Tomori Kusunoki, Nanaka Suwa, Yui Ninomiya, Miho Okazaki - Christmas is just around the corner! New albums with seasonal themes & the first review in this series of articles on new voice actors! Monthly Seiyu Artists Bulletin November 2021

For the November 2021 issue, we will be reviewing the works of voice-over artists released in the current month, and for the first time in this series, we will be presenting a two-part theme.

First, we will start with two albums with "winter" as their theme. Both new works by Tomori Kusunoki and Nanaka Suwa are not only focused on the current Christmas season, but are also enjoyable throughout this winter. We would like to talk about both of them in the form of full song reviews.

Tomori Kusunoki 3rd EP "narrow" (November 10)

Finally, all of the songs on this EP have been newly written by Tomori Kusunoki. As the previous EP "Forced Shutdown" did not contain rearranged songs, Tomori Kusunoki decided to use the theme of "winter" as a consistent theme in his work for the first time. Of course, as in the past, Kusunoki wrote the lyrics for all the songs on the EP as a singer-songwriter.

Narrow

This song is a song with a sound reminiscent of winter in the city, played on the tekikoto and strings. The title is derived from the word "narrow," which means the sky is narrow in the city. The song depicts a gradual emotional change in the protagonist, "a certain person" (to be described later), through encounters and partings at a street live performance, until he decides to "deliver my song to this person". If you have strong feelings for someone, you have to change the way you see the city. Kusunoki echoes the smoldering of such a heart with the expression of a boy or girl who has yet to become an adult.

The biggest point of the song is "no. As quoted below, the song "narrow" uses negative words such as "no" and "no" throughout to weave the conflicting emotions of the main character.

You can't see the stars from here, even if you close your eyes, they're far away.

No, my song can't light up the city.

You've shown me so many times how you take off your earphones/I can't see them anymore, I can't reach them anymore.

This is the climax of the song, where we see signs of a change in the protagonist's feelings as an artist.

You've shown me so many times how you take off your earphones so that I don't have to look at them anymore.

Even if you are listening to the song without listening to it, if the negative-sounding words continue until the end of the song, listeners who were expecting a happy ending may wonder, "Hmm, what does that mean? What do you mean?

This is the point. Even though the song uses the same negative-sounding word "no" as in the rest of the song, this last phrase is completely different from the previous ones: "I don't see that girl take off her earphones anymore. In other words, this time, the song is about the positive spirit of making a hit so that the music will be played from the earphones themselves. Kusunoki's talent as a singer-songwriter shines through in the way he uses foreshadowing throughout the song as a "hook" for the song.

Yorimichi

This is a hip-hop track oriented toward chill trap with a minimal number of notes. The song depicts a "more way" to return home, trying to forget the mumbo-jumbo swirling around in one's mind. In particular, the second verse, which begins with the words "I was totally fine, but I had a lot of trouble..." is a groove that is created by a hip-hop-like loop construction with the sound of the same words such as "totally" and "a lot of trouble," and at the same time, the loop (i.e., the repetition of the same thing) is a "more way," a way that is more comfortable for both the body and mind. The loop (i.e., the repetition of the same thing) overlaps with "yori michi," a state in which both the mind and body go round and round in circles. The music was arranged by Shunsuke Takeuchi, a voice actor who also co-stars in the TV anime "Senpai ga uzai junpai no hanashi. Takeuchi is also active as a trackmaker under the name Jack Westwood.

Fuse.

At first glance, the flame seems to be contained, but the core of the flame is still burning red hot. Kusunoki's voice adds a dash of dash to the intense jazz rock. Similar to this song, his major label debut song "Hamidashimono" had a spitting style of singing, but this time he leaned on the end of the phrase and his vocals conveyed the subtleties of emotion more than ever before, which was intoxicating. In the latter half of the chorus, which begins with "Kimi ga shiranai" (You don't know), and in the D-melody, she switches her voice to a cooler quality at key points to accentuate her vocals, and you can feel her vocal technique improving.

