211 likesThe Elusive Samurai Season 2 Ending Theme: Hinatazaka46 Collab Wins Over Fans
The ending theme for The Elusive Samurai Season 2 — "Romantic ga Hoshii Nara" by Bocchi Boromaru featuring Nao Kosaka, Yoko Shogenji and Kaho Fujishima of Hinatazaka46 — has pulled in a crowd that does not normally turn up for anime songs. Across 578 comments on the music video, the most-liked one (211 likes) is from exactly that crowd: "I don't know anything about anime at all, but… is this song riding some kind of divine wind right now?" What makes the thread worth reading is that two fandoms are standing in the same room. Anime viewers arrive from the show and are startled to find it sitting at number one on the hype chart; idol fans arrive for the three members and spend the thread taking each voice apart — Kosaka's as pure healing, Shogenji's as the one that gets addictive, Fujishima's as cute with a core of steel — and marvel at how three completely different tones lock together. Several point out that the lyrics are colour-coded so you always know whose part you're hearing, and one flags the timestamp where the MV goes sightseeing in Kamakura and works in Elusive Samurai references. Underneath it all is a quiet campaign to make this the breakout hit of the year, complete with comparisons to last year's AiScReam, people who already have the live crowd chant worked out, and one commenter who simply gives up and admits what they actually feel.