I don’t talk about them on the blog nearly as much I should but Spyair are one of my all time favourite J-rock bands. Their influence within the J-rock and anime community is not to be underestimated and while their recent work hasn’t been particularly to my tastes, they’ve got a back catalogue full of timeless classics. Songs like Sakura mitsuki and Samurai Heart (Some Like It Hot!!) are among my list of untouchable classics and while it might be too early to call, new single Wadachi might just end up joining that elite group.
Much like many Japanese singles, Wadachi is a theme for an anime. But in this case, it isn’t for just any anime. Wadachi is the theme song for the upcoming movie, ‘Gintama: The Final’, a film that acts as the curtain call for long running shounen masterpiece Gintama. And while this praise might seem rather extreme, I must assure you that it is far from it. A little tangent here but I just want to also use this review as a sort of love letter to my favourite anime of all time. And while there might be a post on this in the future once I’ve seen the movie, I just want to touch on how influential this show has been on me. Gintama is a show that truly transformed how I look at the world. It helped me understand that even in the bleakest of moments, even with the deepest of scars, there is hope. There is always hope. It showed the power of laughing in the face of adversity and the lessons I learn’t from the show are some that I will never forget. But alongside the plot, the music within Gintama played an equally important part in elevating every little moment of the show into something great.
And alongside DOES’ Wataru Ujihara, Spyair’s IKE is the one voice that immediately comes to mind when I think about Gintama. And his incredible distinctive tone is on full display here. It completely brings Wadachi to life, elevating the already anthemic track with a real sense of grandeur and emotion. He’s a vocalist who really manages to bring his all to every performance and that’s what really helps make a track like Wadachi a standout. And while his performance is absolutely stunning, it be a crime not to rave on about the brilliant production that lines much of the track. Opening with quick, dramatic flurry of strings, Wadachi launches into a more standard percussion and guitar based instrumental. But where many see this as generic, I’m just enthralled. This is the kind of buoyant driving instrumental that gives me life and the consistent presence of strings in the backdrop only makes the entire package more mesmerising.
And this all ties into that absolutely breathtaking chorus. The melody here is just sublime, pulsing forward on a glorious refrain that all at once feels celebratory yet melancholic. It’s absolutely perfect, both in the context of the soundtrack and as a standalone. I adore songs that make me feel nostalgia for events that I never experienced and the melody at Wadachi‘s core does exactly that. What’s even better is that the energy emitted from the first chorus only gets bigger and bigger before transforming into what can only be called a euphoric finale. This is the Spyair I fell in love with nearly 6 years ago and I’m so glad they’re back.
Verses: 9
Chorus: 10
Production: 9
Performance: 9
Final Rating: 9.25 / 10
KBopped 
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