Recently, it has come to my attention that singers who have a cute voice in anime are usually off-pitch. Maybe it is something similar to how 7-9 year olds do so well in talent competitions. Of course it doesn’t have to be completely horrid, but sometimes, that noticeable slightly off-pitch slipup from time to time gives the song that special cutesy flavor that lingers throughout. Just to clarify, I’m not talking about songs where it sounds like children singing like Ichigo Complete (Ichigo Mashimaro), Mahou Shōjo Magical-tan! (Moetan), or Fushigi na Puru Puru Pururin (N.H.K. ni Yōkoso!). These are songs which feature a teenage or adult singing voice.

The first exhibit is Watashi no Uta, a song from Love Hina by Masayo Kurata & Nana Mizuki (Shinobu Maehara and Nyamo Namo in the anime). It is incredibly catchy and I think the off-tune portions bring out the shyness in Shinobu.

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