Taruhi

The last number on the EP, "Taruhi" is a dream-pop/shoegaze sound by Kana Yaginuma, whom Kusunoki has met in her own work "Banmeshi♪" and whose warmth can be felt in this song. The title is a double meaning of "taruhi," which refers to icicles, and "a full day. The simple message, "If you don't know how cold it is, you won't be able to warm someone else..." has a soft, universal affirmation for the listener. The idea that "falling ice," which increases in size as the ice melts, is a sign of growth as a person is also brilliant. By the way, Ms. Kusunoki's singing voice really looks good with distortion, as in the guitar of "Vanilla" and "Taruhi," both of which are included in the previous album.

In my review of "Forced Shutdown," I once wrote, "How many voices does Tomori Kusunoki have?" I was surprised to find that his voice is once again full of color on this album. The tracks are also more original than ever before, so one wonders what kind of sounds are playing in her head. And how does she verbalize the "sound" to the arranger when ordering production? I am really curious about this and would like to hear what they have to say.

I am really curious to hear what she has to say about it, and I can't wait to hear what she has to say about it. Her grainy chorus is also pleasant, and come to think of it, this phrase also sounds familiar: ....... The idea of linking to her past works was apparently the brainchild of the production staff, and since Kusunoki herself writes the lyrics herself, it is easy for her to realize such an idea. The emotional expression in this work, exemplified by the song "narrow," is literary like a novelist's, but also has a somewhat raw and realistic aspect. It seems that the very person of Tomori Kusunoki is expressed in his music.

Nanaka Suwa's 2nd mini-album "Winter Cocktail" (November 24)

The title of the album means "mixing up winter. It is a collection of "love songs," which she has sung in many of her past albums, and it is a collection of winter songs that package various winter scenes, a sense of excitement, and sometimes even the sadness of a broken heart.

At first glance, the title of the album might be associated with an alcoholic cocktail, but the meaning here is essentially "to mix. The cover photo of Ms. Suwa herself in a fancy outfit, pure white like snow, in a glass of wine is also a stylish touch.

..."Memory Fantasy."

Continuing from the previous single "Gust Sparkle," this song was produced by marble, a music unit that has sung many theme songs for the TV anime series "Hidamari Sketch," which Suwa-san loves. According to them, they were conscious of expressing the "devilish Suwa" in this song. The song is a song that she hopes will continue to renew memories of her loved ones, interspersed with her own characteristic ama-nojaku (devilish) expressions. She chose the word "memory" as the title of the song, which means "preserving memories" of the past.

The sound arrangement has a warmth that makes one's body temperature rise unintentionally, just like the moment when illuminations are lit in the clear winter air. According to Mr. Suwa himself, it was extremely difficult for him to sing the chorus without hardly any breath. However, it is in songs with such a high tone range that the luster of her voice, or in other words, the "delicious part" of her voice, is best brought out.

Other songs included in the album

Since her debut album, she has been creating a love story with "◯◯-tai series" such as "Melting Like" and "I Want to Shake Like", and now her love story is finally complete. The song "Fureteitai" is a rushed track in which the singer finally expresses his/her feelings for the person he/she has feelings for. The album also includes pop-oriented songs such as the jazzy "DATE-ALAMODE," which depicts a date on a winter day, and "Holy holiday," the only "royal Christmas song" in the album, played on a motown beat.

On the other hand, "Nostalgic Kinema" is a lyrical rock tune that is indispensable to Mr. Suwa's works. Behind happiness, there is also a breakup. The song sings of the protagonist's state of mind as he overcomes the heartbreak of this moment. Director Tetsuya Inoue describes the song as a "midwinter end-roll," but is it too much to think that the song order and the timing of its release might remind one of a couple breaking up just before Christmas?

