I was part of a nifty little j-pop band that did (or at least TRIED to do) covers of popular japanese tunes, as I’ve mentioned before here, and every time we met, one of us would have a different song he or she wanted to cover.
So one night, a couple of guys suggested we try the latest single from Mr. Children, a song called Namonaki Uta. I’d heard and loved the group’s previous singles like See-Saw Game and Theme of ES, and was all for it! This was early on in Mr. Children’s career, back when their music still had a very “Beatles-ish” flavor to it, and this song was no exception, with its George Harrison-style guitars throughout- I was immediately hooked!
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| Mr. Children |
We attempted a few nights at the studio trying to hammer out the song, and I have to say they handled the difficult vocals of Kazutoshi Sakurai’s “speed singing” pretty well…Unfortunately for me, the driving beat of the song was a KILLER, and ultimately, I have to say my drumming was the thing that probably kept our group back from performing a better cover!
In any case, we had fun playing it, and since it’s not like we were playing in front of an audience or anything (with the exception of our friends, who’d drop by the studio), FUN was the one and only reason to do it! And I ended up loving yet another song from the incredible Mr. Children!
I can't talk about Namonaki Uta without mentioning the J-dorama PURE. The Mr. Children song was the ending theme song for the show, and I can’t think of too many other shows that utilized the theme song so well.
Starring Emi Wakui as a gentle and sweet autistic girl Yuuka Orihara who excels in sculpture, the show covers her life at the crossroads of her career just as she is discovered by the media, with her friends trying desperately to shield her from outside influences. A callous journal photographer has crossed paths with her, but will he manipulate her or will Yuuka’s sweet outlook reach through to his cold exterior? Also starring Tsutsumi Shinichi as said photographer, Takahashi Katsunori, Saki Takaoka, as well as a young Ryoko Shinohara!
At the end of each episode, the show would build up to its “cliffhanger” shock closer, and then the guitar and drums from Mr. Children would kick in, as if to add an exclamation point to the ending, and as the ringing chimes of the chorus would come in, the screen would fade in to the ending credits, with an adorable Emi Wakui tossing feathers into the air, as the credits slowly started scrolling up. I cannot tell you what IMPACT this ending song had to each episode, but if you are one of the veiwers who saw Pure, you already know what I mean! (wipes away tears)
Below: The wonderful closing credits to Pure, complete with a misinterpreted translation, referring to the Mr. Children song as “Namonaki Shi”!
In this closing scene, the Photographer, Toru, is ridden with guilt for exposing Yuuka's eccentricities, while innocently oblivious Yuuka continues to work on her creations...
Comments From Original Post:
MorningBerryz wrote:
I remember you mentioning that your band was working on this amazing Mr.Children song!! This is such an intricate and advanced song in their catalog to attempt!!...and yes Sakurai's rapid vocals coming out of the middle break is just amazing! I always thought that only a true "nihonjin" could pull it off perfectly!
"Pure" really did blend perfectly with Namonaki uta" as a theme song and it just gives you goosebumps doesn't it when she throws up the feathers in the perfect moment matching the song. "Pure" definitely a top favorite J-drama of mines too! ^-^ I did a little fandom gushing over here on Mr.Children earlier this year just in case you'd like to read. ^-^
zdorama wrote:
Just read your Mr. Children entry...I remember you always were the biggest fan.
I remember one time, you printed up for me the romanized lyrics for three of my favorite Mr. Children songs, "Theme of ES", "Namonaki Uta", and "Hana~Memento Mori"...these were really cool, they were color-coded, and also showed a little thumbnail of the CD single cover. In fact, I think I still have them tucked away somewhere.
Yup, "Pure" is definitely one of the top jdoramas in MY listing, too! The song matches the images so well. There were even some endings where the song would start with a drum beat, and they'd show Yuka examining her feathers, and then it would go into the song and she'd throw them up in the air!
BTW, for those who are wondering, Yuka's fixated with wings because her father has died, and she's always dreamed of being a bird so she could fly up to Heaven and visit him. Hence the obsession with feathers, in her art sculpture, and of course the ending credits!
MorningBerryz replied to zdorama’s comment:
All thanks to DW!! :) He was playing their album "Atomic Heart" which was their latest at the time in his car and from then I just had to have it!!...luckily the Kahala location had it in stock!! as I was helping with inventory there. So great that even back then you could find so much J-Pop related stuff on the internet! I'm glad that you kept those...I have them in a folder too still.
Just hearing that melody after awhile would bring tears to your eyes...they just don't really make J-dramas quite like this one anymore it seems. I just haven't cried like that recently it seems...the imagery was so perfect with the song and the viewer really connected the two together within just a few episodes.
Ah your memory's much better than mine!!...I've been finding a lot of older J-dramas on DVD lately with subtitles (sometimes the subs aren't the best but you can still follow them okay especially since we already know what's going on) including "Hitotsu yane no shita." I'm guessing that "Pure" may also be available too...as they seemed to have covered a lot of the classics.
Anise & Cloves wrote:
Wow~ I totally remember this series.. In fact, I just went to dig through my old junk at my Grandma's house a couple weekends ago and found my old video tape recordings of PURE and other J-dramas that played around that time. XD; I unfortunately, didn't have the full series so I ended up tossing them.
I thought this was such a great song to compliment the series~ I remember being surprised by how the cover of the single looked.. considering Mr. Children had always appeared so "clean cut" previously. XD
zdorama replied to Anise & Cloves’
1996 really seemed like a golden age for terrific japanese dramas, didn't it?
A few of the shows I recall airing that year almost read like a "best of":
"Long Vacation"
"Aishiteiru To Ittekure" (Say you Love Me)
"Second Chance"
"Hoshi No Kinka" (Heaven's Coins)
"Pure"
"Kagayake! Rintaro"
"Mada Koi Wa Hajimaranai"...
Pretty Amazing, ne!
