gakeen". Both albums are expected in a few days. :)
And Kageyama. "30years3ounce", what a fantastic name for his new solo album (30 years of singing gathered into a 3-ounce CD). I can't wait!~~

[Tomoe]

Great news!! MIQ goes sentai! She recorded a new song for Gekiranger, which should be called "Super Gekiranger", praising Gekiranger's new power level. :)

[tenshi_a]

Theres a new Crystal King single (http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SPRD-1020) coming out... it's called "Kurukuru Kurikuri" and is the theme to a Nintendo DS game called Kurikin Nano Island Story (http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/a2kj/index.html)... (is there any more interesting info in the details there?)

[Tomoe]

This is a nice play of words, Crystal King is usually called "kurikin" for short in Japanese. I guess it will be a Moush Yoshizaki song after all. They have announced Crystal King to participate at next month's SAS concert too, but that only means Moush.
A little correction: MIQ's Gekiranger song will be called "Kagekki".
Meanwhile I'm wondering whether to apply for audience for the Animax special event on August 1. It will be an open recording of the special 24-hour Anison Best 500 show, as well as decisive battle for the Anison Grand Prix tournament, and a little concert of Mizuki, Horie and Matsuzawa... Oh, well, that sounds good, no matter it'll be 6 hours of recording, I'll apply. :D

[tenshi_a]

Yes! You should probably apply for that one! ^_^

BTW those 1000-song 24 hour concerts... can you explain those? It says on Aniki's website that he performed the first 1000-song concert lasting 24 hours, but it says in one event report on anisoncentral that it became a yearly event and they've never actually made it to 1000 songs... so... perhaps... is it a mistranslation on Aniki's site and he did a 24-hour concert ending with "Golden Rule" as the 1000th song he's recorded in his career...? Is that it?

BTW I also got an advert today for an upcoming Endoh Masaaki album: Anison Greatest Hits (http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-13-71-mb-49-en-70-23rb.html), it comes out next month and I don't know what's going to be on it. Lots of cover versions, I guess.

I was also surprised to find out that the 5th JAM Project greatest hits album "Big Bang" came out on 2007-07-04 and I was completely unaware of it. There's not much on there that interests me, anyway, not these days...

[Tomoe]

That's totally wrong, about Mizuki's concert. There are plenty of Japanese reports on this one, and I have some videos from it. It really was 24-hour-long (from 8pm on 30 August 1999 till 8pm on 31 August), and he did sing all 1000 songs (though only TV size/1 chorus). During the rests he had, his friends came on stage to sing - Micchi, Kageyama, MIQ, ApplePie, etc. Besides, Micchi and Kageyama were back singers all the time. The 1000th song was "Ore wa Great Mazinger" and then suddenly he began singing again the first song, "Mazinger Z", so it was actually a concert of 1001 songs.
It didn't become an annual event. Although there are some TV or radio shows every year which have special "24-hour Anison" corners (but these are not live concerts).
I thought this Endou album will be something like a Best, but now it really seems it will consist of covers. No wonder, recently he's doing many covers during his radio show, he finally came to release them.

[Tomoe]

Well, I checked and this new Endou album is a Best after all. No new songs.
However, he's releasing a song for the popular manga (and/or anime?) "Hayate no Gotoku".

[tenshi_a]

This is a bit of a random link, but you might like it...

Fuji Safari Park CM - Kushida Akira
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkr52cZoY_U

Ever wanted to see him sing it live? You can in that clip. ^_^

[tenshi_a]

The new Taiko No Tatsujin (http://namco-ch.net/taiko_nds/index.php) game is out for Nintendo DS. It contains cover versions of:

* Touch - 1st OP theme from "Touch" ^_^
* Together - Pocket Monster Diamond Pearl Opening Theme
* Gekiranger OP theme ^_^
* Smile go go - Yes! Precure 5 OP theme
* Doraemon no uta (1st OP - the Oosugi Kumiko song) ^_^
* Meitantei Conan Main Theme
* Anpanman no theme

I seem to vaguely remember... the guy who sings the Gekiranger OP is the guy who sang the Taiko No Tatsujin song "Donranger"? So they might have got the original guy to sing his own song. It sounds like him.

There's a wiki entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiko_no_Tatsujin_DS) with more of the tracklisting, but it's inconsistent as to whether to list the Japanese name or not, and there's no "Arkanoid Medley", it's a "Namcot Medley" - tunes from their early-1980s games.

[tenshi_a]

I heard that the seiyuu Ogata Megumi (http://www.emou.net/) (M.O. / em:ou) will be releasing an album of anime cover versions, called Animegu (http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=LHCA-5080).

Release Date: 2007/10/03
Catalogue No: LHCA-5080

I can't find a tracklisting yet, though. It's a 15th year anniversary (of her debut as a seiyuu) album, so it might be covers of her own songs...?

