medorē #31 – Q1 Standouts
featuring Natsudaidai, NOMELON NOLEMON, Aida Rikako (and more!)
Hello! It’s now been four straight months of me putting out a post that’s not an Exchange/Rate review; honestly kinda proud of myself. Hopefully I can keep this up for the rest of the year!!
That said, welcome back to another installment of the medorē. In case it’s your first time visiting, this is an occasional thing I do on omunibasu where I make a list of some songs that I’ve recently discovered/liked, and simply showcase & give my thoughts on them in a post. It’s a simple concept, just like any other song roundup, but I truly do enjoy putting these together since I have a strong appreciation for a lot of the music I come across and hopefully I can convey that well through my writing!
If you’re a long-time follower of the blog, you may remember that this segment was originally more frequent than usual, with me at one point even boldly claiming that it would be something I’d post every single week. Well… things change and while I’m more comfortable doing these medorēs whenever I’m in the right mood, I feel bad that I never gave myself the opportunity to thoroughly talk about *most* of the songs I stumbled upon these past couple years. So as a way to fulfill that, I decided to do these ‘quarterly roundups’, meaning that every three months I stop being lazy and write about some of my personal favorites that has come out within each quarter (Q2’s roundup would be posted sometime in July, Q3 in October, and then the usual/ultimate finale in December).
By doing this, I maintain my normal, self-paced medorē postings (with random installments scattered here and there) while also not neglecting it entirely. In addition, this will give you all a taste on what could show up on my year-end favorites post, and for the ones that don’t end up making it, I still get to talk about them either way. Hopefully this will work out and that I don’t forget, but trust me, I will genuinely try my best to follow this new schedule.
But yeah! This list also happens to have a lot of media tie-ins, so let’s just jump right in!
♫ 「Kimochi」 goethe
Released: 2025.02.07
The first time I listened to goethe and their music was a few years back, when I stumbled upon their Zanzo no Yukue EP from 2022. Absolutely fell in love with a song like “Kiseru” and I just couldn’t help but to enjoy the more low-key, gentle nature of their stuff (and especially the smooth vocals from Higuchi Taichi).
The Sapporo-rooted band recently released a brand new EP this past February, titled Uchinaru Wakusei, and while I’ve been listening to it here and there, I generally think it’s another familiar and sweet release from them. And one song in particular really caught my eye, it being “Kimochi”.
Again, it conveys the serene nature that this band likes to present with their music but I do like how they did a more R&B, slow ballad type of track this time around. The combination of that classic dreary piano with brighter instrumentals from the synth-y keyboards and subtle guitar playing works so nicely here, and it can feel like a really nice contrast between the two. Add on Taichi’s more passionated and almost desperate-sounding vocal performance—the lyrics are about someone not wanting to let go of a relationship that means a lot to them—and it makes for a really nice, cool track that’s easy on the ears.
♫ 「Rain Shower」 Natsudaidai
Released: 2025.02.05
Back in December, you may have noticed me mention this artist in the ‘honorable mentions’ section of my year-end roundup. Natsudaidai was a pretty awesome discovery from 2024, and while I felt really bad that I couldn’t find a spot for them on my top 10 favorite songs of the year, I absolutely loved finding out about this duo, especially with their cool ass bop that is “Green tea”. And to take some inspiration from my guy Leap and how he gives a deserved shout-out to some up-and-coming artists in his Roundup awards, I considered Natsudaidai to be one to look out for in the new year.
And whaddaya know, they started off 2025 with a serious bang, and a song that you most likely will see me mention again in December, titled “Rain Shower”.
It’s hard not to love the grooviness and soulful composition of this song. It’s executed incredibly well, while also giving off a bit of an old-school, 80s-like atmosphere to it with the specific drum loops and synths they use here. But also, the overall mood feels perfect for its title since I could absolutely see this being a track you can vibe with on a cloudy, rainy day. And what brings it all together are the smooooooooooth vocals from You; the way she hits those high notes in the chorus just makes “Rain Shower” something you can easily come back to over and over again. Truly, I am not surprised that it’s become one of my most listened-to songs of the year so far and I’m really looking forward to hearing more bangers from this talented duo.