The latest album also specializes in the colorful girl pop of the Nippon Columbia lineage, including Aya Uchida and Azumi Wake. Overall, the album has a fairy tale and romantic flavor, and the songs are just in season. The fact that Suwa was able to quickly reunite with marble, a group she has longed to work with, seems to indicate that her own musical activities are being anticipated and appreciated, and this must have been a very meaningful opportunity for her to find new meaning in her musical activities as well.

The theme from here on was "voice-over artists appearing for the first time in this series. I will review the second singles by NINOMIYA Yui and OKAZAKI Miho, focusing on their respective title songs.

NINOMIYA Yui 2nd single "Dark seeks light / Prose LIFE" (November 3)

In January 2020, voice actress Yui Ninomiya made her debut as an artist under the name "Ninomiya Yui. This new single is her first double A-side single, both of which have anime tie-ups. The song is her first release in about a year, and her vocals are gripping in a good way, with a "poisoned" quality to them.

Dark seeks light

Ninomiya wrote the lyrics for the opening theme song for the TV anime "The World's Best Assassin, Reincarnated as an Aristocrat in Another World" for the first time. Her "dark attribute" as a fan of Keyakizaka 46 (now Sakurazaka 46) and Sayuri is also strong in this song, and the lyrics, as the title suggests, express a longing for light while accepting feelings of shadow. The lyrics express a longing for light while embracing shadowy feelings. The style of the song is somewhat like a dark fantasy, and the fast-talking rap vocal line is extremely thrilling.

The music was written and arranged by Ken Kaiyoshi, an up-and-coming creator who has worked on songs by Boku no Norikku no Boyomi (now Tanaka) and others. The hardcore trap with a rock-like feel is accented by a slap bass, giving the track an originality that is unique to this track.

Prose-like LIFE

Like "Dark seeks light," "Prose-like LIFE," the ending theme for the TV anime "Tesla Note," was written by Ninomiya and arranged by Ken Kaiyoshi. The lyrics of this song also attempt to pull the power of the song from negative to positive, while bringing the scale of the lyrics down to a more everyday level.

The content of the song is mostly about the nihilism and decadence of everyday life, as if to say "100 million people are unhappy". In the end, they manage to look forward to the future, but it seems that this is based on some kind of "resignation. The fact that she sings these messages in a tone of voice that tries to act as if nothing is wrong and in a pop electro-jazz style paradoxically expresses the human nature of Ninomiya-san, which makes us grin very much.

Miho Okazaki 2nd single "Petals" (released November 3)

Miho Okazaki, known for her role as Rimuru Tempest in the TV anime "Tensei Tareta Slyme Datta Koto," which was her first starring role, made her debut as an artist with her first single "Happiness" in September 2021, but this new single was released in a very short span of time, less than three months.

. "Petals".

The title track "Petals" is the ending theme song for the second season of the TV anime "Jahi-sama wa Kujikuake! TV anime "Jahi-sama wa Kujikake! It is their first anime tie-up song, and is a pop tune with a gorgeous brass band.

The title of the song means "petals. The title is linked to her surname, "Okasaki," and is said to be a reference to the colors she finds in life and the way they change over time, like the petals that bloom and then fall. Her voice, especially in the chorus, is also very expressive, switching from innocent and innocent one moment to a dainty falsetto the next. Her vocal dexterity is evident.

The refreshing image of the sound also gave the impression of innocence, as if she is just starting out as a voice actor artist, and her colors as an artist are just beginning to develop. Her own happiness spread to the people around her, and the world expanded its scale in a more and more liberating way. As in the case of the anime's main character, Jahi-sama, who lives in poverty and struggles to gain from her "poverty" by saying, "Today, from now on, I am the center of the world/I am the center of the world/I have such delusions and assumptions/I will expand inside a 1K apartment. As expressed in the cramped space of a 1K apartment, the starting point of his career as a voice-over artist is right under his feet. It sounds like a song about such initial impulse, doesn't it?

(Text by Kota Ichijo)