Song of the Week
7/29/10 - "Mata Mata Chibiusa Desu"
It's that time again – time for Song of the Week! Out of a desire for things pink and kawaii (like the earbuds I just bought to replace a pair I lost on the bus), or maybe because I just needed a laugh because I'm having a stressful week, I went for a song well-known to myu fans new and old: Chibiusa's main image song, "Mata Mata Chibiusa Desu" ("Again Again It's Chibiusa").
While Chibiusa had four other image songs in the myus – "Chibiusa no Kokoroiki" ("Chibiusa's Shining Guts") from Shin Densetsu Kourin, "Chibiusa no Hanran" ("Chibiusa's Rebellion") from the Kaguya myus, "Pinky Typhoon" from Mugen Gakuen (Kaiteiban), Starlights*Ryuusei Densetsu, and the Shin Kaguya myus, and "Chibiusa no Umi" ("Chibiusa's Sea"), also from the Shin Kaguya myus – "Mata Mata Chibiusa Desu" is probably the most well-known of the five. It only appeared in a couple musicals -- in the second musical, Usagi Ai no Senshi e no Michi, where it debuted, and in the eighth musical, Last Dracul Jokyoku, which borrowed a lot of songs from the second musical.
But, as if to make up for its lack of musical presence, "Mata Mata Chibiusa Desu" is a very popular fankan song; it was performed at all but four fankans from 1999-2005, though its fan event debut was at the 1998 Winter Fan Kansha, held to promote Eien Densetsu (Kaiteiban) - Final First Stage. Usually it is used to introduce a new Chibimoon actress. In the four fankans after the 1999 Golden Week Fankan (the beginning of the streak) in which it did not appear, it was replaced by other Chibiusa songs.
This is, in my opinion, one of the cutest songs in all the myus. Similar to "Chibiusa no Hanran," this song is cute but also has a sense of determination in it, in this case to steal Mamoru from Usagi (something Chibiusa tends to like doing). It's a different sort of determination than in "Chibiusa no Kokoroiki" (whose theme is basically "Usagi messed this all up, I could do better") and is not as sad as "Chibiusa no Umi." The cuteness makes it less a high-energy song than "Pinky Typhoon" as well (perhaps because "Pinky Typhoon" is always a battle song when it appears). I can see why it was used to introduce new Chibimoons, since it does a good job of introducing the listener to who Chibiusa is and her personality. It's also probably one of those songs you don't get tired of hearing in fankans (unlike "La Soldier"), since there were so many Chibimoons – ranging in age from 7 (Kawasaki Mao) to 11 and 8 months (Gunji Ayano) – that you get to hear a variety of voices sing the song.
But the song isn't always done by Chibimoon. It was also sung by Anza, Tonegawa Akari (Jupiter), and Saitou Rei (Pluto) in the Final First Stage Winter Fankan and by Kawasaki Miki and Endou Ado (dressed in strange lolita-esque outfits complete with big bunny ears and feathery gloves) at the Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Kaiteiban) Fankan. (Speaking of Lolita fashion, South Korean Lolita/Märchen fashion designer Robin JooBin did a rather good video of this song on her YouTube channel – you can view that here).
Well that's about it. Hope learning about this song makes you smile, as it did me. Tune in next Thursday to see the next Song of the Week!