Credits

I would like to give credit where credit is due. Videos are from YouTube and other sources such as NicoNico while Oricon rankings and other information are translated from the Japanese Wikipedia unless noted.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Naomi Tamura -- Ready Go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEKnSvosXl8

When I listen to Naomi Tamura's (田村直美) "Ready Go!", I instantly think about a colorful paradise-like place full of happiness. Ok, that's exaggeratedly sugary, but we're truly talking about a happy song.

Released in March 2002, it served as the fifth opening theme for the popular Pokémon (ポケットモンスター) anime. That kind of explains the dynamic adventure feeling portrayed by the light techno synths and Naomi's beautiful vocals. Also, besides being a great pop song, "Ready Go!" was one of the first J-Pop songs I listened ten years ago. I remember that its type of sound shocked me (I was young and not aware of many music genres), and made me think of J-Pop in a very special way, or, in other words, as something quite distinct from what American pop music sounded at the time (Hip hop was everywhere around 2003~2004 and, personally, I don't like it as a music genre at all). Based on that, I get nostalgic every time I listen to "Ready Go!".

While lyrics were written by Naomi herself and Kunimi Kwamura (川村久仁美), music and arrangement were done by Tanaka Hirokazu (たなかひろかず). The single reached #95 on the Oricon charts.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Feel free to provide any comments (pro or con). Just be civil about it.