[Tomoe]

That's great, I collect some Ogata songs! She has released covers before too, she's got a great version of Rose of Versailles OP. I'll be expecting that new album. :)
Here is a report now:
Yesterday I went to Zepp Tokyo to be audience for the recording of a major Animax event called "24 hours of Anison". Animax is a satellite TV channel which broadcasts anime only, and next month they'll have a special program about Anison. It will have several corners, which were recorded yesterday: presentation of Anison Top 500 chart, final competition of the national Anison contest for new singers, and some live performances by singers. The entire show in Zepp lasted 7 hours (!!!) non-stop. Here's an overview: http://www.animax.co.jp/anison_500/
The hosts of the ranking chart were some lady and TM Revolution himself, who was the main reason for the audience to be mostly frantic girls. The ranking itself was based on online voting of 10 million (!) people (I voted too, some weeks ago). During the recording yesterday they presented the top 50 songs of all 500. As for the contest battle, it was done by different hosts, who first presented the jury: Ichiro Mizuki (chairman), Mitsuko Horie, Hironobu Kageyama (he was a surprise jury, not announced beforehead), Yumi Matsuzawa, and 5-6 other major producers, composers, songwriters, etc. There was also Takuya (from former band Judy and Mary) in the jury, who was said to be future producer of the winner (Takuya was either in bad mood, or just didn't like everything; he had awful attitude towards everyone and criticized whoever he could). During the last month, those same jury members took part in 5 local parts of the national contest (in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Nagoya and Fukuoka), and 3 winners from each local competition advanced to the final battle in Zepp yesterday. The stake is becoming an Anison singer from next year and having an OP in some anime. There were 2 rounds: upbeat song and slow song, so everyone had to perform 2 songs, while the judges were giving up to 10 points each. Most of the participants were real amateurs, with either weak voices or no stage presence. There were also 3 little girls (from 8 to 10 years) which the jury especially liked and gave high points to, so I expected some of them to win. However, the local winners from Osaka battle were really outstanding: a girl called Mai who's a vocalist of some unknown local rock band, she had deep and powerful voice and amazing dance, I don't remember her first song, but the ballad was Nana's ED; and a guy named Shuuhei Kita, who sang from all his heart, his first song was a great cover of "Ai o Torimodose!" and the second was a beautifully done "Yume Kounen" (it was very risky to perform a song of a jury's member, but Kageyama was really impressed and commented very positively). I hoped some of these two would be the winner, however they didn't announce the points from the second round, so until the end we had no idea who might win. Besides, there were rumours among Japanese that one of the girls called Bambi was the lover of a famous celebrity and her victory has been already bought (yes, she did score high in the first round). Finally Mizuki came with the envelope and read the name of the new Anison singer... Shuuhei Kita! I was very happy, this was exactly the guy who had to win. Here's a pic of him on this page, the guy from Osaka:
http://www.animax.co.jp/audition_z/audition_03.php
Mizuki commented that it's not only about having a voice, nor only about pronouncing lyrics correctly (something that Horie and Mizuki were very strict about and criticized), it's also about having a character, and Shuuhei had such character. Takuya, his future producer, gave him the award with great displeasure and commented they'll work "this summer only". :(
However, the ranking was a gross disappointment for me. The only good part was that during the chart presentations, they had singers to sing live (followed by interviews). Most were some J-pop bands (High and Mighty Color, Ikimonogakari) because lots of songs in the chart were from recent anime and especially from Gundam Seed series. Of course, there were live performances by Matsuzawa, Horie, Mizuki and Kageyama who did their most famous songs that managed to enter the ranking. Special surprise were Ghibli singers: Azumi Inoue (Totoro, Laputa), the girl who did "Country Road" in "Whisper of the Heart", and Yumi Kimura with her harp ("Spirited Away" theme). I couldn't believe some song positions, like 31st place for Yamato, which is usually 1st or 2nd in other similar charts; "Candy Candy", "Touch" and "Odoru Ponpokorin" were not even in Top 10. Mazinger Z was 4th or 5th. From then on, the ranking was either corrupted or a complete lie in favor of TM Revolution, the "beloved" host of the night. Third place for one of his Gundam Seed songs, then second place for "Cha La Head Cha La" (uplifting performance by Kage). Right before announcing the winning 1st place, I said "Ok, we all know it, it's Lupin III, it's always Lupin III". That most famous Anison tune hadn't appeared in the ranking yet, so everyone expected it. Even I voted for it. And the first place for... TM Revolution's OP to Gundam Seed!!! X_X The girls screamed frantically, while I couldn't believe this was happening. I still refuse to believe that Lupin III is not in Top 50, and some crappy J-rock wins. The entire event ended with a special live of the beloved host, who I couldn't stand anymore after 7 hours, and just left right when he was undressing before the fainting girls. Corruption!
Next week is Kageyama's 30th Anniversary live. Time for some real pleasure. :)

[tenshi_a]

Maybe what happened is that all the TM Revolution fans, who would not normally be interested in an anison event, decided to get involved and all ganged together (and got their friends / families) to vote for the same song.

