In light of the the new series “「TGIF!」Idol♥’s unzipped on way back Fridays” I thought I thought it a good thing to spread more Mochida♥Maki ~♥~…+ I’ve added more content =).

One of the first J-Pop artist’ voices that I fell in love with belongs to Mochida Maki and after some pleading with a friend awhile back she gave me a promotional copy of her debut album titled “Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu” which stands for the four seasons “Spring Summer Fall Winter” respectfully. This is also one if not the very first-first pressing versions of a Japanese album release that I ever acquired and for that simple reason it holds a special sentimental value for me.

There’s just something so aesthetically *pure* and *beautiful* in Mochida Maki’s voice….in fact I’ll go as far as to say it’s one of the most *pure* voices that I’ve encountered in J-Pop over the years and that holds true till this day~. From a gentle clarity, ranging from a whisper in some instances….the sweetness♥ of her vocals also display a unique strength in them……I’m thinking this will make much more sense if you could hear for yourself as she possesses a really wonderfully sweet♥ voice~. ＾　＾

~Recommended listening~

I always find it such a daunting decision to make whenever choosing which tracks to share first (;゜□゜)！！．．． but here I’ll give it my best shot..(人∀`*). But please listen to as many songs as time allows as I think Mochida Maki’s voice will endear to you more and more with the listening of each additional track~. o(*´∀｀)o゛♥

“Sono mama de iiwa~Field no suna”
“Kisetsu no closet”
“Afternoon Tea”
“Itsudatte Itsudatte”
“Suna ni kieteku natsu”
“Anata no yuuki ni naritai”
“Watashirashiku”
“Popular no ki no shita de”
“Shiroi hane”

~Mochida Maki “Anata no yuuki ni naritai” (live on Music Station)~

Firstly note the young dude with the shapely eyebrows in the background…..lol it’s Tsunku♥!!….and why oh why is he acting like a goofball here え～へ(*≧▽≦)！  And I swear to God I just experienced some deja~vu just now typing that….umm I know I’ve gushed* multiple* times*** (a personal record～(*´艸`)）before but this in a text sort of way is waaaaay to surreal (・o・)；。

If you’re like me you’ve pretty much only dreamed~*of seeing Mochida Maki perform any song at all live and this one comes courtesy of Zdorama (a special thank you~* for this evening of nostalgia: also see two posts below =) ) who was wonderful to record this very rare t.v. performance =)!! This is at the very least a third generation copy through VHS but for every ounce of video fuzziness it entails, it so makes up for it and then some for just it’s pure~♥ awesomeness!!!! You know, just to see Mochida Maki live and sing such a catchy♥ song ヽ(。´▽`。)ノ。。！！♥～♥～♥～！！（Now gushing again．．．）(*´∀｀) うれしー♥♥♥！I sense a bit of nervousness in her voice but she still did great!!!

And now to continue, another most favorite♥ song…

~Mochida Maki “Sono mama de ii wa~field no suna” mp3~

~”Sono mama de ii wa~field no suna” has a nice subtle touch of traditional Japanese folk music written into it!…most notable during the chorus portions in the background and I especially love the verses where the delicate touch of her vocals really shine~.

Being that just about all of Mochida Maki’s releases are out of print  =( and can’t be ordered any longer I’ve included the majority of her music discography in this single post =).

Mochida Maki was a member of “Sakurakko Club” prior to her solo career and a favorite song released~* by this oh~so~cute giant of a group is their recording of the iconic “Do-shite?” which I think is one of the all time cutest anime theme songs ever!!…well for me. 😛 　 And she’s so adorably tiny…as was this cute~idol~army~of~a~group! ^-^

The always funny and outrageous “Crayon Shinchan” anime t.v. series features a number of opening and closing themes…this being my absolute favorite closing theme which the show used awhile back. “Crayon Shinchan” can sort of be described as the “Dennis the Menace” of Japanese animation only a bit more on the wild side! We used to get this show regularly here in Hawaii on a local station awhile ago but sadly they’ve stopped broadcasting this really amusing series and I wish they’d bring it back!

