Aqours, DIALOGUE+, Kurotetsu Tama (Den-ON club), Furuhata Ai - The wave of 80's revival is spreading to the world of voice-over artists! Seiyu Artists Bulletin September 2021

The "80's revival" trend has arrived in the anime/seiyu music scene.

This trend, which is conscious of 1980s-style sound design when creating music, is gaining momentum both in Japan and abroad, supported by international stars such as The Weeknd and Dua Lipa. Here in Japan, too, we can see various examples of this trend, such as the hit song "Seishun Sickness" by Kaze Fujii and the release of a cover of Mariya Takeuchi's famous song "Plastic Love" by eill, who sings the ending theme song for the first season of the very popular "Tokyo Revengers" anime.

In recent years, there has also been a trend toward a reevaluation of so-called "city pop," and as these elements have grown into a trend, they seem to have spread to the anime/voice-over artist industry as well (we would like to avoid further discussion of the city pop framework due to the difficulty of dealing with the term). (I would like to avoid further mention of the "city pop" framework due to the difficulty of handling it, but you can find more information at ......).

For example, when looking out over a city scene, only neon lights, among all the lights, emit a pleasant dazzle of colorful colors, and only music that harks back to the 1980s can have the mellowness characteristic of that era.

In this series of articles, we review works by voice-over artists released in the current month. Coincidentally, September 2021 coincided with the release of such "80's revival" works, so we will introduce them all here.

Aqours single "KU-RU-KU-RU Cruller!

Even Aqours is approaching the sounds of the 1980s!

The new song "KU-RU-KU-KU-RU Cruller!" is a song that is part of the smartphone game app "Monster Strike x Love Live! Sunshine! Sunshine!" is the collaboration song for the smartphone game app "Monster Strike x Love Live! It is a very unique collaboration, but when you think about it, "Shangri-La Shower" by μ's, "Jingle Bells Can't Stop" by Aqours, and other songs that have been created together with game titles in the "Love Live! series have been created together with game titles, the quality of the songs has been in proportion to the level of musical challenge. In other words, "KU-RU-KU-RU Cruller!" is no exception, and is one of the best songs in the series.

Specifically, the synthwave melody that gently plays in the intro is cheap, in a good sense, and the drums, with their gate reverb, which is synonymous with the 1980s sound, are all sound treatments that capture the key points of the time. The light, modern electric piano inserted in the interlude and the similarly rounded, full-textured electric guitar solo part are also among the most stylish of Aqours' track listings to date.

It may seem that this is a song that requires a large presence of the vocalist because you can't help but listen to the track, but ....... The reason why the girls are not overshadowed by the track is probably because they are voice actors. The distinctive and distinctive voices that they use to portray their characters are a particular strength that gives them a strong presence within the song.

And yet, the center singer, Chika Takami (CV: Anju Inami), has an ennui side that leaks a sigh behind the innocent girlishness, and the rap part by Yoh Watanabe (CV: Akatsu Saito) in the D melody at the end of the second verse is mature without being heated. With the exception of the E melody, "KU-RU-KU-RU Cruller!" never swerves into an uppery mood, which is probably the essence of its sophisticated impression and mellowness.

The reason why I mentioned at the beginning of this article that "even Aqours is ......" is because I was surprised that the girls, who can be said to be the top runners in the anime music scene, faced this kind of tune at this moment in time. The reason for this is that I was surprised that the girls, who are the top runners in the anime music scene, were facing such a tune at this time. However, the story of the main story of the anime has reached its climax, and the girls are now able to work more freely as a unit musically (thinking back, "Fantastic Departure!" introduced in the July 2020 issue of this series was a minor tune, just like this one. (Thinking about it, "Fantastic Departure!", introduced in the July 2020 issue of this series, was also a minor tune like this one.)

) In this respect, I would like to think that there was nothing better than this for the current Aqours release.

DIALOGUE+ 1st album "DIALOGUE+1" (released on September 1)

A good album must take time to make" were the words of Mr. Tomoya Tabuchi (UNISON SQUARE GARDEN), who has shared the hardship of being the unit's music producer up to this point, in his contribution to this album.

DIALOGUE+ is an 8-member voice actor unit that was born in June 2019 from the next generation voice actor training game "CUE! Their first album "DIALOGUE+1" is a fully-fledged album created by Tabuchi and other creators who have supported their activities since their debut, including Hidekazu Tanaka (MONACA, now freelance) and Shuhei Mutsuki.

Of special note on the album is the song "Private," with lyrics by Natsuki Ogota (Paspie) and music and arrangements by Shuhei Mutsuki. The song is based on a city pop to disco funk sound with the theme of "a slightly stylish holiday for an adult woman. The strings add a sense of nostalgia, while the synthesizers keep the balance of modernity, and the bridge to the second verse has a rewind effect. The rough, down-sampled feel adds depth to the song, and the irregular progression from the first number to the interlude is very different from the first number, overflowing with Mutsuki's unique, off-the-beaten-path aesthetics.

