Masayuki Suzuki & Hitomi Shimatani -- Futari de Ii Janai (ふたりでいいじゃない)

Yesterday I was listening to some Masayuki Suzuki's (鈴木雅之) songs, such as “Chigau, Sou Janai” (違う、そうじゃない), “Koibito” (恋人), “Private Hotel” (プライベートホテル), “First Love” and “Kirai da yo” (きらいだよ), when I finally came across his collaboration compilation, “Martinit Duet”, released in June 2008.

His classic duet with Momoko Kikuchi, “Shibuya de Go-ji” (渋谷で5時), was the song that introduced me to Suzuki’s soulful voice, thanks to J-Canuck’s article a couple of years ago. Besides it, and also a newer duet with Kikuchi, called “Koi no Flight Time ~12pm~” (恋のフライトタイム〜12pm〜), the one song that I like in “Martini Duet” is Suzuki’s duet with Hitomi Shimatani (島谷ひとみ), “Futari de Ii Janai”.

Quite different from Suzuki’s typical nightlife and melancholic R&B songs, or even his funky tunes, “Futari de Ii Janai” is a disco-pop song with very bright and soaring strings, which almost gives me a happy vibe. Suzuki is great as ever in the recording, but Shimatani was truly strong as well. I already knew she was a good singer, thanks to Noelle Tham’s past article on her song "Falco", and also my own article about her hit "Perseus", but it was a pleasant surprise to see how she worked with Martin. It also contrasts nicely with the whispery tone used by Momoko Kikuchi in “Shibuya de Go-ji” and “Koi no Flight Time ~12pm~”.

As a bonus, here's Suzuki performing "Shibuya de Go-ji" with Momoiro Clover Z (ももいろクローバーZ). Even though A-rin (佐々木彩夏 / あーりん) is not a strong singer, she's my favorite aidoru from the group, thanks to her personality and cute charms. It's also great that she got dressed as an early 90s OL with proper bangs.

Before being included in “Martini Duet”, “Futari de Ii Janai” was released as a single in January 2007, and was also included in Suzuki’s “Champagne Royale” album. The single ended reaching a respectable #25 on the Oricon charts.

Lyrics were written by Takehiko Hata (秦建日子) and Kiyoshi Matsuo (松尾潔), while music and arrangement were done by Hidefumi Usami (宇佐美秀文).

Source: Amazon.com