And coincidentally enough, Natsudaidai released their second EP the other day, and I would highly suggest checking it out for yourself!
♫ 「Explosive Heart」 Uchida Aya
Released: 2025.01.20
While I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned Uchida Aya on the blog, she is someone that I have been very much aware and fond of. Ever since I first heard her in YuruYuri as the sister of Himawari (who is also voiced by Mimori Suzuko lol) and later got to know her better as Minami Kotori in the first Love Live series… I’ve always loved Ucchi, especially now as an avid LL fan, and I do feel like her performance as Kotori is a huge reason why that character is one of the most popular ones from that franchise.
Ucchi has provided a good handful of opening/ending themes for various anime, with the most recognizable one possibly being “Sign” from the first season of Gotoubun no Hanayome. And this past season, she performed yet another fantastic/fun song in “Explosive Heart”, specifically for the super hero-slash-isekai anime Sentai Red Isekai de Boukensha ni Naru.
Even though I lost interest in that anime sometime ago, I absolutely love this song from Ucchi. Her vocals feel very unique compared to a lot of the seiyuu music I’ve come across, and I do find it interesting that she’s kinda maintained that higher pitched, cutesy styling when it came to her own solo music career. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I have noticed with a lot of the seiyuu who come from the Love Live series, they tend to branch out a bit and show off a different side to their singing voices compared to how we’re used to them sounding within this particular school idolsphere. However, it’s no secret that the ‘Kotori’ vocal type works really well with Ucchi (as well as the fact that her voice seems naturally high pitched anyway) and “Explosive Heart” is yet another great showing of her abilities & personality.
It’s a really catchy song, especially in the chorus; and again, while I never got to finish the anime of which this was featured in, I can imagine the lyrics are very reflective of the show’s main heroine (Yihdra) and her internal thoughts about Togo/Kizuna Red, which I thought was nice.
♫ 「WINNER! GOZYUGER!」 Wienners
Released: 2025.03.19
Speaking of Sentai…
For the past year or so, I’ve definitely been more enveloped by the world of Tokusatsu (aka live-action TV/movie franchises that revolve around ‘practical special effects’). While my first foray into this was through Anno Hideaki’s 2023 film Shin Kamen Rider, I’ve gotten a taste of the more traditional & television-focused side of this phenomenon when I started watching the latest installment of the KR series, Kamen Rider Gavv. And to my own surprise, I’ve been REALLY enjoying the story of Gavv; following Shouma and the rest of the gang every week has genuinely been engaging/entertaining and the most recent arc in particular was super good (especially as a Hanto day one-r).
And as per usual with these Toei hero shows, a new iteration of Super Sentai airs alongside the on-going Kamen Rider program, with No.1 Sentai Gozyuger joining the lineup back in February. And while this show (and Sentai as a whole) hasn’t been as appealing to me compared to Kamen Rider, I still think Gozyuger’s a fun show so far and it’s a pretty neat one to pair with another amusing tokusatsu like Gavv. (plus it also happens to feature a great group of voice actors like Sugita Tomokazu, Ueda Reina and Kaji Yuki)
And similarly with my appreciation for Gavv’s opening theme, I’ve quickly come to like the OP for Gozyuger, titled “WINNER! GOZYUGER”, performed by the pop/rock band Wienners. It’s just such an incredibly fun song, and while I haven’t listened to anything from this band in the past, they feel like a natural fit for a tie-in like this. The opening part reminds me a lot of cheer-leading chants in order to get the energy flowing, and the verses give off heavy ‘we’re about to embark on an awesome adventure’ vibes, thanks to the strong vocal performance from TAMAYA2060%. And of course, once you hear the chorus, it has some serious potential to get stuck in your head for the rest of the day. I also thought it was such a cool touch to see the band incorporate many elements from the actual show into this track, like the clapping for when the Gozyugers do their transformations or even the bell sounds that are based on the villain’s grunt unit.
