tracklist:
enoz god knows // sleigh bells road to hell // twenty one pilots heathens // PUZZLE there is a reason // ed tullett oxblood // broken social scene sweetest kill // fleece 白 川 北 白 川 豆 大 // iroha feat. rin kagamine meltdown //
I talked to you last week about the genre Future Funk and the original songs that Night Tempo’s remixes are based on. And then I was talking about how there are some remixes that are just as good as the original versions. And then, I told you I knew what I was going to post this week. I’m kind of surprised that I haven’t yet. I’m almost at Week 100!
I decided to look at Night Tempo’s Baby Maker album again to try to find the original songs again. And I discovered that the whole album had been updated. Most of the previous song titles were replaced with the original atist’s name and title and were now the 100% Remastered versions. I listened to the whole album again, and I thought it was better. I was also able to find the original songs, which turned out to be better in my opinion. The original version of Can’t stop the Loneliness (Kanashimi ga Tomaranai by Anri) is really good. And I ended up listening to Mari Iijima’s entire Rose album, twice (Marin is my favorite song on that album).
So, I found that Night Tempo’s Future Funk versions weren’t as good as the originals for the most part, in my opinion. We’re going to look at a different genre remix for an absolute classic anime song later in this post. But first, I want to talk about one of my favorite “J-Rock” song from one of the first anime adaptations of a visual novel.
Ikuzou!!
God knows… by Aya Hirano is a character song by ENOZ featuring Haruhi that was performed at the Cultural Festival in the episode “Live Alive” of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu.
ENOZ is a rock group of students from Haruhi’s school (like a light music club or Kei-On Bu). ENOZ is an acronym which derives from the last names of each of the members: Miyuki Enomoto (vocalist/guitarist), Takako Nakanashi (guitarist), Mizuki Okajima (drummer), Mai Zazen (bassist). Due to injuries at the Cultural Festival, Haruhi filled in for Miyuki and Yuki filled in for Takako.
On the full song, go to captions options for different subtitles. I like this subtitle format. You don’t have to look in two different places for English and Romaji subtitles.
Youtube recommended God knows… to me a while ago. It’s been a long time now. It was the full music video. And I remember thinking, “Why is that girl in a bunny costume, and the other girl is dressed as a witch?” It’s quite a strange AMV visually. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to a casual observer. It was this song that got me very curious about Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu (once I found out that’s what anime the music video was from).
Here’s the performance as it appears in the show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kA4tGu60mo
I’d heard things about Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, and kind of wanted to watch it. But after watching the music video, I decided to actually watch it. It’s really interesting. Haruhi got on my nerves a couple of times. Once, to the point that I didn’t want to watch anymore of her. She is such a Kamidere (which basically means that she’s a spoiled brat that likens herself unto a god and manipulates people to suit her needs, like dressing Mikuru as a maid). But overall, I like her. She’s pretty fun. Kyon does his darndest keeping her in line (or in an acceptable tolerance range). All of the characters are interesting.
One confusing thing is that there at least 4 different orders for watching the episodes in. And different anime streaming sites don’t use the same order. If you go to Wikipedia, you can actually sort the episodes according to the different orders (I only think there are 3 there). If you want chronological order, I suggest kissanime.com (https://kissanime.to/Anime/Suzumiya-Haruhi-no-Yuuutsu). I used a different site to begin with and ended up watching the Mikuru movie as the “first” episode (and got very confused).
I really like God knows… because of the guitar riffs, bass, and Aya Hirano’s vocals. It sounds like a really solid rock song. The drum part is also pretty good. But it’s the guitar riffs and Aya Hirano’s full voice and intensity that really make me jam to this song. Like, air guitar levels.
Album: Suzumiya Haruhi no Tsumeawase ~ TV Anime “Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu” Gekichuuka-shuu Single ~ / 涼宮ハルヒの詰合 ～TVアニメ「涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱」劇中歌集シングル～
In the actual performance, Susumu Nishikawa played the guitar, Takeshi Taneda played the bass guitar, and Yutaka Odawara played drums. Animators traced their performance by rotoscoping, and drew the performance scene in animation.
Now, here’s DJ Bouche’s Euro Mix of God knows…. Evan had me looking for Eurobeat remixes of J-pop, and I found out that there was a Eurobeat remix of God knows... Well, in my opinion it’s just as good as the original. The vocals are little restrained, but it doesn’t pulse. The vocals aren’t the focus but add flavor and texture to a Eurobeat remix that would get kind of bland over time, because it wouldn’t develop into anything. Aya Hirano’s “restrained” help this Eurobeat remix tell a story. It’s great dance music.
God knows… (Dj Bouche Euromix) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQCxMBQ9s-4
And this remix is also in Stepmania: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMN0qlHsDfo
I played this version at my old high school’s end-of-the-year Otaku Club party as the self-appointed DJ Master of J-pop. It actually gives me a place where I can share my love of J-pop. Well, besides here.
Wow! That was more information than I was expecting.
By the way,
If you watch all of Susumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu, you can watch Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu (It’s NOT just a chibi version. It has Kimidori-san). And then you can watch one of the greatest anime movies that I have ever seen.
Suzumiya Haruhi no Shoushitsu
I highly recommend this movie, but it won’t make a lot of sense if you watch it before Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. It was psychologically challenging and surprisingly emotional. It was very mentally taxing, but was absolutely one of the best anime experiences I have ever had. Also, Kyon’s little sister is an adorable alarm clock.
That’ll do it for this week.
Let me know if you guys have any questions or requests.
And I’ve had a song picked out for Valentine’s Day for next week’s post since last year. Mainly because it’s a song have that I found out is about Valentine’s Day. Feel free to guess what song I have picked for next week.
Hint: What do the Japanese do on Valentine’s Day?
See you guys next week, and have a happy Valentine’s Day.
