Source: 超能力戦士ドリアン (Chōnōryoku Senshi Durian | Psychic Fighter Durian) - image used with permission
Fashion and manga fans! Learn Japanese with hilarious songs by a popular Japanese band
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- Band / Chōnōryoku Senshi Durian / Fashion / humor / Japanese / Japanese language / Japanese learners / Kanji / katakana / Manga / Music
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Have you ever thought “I want to learn Japanese by singing”?
I’ll introduce two super hilarious and cool Japanese songs to you and their official music videos! Everyone will enjoy them, but if you like fashion or manga, you’ll love them!
The songs are by a popular Japanese band called 超能力戦士ドリアン (Chōnōryoku Senshi Durian | Psychic Fighter Durian). The band members are Yassan やっさん (left), Ōchikun おーちくん (center), and Ketsupuri けつぷり (right).
Cropped image from YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
Their songs are used as theme songs for many TV programs. They're popular because their music features very cool instrumentals with hilarious lyrics. People love the contrast. You can also find them on Apple Music!
Now, I'd like to introduce two of their songs which are particularly interesting for fashion fans and manga fans!
Fashion is a seriously big question
The first song is ファッションマジでクエスチョン (fasshon maji de kuesuchon | Fashion is a seriously big question). Its lyrics try to examine the question of “why are Japanese fashion terms all katakana even when there are equivalent kanji compounds?”
This is something that puzzles not only Japanese learners but Japanese native speakers as well! Through this song, you can learn katakana words and a word that can cause a misunderstanding if you don’t pay attention to its pitch accent.
Let’s check out the lyrics!
YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
Yes. This is real. There are kanji compounds 上着 uwagi (上 uwa means top/upper and 着 gi means wear) and 長袖 nagasode (長 naga means long and 袖 sode means sleeves), and we use them when we talk with friends and family.
However, once you enter a clothing store or go into the fashion industry, these kanji compounds are suddenly all replaced with katakana words!
Why, Japanese people?
It’s indeed a question, even a mystery. Many people feel the same way, but no one says it as clearly as this band. Thank you very much!
Next is the dangerous Japanese noun... パンツ pantsu. The word has two meanings: on the one hand, pants as in jeans or slacks, and on the other, underwear pants. It depends on the pitch accent, so be careful!
YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
パ pa has a lower pitch than ンツ ntsu.
YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
In this case, パ pa has a higher pitch than ンツ ntsu.
If you watch the music video and listen to the song, you’ll never forget the difference! What a nice Japanese learning material!
In addition to that, in the music video, there is a short skit that perfectly reproduces typical real conversations between clothing shop staff and a customer.
This really happens a lot. Somehow, the shop staff emphasizes “I have this too!” when they recommend an item. And the customer probably thinks like this:
Of course, we can’t say it out loud in real life, but in the music video, the customer clearly expresses that feeling and it's very funny.
The entire video is really hilarious, so check it out and sing along!
My favorite manga character is dead
The next funny song is 好きな漫画のキャラis DEAD (suki na manga no kyara izu deddo | My favorite manga character is dead). As the title clearly indicates, this song is about a manga fan’s feelings when their favorite character dies!
In this music video, you’ll see a lot of vocabulary for manga fans or otaku such as 沼 (numa | rabbit hole), 変なフラグ (hen na furagu | ominous flags / foreshadowing), 推し (oshi | your favorite character), and more. The contrast between the awesome rhythm and the comical visuals in the music video is amazing.
Let’s check out the lyrics.
Yes, if your favorite character suddenly recalls their past, usually they will join a dangerous adventure or battle. Then...
...you’ll be like this!
YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
YouTube: 超能力戦士ドリアン「ファッションマジでクエスチョン」 | Reproduced with permission from 超能力戦士ドリアン
This part is really cool and you won’t stop laughing!
There's also an important grammar structure here, which is ないで naide (a short version of “please don’t do X”) and a casual expression for “seriously, stop it!”
If your favorite manga character is about to die, you can listen to this song, sing along and calm down.
Concert information
Today, July 7th, is the last day of the band's collaborative concert, お友達に興味あるー！ツアー (otomodachi ni kyōmi arū tour | “I’m interested in your friends” tour), at Shibuya Club Quattro. However, don’t be sad. They will have a solo tour this September!
They’re only doing three shows in total in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya. The name of the tour is ハイレベルな公演 (hai reberu na kōen | High level concert). Only the audience will be lucky enough to truly know what “high level” means. It sounds exciting!
This year’s solo tour only consists of three shows, so get your ticket before they’re sold out! Tickets will be available for preorder* at Ticket Pia until 23:59 on July 17th JST. The price is 3,800 JPY and the schedule and venues are below:
*After the preorder deadline, the next chance will be 10:00 am on July 30th.
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