♫ 「Midnight Reflection」 NOMELON NOLEMON
Released: 2025.01.17
The Mobile Suit Gundam franchise has always been a massive staple in the animation/otaku world, lemme make that clear. But similar to what I said in a previous post, I really don’t think it’s far-fetched to say that the Witch from Mercury anime gave this iconic series a jolt of popularity, as it introduced (or maybe even, appealed to) a lot of newer/younger people—like myself—to the vast world of Gundam. That said, it feels like the latest & upcoming iteration, GQuuuuuux, is building off that recent/increased popularity while also providing a retelling of the original Universal Century storyline.
A month or so ago, I ended up watching the first three episodes of GQuuuuuux (or ‘G-Quacks’, as many like to spell it) in theaters, and apart from it being a pretty dang good opener for this upcoming show, I was infatuated with its initial OST. Obviously the opening and ending themes were fun to hear—provided by ultra-popular talents like Yonezu Kenshi and Hoshimachi Suisei—but the insert songs and general BGM tracks that were shown throughout the film, I thought, were fantastic. To the point where I actually had to Shazam it to make sure I could find them after watching the movie (lol).
One of my favorites had to be NOMELON NOLEMON’s “Midnight Reflection”. It’s weird because I initially thought YOASOBI was doing another song for the Gundam franchise, especially since the vocal performance at first reminded me a lot of Ikuta Lilas’ voice. But as I found out later, this was actually from another talented pop music duo.
My main takeaway of this song is that it’s such an fascinating one to be featured in the Gundam franchise of all things, especially since GQuuuuuux is connected to a world that was originally created back in the 1970s/80s. However, in no way does it feel ‘out of place’, and since this new show now has a very modern, cyberpunk-y visual style… this song ends up fitting incredibly well with this fresh take on the UC timeline. I love the cool electro-pop tone it gives off and hearing the fast-paced energy of the chorus felt perfect for the action-packed nature of this show.
And overall, I do really like how GQuuuuuux is going full-on Reiwa pop with this anime series, and considering how we’ve already seen an elite list of names involved, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing who else’ll make a musical appearance.
♫ 「bubble (2025 Remastered ver.)」 botakura.
Released: 2025.01.29
…technically this is a new version of a song that originally came out in 2024, but screw it, this is my roundup. I still wanted to feature it (lol).
In all seriousness though, this song unfortunately won’t make the December roundup because of that reason, but with how much I’ve been playing it on repeat for the past couple months, I just had to talk about it here.
Recently had the pleasure of coming across the latest EP from five-piece pop band Botanical no Kurashi (or more commonly referred to as ‘botakura.’), and it’s honestly become one of my favorite releases of 2025 so far. As someone who generally likes listening to relaxed, feel-good music, they are very much up my alley; and what makes them even more appealing is their strong jazz vibes (primarily through them having a dedicated sax player in the band) and the soulful vocals from frontwoman Siyo. Would highly suggest checking out that EP I mentioned, it’s very nice.
But like I said: despite it being a release from last year, “bubble” has absolutely taken over my heavy rotation these past couple months. This song just exudes serenity in many ways: the warm neo-soul sound, the floaty melodies, the synths that feel marine-like, a chills-inducing vocal performance, and even that gorgeous inclusion of a saxophone towards the tail-end of each chorus… there’s just so much to like about this song, on top of the beautiful MV that accompanies it and its overall melancholic atmosphere, which I’m sure is reflected well within the lyricism. There have been many times where a single song can instantly make me a fan of an artist, and I feel like this is yet another perfect instance of that.
♫ 「Last Live」 Brandy Senki
Released: 2025.02.11
Once again, I will have to thank Leap for introducing me to this artist; more specifically in the August 2024 edition of his Roundup series where he featured another cool song from them, it being “Akuma no You na” (which I had on heavy repeat at one point).
And while Brandy Senki is not an ‘all-female’ band like the ones I’m about to mention, it still is fascinating to see how many young rock groups have come to fruition nowadays. I’m sure there are multiple factors on why that’s the case; whether it’s because of the influence of certain, iconic bands (e.g., SCANDAL, SHISHAMO, Chatmonchy, BAND-MAID, and so on) or how there’s been a recent boom in girls rock-related media like with the ever-so-popular Bocchi the Rock, BanG Dream!, or Girls Band Cry franchises… whatever the case may be, it’s honestly cool to see this particular niche within Japanese media/music getting even more exposure, especially with people outside of Japan.
