Well guys, it's April and I just made up another month-long theme for this Saturday corner! Since the Anime genre is usually left behind when it comes to Song of the Week, this month's features will all be from this popular licensed genre. If there is an anime show you really like, feel free to post its name below in the comment section! We'll accept user requests for specific anime series as well.
Let's start this month with an opening theme, coming from aquabluu/pikaby's favourite anime.
Sugar Sugar (シュガー･シュガー) Wagamama Fairy Mirumo de Pon! Charming| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | x2 (???) | x3 (138) | x4 (222) | x6 (329) |
Taiko Anime 2
140
none
mirumo*since the song's original opening version isn't available on Youtube, have the original long version instead!*
There are two types of anime theme songs. The first group is shorter cuts of existing J-Pop songs or more recent J-Pop songs, built to fit into the anime's mood. The second group of anime themes are songs which are specifically composed and performed for the anime. Today's song joins the latter category, featuring a rather unusual musical duo with an interesting background. But let's proceed with order and spend some time talking about the anime itself.
Wagamama Fairy: Mirumo de Pon! (わがまま☆フェアリー ミルモでポン!?, Selfish Fairy: Mirmo de Pon!) is based on the manga series written by Hiromu Shinozuka (篠塚ひろむ) between 2001 and 2005, simply named Mirumo de Pon! In this series, the story revolves around a group of young teenagers and their companion fairies, with the titular Mirumo (Mirmo in the international version) as the prince of the Muglox world (basically a fairy world).
The story starts with a shy eight-grader girl named Kaede Minami, who buys a mug from a mysterious shop. On the way back home, she finds an engraved message under the mug, saying that by making a wish while pouring hot chocolate into the mug, a love fairy ("muglox") will appear and grant her every wish. Driven by a bit of sceptical curiosity, Kaede follows the instructions and wishes to be with her crush, and Mirmo appears as a result. Mirmo's venture to the human world is shortly followed by another bunch of fairies from the Muglox world to other humans in Kaede's city, and each of them -much like Mirmo- can perform magic spells thanks to their own musical instruments. The story seems goofy and childlike at first, but explores deep themes later into the show, with many interactions between the humans and the fairies occurring. The anime spanned four seasons and ended in December 2005.
Featured in the second PS2 Anime compilation with the abridged name of Sugar Sugar, Sugar Sugar Love is the 7th and last opening theme for the anime, for the final season (subtitled 'Charming'). The song is composed by Parquets (パーキッツ), a musical duo made up of composer Tsugumi Kataoka (片岡嗣実) and lyricist/vocalist Manami Fujino (ふじのマナミ). In a rather unusual turn of events for an Anime song, Parquets has been a very active contributor to Konami's rhythm game series Pop'n Music, by releasing many anime song covers and original songs since the beginning of Pop'n's history. In 2009, Parquets was disbanded, as Manami Fujino decided to take an indefinite hiatus; however, both Fujino and Kataoka are still active contributors to Pop'n Music's songlists, with both self-composed songs and partnerships with other Bemani artists.
Much like another Mirumo de Pon! opening theme (Taiko Anime 1's Fun! Fun! Fantasy), Sugar Sugar (Love) is strictly exclusive to the Tobikkiri! Anime Special. Its 6* Oni mode features generic 1/16 note patterns, with occasional small note clusters and almost half of the song covered by Go-Go Time sections.