I gather that that Gundam Seed song is a karaoke favourite. Probably because you only need to sing about 3 notes for the entire song. -_-;

Get it while it's hot: a really old clip of Sasaki Isao singing Uchuu Senkan Yamato (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=affcDxEFeIc). Which I would have voted for above Lupin III any day.

Oh and... if you find a tracklisting of that upcoming Ogata Megumi album, let me know. My favourite anime song cover version of hers, that I've heard, is her version of "Runner" - the Macross end theme. :wub:

[Tomoe]

You're right, the voting system was far from perfect, and Japanese fans themselves are not happy with it. You could vote as many times as you want, and for many songs. That's why they announced 10 million votes, it's hardly possible for so many people to have voted, probably every TM Revolution fan voted at least 10 times. :(
Yeah, I knew about this Sasaki clip. No change in his voice. ;)

[tenshi_a]

And that clip must be about 30 years old, or something...

Is there a tracklisting for the Endoh Masaaki album anywhere yet? I want to see if there's anything new on it.

On youtube, aside from all the Anipara Ongakuken clips and M.e. Live clips, I noticed this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v4Wo12Ifwk). He's just singing karaoke on the radio! ^_^;;

1. Hagane No Messiah (Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden)
2. Yuusha Ou Tanjou (GaoGaiGar)
3. Gou Kami! God Gravion (Gravion)
4. SAGA (Shin Getter Robo Image song) (Getter Robo: Armageddon OAV)
5. Tobe! Gundam (Gundam 0079)
6. HEATS (Change!! Shin Getter Robo)

He messes up a few times, but... ah, he does that a lot...

[Tomoe]

Today, in his online diary, Endou announced that his anticipated Best Album by Columbia will not be released. Reasons are unknown. He hopes that some day he'll release such album for his fans.

[tenshi_a]

News spreads fast; I just googled for the album by catalogue number COCX-34454 and pretty much all the online retailers have deleted the album.

I found some scans of old newspaper clippings of Masato Shimon, and have put them here (www.tenshi.org.uk/images/shimon.zip) if you want a look.

I don't know if the scans are clear enough for you to read the text properly, though. If you're interested, can make out what they say, and have time to write it up, please let me know what the articles say.

(there are some album cover scans and Oyoge! Taiyaki-kun sheet music in there, too)

[tenshi_a]

I noticed on a website that I think is advertising Sammy's new Hokuto No Ken pachislot machines, that they seem to have some kind of Ai wo torimodose singing contest: You wa shock! (http://hokuto2.jp/championship/index.html).

The people singing in the clips are pretty awful. Painfully bad. I think that's to make people think "hey, I could do better than that" and enter. But it could be that those are the best they have so far. -_-;

There's a little karaoke flash movie and you're supposed to sing along and video yourself, and send the clip in...

It's pretty bad. All the same, it's kind of nice to see this song being kept alive as a fan-favourite, and good to see the song as still being used as one of the most popular things about the show.

[Tomoe]

Luckily, there's an original video of old-time Crystal King singing "Ai o Torimodose" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-MtTtETabE
Just like Takuya said during the Animax contest, this song is too difficult and normally you can't sing it.
Thanks for the Shimon articles, though I can't read them well. If you have some better pic resolutions, that'd help. I can translate or give a general idea of what they're about. ;)

[tenshi_a]

:wub: ah! Crystal King! Singing it together, live! I've never seen that! :wub:

Thank you for pointing this video out!

This is how you're supposed to sing it! [points at video, for all karaoke singers]

I've got a Konami Anime Song Karaoke game for PS2 and I think it rates Ai o Torimodose as the hardest song on it. I usually score about 66/100 on it (but 17/100 for singing Mazinger Z)... -_-;

(I think the game must be broken... I'm sure I don't sing Mazinger Z that badly...)

Those pics are all I have of those articles, I'm afraid. Someone was selling their collection of Shimon newspaper clippings on yahoo auctions, and I just grabbed the sample images. ^_^

It's sometimes fun browsing yahoo auctions just to see what's there even though I can't buy anything there (well, not without signing up to some intermediary service). It's kind of a research ground for me.

[Tomoe]

Speaking of this song, do you have the "Ai o Torimodose Special Edition" CD+DVD (released last year):
http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=TMEC-30001
because there are new self-covers of Ai o Torimodose and Yura...towa ni, but not by Moush. The self-covers are by Tanaka himself! I'd love to hear those.

[Soluzar]

I've got a Konami Anime Song Karaoke game for PS2 and I think it rates Ai o Torimodose as the hardest song on it. I usually score about 66/100 on it (but 17/100 for singing Mazinger Z)... -_-;

(I think the game must be broken... I'm sure I don't sing Mazinger Z that badly...)
Your voice isn't nearly deep enough for that song, perhaps it bases your score partly on that? I'd assume your relatively high score in Ai o Torimodose is because your range is better suited to the high parts of that song.

