Nichijou OP Single – Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C – Review
| Album Title: | Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C |
|---|---|
| Anime Title: | Nichijou |
| Artist: | Hyadain (Kenichi Maeyamada), Sasaki Sayaka |
| Catalog Number: | LACM-4801 |
| Release Type: | OP/ED Single |
| Release Date: | April 27, 2011 |
| Purchase at: | CDJapan, Play-Asia |
| Track Title | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 01. Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C | Hyadain | 3:54 |
| 02. Hyadaruko no Kakakata Kataomoi-F | Hyadain | 3:53 |
| 03. Choose me feat. Sasaki Sayaka | Hyadain, Sasaki Sayaka | 3:59 |
| 04. Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C (without Hyadain) | Hyadain | 3:53 |
| 05. Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C (without Hyadaruko) | Hyadain | 3:53 |
| 06. Hyadain no Kakakata Kataomoi-C (off vocal) | Hyadain | 3:53 |
| 07. Choose me feat. Sasaki Sayaka (off vocal) | Hyadain | 3:59 |
Review: We’ve all heard it before: the fluttering emotions, the nervous glances, and the outpouring of emotion, all set to a quiet piano/string ballad. Songs that cover the concept of first love don’t get any more orthodox than that and frankly, I feel that it’s overdone. After the nth iteration, I desire a presentation that’s different, something that’s off the beaten path.
Hyadain’s latest creation does just that. Hyadain, the internet pseudonym of composer Kenichi Maetamada, has made a name for himself through his anime and video game music arrangements which have reached memetic status on both Nico Nico Douga and Youtube. He first popped on my radar through the perennial favorite, “Four Elemental Fiends” from Final Fantasy IV, but the song that really turned me into a fan was the “Western Show” from Super Mario World. Both of these works are packed with energy, excitement, and hilarity borne from Hyadain’s lyrics and his singing, and he takes these quirks into “Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C,” giving the first-love theme a much-needed, enjoyable facelift.
The descent into “Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C’s” madness begins with an energetic opener, expressing all the anxieties that two people experience while in the throes of first love. Here’s the catch: the presentation suggests that both people are in love with one another, but neither person realizes this and so deny the mutuality of their emotions. At least, that’s the feeling I get from the interaction between the male vocals (sung by Hyadain) and the female vocals (also sung by Hyadain!) as the female part finishes up the male’s initial train of thought, together providing an excellent setup for what follows as the emotions get the better of them.
The break from this mounting insanity begins with a five-note chiptune introduction that segues into a more melancholy segment. The tempo slows and I like how the rhythm makes this section feel heavy, as it depicts the full weight of the emotions bearing down upon the singer. It also helps that, in addition to the chiptunes, this section features a sprinkling of doo wop in the background to make it all the more engaging. Once it closes out, we’re back to the craziness!
And crazy it is. Rambunctious too. Even if you don’t know any Japanese, the repetition of syllables should make it obvious that the singers are stuttering in their nervousness as their minds become unhinged by the chaotic swirl of emotions they experience. Hyadain’s delivery reinforces this state of mind and the turbulence continues all the way up to the end, interrupted only by a bipolar section that adds variety to all of the pandemonium going down.
The B-side, “Choose me feat. Sasaki Sayaka” is an interesting follow-up in that this piece reeks of desperation. Whereas “Kakakata☆Kataomoi” is plagued by doubts and denial, but delivered in an energetic fashion, “Choose me” takes those same feelings and takes them lower into the realm of despondency. The delivery feels like a series of questions directed at one’s self-worth since the tone starts off with a hint of loneliness, but increasingly grows agitated, approaching the point of anguish. This anguish materializes through the autotune-enabled lilt, which, if you weren’t paying attention to the lines that came before, should seize your attention as the song heads to the pleading intonation of the repetitious “Choose me Choose me,” followed by the hail of “no no no nos.” The depressing aura that exudes from this section, combined with the subsequent rapping that feels self-flagellating, brings the tortured emotions to light. Though it might not have Hyadain’s usual brand of silliness, “Choose me” showcases how his arrangement of the instrumentals can be used to channel the heartbreak and bring a good complement to “Kakakata☆Kataomoi.”
Because of my close connection to video game music, Hyadain’s arrangements of game music are dearer to my heart than his more recent “Kakakata☆Kataomoi,” but the passage of time should take care of that. Nichijou’s manically-paced opening has been delightful through and through and I have no plans to ever skip that intro while watching the anime.
Rating: Very Good
Nichijou OP – Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C
Out of all the shows this season I can’t think of another OP that can top this one…
…not even Maria Holic Alive.
Anohana’s OP is quite close to Nichijou’s in quality, I think. Reflects the mounting drama in Anohana quite nicely with the crescendo in the middle. 🙂
But in terms of lightheartedness? Nichijou, definitely. XD
Nice review, the words truly captured the emotional essence of the OP theme, even if it disguises itself as a happy moe fun song.
Also, the thing I liked the most about this OP single is how male parts (Hyadain) and female parts (Hyadain also, or in the case of Choose Me, Sasaki Sayaka) goes back and forth with these realizations, sometimes to the point of rebutting, which gives the songs sort of a dialogue, which is considered a difficult thing to pull off most of the time in other genre aside from old love songs or ballad songs. Usually the female just sings second voice, or just repeat lines (ala Disney style) to accentuate the romantic parts, which is kind of cheating. The emotions really flourish throughout the songs, and they didn’t even go to Ja Rule territory, which comprises 99% of “featuring” pieces. And I like denpa, so that is always a plus.
yeah reminds me of disney, which is kinda weird considering that i havent watched disney for some time
@lollipop
This one’s certainly a fun one. I’m not sure which I’d call the best of the season, but as Khu points out, the Ano Hana one is pretty enjoyable too since it gives off the Spitz vibe that I loved so much from Honey and Clover.
