harmoe, Yui Ogura, Akatsu Saito, Rena Ueda, Kanako Takatsuki, i☆Ris - this month we focus on songs written by voice actors! Seiyu Artists Bulletin August 2021

This month's issue of "Seiyu Artists" is a series of reviews of works by voice actors released in the current month. In recent years, an increasing number of voice actors have been writing lyrics for their own songs, and the act of "writing lyrics" is like a mirror of the artist himself/herself.

Of course, it is also fascinating to accompany the music created by the collaborators as a singer and bring out their world view. At the same time, however, there are other ways to enjoy his own lyrics, such as participating in the production as a creator, expressing his taste, ideas, and experience of playing the role of a character, and sometimes oozing his clumsy yet strong feelings as a "flavor. Especially in the case of full-length albums, it is important to find a balance between the songs written by artists who know the artist well and the songs written by the artist as a whole.

The August 2021 issue of this series begins with a review of "My Pace ni Mermaid," a new song by the voice-over unit "harmoe," consisting of Yoooi Iwata and Moka Koizumi. The song was written by Suzuko Mimori, a senior voice actress and label mate who knows the girls well, and we will consider all six songs from the perspective of "songs written by voice actress artists.

▼harmoe 2nd single "My Pace ni Mermaid" (August 18)

With the catchphrase "music and stories walk together," harmoe delivers dance-pop music inspired by fairy tales. It is a summer tune. The song is characterized by a bass sound derived from future bass and deep house, with a texture like bubbles rising from the ocean floor. The composition is very pleasing to the ear, as it brings the "good voices" of Ms. Iwata and Ms. Koizumi as voice actors and their lush harmonies to the forefront.

As mentioned above, Suzuko Mimori wrote the lyrics to this song. She is well-known for her lyrical skills, having previously sung her own famous song "Koi ha Illusion" and provided "Pajamas de Party" to DIALOGUE+.

In "Mermaid at My Pace," she sings of "days that go by with flapping feet" and "floating and sinking, feeling weightless," and her lyrics, which evoke the grace of a woman with many years of experience, while at the same time inviting the viewer to imagine her daily struggles and sympathize, are in her signature style.

Her entertaining personality is evident in her catchy rhymes, such as "Let's get out of here, run run run, start your engine, run run run," and in her use of superlative comparisons, such as "The best summer in our history is about to begin.

Above all, Mimori had a career as a stage actress before her debut as a voice actress, and is currently active on stage again. It is no wonder that she excels at writing lyrics with a musical worldview. The lyrics, "See, I don't need a witch or a prince, I just want to be wrapped up in the sea," expresses how relaxed the flow of time at the resort is by putting aside the fairy tale existence of "witches" and "princes. The song expresses how relaxing the flow of time is at the resort by setting aside even the fairy tales of "witches" and "princes". Just listening to this song, you will be tempted to search for your travel destination with the phrase "spectacular space beach.

Yui Ogura's 14th single "Fightin☆Pose" (August 11)

Yui Ogura's new single "Fightin☆Pose" is the opening theme song of the TV anime "Jahi-sama wa Kujikakeru! TV anime "Jahi-sama wa Kujikaerunake! Ms. Ogura wrote the lyrics for this song together with Mr. KIKUE, who invented the title "Fightin☆Pose". Although it was not stated which part of the lyrics was written by Mr. Ogura, it was revealed that when a lyrics competition was held, he wrote one chorus of the song himself and submitted the lyrics under a pen name.

The catchy lyrics and the track may be easy to listen to, but the content of the song is bold and bold. Ogura thought he had a "completely invincible presence" in this song, but he sometimes reveals his "spinning givens. However, she takes a stance that she will not be discouraged by anything that happens to her, telling the audience that "time in a slump is not a problem," and that she will "just keep on trying," and so on.

With all due respect, he would say, "If you have time to rest and recover, why don't you kill two birds with one stone by working out and recovering at the same time? With a smile like an angel, she handed me a pair of devilishly heavy dumbbells. Ms. Ogura's stoicism, which she never falters no matter what happens, is reflected in the fact that she continues to hone her performance skills on a regular basis and actually reflects them on stage, reminding us once again that "it's what you say that counts.

In addition, the highlight of the performance was the "oglap" inserted into the A melody. Ms. Ogura, who researched songs by other girls' units and came up with three or so patterns of her own, moves very fast, and it must be difficult to keep up with the high tempo of the dance. The fact that she sets a hurdle for herself and pursues her own limits as a performer makes this song one of the most "Yui Ogura-esque" songs of all time. The high affinity between the theme of the song and the singer's mentality may have contributed to the lyrics being so much in sync with the singer.

Akatsu Saito's first full album "Patchwork" (August 18)

The album is a package of past, present, future, and various emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure, in the sense of sewing together the various elements that make up the artist. The full album "Patchwork," which is filled with "Akatsu Saito," who is busy laughing, crying, and moving emotionally, is such a masterpiece that even if the year 2021 were to end today, we would still be satisfied with the album.

For this album, Ms. Saito took on the challenge of writing lyrics for the first time for "One Piece" and "Reason for Laughing Often". Both songs were co-written with sound producer Kay Hayashi, who wrote all of the lyrics and then helped Hayashi with the finer details.