On the singing side, Mutsuki's easy-going rapping, as in the aforementioned "KU-RU-KU-RU Cruller! Yuna Ogata's mature voice is particularly well matched to this song, while still respecting the retro luster that matches the track. Her voice has a touch that evokes the image of a woman with a sense of ease, and it is no wonder that she is entrusted with the important part of the song, the chorus. This is a unique song by a voice-over artist that allows you to entrust your heart to the "gentle" voice of DIALOGUE+.

Putting the 1980s aside for a moment, and referring to the album as a whole, the melodies reflect the personality of Tomoya Tabuchi, one of the industry's most celebrated festival men, and the "Dramatic Peace! which was spiced up by Fuji Fabric. Other songs include "Mottoke! Sailor Fuku" and the power tune "Aigatte ♡ Rante" by Hidekazu Tanaka, which is reminiscent of "Sailor Fuku," but by the end of the song, the listener is almost swallowed up by the music.

The use of chiptune-like sounds is typical of the songs, but the catchiness of Tabuchi's melodies is amplified by the arrangers who collaborate with him, and the eight-person, eight-color harmonies of DIALOGUE+ are combined with the songs that are born from this. The origin of this chain reaction must be Tabuchi's strong passion for DIALOGUE+. It is a piece that boasts a tremendous degree of perfection.

Kurotetsu Tama (CV: Akina) "MIDNIGHT TOWN (Prod. Amamiya Maako)" (released September 16)

This is a song from "Dennonbu," a music-based character project by Namco Bandai Entertainment Inc. The songs from this project have been picked up several times in this series, and now new and unreleased songs are being released digitally once a week for 40 consecutive weeks. This "power is everything" campaign is scheduled to reach its goal in early March 2022. Since the beginning of the project, many talents have gathered together like a "millionaire trackmaker," but this is an area that is now beyond our comprehension. ......

The song "Midnight Town (Prod. Amamiya Maako)" sung by Kurotetsu Tama (CV: Akina) is introduced from the "Den-On Club. The lyrics of the song, which sings about a love that is a little bit taller than usual, bring out the girlish gap between the normally strong-willed Tama and the rest of us.

The song was produced by singer-songwriter/trackmaker Amamiya Maako. She also handles city pop music in her own activities, and this is the first time she has participated in "Den-On-Bu". The track, with its warm electric piano and horns that dabble over a modern beat, naturally makes one want to go out into the night. The lyrics and the track, which evoke scenes of the Azabu area where TAMA is based, are glamorous, mature, and calm, but at the same time, they have an urban quality that makes you feel as if you are intoxicated by the bustle of the city and wish the night would never end.

To be precise, this song is a little out of the 1980s style sound design and club music format, but it is a song that is not quite the same as the one that Shirogane Koh (CV: Komiya Arisa), from the same Azabu area, has sung to the tune of "MUSIC IS MAGIC," produced by tofubeats, with horns and a guitar. The "Den-on club" as a whole has also been a popular music group in the past. Is it possible that "Den-Ondebe" as a whole aims to enhance the strength of its works by demonstrating its strengths in areas other than club music? In any case, the fact that we have not even reached the end of the 40-week release streak makes the future of this content all the more frightening in a good way.

Ai Furuhata 1st single "Honeymoon" (released September 29)

This month's release is not so much an 80's revival ...... as it is a solitary, isolated sound of Showa-era music in the age of the 2025s. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that this is music of the 1980s. Ai Furihata celebrated the first anniversary of her music career with Akimitsu Honma as her producer. Her first single "Honeymoon," which was released with full anticipation, was a piece of music that showed her still being an 80's lover.

The title track, which is titled "Honeymoon," is a song with a very skillful way of creating an atmosphere from the beginning of the song to the introduction of the chorus, with the first note at each point. The song's "Koko ni kara de," which appears in the chorus, has a sense of honeyedness, and the surrounding phrases are deliberately catchy with a nostalgic melancholy taste. In addition, the depth of the vocal textures is also reproduced to an exceptional degree as it was in 1980. I would like to discuss the mix processing such as reverb/chorus at another time.

What made me grin was the fact that Furuhata's lyrics, written by himself, continue to depict "unrequited love," a stance that has remained unchanged since his debut. It is true that love songs of the 1980s had the image of being somewhat unhappy songs. In the song "Honeymoon," a woman appears in front of a friendly couple, inviting the boyfriend into a casual relationship. ...... probably, the woman seduces the boyfriend with "Let's do something a little bit naughty," in the first verse, and in the second verse, "Let's throw away our pride in a good way," and so on, The second song, "Korogashi ni tsukoshi ni shite pride ga dashi" ("Let go of your pride and be a good roller"), was written from the perspective of the boyfriend who is naturally seduced. That is why the song in the chorus is not just a honeymoon, but a "flirtatious honeymoon.

In this case, the girlfriend's side hardly even appears in the lyrics. The reason is that the boyfriend does not even know that she is cheating on him. The cheater is always made unhappy without knowing it. The love story written by Furuhata-san, is hatefully realistic. ......

(Text by Kota Ichijo)