The 15th installment of the “revival” music project “Newtro” is a Friends reconstruction of Miki Imai’s “A bouquet of kisses in the rain”

■ “In the end, I think the balance between the original song and the phrases turned out really well.” (Friends)

Newtro, a “revival” music project that reconstructs Japan’s most famous songs, has released the music video for their 15th song, “A Bouquet of Kisses in the Rain x Friends.”

The song being revived this time, “A Bouquet of Kisses in the Rain,” is a song composed by KAN and included on Imai Miki’s fifth original album “retour” released in 1990. It was also used as the second opening theme song for the TV anime “YAWARA!”, which is filled with many famous songs such as Nagai Mariko’s “Miracle Girl,” Hara Yuko’s “Don’t Make Up Girls,” and Karashima Midori’s “Looking for a Smile.”

The song has been reconstructed by the mixed-gender Shinsen-kei band Friends, a unique pop icon that radiates brilliance, flexibility and overwhelming energy, into a diverse pop sound with originality and groove.

The illustrations for the music video were done by Hiro Mizuno. An interview with the Friends will be aired on MUSIC ON! TV (M-ON!) on June 6th during the show “Newtro.”

■Friends Comments
I thought that the good points of the original song would be a perfect fit for Friends, so I made it in a way that didn’t destroy the atmosphere of the song or the music, while also trying to bring out the simple, down-to-earth side of Friends today.
When doing a cover, I think the most difficult thing is to decide how much respect to show to the original song, so this time each member was conscious of striking a balance between staying faithful to the original and making changes.
In the end, I think the balance between the original song and the phrases turned out to be extremely good.

Click here for details on the “Newtro” program
https://www.m-on.jp/program/detail/newtro/

『Newtro』OFFICIAL YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/@newtro_japan

FRIENDS OFFICIAL SITE
https://friends-jpn.com/

Hiro Mizuno