Sakamoto Maaya - Okaerinasai

Many fans of pop singer and voice actress Sakamoto Maaya were likely introduced to her talents through anime, with her regularly starring in and singing theme songs for the medium. Her latest single Okaerinasai, released October 26th, is featured as the opening theme to slice of life anime series "Tamayura ~hitotose~".

The single is a gentle pop song with some slight country inflections. Piano and a twinkly xylophone in the intro give the track a bit too much sweetness, but the verse is predominantly acoustic guitar with some quiet percussion and is thankfully less saccharine. The old staple of sweeping strings makes an appearance leading up to, and included in, all versions of the chorus, adding a bit of grandeur to the otherwise simple melody. Maaya's characteristically smooth vocals lend themselves perfectly well to a song such as this, and the combination of a slightly lower register and andante tempo allow her voice to remain soft and soothing to the ear. The nostalgic tune takes you to back to passing peaceful summer times in the country.

The B-side is a cover of singer and Okaerinasai composer Matsutoya Yumi's 1981 song A HAPPY NEW YEAR. It starts off with a lonely looping music box version of the original piano melody and vocal-only verse, which comes across as bleak and cold in comparison to the previous song. However, after the first 40 seconds some piano notes emerge to warm it slightly, and then later the strings join to change the dynamic and make it sound fragile and wistful instead. Compared with the easy listening original it has a more orchestral and dream-like sound that gels with Maaya's delicate style of singing. If Okaerinasai is evocative of summer, then this is definitely a winter song.

Okaerinasai is a sweet, uncomplicated song that should please both fans of Maaya and the anime it has been used for. This single release is typical Maaya - a gentle and pleasant trip down memory lane.

The instrumental versions of both songs have been included in the release. The limited edition of the single also includes a bonus CD of nine recordings from her live concert held at Tokyo International Forum back in June 2011.