[tenshi_a]

Speaking of this song, do you have the "Ai o Torimodose Special Edition" CD+DVD (released last year):
http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=TMEC-30001
because there are new self-covers of Ai o Torimodose and Yura...towa ni, but not by Moush. The self-covers are by Tanaka himself! I'd love to hear those.

No, I didn't know he'd released that; I only knew of Moush's covers. Is he really still good enough to sing these songs properly?

Your voice isn't nearly deep enough for that song, perhaps it bases your score partly on that? I'd assume your relatively high score in Ai o Torimodose is because your range is better suited to the high parts of that song.

I'm not sure. I think that's partly it, but not all. It just registers *no marks at all* for certain lines in the song; I don't know what it's expecting, but it's not any version of the song I recognise. Maybe the original TV version was wildly different from the version they released as a record?

The interface to the game isn't very good; it just has a point score running throughout to tell you how well (badly) you're doing, it's not like the SingStar games that show you what notes they're expecting you to sing as it goes along.

I don't know how to score points shouting "Seven! Seven! Seven!" in the Ultraseven song, either... -_-;

I should pick up the game and let you try it out sometime.... well, if you want. I might force you to try and sing Moonlight Densetsu, though. :P

[Tomoe]

Wikipedia says Tanaka's self-cover had a lowered tone, so that it could apply to his voice. I definitely prefer *him* to sing that song, than Moush Yoshizaki. Oh, well, better both of them together, but that's not gonna happen... :(

[Soluzar]

The interface to the game isn't very good; it just has a point score running throughout to tell you how well (badly) you're doing, it's not like the SingStar games that show you what notes they're expecting you to sing as it goes along.
*fantasizes*

Mmm, Singstar: Anison Edition! DO WANT.

I don't know how to score points shouting "Seven! Seven! Seven!" in the Ultraseven song, either... -_-;

I should pick up the game and let you try it out sometime.... well, if you want. I might force you to try and sing Moonlight Densetsu, though. :P
Honestly I've been planning to try it out since the last time you mentioned it. I'd be terrible at Moonlight Densetsu, but at least since I've been watching the series uncut lately I know some of the lyrics from the OP.

[GreatNekoKoneko]

*fantasizes*

Mmm, Singstar: Anison Edition! DO WANT.




...ME WANT. badly. and on other matters, you should really try just singing, but look out for the melody and the pitch. its better to start low then gradually raise your pitch.

especially if you're singing KOTOKO. ugh.

[tenshi_a]

Wikipedia says Tanaka's self-cover had a lowered tone, so that it could apply to his voice. I definitely prefer *him* to sing that song, than Moush Yoshizaki. Oh, well, better both of them together, but that's not gonna happen... :(

It's always best as a duet, in my view. I liked the Kage-chan / Kushi duet live version from that NHK concert the other year much better than any of the solo versions. It didn't ever seem there was a "high voice" and "low voice" with that pair, though.

I placed an order for this cd/dvd combo out of curiosity; I want to see how this sounds. It'll probably be a month before I get it, though.

Tanaka Masayuki was always the stand-out singer in Crystal King, I think. Moush is good, but he doesn't make me stop and say "oh my god! this man is not human!".

I don't know what made his voice degrade. I heard in one place it was due to an accident, I heard from another place it was illness, I heard from another place it was chain-smoking. Whatever happened, it's a great loss.

I still want to hear this version, though.

Re: karaoke
The tracklisting (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_songs_in_the_Karaoke_Revolution_ series#Karaoke_Revolution_Anime_Song_Sel ection) for the Konami anime songs karaoke game I have is pretty good. Loads of classics in there, even the #1 anime song of all time "Invoke" from TM Revolution. Oops, I meant "Uchuu Senkan Yamato" by Sasaki Isao. Yes. ^_^

(reads wikipedia entry) Since when was "Hyokkori hyoutanjima" from Cutey Honey, not from Hyokkori Hyoutanjima? -_-;

It's all like midi files so you can transpose the song up and down tones to suit your singing, not that it ever really helped me...

Soluzar: If you don't want to sing "Moonlight Densetsu", you can always try "Attack no.1". That's always strangely cute to hear you sing. ^_^

I wish there were some MIO songs in the karaoke selection. I want to sing "Time for L-GAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII M!" even though it's impossible. ^_^

[Tomoe]

The reason behind Tanaka's voice loss is complicated, but it's not a secret, because I've read about it on many Japanese sites including one newspaper article. During a baseball game with friends, Tanaka gets hit by a ball straight in his throat (you can imagine how fast such a ball flies). This is not the reason for his voice loss, however, but the recovery was long and painful. During that time, Tanaka fell into some state of despair and anxiety. He even needed professional help by psychologists. Therefore, stress is believed to be the main factor for the voice loss. He also needed much persuasion so that he could return to the stage with Moush and the band, and perform "Daitokai" again. There was a video in YouTube (now deleted) which was said to be his first appearance after the accident. They did Daitokai, but Tanaka just didn't look good, and Moush was helping him, singing with him the high tones.
Anyway, reason is NOT chain smoking. MoJo, Miyauchi and Endou are chain smokers too, yet they can reach very high notes (especially Endou) and have not lost their voices at all.

