Visual Kei&Anime – PIERROT

The 6th edition is here! Wow. It feels like time has flown by and at the same time, we’re just getting started. I couldn’t help but pick this band next since their tie-ins are quite unique. They have two tie-ins, one is a magical girl shojo anime, and the other is an action shonen! The group in question? None other than Pierrot!

Pierrot, or PIERROT is a VKei band formed in 1994 in Nagano. Originally known as Dizy-Lizy, then Pierrot and after a bit of a member shuffle the group was finalized in 1995. The band was composed of Kirito on vocals, Jun and Aiji on guitar, Kohta on bass, and Takeo on drums. Their career was 12 years long coming to a conclusion in 2006. They would reunite for a show in 2014, and again in 2017. As a band they produced three demos, 11 albums, and 20 singles. Nearly all the members would go on to join other projects in JRock and VKei, and are still active as individuals to this day!

So, with a condensed history of the group (seriously check them out), we can jump into their anime connections!

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Pierrot’s first entry into the world of anime connections, would be with the magical girl anime, Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne (KKJ) in 1999. They would provide the ending theme called, “Haruka …” for episodes 1 through 27. Given how quick they were approached to provide a theme, they were pretty lucky! It was the era that Visual Kei bands did get booked regularly to provide themes, although usually for shonen series. For those not familiar with Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne a summary of the series is;

Kusakabe Maron, looks like a high school girl, but is actually the reincarnation of Jeanne d’ Arc. At night, Maron becomes the thief Jeanne to seal the demons that reside in art, and also prey on the weak hearts of the art’s owners with the help of the angel, Fin Fish. After she seals the demons away, the art disappears giving her the name of Thief. Of course, she isn’t the only thief as the thief Sinbad appears, coincidentally as a new classmate arrives. Maron’s work is anything but easy as her best friend is the daughter of a detective set on capturing the Thief Jeanne and Sinbad! [Paraphrased from the MAL Entry]

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In this section, normally I focus on just the song exclusively. I don’t focus too much on the actual connection to the series. However, with Pierrot I feel like this connection, or with “Haruka” and KKJ, the lack there of is creating some major cognitive disconnect in my head.

Of course, I like the song in and of itself. My endless commentary about 90’s Visual Kei in prior editions has made that abundantly clear.

Yet, I am genuinely looking through the lyrics and and that the premise of the anime and wondering how on earth this got okay-ed by the production team. Nothing about “Haruka…” evokes any of the ideas of KKJ. And it absolutely baffles me.

So, I watched the ending animation sequence to see how that faired, verses my usual deal of taking the two premises separately. The animation of the ending theme certainly matches what the song evokes. I have my doubts about how it flows from episode to ending theme. I’d love to hear from my reader’s if any of you watched this series and how you felt about it.

I’m going to chalk this match-up as a bit of a miss. I normally don’t get too hung up on those details but this time around I am struggling. Overall, I do really like “Haruka…” as a song. And despite never watching the images of KKJ often bring up a nostalgia despite having never seen it.

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The next, and the last entry in Pierrot’s anime connected catalogue, was 2002’s GetBackers. The song Pierrot would provide was 2003’s “Barairo no Sekai” or “Rose-Colored World”, which would be played as the opening theme for episodes 26 through 49. Which, is quite the thematic shift from the earlier mentioned Jeanne. For those curious about GetBackers the story goes as follows;

The Get Backers, are a duo of Mido Ban and Amano Ginji with a 100% success rate. They will get anything back, regardless of it being a lost or stolen item. Ban and Ginji despite their abilities, are always broke and few people hire them. Given their limited job offers, most of them tend to be put in dangerous situations, leading them to meeting again with old, and sometimes dangerous friends. [Paraphrase from MAL Entry]

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I think I have to admit a major bias here guys. And that is that Visual Kei + Shonen anime OP or ED’s absolutely slap. Or it might be that “Barairo no Sekai” suits the theming of GetBackers way more then “Haruka…” suited KKJ. To make it a fair comparison to KKJ, I watched the opening animation this time around too. I stand by my statement that Pierrot’s sound suits Getbackers way more then it did KKJ. Specifically the lyrical content in this case is what sealed the deal. For instance, this particular stanza (that would have made it into the minute 30 seconds it played);

"絶望的な世界は今も
生き延びようと　あがき続けるよ
救いようのない　景色もきっと
操りようで　薔薇色に見える"

"The desperate world even now
Continues to struggle and survive
The helpless scenery surely too
With a little manipulation seems rose-colored"

It’s perfect. I mean, it really embodies the idea of being broke, putting your life on the line to get something back and get your payday! At least that’s how I feel. I have to say well picked Getbackers Production Staff, and well performed Pierrot!

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So this particular edition took a different turn, in comparison to prior edition, when it came to my commentary. I don’t think that’s a bad thing in this case. It really shows that certain bands can really mesh with the anime’s concept, in the best of ways. And that other times the song and the anime just weren’t meant to be, but for whatever reason were given the green light to be aired as so. You can’t win them all.

I hope that you found Pierrot interesting and are willing to check them out! Plus, with these two titles it’s less of an introduction and more of a nostalgia factor. As always thanks for giving a look and a listen, and I’ll see you next month with a new band and more anime tie-ins! With that I’ll see you next post!