Retro Corner - The Alfee's "Sweat and Tears"

And now for something almost, but not entirely different. The Alfee's "Sweat and Tears" (1986) is another 80's rock song (this time a ballad), but is not sung by a girl or an idol. This would fall under glam rock, if I'm not mistaken. Just look at how pretty the lead singer is! Whatever happened to epic hair like that? I miss it, even though I wasn't even born back then.

Vocally, this song is catchy, yet repetitive (at least the main refrain is partly in English!) The instrumental is awesome, too- it would fit in well on a classic rock station, yet spice the playlist up for a non-Japanese audience, for whom this song is mostly unknown.

I knew this song was repetitive, but seeing this ten minute version on YouTube made me wonder if they crammed in another half dozen refrains. The refrain isn't bad, but there is a point where it seems like the spaceship on Spaceballs that never seems to end. But actually, there's more epic instrumental and more... cheese. One guy is totally working his booty. This performance is actually pretty adorable! (The estrogenic screams in the latter half are there for a reason.)

Retro Corner - Minako Honda's "1986nen no Marilyn"

Since the video has embedding disabled, it is available on YouTube here.

In my "Konya wa Hurricane" Retro Corner post, I mentioned that it sounded pretty standard for 80's girl-rock. Here is an example. Minako Honda's "1986nen no Marilyn" (1986) is a song that I associate with the overall sound of Japanese 80's girl-rock (or rather, idol-rock?)

Now when I say standard, I am talking about the impression the sound gives off, just like Western synthpop from the 80's has a particular sound. "1986nen no Marilyn" is still plenty unique, a song that I can recognize from any part of the tune. It's catchy, it's rockin', it even has a bit of jazz to the instrumental. Honda has a deep, rich voice, adding all the more power. This would be perfect for husky-voiced Morning Musume member Haruka Kudo to sing at an event or for a future cover album!

Retro Corner - Bubblegum Crisis' "Konya wa Hurricane"

This is actually a song I came across relatively recent, maybe a year ago, if that. It's from the anime Bubblegum Crisis, an anime that I came close to watching over a decade ago, but never did. Even though it sounded interesting from articles in anime magazines, I always ended up renting a Ranma 1/2 or Tenchi Muyo tape instead. If I just rented Bubblegum Crisis once, maybe I would remember this song as fondly as the Ranma songs.

So instead I was exposed to "Konya wa Hurricane" (1987) through multiple references at Anime News Network. Hearing praise for a retro song I had never heard before, I had to check it out! It's not quite as epic as I expected (my expectations were high after the multiple compliments about it.) It seemed like pretty standard 80's girl-rock from Japan. But standard or not, I do like that 80's rock sound, so it's still cool to me. It kind of makes me want to watch Bubblegum Crisis, if I have the opportunity.

Rival Waah - Denpagumi.inc's "Kuchizuke Kibonnu"

When other blogs mentioned this song, Denpagumi.inc's "Kuchizuke Kibonnu", they seemed to focus on the gimmick of the music video, which is "animated" with Polaroid photos being laid on a table. That is cool, yes, but without being a fan of the individual girls (and the photos themselves aren't enough to endear me them either... they are too small and go by too fast), I'm not so interested in the video itself.

But I love this song. The verses remind me of the 80's, the instrumental has a pleasing bass, the voices show emotion despite being rather cutesy. I listen to this song purely for aesthetic enjoyment and not because I have favorites "adding meaning." Is this really idol music? Not that I'm complaining.

But it also makes me realize that music has no bearing on whether I want to become a fan of an idol. Despite liking this song, I didn't have any desire to become fans of the individual members. Listen to more music from them, yes, but get to know the girls? I didn't have a reason to. I guess it really does take funny videos and pictures, or a music video full of character to appreciate idols as idols and not judge them solely as performers or artists.

Fanart Corner - Cracky 'n' Creepy

Cracky Koha

Koha was already like a living cartoon character during her time in Morning Musume, so this wasn't hard to envision at all. I drew this late 2010/early 2011, around the time Eri, JunJun, and LinLin left or were going to leave. I was doing tributes because of the graduation (hence the tributes for the other three girls posted earlier.)

Nacky

Saki Nakajima caricature, a.k.a. Nacky. Okay, maybe this caricature is my favorite of all the ones I drew from 2009-2011. It's exaggerated, but it still looks like Nacky and it still looks cute. Sadly, most of the others don't come close to either of those criteria.

Fanart Corner - Buono!mon Yellow Version

Buono!mon Yellow Version - Momo

And finally, Momo as Pokemon Yellow's Pikachu. It fits, since Momo is rodent-like and has even drawn (and shared the voice of) a Momochu. However, Miya and Airi are still Red and Green in Buono! respectively. Momo is now Pink, to fit her name, so there really needs to be a Clefairy or Jigglypuff (Sing!) Version of Pokemon (a Pokemon Momo/Pink) for current Momo. I think Pikachu's Pokemon Yellow pose fits hyper Momo, though. Anyway, maybe I'll redraw this series, maybe I won't. I have plenty of other fanart ideas to work from.

Chii

Finally a caricature that actually looks like a caricature! It's Chinami Tokunaga! Now her hair is way shorter, though. But still, I think I captured the ever cheerful Chii!