[Soluzar]

If you don't want to sing "Moonlight Densetsu", you can always try "Attack no.1". That's always strangely cute to hear you sing. ^_^
That's in the game? I'm actually pretty good at that song, except there's one word that I can never seem to remember. Singing the lyrics to that particular song always amuses me... especially the bit where I have to declare my femininity.

Tanaka Masayuki was always the stand-out singer in Crystal King, I think. Moush is good, but he doesn't make me stop and say "oh my god! this man is not human!".

I don't know what made his voice degrade. I heard in one place it was due to an accident, I heard from another place it was illness, I heard from another place it was chain-smoking. Whatever happened, it's a great loss.
Agreed on all points. The man could hold a note forever, and he has an almost ridiculous range. The older the recording, the more shockingly pure his voice is. The recent recordings don't sound unbelievably bad to my ear, just no comparison to his older voice.

[tenshi_a]

During a baseball game with friends, Tanaka gets hit by a ball straight in his throat (you can imagine how fast such a ball flies).

:eek:

Well, thanks for clearing that up, I'd been wondering.

Do you know of any other big illnesses in the anison world? I heard that Miyauchi Takayuki dropped out for a few years due to illness; some form of cancer? Is he all clear now?

This is the sort of information I could never get by just listening to music...

[Tomoe]

Just wanted to say Tanaka is not the only Japanese guy with such voice. Another fav singer of mine, Tooru Suzuki, can reach the same high tones:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AlMo139CGE
It's just that his voice is not that clear, but that's the charm. :) Besides, Suzuki never lost his voice throughout the years; he had an acoustic live together with Kageyama in February, and I was surprised by his abilities.
Miyauchi suffered from pancreas cancer around 2002-2003. Being an especially emotional and vulnerable person, he had great problems and complexes with recovering. He had no courage to return back to stage, after the good outcome. Exactly then, MoJo helped him and supported him a lot; thus they became very good friends. Even know Miyauchi admits that if it wasn't MoJo, he'd never have returned to singing.
Yeah, there are tons of tidbits for all the singers. :P Some are real, some are just gossips, but all are rather interesting to know. :)

[Tomoe]

Last Sunday I went to Kageyama's 30th Anniversary live. It was a fantastic show! Anyway, during the encore ("Uchuu wa Bokura o Matteiru"), a bunch of his friends came on stage (JAM guys, Mizuki, MoJo, Anipara staff, etc), and one of them was Megumi Ogata! I was surprised to see her there. I didn't know they knew each other.

[Soluzar]

Last Sunday I went to Kageyama's 30th Anniversary live. It was a fantastic show! Anyway, during the encore ("Uchuu wa Bokura o Matteiru"), a bunch of his friends came on stage (JAM guys, Mizuki, MoJo, Anipara staff, etc), and one of them was Megumi Ogata! I was surprised to see her there. I didn't know they knew each other.
Oh wow! You realise that tenshi_a is going to be so jealous when she gets back from her vacation. I'm pretty jealous myself, actually! :P

[Tomoe]

Phew, finally 3 days of Anime Japan Fes ended... I've had too much jumping and shouting with all 3 concerts, but it was great fun. :P
Today Crystal King's Moush was a guest at Super Anison Spirits. He did the two Hokuto no Ken songs, the recently released movie versions. Must say they're much better than the original (at least for the arrange part), especially "Yuria...towa ni". Moush's voice has become better now, he almost hits the high tones of Tanaka at Ai o Torimodose.
Anyway, here's an old video of Crystal King singing "Yuria...towa ni":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XStBQN_Os1A

[tenshi_a]

Oh, it's almost painful to know what I've missed... I hope some of the Anime Japan Fes and Super Anison Spirits concerts get released on DVD or at least CD... it's the best I can do, not being there.

I'm surprised to hear Megumi Ogata appearing at Kageyama's birthday live show, too... perhaps this is somehow connected to her upcoming anime-song album... or is that a bit cynical? He sang the themes for a few things she's been in, like Kakugo No Susume and Zenki, but that was a long long time ago...

Oh and the "Yuria... towa ni" video.... :wub:

I just spent the week in a cheesy holiday camp here in England, wishing that all the old arcade machines I used to know and love were still around. So picking up that thought as I got back, I looked around and found that MoJo recorded a song for Dynamite Deka - you can see the CM here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXLXz6WDXiM). That sounds like him to me! I think I saw this game before as Die Hard Arcade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard_Arcade), but searching youtube I don't hear the song in the opening sequence or anything... do you happen to know anything about this one?

I know MoJo also sang the Segata Sanshiro (http://tenshi-a.blogspot.com/2007/05/segata-sanshiro.html) song, so maybe this was just another CM song? I wouldn't have expected to see him credited so well for a 15 second CM, though....

