#first take

https://youtu.be/TOU4Kf8xxPs?si=2X_2OtIhLJlv71mD

Tomoyuki Tanaka:

Since last spring, HALCALI’s “Otsukare SUMMER” has been enjoying a mysterious worldwide viral boom. And now, the song has appeared on the hugely popular content series thefirsttake.jp, which is famous for inviting only major hit songs and artists.

Back in 2003, when Haruka and Yukari were still a middle schooler and a high schooler, we recorded this song after school while eating snacks together. Through a funny twist of fate, I ended up not only composing and producing the track, but also writing the lyrics and even doing the demo rap vocals myself. I wrote the whole thing in just one night before the recording session — a flow packed with nonstop Showa- and Heisei-era-style puns and wordplay. So it’s incredibly moving to see this song now being loved by young people all around the world.

Thankfully, I was also invited to appear alongside them as the backing DJ. But I thought it might be questionable for a man on the verge of turning 60 to crash the stage and tarnish the still-charming presence of these two, so I respectfully declined.