MUSIC REVIEW | ano Implodes the J-POP Foundation with a Mighty "Bomb"
ano is no ordinary singer. First rising to infamy from her time in the idol group You’ll Melt More, the twenty-something artist has become a staple of Japanese pop culture. Variety shows, movies, dramas, YouTubing, modeling, and the occasional voice-acting role have made ano a woman of many talents. Not bad for a former high school shut-in (albeit there were good reasons for her going full hikikomori).
But music has always been her main line of work. Her 2023 debut album Nyang Nyang Oeeeee (which can be translated as “meow meow barf!”) showed that she was capable of taking on multiple genres of rock, pop, and even a bit of punk. Album number two, Bone Born Bomb (which, when written in hiragana, translates to “tumultuous nightmare”), takes what she has learned both as a solo artist and frontwoman for i’s, and crafts it into something wild and unpredictable.
More than half of the album is made up of singles released in the last year-and-a-half. Once again, her range of genres demonstrates how versatile ano’s voice is in front of many backdrops. Considering she can be critical of her voice (as she humorously points out in the satirically smashing “Shakai no Mado”), one wonders how she can overcome the critics and herself. The answer to that is an easy one: just scream at them!
And screaming is something she can do with eye-popping results. Whether it’s in “Shakai no Mado” or album highlight “Hone Baki☆Yuugure Diary”, ano brings her cute exterior up front while unleashing her demonic side to the haters in the back. She’ll scream for love, peace, or — in the Lilas Ikuta-featured “ZeZeZeZettai Seiiki” — destruction. When her evil side comes out, then it truly becomes playtime for ano and her listeners.
That’s not to say she can only have fun when in rage mode. “Iinazukkyun”, made famous by the Ranma ½ reboot, brings ano’s charming side into the forefront, with her fast-paced vocals and retro-styled kung fu riffs. “Bubble Me Face” is Harajuku brightness, masked with lyrics about addiction and a world of bald-headed liars and slanderers. “Kono Sekai ni Futari Dake”, which sounds like a lost Sawao Yamanaka song, shows that she’s still a woman in love, as she calls for that special someone to join her for a wonderful moonlit night under the covers.
However, it’s back in the darkness where ano shows her strongest side. “You and Ai Heaven” hints at her past troubles, with hints of self-harm and suicide sprinkled throughout the lyrics. “swim in suimin Tokyo” takes a pop rock route similar to that of Taylor Swift, with darker lyrics about a body in pain, and wanting to scream out despite lacking the air to do so. The most gut-wrenching of tracks, “Happy Lucky Chappy”, is a hint of what’s to come from the upcoming anime adaptation of Takopi’s Original Sin. (It involves the main character’s relationship with her dog, and perhaps I’ll keep silent in regard to what happens to him.)
The album ends with a redux of the i’s track “Past die Future”. Here, ano makes it clear that she’s still got battles to fight both within herself and outside the world. She admits that she’s a “crazy, crazy girl”, and that she’ll “live through hell”. However, in the final moments, ano reminds her listeners never to underestimate her, with the last line “I’m not afraid of anything” echoing with beautiful confidence.
She may not be leading the charge for the “zero fucks era” of J-POP (that honor still belongs to Atarashii Gakko!), but ano provides a mighty weapon for that battle. Bone Born Bomb doesn’t just avoid the sophomore slump; it nukes it with glee! And in the remaining rumble, one can bet that ano and the rest of the Japanese music world will rebuild the foundation into something brighter and more honest. Here is a voice of a generation, even if she herself still criticizes how it may sound.