[Tomoe]

Yeah, I have that song, it's a short one (15 seconds). MoJo has done plenty of CM songs, he was even a surprise guest at "Kageyama and friends" all-night live on Saturday/Sunday, where he appeared as Ichiro Tomita and performed a CM songs medley.

[AkanegasakiSora]

I'm not sure. I think that's partly it, but not all. It just registers *no marks at all* for certain lines in the song; I don't know what it's expecting, but it's not any version of the song I recognise. Maybe the original TV version was wildly different from the version they released as a record?
Remember that time I said I could outscore you singing as high as I could in a silly voice =P and I scored ~36 on that song which is more than you could get singing normally? ^^ Therefore, I don't think it's down to the key, but simply down to your accuracy at hitting the notes (and also your timing depending on the mode you select). =P It's also using trying to the original full-size versions for the songs.
Changing the key can really help e.g. it really helped when I tried singing We ARE THE ONE ~Oretachi wa Hitotsu~. ^^
I don't think the scoring in that game is that bad overall. Any game that gives me the full 100 points average for Kamen Rider Agito and Cha-La Head-Cha-La and mid-high 80s for Bokura no Mazinger, Ginga Tetsudou 999 (TV) etc can't be that bad. ^^;; Though Mazinger Z doesn't seem to register much for various lines in the song I don't think it just registers 0 all the time as I thought I managed to get 15 or 20 on *some* of those lines you're talking about before. ^^;;

I don't know how to score points shouting "Seven! Seven! Seven!" in the Ultraseven song, either... -_-;
The second verse for Kamen Rider V3 and the 'ne' parts in Candy Candy are just as annoying. But, I'm still happy I once managed to score 100 on the shouting on Casshern twice in a row (and 97 on the third verse). =^^=

I should pick up the game and let you try it out sometime.... well, if you want. I might force you to try and sing Moonlight Densetsu, though. :P
I'll have to hide the game so you can't run away with it 'cause I want to hear that, too. =^^=
*Especially* Attack No.1. ^^

[tenshi_a]

oh... my brother wants to hear my boyfriend singing shoujo anime songs... how should I feel?

...perhaps I should get them to duet... :wub: :lol:

Funny how MoJo sings a CM medley live and I go hunting down one of his CM songs a few days later... what other CM songs has he sung?

[Tomoe]

The most famous one is "Ooi Hokkaido~I'm a Hokkaido man", which is a country-style song made for the Sapporo Beer CM.
There's also one for Ishimaru Denki. The rest I don't know.

[tenshi_a]

Ah well, they're probably all 15 seconds long and impossible to track down anyway.

BTW did I ever mention the Bozuman song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHJiHM1Y6bY) official video made it to youtube? It was an advertising song that a software company called Cybozu used, featuring a Sasaki Isao song. There was a little article (http://www.wired.com/software/coolapps/news/2002/08/54572) on it in English at the time, and you could download the mp3 off of the Cybozu website and read the lyrics too.

"Bozuman! Bozuman! Super Groupware!
Bozuman! Bozuman! Cybozu Office!"

Such a heroic office application. :lol:

There are also the two (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf_HAvtAWdE) Kuroneko Yamato (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0usWREf5DxY) videos on youtube, but I could never work out whether it's a complete parody or a real Kuroneko delivery service advert with Sasaki Isao singing.

Speaking of parodies... there's the Jiku no Kishi Techman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWOeQZN6jYA) song from Miyauchi Takayuki that seems to be parodying Uchuu no kishi Tekkaman (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgAbn9Dtd2o), but I don't understand...?

And I thought I'd mention, though it's amateur made, Ora Farmer Combine (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chtnwyfQG-c), which "celebrates" Dunbine's OP/ED sequences & songs. :lol:

[Tomoe]

In fact, "Ooi Hokkaido" is full version, 4:32 minute song. ;)
Wow, I didn't know about these parodies! Thanks for sharing the links. :)
Kuroneko Yamato rulez! :D I believe these are real CM clips though.
And the Combine one! :D Especially ED "Daikon Ueru", that was hilarious! :D However, the Tekkumen song of Miyauchi is not a parody of Tekkaman. Well, it might be some kind of parody, but officially it's the Ending to "Akane Maniax" game (a spin-off from "Kimi ga Nozomu Eien").
Now check a cover of "In the Mood" by Crystal King:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86KtC1W9f30

[AkanegasakiSora]

I thought you might be interested so I thought I'd post a link...

Anipara cover version - You wa Shock (Kageyama Hironobu, Endoh Masaaki, Oumi Tomoe, Psychic Lover (YOFFY and JOE)) (http://youtube.com/watch?v=9Af2bt74-X0&mode=related&search=)

[Tomoe]

Yep, thank God it's Endou to provide some necessary high tone in this cover.

[tenshi_a]

I've been listening to the OP theme (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC5hJQYmQUY) for Takarajima (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2131) a lot today, I really do love this song, but I don't know anything about the singer - Machida Yoshito.

