Yes, the lack of Kobayashi Yu coverage here lately has been rather depressing. I did buy her YOU&YU album when I was in Tokyo last month (as usual, I haven’t opened it up yet…and probably never will). But I failed in my quest to find a copy of her Lovin’ Yu photobook - I guess I was looking in all the wrong places? I managed to obtain some not-so-great-quality scans (props to anonymous XXX site) of it though, so I’m flipping through the contents whilst scrimping together the cash to buy the real thing - I just want the DVD that comes along with it.

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Got your earplugs ready? OK, here we go.

Ooh, shouty. So instead of Rumbarumbarumba we get Butabutabuta ~_~ I guess that’s the crazy side of Kaere then? The song is called Buta no Gohan (豚のご飯。), and was played on Nonaka Ai’s Rarirure Nichiyobi radio show. It seems Aipon had never heard the song prior to playing it on her show either since she was sounded surprised when she read its title. FYI, the title Buta no Gohan (pork rice) is an inside joke for hardcore Kobayashi Yu fans - it’s her favourite food which she talks about all the time.

That’s Yu with a bored looking Ohtsuki Kenji during the song’s recording above. I was actually eager to hear the song after she’d described it as being ‘digital hardcore’ on one of her blog posts earlier this month but eh… I guess I’ve changed my mind. As Nonaka put it, listening to it will probably wreck my ears. Anyway, Buta no Gohan will be released as part of the Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei best song collection Zetsubo Daisakkai (絶望大殺界) on the 14th of May.

Hey, a friendly reminder to all that Kobayashi Yu’s debut album YOU&YU will be released next Wednesday on the 26th of March. Er… in the excitement of moving my blog I actually forgot to pre-order the album >_> so I’ll probably wait til the next paycheck is out before I load it into my shopping cart. I don’t know what to make of that cover though… bullfighting? Odd.

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So I caught this clip on Nicovideo the other day, which features Kobayashi Yu alternately talking like a drunk, senile grandmother and screeching like a monkey on a clip from TV Asahi’s entertainment show Tetsuko no Heya. Please don’t ask me what she is saying.

Kobayashi is well known for her ape imitations, a talent she claims she inherited from her mother (no kidding). Along with her inability to draw, it’s become somewhat of a running joke in the seiyuu world. And a bit of a party trick too, as she’s repeated the performance several times on various radio and TV shows - I remember her freaking Mantora host Arino Shinya by pounding on the floor and screeching at the top of her lungs. Even Yu’s intro video (below) on her Seigura blog had her proudly stating the fact that her speciality was imitating monkeys and proceeding to demonstrate it.

Note: Please turn the volume on your speakers down before watching the following video.

Appropriately, Kobayashi voices Gintama’s Sarutobi Ayame aka Sacchan aka Saru. But hey, mad as she is she’s still one really hot ape. Here’s some less frightening pictures of Yu-tan in normal circumstances…. if you can call dressing up as your character from a game normal.



I love the fact that she does whatever people tell her to do, which leads to stuff like the dolphin whiplash moment and the mad doctor incident. Idiocy is easy to accept when it comes with as many laughs as Kobayashi does ^^; And this is the person who voiced Setsuna in the Negima series…….

I didn’t have high hopes that Yu-tan would ever release anything outside of Konami-related anime themes, but it seems she’s popular enough to warrant a full-length album release. It’s called 「YOU&YU」 and hits shops on 26th March, jointly marketed and distributed by Konami and Sony. Production is by HΛL, the people behind a large chunk of Hamasakai Ayumi’s songs as well as Yu’s recent FIGHT OR FLIGHT single. 12 tracks in total, 8 new songs. No news so far on extras that might be included, if any.

Tracklist:
1.YOU&YU
2.FIGHT OR FLIGHT
3.約束 (Yakusoku)
4.空のコトバ (Sora no Kotoba)
5.絶望に咲く花 (Zetsubo ni Saku Hana)
6.ミックスジュースdeマックスパワー (Mix Juice de Max Power)
7.My life
8.赤いチャペル (Akai Chapel)
9.素直な気持ち (Sunao na Kimochi)
10.君に届くうた (Kimi ni Todoku Uta)
11.Overheat ～変わりゆく瞬間～ (Overheat ~Kawari yuku Shunkan~)
12.あしたの君 (Ashita no Kimi)

I’m so gonna preorder this.