@Khu
I think the only other lighthearted song this season is also from Nichijou. I really love the innocent vibe that flows out of Nichijou’s ED and hopefully the single will come out soon enough so I can get my hands on that.
@roy
Good catch on the dialogue as well as the dissonance going on between the tone of the song versus its content. This is one of those songs where a knowledge of Japanese is useful so that one can better appreciate the nuances that are going on. Without it, it just sounds like a happy, rambunctious anime OP, but with the lyrics, you can see that it’s more about the chaos that first love brings to the mind of the couple being referenced.
And does this count as denpa? I’m never all too sure how the classification works, so I usually compare stuff to MOSAIC.WAV and see how similar it is before I designate it denpa.
@some loser
I’m not sure how Disney-ized it is since aren’t they more prone to using standard pop songs? At least, I can’t recall any Disney songs that had this level of insanity.
oh no no i was thinking about the background music of the series, sorry, disregard everything that i said. the op has that intriguing peaceful moment though.
@zzeroparticle
I agree that Anohana has a good, if not fanatastic OP, but I still believe Nichijou has it for this season. It’s upbeat, it’s catchy, it’s different, and it’s easy to listen to. I would argue that if there’s an OP that is as addictive and fun to listen to as Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C it would be Os-Uchuujin from Denpa. Sure, it’s annoying as hell to listen to and it doesn’t help that track #2 is equally annoying, but it’s damn addictive.
I don’t even know why.
Always worth taking a look at the official music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osWXbe7MbGE
Perhaps of interest, Hyadain was actually a very well known music uploader on Nico Nico Douga who remixed BGM from games and anime. He worked on these for personal pleasure and uploaded them despite working as a professional already within the anime industry. Last year he came out on his blog that he was Hyadain, and thus this song for Nichijou was created with his other alias in it. On that note, it’s quite the popular video on NicoDou at the moment, and seems to have a good response.
@zzeroparticle
Sure it’s denpa. It’s got the fast-paced happy melody and the eccentric singing. Denpa isn’t exclusive to MOSAIC.WAV, though they popularized the genre. Also Denpa is sort of a general term for anything Japanese electronic pop, hence Den (電) + POP, but in practice, it is written as “Electromagnetic waves song” (電波ソング).
However, I agree that the current classification is still vague. You can’t distinguish “true” denpa artists (MOSAIC.WAV, IOSYS and UNDER17 are your contenders) from everything else denpa, like those cute anime songs usually produced by Lantis. So my way of categorizing is, I just personally call those 3 bands and the likes “Akiba Pop”, of course based from a MOSAIC.WAV song, since it’s more catchy. And I just call the rest just “denpa”. Usually “Akiba Pop” doesn’t have a seiyuu singer, and has deep roots in eroge and doujin music. That way, I can call something like Hare Hare Yukai denpa, and still keep the line between different songs based on their nature.
@some loser
OK, that makes a lot more sense. Yes, I’ve been very much enjoying Nichijou’s oddball orchestral soundtrack given that it’s a slice of life series, and I really do look forward to a soundtrack release and will keep an eye out for that.
@Lollipop
Yeah, in terms of diversity, Nichijou’s OP wins on that count. As I said earlier, Ano Hana does sound a lot like Spitz… not a bad thing, but if you’re looking for something new, it’s better to look for it elsewhere.
As for Denpa Onna’s OP? Maaaan, I’m not sure about that one. The singer is killing it for me pretty handily…
@Kylaran
You have no idea how man times I’ve watched that over the past few days. Also interesting to see Aso Natsuko do some lip syncing.
Beyond that, I did touch on his VGM arrangements. And sadly, I’m still addicted to that Western Show (or is that a good thing?).
@roy
I think my head’s still spinning a bit from trying to figure out the nuances, but thanks for the bit of clarification so I can at least get somewhere on the right track. I’ll assume then (to make sure I get what you’re saying) that most anison like “Girlippi” from Pani Poni Dash, “Nekomimi Mode” from Tsukiyomi Moon Phase, and the OP to Ika Musume fall under the realms of denpa then?
If you look at it in a way, yes. But sometimes even for me, it feels weird to just drop the term “denpa” to any moe-pop anisong. I wonder how the Japanese composers really call these music in the industry…
@roy
I’m pretty cool with the term moe-pop actually. I’ll probably keep that shelved in the back of my mind for later use :p
@ 0:08 He got me!
“He first popped on my radar through the perennial favorite, “Four Elemental Fiends” from Final Fantasy IV, but the song that really turned me into a fan was the “Western Show” from Super Mario World”
I was unaware this was his work until I heard the voice. That made my day.
In regards to the opening, the singing reminds me of the raw-natured singing found in Folk Music. Doesn’t try to be musical at all, just straightforward syllable-machine-gunning as I expected in Energetic songs like this. Song = Success. But darn that kid at 0:08! 😉
@Rhythmroo
You have something for people who love Helvetica fonts? :p
But yeah, it’s certain got the raw, energetic feel to it, which is kind of funny since that’s something that feels more apparent in Western folk. The Japanese folk music that I’ve been exposed to have been more of the laid-back pastoral fare than the energetic happy-go-lucky feel that you get from this one (even if the theme is more uncertainty/doubt).
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