I found his website (http://music.geocities.jp/wz_makky2007/index.html) and see that he was a member of Godiego (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godiego) (?) and sung songs for some Emeraldas (as in the Leijiverse) anime and Cyborg 009, and has a "Super Best" album out on the Columbia label...

So... can anyone read what role he had in Godiego?

[Soluzar]

Yep, thank God it's Endou to provide some necessary high tone in this cover.
Yeah... seems like he's the only one from that performance whose voice really fit the song. In fact, I was surprised by how... not special some of their voices sounded in that vid. I guess... maybe it's easier to sound great in the studio with a little help from a producer than it is in an unplugged type environment like that.

For clarification, I'm not saying anyone sounded bad.

[tenshi_a]

Animelo Summer Live 2007 - Generation-A will be coming out on DVD on 3 discs (LABM-7015), on 2007-11-28 costing 8900 yen. It's advertised as having 5 hours of footage. ^_^

According to the site I read it on, it will have the following artists:

Masami Okui
Nana Mizuki
Haruko Momoi
CY-RIM REV.
Arika Takarano
Naozumi Takahashi
Minami Kuribayashi
SUARA
Oumi Tomoe
M.O.V.E
PSYCHIC LOVER
Jyukai
ALI PROJECT
Yoko Takahashi
Aya Hirano
JAM PROJECT

(not sure why Masami Okui was listed separate from JAM Project...)

[tenshi_a]

I thought I'd bump this thread... ^_^

I found a full English-translated listing of the Animax 24 hour top 500 anime songs, from that event Tomoe attended during the summer: here (http://www.manganimation.net/bbs/p846-2007-09-01-00:33:00.html).

Ogata Megumi's new anime song cover album "Animegu" is now out, and here's a basic tracklisting:

THE GALAXY EXPRESS 999 (from the Galaxy Express 999 movie)
Get Wild (City Hunter ED theme)
Unbalance na KISSoshite (a Yu Yu Hakusho ED theme)
Yamato yori Ai wo komete (Saraba Uchuu Senkan Yamato Ai no Senshi-tachi movie ED theme)
Zankoku na tenshi no te-ze (Neon Genesis Evangelion OP theme)
Omoide ga Ippai (Miyuki ED theme)
Kyou mo dokoka de Devilman (Devilman TV ED theme) ^_^
Moonlight Densetsu (Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon OP theme)
Yuzurenai Negai (Magic Knight Rayearth OP)
Manmaru Temari Uta (Vampire Princess Miyu ED)
Ao no Requiem (SAMURAI DEEPER KYO OP)
Agape (UFO Princess Walukyure song)
Okaeri (an original song)

Moonlight Densetsu has been kind of crossed with the Macross 7 theme "7th Moon", somehow. I like it. ^_^ My favourite track is the Yamato song (I love the original too), and I find the Vampire Princess Miyu ED theme especially haunting.

Notes: Ogata Megumi has had major roles as a seiyuu in Yu Yu Hakusho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu_Yu_Hakusho) (Kurama), Evangelion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neon_Genesis_Evangelion_%28TV_series%29) (Shinji), Sailor Moon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sailor_Moon_%28anime%29) (Tenou Haruka / Sailor Uranus), Rayearth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Knight_Rayearth) (Princess Emeraude), Vampire Princess Miyu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire_Princess_Miyu)(Reiha), Samurai Deeper Kyo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Deeper_Kyo) (Sanada Yukimura), and UFO Princess Walukyure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFO_Ultramaiden_Valkyrie) (adult Walukyure). So that's probably why she chose some of those songs...

[Tomoe]

A very nice album indeed! :)
My fav somehow remains "Yuzurenai Negai", probably because Ogata imitates Naomi Tamura very well. Also the Devilman ED, for similar reasons. Though I love "Ao no Requiem" (Samurai Deeper Kyo OP), I must say that Yuiko Tsubokura (one of my fav singers) did a much better job than Ogata with this song. Overall, the album is interesting. Especially when Sailor Moon rides the Macross! :D

[Tomoe]

Oh, and it's "Miyu Yachiyo", the song from Vampire Princess Miyu, not the one you have listed. ;)

[tenshi_a]

Oops! I knew it was the Vampire Princess Miyu Ending theme, but I didn't know the title of it so I tried googling rather than translating... -_-;

[tenshi_a]

The upcoming Gekiranger song album (http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCX-34632) is going to have some great stuff on it, I bet!

Theme song colleciton for sci-fi/live action series "Juken Sentai Gekiranger" includes the complete theme songs, outro themes, add-in songs, image songs, and more on two CDs. Also includes character songs for all five gekirangers plus two villans and one new song (subject to change).

Catalogue Number: COCX-34632/3
Release Date: 2007/12/19
Number of discs: 2
Price: 3000 yen (3150 yen with tax)

If anyone comes across a tracklisting, let me know!

[tenshi_a]

Upcoming Mizuki Ichirou CD + DVD single:

Nanno Koreshiki Furoshiki Man [CD+DVD] (http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COZC-289)

Catalog No.: COZC-289
Format: CD
Number of discs (or other units): 2
Release Date: 2008/01/23
Price: 1500yen (US$ 13.40/ 1575yen Tax incl.)

