is the second opening theme song from the

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese anime ''

Kirarin Revolution is a Japanese manga series by An Nakahara. The series ran in the shōjo manga, ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Ciao (magazine), Ciao'' from March 2004 to June 2009, with side stories running in ''Pucchigumi'' in 2006. The manga has sold a cum ...

''. The song was released on October 25, 2006 and is performed by

Koharu Kusumi is a Japanese actress, model, television personality, and singer. In 2005, she became the only seventh generation member of the Japanese idol girl group Morning Musume, a part of Hello! Project. While Kusumi was in Morning Musume, she provided t ...

from

Morning Musume , formerly and commonly known as and colloquially referred to as , is a Japanese girl group, holding the second highest overall single sales (of a female group) on the Oricon, Oricon charts as of February 2012, with the Oricon record of most to ...

, credited as . The song was released as Kirari Tsukishima's second single, who Kusumi portrays in the show.

Background and release

"Balalaika" is the second opening theme song to ''

'' and is performed by

from

, who voices the main character, Kirari Tsukishima. The song was released as the character's second single and Kusumi is credited as . The song borrows influences from

Russian folk music Russian folk music specifically deals with the folk music traditions of the ethnic Russian people. Russian folk music is used as the basic foundation for the creation of all Russian professional music. Ethnic styles in the modern era The perfo ...

. The single was released on October 25, 2006, under the Zetima label. "Mizuiro Melody", the third ending theme song to ''Kirarin Revolution'', was included as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

and performed by Kusumi under her character's name. The limited edition featured an alternate cover with an exclusive version of

Takara Tomy (trade name, trading as Takara Tomy in Asia and Tomy elsewhere) is a Japanese toy company. It was established in 1924 by Eiichirō Tomiyama as , became known for creating popular toys like the B-29 friction toy and luck-based game Pop-up Pi ...

's paper doll Millefeui Card from ''Kirarin Revolution''. A video single was released on November 8, 2006.

Music video

The music video was directed by Hideo Kawatani and produced by Tetsushi Suehiro. It features Kusumi dressed up as her character, Kirari Tsukishima, and dancing at a magic show. A version featuring the choreography was released with the video single.

Reception

The CD single debuted at #8 in the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

Weekly Singles Chart and charted for 23 weeks. The single sold 28,132 copies on its first week and 72,709 copies in total. The video single charted at #13 on the

Weekly DVD Charts. Editors at ''Barks'' noted that the song's "Hoo! Ha!" chanting reminded them of "

Koi no Dance Site is the eighth single of the J-pop idol group Morning Musume, released on January 26, 2000 as an 8 cm CD. It sold a total of 1,229,970 copies making it their second highest selling single and a number-two hit on the Oricon Charts. In 2004, ...

" by

. In their review, they commented Kusumi's music video was "not erotic" compared to recent

Hello! Project is a Japanese musical collective consisting of all female recording artists and groups under Up-Front Promotion, a subsidiary of Up-Front Group. The name was initially used as Michiyo Heike and Morning Musume's fan club name in 1999, but ...

music videos, such as "

Some Boys! Touch "Some Boys! Touch" is Maki Goto's 16th single. It was released on October 11, 2006 in both limited (PKCP-5070~1) and regular (PKCP-5072) editions. The Single V DVD did come out two weeks later on October 25, 2006 with the catalog number PKBP-50 ...

" by

Maki Goto is a Japanese singer, lyricist, and former actress. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, Goto began her musical career in 1999 when she joined Morning Musume as the only third generation member. Her first single with the group, "Love Machine (Mo ...

and "

Melodies A melody (), also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones that the listener perceives as a single entity. In its most literal sense, a melody is a combination of pitch and rhythm, while more figuratively, the term ca ...

" by GAM. The editors noted that compared to their videos, Kusumi's image, physical features and smile evoked fond memories of "that girl you used to like" in elementary or middle school and exuded a "sparkle." "Balalaika" became associated with the "Yaranaika?"

Internet meme An Internet meme, or meme (, Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''MEEM''), is a cultural item (such as an idea, behavior, or style) that spreads across the Internet, primarily through Social media, social media platforms. Internet memes manif ...

after a fan-made parody version with homoerotic lyrics was used as the meme's theme song.

Track listing

Single

DVD single

Charts

Single

DVD single

References

External links

* Up-Front Works Discography
CD entryDVD entry
{{authority control Songs about musical instruments 2006 singles 2006 songs Anime songs Hello! Project songs Children's television theme songs Kirarin Revolution Animated series theme songs Zetima Records singles