One Piece" is a song that depicts Saito's life itself, as she has been running with her dream of "wanting to be on stage. She describes herself as "not a genius, not talented," but she also says, "I can't do it anymore, but I'm going to run," showing her typical stubbornness and strength of core. In the phrase "one-piece rocking, Converse clanging," sneakers, an icon in her music activities, also appear. It is a power tune full of vitality that shows her will to "keep running" as an expressive artist, as if even the streets are a canvas for her art.

Ms. Saito, whose carefree smile is one of her most attractive points, sang an acoustic ballad entitled "The Reason Why I Smile So Much. Thinking back, she used to play the role of "Akatsu Saito," a character who was always smiling, no matter what the situation was. That is why her musical activities have the nature of gently revealing the weakness in her heart, and even seem to be an ongoing process of peeling off the armor she wears on her body.

In light of this characteristic, the phrase "It's okay to be here, isn't it? I wonder if you laugh at me like this, though I'm embarrassed. The song naturally reminds me of Hayashi's past songs "Words of Magic" and "I don't care if I am weaker than anyone else" which also feature the description "you laugh at me. She has so far played up the fragile parts of her heart and acted stoutly in many situations.

If I have written this far, you may be able to recall a little of Saito's "reason for smiling so often. I believe that she will grow up to be a person who has the ability to smile at someone in an unexpected moment. This song will be an important communication tool for her to exchange her heart with Mr. Saito as a human being and to build a relationship of trust with him. Because the lyrics are lined with wonderful words that she wrote after confronting her own true feelings and continuing to face them, as if they were an exchange diary with herself.

▼ Rena Ueda's new album "Nebula" (August 18)

Rena Ueda's new album "Nebula" is a concept album that tells the story of "turning adversity into opportunity" based on the setbacks she experienced in the past. The album's content, including the uniqueness of its sound, which is unified by a generally downbeat atmosphere, can be described, like the aforementioned "Patchwork," as a work that will set a milestone in the voice-over artist scene in the year 2021.

Of the ten songs on the album, all of which are new, Ueda himself wrote the lyrics for the seventh song, "Plankton. This song was placed in the important position of "reemerging" from the depression and depression that had been building up since the album's opening, and which at times made the listener feel depressed.

In the lyrics, the artist compares his own existence to that of plankton simply being swept away in the ocean. Plankton is a tiny thing being swept away by the waves in the face of the tremendously large presence of the ocean, and asks itself why it is alive and where its value lies, as if in a state of self-doubt or resignation. In the end, she says, "I want to go on to the place where I can go," and we can read a faint movement of her heart toward a V-shaped recovery.

The listener is left with a sense of emptiness, as if he or she were just floating on the sea, relaxed, but according to the artist, it was very difficult to apply words to each note in the slow, neo-city pop style of the track. On top of that, although the lyrics are shorter in length than those of the other songs, they are wonderful in conveying the worldview of the song.

I would like to mention "scapesheep" (lyrics and arrangement by TECHNOBOYS PULCRAFT GREEN-FUND), Japan's answer to Billie Eilish, as another noteworthy track, but since there is not much room in the manuscript, I will leave that for another time. I would like to mention the other two.

▼ Kanako Takatsuki's 2nd single "Subversive" (August 11)

Kanako Takatsuki wrote the lyrics for all three songs on her 2nd single "Subversive".

In addition to the title song, which is the ending theme for the second cool of the TV anime "One Million Lives" and is about the "value of life," she also composed the coupling song "soda," which is about a "holiday in one's twenties" and a "certain feeling" of being in one's twenties. In addition to the title song, which is about the "value of life," the coupling song "soda," which she composed herself, sings refreshingly about "a holiday feeling in one's 20s" and the good vibes of "a certain summer day. Every keyword that appeared in the song, such as handheld fireworks bought at a convenience store, drinking to overcome a hangover, camping, and festivals, was "summery," and it was well complemented by the pleasantly light-colored guitar pop.

Looking back, as was the case with "I wanna be a STAR," a song from her previous single, Ms. Takatsuki's lyrics and word choice, which depict her as a person in her own life, are an excellent match for the urban track. We will keep an eye on their future releases from this point of view.

▼ i☆Ris 20th single "Summer Dude" (August 18)

The first single by i☆Ris in two years is the first single by the five-member group since the graduation of Azusaki Shibuya in March 2021.

The lyrics for this single were written by the leader, Saki Yamakita, and the song is "5STAR☆ (tentative)," the first "self-introduction song" for the unit. A self-introduction song is an important song for idols. The song was intended to be a call-and-response song with fans, but it was also a message song that conveyed Yamakita's love for the group.

For example, when Yuu Serizawa was asked to respond to the catchphrase "Seriko is NO.1," Yamakita gave her a harsh rebuke, saying, "Don't overdo it! to her catchphrase "Seriko is NO.1. In Akaneya Himika's part, she teased the YouTube activities that have been causing a stir in the comments section and SNS timelines every time she releases a new video, and the fact that they all cut themselves a little slack equally (or that Yamakita-san makes them do so) more than adequately conveys how close the members are in their 10th year of activity. This is more than enough to convey the close friendship among the members in their 10th year of activity.

The love was also directed toward the fans, who were probably feeling a bit strained at the expense of goods and travel expenses, and while sympathizing with their feelings, he said, "That's great! That's so precious! Emo! and "Emo! I always take my hat off to Ms. Yamakita for her willingness to face the audience head-on, even as she and i☆Ris continue to climb the ladder of career success and become "good girls.

(Text by Kota Ichijo)