I get it, we’re all starting to lose our minds and are looking for new ways to pass the time. I’m honestly grateful whenever I see someone even make the attempt at taking our minds off the global situation that we find ourselves in. When you’re able to do it with a beautiful singing voice though, that’s all the better.
On Friday, April 10th, J-pop singer Nana Mizuki posted a video of her singing “Ai no Hoshi” (the ED theme song for the seventh chapter of Space Battleship Yamato 2199) with the message that she was seeking challengers using the hashtag #水樹奈々とタイマン勝負… and Twitter users responded accordingly. As of this writing, the video has been viewed over 700,000 times and the tweet has been retweeted almost 23,000 times!
https://twitter.com/NM_NANAPARTY/status/1248551793258139648
Most of the messages posted to the hashtag were supportive of Mizuki and thanked her for the video. A few people took her up on her challenge though and posted their own versions of the song.
Some people attached the soundtrack to a new face and posted the end results:
https://twitter.com/Nana7Lav/status/1248631624159227905
More than a few people posted their own backing instrumental soundtracks on many different instruments.
僕はドラムで！
バラード&アカペラの敢えて揺らいでいるグルーヴに合わせるには、どれだけ奈々様の歌に寄り添えるかが大事
生楽器のダイナミクスで表現できるよう一生懸命叩きました！楽しい機会をありがとうございます／●●＼@NM_NANAPARTY#水樹奈々とタイマン勝負 #水樹奈々#stayhome pic.twitter.com/vPwA3VTtUO— ビスたん🪣🥁BIGMAMA (@bis_bigmama) April 12, 2020
水樹奈々さんvs弦楽四重奏
愛の星弾かせていただきました！
（タイマンじゃなくてすみません）Violin & Viola MariNa
Cello & Arr. 篠崎央彡 @O_Shinozaki#水樹奈々とタイマン勝負 pic.twitter.com/OR5rujcjqm
— MariNa🎻皆川真里奈 (@marineesalad) April 16, 2020
Meanwhile, others used Nana Mizuki’s song as a challenge to cook yakisoba?
奈々さんと勝負したい…けどわたしは歌も上手くないし楽器もできない…
ならば！！！焼きそばで勝負だ！！！（意味不明）#水樹奈々とタイマン勝負#野菜もしっかり食べよう pic.twitter.com/qRluag0pes— 大桐 あいはおしまい (@Precure_ogiri) April 12, 2020
There were plenty of people who went the old-fashioned route and just sang the song as best as they could (to varying degrees of success):
https://twitter.com/zetto2525/status/1249328909981634561
#水樹奈々とタイマン勝負
水樹奈々さん(@NM_NANAPARTY)
とタイマンする勇気がなかったので4人でコーラスさせて頂きました。#StayHome #愛の星 #アカペラ #acappella #宇宙戦艦ヤマト pic.twitter.com/rIFcl17BOP— URUHAMO official (@URUHAMO) April 12, 2020
#水樹奈々とタイマン勝負 pic.twitter.com/Fy2qSoDj9Q
— 上池仁容 (@1vu13LPK90dd3XK) April 11, 2020
#水樹奈々とタイマン勝負
ぇ、ど素人の参加ダメだった？（笑） pic.twitter.com/4fdEyPDgUm— イサフ@本音用 (@ISAFUKIN) April 10, 2020
What touched my heart the most though was being reminded that we’re all one big global community and that love for J-pop can transcend many boundaries, including nationality and even species!
https://twitter.com/EAt0198/status/1248790206150520832
https://twitter.com/fuwariteto/status/1248584499962626048
Even as of the publication of this article, more people are posting their videos to the hashtag. Thank you, Ms. Mizuki, for helping us take our minds off the world for a few minutes. We’re all anxiously awaiting your next big single to drop, or maybe even a new challenge?
