Welcome to a CCLemon99 CD Collection review. It's been awhile since I've taken a look at a CD release...and I definitely have an interesting one here. This is my look at the Tokusatsu GaGaGa Original Soundtrack. It isn't the only thing I've posted today, though. I also had a listen to the related/unrelated Tokusou Robo Janperson Song Collection.
I can't say that I'm a fan of Tokusatsu GaGaGa. I know it's meme status, but this type of parody with edge type thing never attracts me. This type of endeavor always screams "Hey you, dork. This is for you! You'll like that we acknowledged these tropes that we noticed too!". Feh. I didn't really care when Toei did it with Akibaranger, either. Being the consummate Tokusatsu music collector, however, has forced my hand at snapping up the Original Soundtrack.
All of that out of the way, let's dig into this CD!
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NHK Drama 10 Tokusatsu GaGaGa Original Soundtrack
OMR-0018
2019.02.27
As I mentioned above, I've never seen the series. I love obscure Tokusatsu music collections, though. Do you know anybody else that owns the soundtrack to Evolver? I don't. I try to snap up these obscure releases when they come out. Funny story... I didn't preorder this one, but I ordered it like a week after it was released. Amazon kept giving me shipping updates ("Your item will ship within the next month") over and over. Yeah, after six months of waiting I found someone in Wisconsin, of all places, that was selling a sealed copy. Weird. I have it, though. If you plan on ordering from Amazon, it says it's available but I think that claim is dubious.
The artist behind this soundtrack is Akio Izutsu. This is his lone Tokusatsu series composition, but hardly his first overall. His TV soundtrack resume is enormous for someone that has only been at it for just over a decade. I don't recognize a single title, but damn...
I guess I should start with the bad news. This CD doesn't contain the series theme opening song GaGaGaGaGaGaGa by Golden Bomber. That song is available on a separate CD single, which I may cover in the future. Considering the nature of this independent release, I guess the labels couldn't come to an agreement. On the upside, this CD is packed. Clocking in at a whopping seventy-six minutes, it would probably mean that something would have to be cut to make space for the OP. I guess it made more sense to omit it in the end...
The music... Hey, you know what? This CD is actually really good. Toei, Tsuburaya, and Toho have infinite money poured into soundtracks that are increasingly sounding similar by the year. Sometimes it takes a scrappy independent production to have a unique soundtrack. Granted, a lot of the time soundtracks of this nature sound exactly what they are...one guy playing 90% of the instruments. It's the level of care that the composer puts in that makes the difference. Izutsu really put in the effort... His credits on this include...
Electric Bass, Guitars, Mandolin, Ukelele, Melodion, Percussion, Whistle, Voice, Keyboards (and other instrumental programming)
There are only a handful of other credited artists that cover the orchestral bits, but most of this album is Izutsu. It's all very good considering that this was for a very limited-run series. Like any Tokusatsu soundtrack, it has it's pieces for every situation. There are also two vocal songs. Maybe I should talk about those...
04. Kyuukyuuki Emerjason no theme / Kenichi Suzumura
This is half of the reason I am also reviewing the Janperson Song Collection today. Check it here.
The show-within-a-show in Tokusatsu GaGaGa is Kyuukyuuki Emerjason. Aesthetically, Emerjason is a a thinly-veiled homage to Tokusou Robo Janperson, Toei's Metal Hero series for 1993. They even got weird little details down like the look of the 3" CD Single sleeve and the near-nonsensical portmanteau of a name.
The only thing that isn't a clear send-up to Janperson is this theme song. It isn't bad, but it could have emulated the 90s style to make the connection just a little bit better. Remember in the movie Zebraman when they showed a clip of the fictitious 1970s Zebraman series?
It definitely embodies the spirit of a Tokusatsu theme song, just not a 90s one. That said...I do dig it.
15. ♥Ni shot! MAX Power! / Natsumi Kawaida
I guess context is important. I dread songs like this... If there is one upside, Natsumi Kawaida does does the irritating singing voice very well...and I mean that in a good way. Sheesh, that was the most backhanded compliment ever.
Anyway...
I guess it's also worth mentioning the presentation. Yes, this is absolutely an independently released album. Can you tell? The only thing official in the artwork is the show's basic manga-esque logo and backdrop. You won't find a single photo anywhere on this disc. Even a small image on the back cover would've given some the appearance some life, but I guess in the world of digital music the CD release is superfluous.
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The best way to describe this soundtrack is that it's a very easy listen. It's surprisingly dense for what is mostly a one-man show. It's over an hour of some solid tunes with two songs from the series thrown in for good measure.
I definitely recommend this CD purchase if you can find it. It's a quality album of some extremely competent soundtrack music.
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That's it for this CD review. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you soon!
-CC
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