I can’t actually remember what made me first decide to start renting episodes of SMAPxSMAP, the variety program featuring SMAP, the big guys of Johnny’s Jimusho themselves, but I do know what I loved about it: the SMAP BISTRO segment, by far!
Nowadays SMAP BISTRO is an open platform and the guests that visit the Bistro are from all walks of life and nations, from Charlize Theron to Stevie Wonder to Quentin Tarentino, but way back in ‘96 back then, it was solely a “Japanese Female Guests only” segment, and on any given day you could see actresses and talento ranging from older guests like Shinobu Otake and Toake Yukiyo to new up-and-coming girls like Ishida Yuriko and Takako Matsu. Since the guests were all ladies, the prize awarded the winning cooking team was a kiss from the guest of honor!
Anyway, I really LOVED watching that segment, and renting the latest SMAPxSMAP became a mandatory weekly ritual! Besides the Bistro, there were many other fun things to see one the show like games, quizzes and skits, as well as the occasional song here and there.
Mostly the music on SMAPxSMAP was at the end of the show when musical guests like Kome Kome Club or Seiko Matsuda would appear, but whenever SMAP themselves had a new song to promote, they’d usually end the show with a perf of their own latest single.
And so it was that when it came time for SMAP to debut their latest single CELERY, we were treated to a cool, on-set, almost PV-type performance, and I think it’s safe to say that I liked it right away!
As soon as the song began, I was instantly taken in by its breezy, laid back feel. Just listening to the swirling keyboard opening as Tsuyoshi peers out of the sunny window, one gets the feeling of lying in a field of grass gazing up at the clouds in the sky!
Tsuyo begins the song in earnest as Nakai holds up a piece of paper with the words: “Celery: Suki? “, to which Tsuyo postivively acknowledges before sauntering over to wake Goro. just in time to toast the camera and sing his line! The group lounges around the house taking turns singing their lines and sipping wine as Kimutaku strums along on his acoustic guitar as the jazzy mariachi band residing upstairs lends a hand to make the tune a perfect blend of groovin' relaxation…
I love when they build up to that crazy middle, with Shingo and Kimura frenetically rapping faster and faster, and they get so into it, Shingo just HAS to get up and start dancin’!! AHAHAHA!!
Now, the SMAP single CELERY was actually from a Tsuyoshi Kusanagi drama called IIHITO (no wonder Tsuyo looked so happy singing it!) and he played an angelic “Forrest Gump” type of person working at a cynical big-city shoe company. His supervisor was none other than the aforementioned Naomi Zaizen, and I LOVED this woman so much, I ended up renting the series form a video store WITHOUT SUBS, I wanted to see it so much!
I must say that watching a Japanese show with only very, very little understanding in the way of actual Nihongo speak is a long, arduous task, and I ended many an episode with quite a headache! Never mind, I loved the show, and of course the theme song CELERY as well!
Well, that was way back in ’97 or so, and though I’ve subsequently watched literally hundreds of drams since, there was always a spot in my heart saddened that I never got to see one of the early shows I loved translated!
So imagine my happiness and surprise when fellow j-drama enthusiast Sadacori informed me that she actually had a copy of that show- COMPLETELY SUBBED…and was happy to make me a copy! HONTONI?!!! ARIGATOOOO!!!! I was FINALLY able to see the show and understand everything that was going on!
When I popped in that DVD and began watching the show, I was glad to see that it was as good as I remembered, Tsuyo was just as charming as ever, and Zaizen Naomi still had my heart! But for some reason, I wasn’t prepared for the rush of sentimentality that came over me when the show ended and “Celery” began. MAN!! I just got goosebumps, and I was instantly reminded of just how much I adored this song. It took me back to those days living in Mililani when I was just getting into J-pop and everything was fresh and exciting, and it occurred to me that though SMAP has gotten bigger and bigger as the years progressed, there really isn’t a song quite like the sweetness and pacing of CELERY!Really, I think this song is one of their very best, a song DEFINITELY in my top list of fave SMAP songs, if not my Number One!! To answer Nakai’s question posed to Tsuyoshi at the beginning of the video clip, "Yes, Celery Suki da!!!!"
