What better way to kick things off than by writing about something from one of many pieces of media that inspired me to make this blog in the first place: Love Live!
Hype can involve riveting guitar solos, powerful orchestra, ominous chanting, the continuous addition of instruments, etc. Relaxing Lunch Break (Yuttari Ohiruyasumi/ゆったりお昼休み) from the first season of Love Live! School Idol Project is not an overly bombastic piece, but it nonetheless stirs excitement within me.
The first 7 seconds are simple enough: a ringing that establishes the upbeat tone and gives the same impression as a school bell which starts the next period of the day. In fact, I set this part as my wake-up alarm more than 3 months ago.
What follows is the hardest dubstep drop I’ve ever heard. If I come back to this after a while, my mind from here on out goes mental until the end, just as Love Live sometimes does to me.
This isn’t the kind of break where you’re staring out the window, but one where you’re outside and taking in everything around you as the sun shines. You whistle with the birds and search for the best vantage point to see the sights. You then anticipate the meal you’re going to munch on.
35 seconds in, the instrumentation (forgive my very basic music knowledge) evokes a dance through nature and the eclectic chatter between schoolmates. The brass that follows echoes the gradual end of the freedom but carries the happiness that lingers on even when you’re going back to class.
Most importantly, it relates to the series itself. It reminds me of the buzzing energy the main character Honoka possesses as she comes up with the next idea, the girls practising on the rooftop, and the general youthfulness that pervades many school stories. Perhaps when my alarm rings I can jump out of bed with my two feet in unison every day, and not just the first time it chimed from my phone. I could get the courage to overcome any obstacle no matter how trivial, like when Hanayo formally announces that she wants to join the group in episode 4. Perhaps then I can strive to achieve something great.
Or I can just listen to those beautiful 7 seconds repeat themselves and sleep for another hour.
Composed by Yoshiaki Fujisawa (A Place Further Than the Universe, Land of the Lustrous, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE)
Kikoman589
As of today — 16 July 2022 — this track is no longer my alarm sound. However, my new alarm sound is the beginning of track 34 of the Love Live! Nijigasaki OST (so it’s still LL! related): “朝陽”. Who knows how long I’ll have it for?