Whenever I ask fellow fans of 90’s idol J-pop what it was that got them into the j-music in the first place, the answer inevitably is through anime shows; most notably shows like Ranma 1/2 and the like, which prominently featured songs from idol acts like CoCo, ribbon, etc. as the beginning and ending songs.
For ME, the gateway drug into J-pop came through the 90’s Pioneer animated series “Tenchi Muyo~Ryo-Ohki” which was played constantly on the TV monitors of the Tower Video store I worked nights at! Having never watched modern anime before (closest I'd ever got was the 70’s cartoons like Ikkyu-San and Candy Candy), I didn’t quite know what to make of these space-adventuring, demon-god fighting characters and scenarios, but ONE thing that stood out for me was the MUSIC! I loved the songs so much that I couldn’t HELP but gravitate towards the screen whenever it was on and eventually fell in love with the entire series as a whole!
The first song that brought me in was the ROCKING opening number to the second series, called “Boku wa Motto Pioneer” (I’m A Pioneer), which always started the shows out with a BANG, and what REALLY cinched it for me was the awesome ENDING credits to the first series called “Renai no Sainou” (Talent For Love).
Both songs were sung by Chisa Yokoyama, the voice actress who also supplied the voice for Sasami. Both feature peppy, catchy, hummable songs, both feature great animation, and for MY MONEY, there'll probably NEVER be a BETTER an ending credit sequence than the Talent For Love animated end scene!
Featuring the carrot- obsessed Ryo-oki planting a seed at the beginning of spring, we follow along with him as the music plays, watching him nurse the seedling into a small plant, rake fallen leaves from it during autumn, and protect it from snow during winter! As the song wraps up, we return to spring where, rewarded by his valiant efforts, Ryo-oki pulls up an immense carrot, one which he wastes no time GORGING down…and then immediately PASSING OUT from the overeating experience! LOLOL
This captured all the fun, innocence and warmth of the Tenchi-Muyo show, and OH! How I wanted it on CD! Took MONTHS of ordering and purchasing a whole BUNCH of Tenchi collections til I was able to get my hands on the original soundtrack CD featuring the song, and that soundtrack is still one of my BIG all time faves!
Also had to get EVERY Laserdisc in the original series, shown here (though I couldn't find my copy of Vol.4 with Mihoshi no matter how hard I looked)...
...and later, I even got them on DVD!!!
This newly discovered love of anime and j-pop music was all towards the latter half of 1995, and it could not have been better timing. Because just on the horizon was the epiphany of J-pop acts like the aforementioned CoCo, ribbon, Namie Amuro, Chisato Moritaka, etc, and I was ALSO just about to get into J-DRAMAS, with THE CHEF and Aishiteirute to Ittekure” (Say you Love Me) soon to air!!
From there my life became a completely Nihongo-focused obsession, with Anime, J-Pop and J-dramas dominating my every waking hour! And though my passion has certainly ebbed and flowed through the years, it’s still my MAIN source of entertainment (as anyone even glancing at my blogs can obviously see), and when I happen to take out my old Tenchi-Muyo CDs to listen to, I am taken back to those GOLDEN DAYS of J-pop discovery!!!
Sometimes whenI listen to Chisa’s Renai no Sainou, I’ll be grooving along to it and truly feel “this is where it all began for me!” J-Pop, J-Dramas, J-movies, etc…if not for this sweet and wonderful song as its catalyst, who knows how different my tastes might be today!