This song embodies everything that is fun about anime theme songs as the lyrics are playful and the music’s really upbeat. The choruses in particular are my favorite parts as they’re really wonderfully written with a great hook and I can still picture the ending animation which accompanies it on the show. ^-^ I found this song on a TV anime compilation CD years ago…”Hits TV Animation 1″ it’s just so so cute and extremely catchy  (*´∀｀*) ♪！

~Sakurakko Club Sakuragumi “Do~Shite?” mp3~

Mochida Maki was also featured on the cover of the November 1995 issue of UTB which included a poster pin up as well as a 6 page article on her……article will appear in an upcoming 「TGIF!」Idol♥’s unzipped on way back Fridays post =).

The first pressing of “Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu” (top right) is housed in a slip case and also includes a beautifully shot 30 page photo booklet which tells the tale of “Pandora.” Mochida Maki released 2 albums, the first in March of ’95 and her second in October of ’95 as well as at least 9 singles a total which I’m not totally sure of as I’ve only been able to find 6 of them and there could possibly be a few more although judging by the release dates between them just a few more is imaginable in the time span of her J-Pop activity that if any at all. To my knowledge Mochida Maki’s final single was released on December 17th of 1997 making her music tenure quite a brief one but in this short time span her music releases thrived on great songwriting coupled with her incredibly pure voice which I’d love for you to hear some of! She has acted in a few dramas since and is now primarily involved in anime as a voice actress which is where I’d like to continue as the very first song that I heard by her is from an older anime which is based on the manga of Takahashi Rumiko titled “Mermaid’s Scar” and a following movie “Mermaid Forest.”

The animation is of an older style but the storytelling is well paced, heartfelt…a bit wonderfully creepy too, and will hold the viewer’s interest and these two features have quite a short running time of just under an hour each. The ending theme song “Beads of Tears” is sung by Mochida Maki and I’ll never forget the day that my friend was playing it and I knew the song from the anime “Mermaid’s Scar” :O!

~Mochida Maki “Beads of Tears” mp3~

“Beads of Tears” (English translation)

Like a meteor
Like the fate it seals
My soul burns across the sky close upon its heels
As you once told me there’s a land of dreams
where your life is never done…it goes on and on
Tell me that you’ll never leave me, tell me without words
Am I alone or am I not?

On that day you held me in your arms but was it confusion? Was it an answer?
Beads of tears
Your voice is calling to me why can’t I hear you?
Why aren’t you near me?
Beads of tears
The rosary of all our fears
The prayers of our eternal years all disappear

Promise me we’ll meet again someday if not within this life then in the next life
Beads of tears
I can’t go on without you
Tears of confusion…can’t find a reason
Even now I try to make the slightest sound
Your name’s another thing that’s gone with beads of tears
In this life we’ll never love again but I’ll keep you with me
Treasure your memory
Beads of tears
However will I get through until the next time until the next life
Beads of tears
The rosary of all our fears
The prayers of our eternal years all disappear.

Mochida Maki’s first press “The Story of Pandora” photo booklet which was included with her first album “Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu” remains as one of the more unusual extras I’ve encountered for any J~pop release as the ideals and storytelling have seemingly no connection to her album release and perhaps it was just a fun way to incorporate an extra photo shoot to be included I wonder =)? In any case it’s beautifully shot with an artistic approach and I so love the use of black and white for these!!!…..

~The singles~

“Hohoemi dakeja mienai” is Mochida Maki’s 3rd single which was released on July 21st, 1993 and this single was bit difficult to find as it was the furthest back that I could backtrack in my efforts to acquire her catalog of releases….it’s always really a feat that one faces when you suddenly find an artist/group that you really begin to love only to find out that they’re older releases are no longer available through retailers so of course the best places to search are Yahoo! Japan Auctions, eBay, or used online record stores such as Otokichi Premium. I’d categorize this song as a *lively* folk/rock song~♥.

~Mochida Maki “Hohoemi dakeja mienai” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Kitto…” mp3~

“Itsudatte itsudatte” was released on February 22nd, 1995.

“Itsudatte itsudatte” is Mochida Maki’s 4th single and it’s a really really sweet ballad and you can really appreciate the gentle nuances of her vocals here. This song also appears on “Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu.”