I had a hard time deciding which Brandy Senki song to go with here: “Last Live”, or the one they just released in “The End of the F***ing World”. And while I have been enjoying the latter and is another great song from this unit, I do feel like I favored the former a bit more. I absolutely loved listening to that somber tone in the first half, as you get a very good feel for the instrumental performances/abilities of each member and how nice of a voice frontwoman Hazuki has. But the way they transition into this more hyper pace in the second half didn’t feel that jarring as some may expect, and having that sudden jolt of energy made this track even more fun to listen to. Gives off a familiar ‘carefree’, almost defiant spirit, which seems suitable for a band like this.
I also found the music video for this song to be really fun to watch. Being someone who got to experience the pure busy-ness of Akihabara last year, it’s actually pretty sweet to see Brandy Senki film an entire music video within an environment like that; I can only imagine how cool it’d be to stroll around that town and stumble upon a band recording an MV of theirs out in the open.
♫ 「Is this love?」 Aida Rikako
Released: 2025.02.18
Not to be confused with the recent XG song, which is also great in its own right…
If I’m being honest, I had a few other upbeat songs that could’ve occupied this spot. FRUITS ZIPPER’s first hit of the year in “Kagami”. “AI SEE CHAT” from Saishu Mirai Shoujo, which also happens to be yet another one of Yamamoto Sho’s viral bops. Hell, I wouldn’t have minded talking about the recent =LOVE track that absolutely skyrocketed in popularity (“Tokubechu, Shite”).
However, my Love Live/seiyuu fandom ended up having higher priority, and not gonna lie, I don’t have a problem with it in this case.
Rikyako is a bit of an interesting case when it comes to the Aqours seiyuu and their own solo music careers. For me personally, I’m pretty used to her conveying a more toned-down & light-hearted mood within her discography—as heard in some of the other anime tie-ins she’s done such as “Hanauta to Mawarimichi” and “ORDINARY LOVE”—which, without-a-doubt, fits her pretty darn well. However, I adore whenever a vocalist tries a new style or genre (one related example is fellow Aqours member Saito Shuka putting out a more chill, R&B type track last year), and I think that’s exactly what we got with this recent song from Rikako, titled “Is this love?”, also used as the ending theme to the anime Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai.
While many Aqours fans already know how adorable Rikako can be, this feels like a juiced-up version of what we’re used to. She’s really going all-out with it here, and yes, I am also all for it. Hearing a more animated Rikyako honestly does feel refreshing, and while the aforementioned & usual pleasant, lady-like vibe suits her beautifully, this song proves that she does have the vocal range and personality to pull off a more vibrant & burikko-like performance. Plus, the added trumpets and pianos do a great job amplifying the fun energy of this track, making this an easy stand-out for me personally.
…this choice also might’ve been influenced by me watching a ton of Aqours seiyuu/Rikyako clips these past couple months, but I digress.
Aaaaand that’s all I got for you today!
The year has barely started and it’s pretty incredible that there’s already been a slew of great music. That said, I hope you all enjoyed this list! I had a lot of fun putting this together and if any song/artist ended up catching your eye, I’d say that’s a job well done from me :P
And as always, I created a dedicated Spotify playlist for every song mentioned in this roundup, in case anyone needs it. Feel free to save it!
Lastly, if you wanna read my thoughts on another superb release from earlier in the year, definitely go check out the blurb I provided on the This Side of Japan newsletter, where I talked about “Old Friends”: a heart-warming collaboration between three talented artists in YonYon, SIRUP and Shin Sakiura. You will most likely see this particular song again in December, but if you’re curious about what I thought about it, feel free to visit Ryo’s Substack to read it!
I think that’s all. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Any feedback is appreciated and I’m also open to hearing your favorites from the year so far.
Thanks for reading!! :D
-al