Fortieth anniversary release from Ichiro Mizuki and theme song for the ecological hero series "Nanno Koreshiki Furoshikiman." Includes bonus DVD.

*Unless otherwise indicated, DVDs are region-2 encoded (Japan, Europe, and Middle East), and carry no subtitles.

[Tomoe]

Here's the Furoshikiman song, it's from "Minna no Uta" actually:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2eSe-nVl1M

[tenshi_a]

Oh wow, cool. :)

What a great hero. He's so very useful, and can even be used as a hero scarf or cape!

[AkanegasakiSora]

The upcoming Gekiranger song album (http://www.neowing.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=COCX-34632) is going to have some great stuff on it, I bet!



Catalogue Number: COCX-34632/3
Release Date: 2007/12/19
Number of discs: 2
Price: 3000 yen (3150 yen with tax)

If anyone comes across a tracklisting, let me know!
Looking at the catalogue numbers, it's finally been added to the Columbia site. The release date is now 26th December, not 19th which is when the character song collection is released, and the album title is slightly different to what neowing said it was.

Tracklisting:
http://columbia.jp/prod-info/COCX-34632-3/

Looks really good. ^^

[tenshi_a]

Yes! It does look really good! ^_^

But, delayed by a week, I definitely won't get it until next year now... :crybaby:

Also released on 2007-12-26 (and I know you know this already, AkanegasakiSora)

Lucky Star Mottake Sailor Fuku Re-Mix002 by JAM Project

Yes, they're covering the Lucky Star opening theme.

Here's a radio advertisement for it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycRigLgCnNg
(hooray for iron2000 posting that)

There's a tracklisting too:
http://www.syu-ta.com/blog/2007/12/05/062537.shtml

Sounds interesting, doesn't it? ^_^

[Tomoe]

Waaa! Can't wait for JAM's version of "Motteke! Sailor Fuku"! :)
That's the kind of catchy song that even Mizuki should have a cover of. :D

[tenshi_a]

There's a [poor quality] version of the JAM Project Lucky Star OP up on youtube if you want to hear it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyH1jHRVzdA

[tenshi_a]

I got an advertising email telling me that Masaaki Endoh is going to release an album called "Enson". The Neowing site mentions that it's going to be an album of covers of anime songs. So maybe it's that CD that was cancelled that we talked about earlier in this thread? There was no tracklisting.

Masaaki Endoh - ENSON (title subject to change)
Catalog No.: LACA-5774
Format: CD
Number of discs (or other units): 1
Release Date: 2008/06/11
Price: 2857yen (3000yen Tax incl.)
First press-only special jacket (subject to change)

[Tomoe]

Nope, the cancelled CD was a Best one.
Endou's made quite a lot of covers already, mostly on his radio show, so I expect most of them to get in that new album.

[Tomoe]

Rica Matsumoto officially announced she's leaving JAM Project. The reason is unknown, but all the other members supported her through statements in their blogs.
:(

[tenshi_a]

:O That's a surprise, she's been there since the start!

Has she said if she's going to carry on singing in a solo career, concentrate on acting, etc?

[Tomoe]

She said she's moving on. She's not ceasing her singing career for sure, only the JAM membership.

[Tomoe]

Here's the tracklist of Endou's Anison cover album that will be released in June:

1. Sousei no Aquarion (Sousei no Aquarion)
2. Ashita e no brilliant road (Uchuu no Stellvia)
3. Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite (KIdou Senshi Gundam 08MS Shoutai)
4. Muv-Luv (Muv-Luv)
5. Butter-Fly (Digimon Adventure)
6. Ai wo torimodose!! (Hokuto no Ken)
7. GO GO POWER RANGERS (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)
8. Wing of Destiny (Character Angel II Zettai Ryouiki no Tobira)
9. Kimi ga Sora datta (Mai -HIME-)
10. Kimi ga Dame (Utawareru Mono Chiri Yuku Mono e no Komori Uta)
11. In the Chaos (Character Angel)
12. Ano Kawa wo Koete (Niji no Senki Eris)
13. Mononoke Hime (Mononoke Hime)

Greatest surprise here is Mononoke Hime, I can't wait to hear that. The original is performed by Yoshikazu Mera, who is a counter-tenor singer, and there are only few such singers in the world. I know Endou's got a wide range, but I can't imagine him doing that song.

[tenshi_a]

Cool! (Shouldn't that be "Galaxy Angel" rather than "Character Angel"?)

I heard that he sang the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers song for a film before, but I've never heard it.

[Tomoe]

Yeah, it should be "Galaxy Angel", I copy/pasted that tracklist from a Brazilian site. ;)
I have his Power Rangers cover, but it's not a studio version, it's a live one. It seems he had never recorded it in studio, though he performs it here and there; like, his birthday concert last year started with that song.
I also wonder about "Ano Kawa o Koete", that's not a new cover, I have it already.