~Mochida Maki “Itsudatte itsudatte” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “8-Funme no kyoukun” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Hitorigoto” mp3 (bonus track)~

“Anata no yuuki ni naritai” was released on September 6th, 1995.

Mochida Maki’s 5th single “Anata no yuuki ni naritai” was used as a theme song for the ’95 World Judo Championships and appropriately this track is filled with inspirational lyrics as well as a very energetic musical arrangement. This song also appears on her second album “Ashita no iro” (“Tomorrow’s color”). This is one my most favorite songs by her and I really love the guitar riffs っo(*´∀｀)o！ ！

~Mochida Maki “Anata no yuuki ni naritai” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Ichiban sukidato ietara” mp3~

“Aitai kimochi de zutto” was released on March 23rd, 1996.

~Mochida Maki “Aitai kimochide zutto” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Futari no aida” mp3~

“Tabidachi no uta” was released on May 22nd, 1996.

~Mochida Maki “Tabidachi no uta” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Aki wa sabishii” mp3~

“Tears~Itoshisa afurete~” was released on June 21st, 1997.

~Mochida Maki “Tears~Itoshisa afurete~” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Mizu ni idakarete” mp3~

~The Albums~

“Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu” was released on March 24th, 1995. A wonderful thing about Mochida Maki’s albums is that only three tracks were previously released as singles making for many many new songs~.

“Shiroi hane” (“White Wing(s)”) was the very first song that I heard by Mochida Maki as it leads off her debut album…and let’s just say that it was love at first listen~. From the very beginning her vocals have such a unique sweet sound to them and I know I’ve been stressing this point so much here but I’ve just never come across another artist from japan with a voice so *pure.*

~Mochida Maki “Shiroi hane” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Beads of Tears” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Itsudatte itsudatte” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Wasurete agenai” mp3~

Her album track “Sono mamade ii wa~field no suna” was also the theme of a 18 minute short film which I was able to find the video of and while watching this is when I realized just how tiny she is…so cute! Sadly it’s another release which hasn’t been re~released onto DVD so I’m yet to find a way to transfer it along with many other VHS only releases to DVD or a digital file format =/.

~Mochida Maki “Sonomamade iiwa~ Field no suna~” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Feerie~ kiseki wa okoru no yo” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Hohoemi dakeja mienai” mp3~

“Popular no ki no shita de” (“Under the popular tree”) has sort of a larger than life guitar orchestrated aura to it, and when coupled with Maki’s oh so gentle vocals the contrast creates a very *moving* dynamic~.

~Mochida Maki “Popular no ki no shita de” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Kimi wo miteitai” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “8-Funme no kyoukun” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Birthday” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Shiawase no chizu” mp3~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~Mochida Maki “Kanashimi nante” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Anata no yuuki ni naritai” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Sa ka na” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “THANK YOU” mp3~

“Suna ni kieteku natsu” has a nostalgic musical arrangement which is also flavored nicely with the distinctly wonderful sound of a sitar….simply a most infectious melody♪♪~!

~Mochida Maki “Suna ni kieteku natsu” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Omoide ni makenaide hodo” mp3~

“Afternoon Tea” has a wonderful ambiance about it that always puts me in a happy mood! It has such a wonderfully soothing melody as is perfect for any time of the day!…not just tea time! It’s a really really well written song with so many hooks~♥ and one of the very best songs on the album easily!

~Mochida Maki “Afternoon Tea” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Yasashii ne” mp3~

~Mochida Maki “Ryuusei no nocturne” mp3~

“Kisetsu no closet” is the second to the last track on Mochida Maki’s second album “Ashita no iro” and in some ways I’ve always imagined it as a much more suitable closing track for the album and while I’m not sure if you’ll understand what I mean by this I’m sure you’ll find it to be a very heartfelt♥ song!! Hmmm…I think I tend to play this song more than any other song of hers as it’s just such a catchy~♥ and beautiful composition.

~Mochida Maki “Kisetsu no closet” mp3~

“Watashirashiku” closes out Mochida Maki’s second album and if you love the sound♪♪~ of the 60’s you’re sure to love “Watashirashiku”…..think The Beatles♥~. (*´∀｀*)！！～＊！！

~Mochida Maki “Watashirashiku” mp3~