Interest

Mamotte Shugogetten Opening Song Makes Music Charts 17 Years After Debut

It's been a good week for Surface, the two-man musical unit that disbanded in 2010. Although they recorded the theme song for Mamotte Shugogetten, "Saa" ("Well"), in 1998, they've received an unexpected windfall thanks to its use on a popular comedic skit contest program, King of Conte, on October 11.

The skit features the comedy duo Korokoro Chikichiki Peppers ("Korochiki" for short) as they practice table tennis. One member, Sōto Nishino, is nervous about playing but gets into a certain groove when he does. Try as he might, his partner, Nadal, can't keep him from busting out his weird dance moves. The song "Saa" is probably included for its resemblance to the tennis phrase "serve" pronounced in a Japanese accent.

The skit has revived interest in the catchy pop song, and by October 13 it had shot up to 6th place on the Japanese iTunes singles chart, 5th place on the daily chart, 2nd place on the rock singles chart, and 1st place on the anime chart; as of this writing it had reached 5th place on the overall singles chart. It also propelled Korochiki to 2nd place in the contest.

The surge in popularity caught Yoshiharu Shiina, the singer and songwriter of "Saa," by surprise; he had not seen the skit. Nishino contacted him via Twitter to inform him that the song made a great impression on him, apologize for using it without Shiina's permission, and request further use of the song. Shiina granted the request, but wants to be informed of this use so he can watch the skits. He also suggested teaming up with Korochiki in the future, which Nadal got very excited over.

Mamotte Shugogetten ("Protect Me, Shugogetten"), which is based on a manga by Minene Sakurano, tells the story of an ordinary boy named Tasuke who receives a Chinese ring from his father with a magical guardian girl, Shaorin Shugogetten, inside. Sakurano was so surprised by hearing about the surge in popularity that she almost spit out the tea she was drinking.

Sakurano announced on her blog on Friday that she is working on the manuscript for a sequel to her Guardian Angel Getten (Mamotte Shugogetten) manga. She plans to serialize the sequel with the publisher Mag Garden, and she will announce more details as they are confirmed.

However, Sakurano noted that she has been working on the sequel before the song "Saa" appeared on King of Conte.

[Via Yaraon!, Mantan Web, Otakomu and Barks]