YMMV / Fishmans

• Accidental Innuendo: "Night Crusing" is often considered a lovely song about driving at night..but the chorus gives a lot to invoke.
  Up and Down, up and down
  Slow, fast! Slow, fast!
• Awesome Music: Special mention to the "Setagaya Trilogy" consisting of Kuchu Camp, Long Season, and Uchū Nippon Setagaya as they're hailed as the band's best work and an example of what they became. 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare is listed as one of the best live albums ever and served as a beautiful (and tragic) Grand Finale for the band and Shinji Sato's life.
• Broken Base: With regards to Long Season specifically, fans tend to differ on which version is best, with the two most popular contenders being the studio album or the 98.12.28 live performance.
• Catharsis Factor: Feeling down/angry and want to calm down? Enjoy some beautiful Japanese dream pop mixed with a androgynous vocals, elegant violin playing, and the overall feel that The World Is Just Awesome!
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Honzi, their violinist/backing vocalist. It should be noted Honzi's involvement began with the live album Oh! Mountain, where Fishmans began the transition from dub music to weird Dream Pop.
  • Record producer ZAK is respected by Fishmans fans due to his production style that redefined their sound into what it became, like with the aforementioned Honzi on Oh! Mountain.
• Epic Riff:
  • Yuzuru's bass in the beginning of Long Season really sets the mood for a thirty-five minute dream pop song. And that piano riff makes damn sure it stays ringing in your ears.
  • "SLOW DAYS" off of Kuchu Camp invokes a surprisingly hard beat despite coming from their calmest record.
  • Not a bass/guitar riff but a synth note off of "いかれたBaby" will never leave your head.
  • "忘れちゃうひととき" off of Orange definitely is a big one despite the album's more laid back sound.
• Epileptic Trees: There are immense debates about the way 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare was made, with one side feeling it was an accidental Grand Finale for the band in such a beautiful but heartbreaking prophetic way while other saying Shinji himself planned it out the way he did as he knew he was going to die. This is also argued over the live performance/tour's name being roughly translated as "A Farewell to Men", which while fitting for Yuzuru's upcoming departure, also fits to Shinji's own "goodbye". Make what you will of it.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Long Season is much more revered in the West than in their home country, where Kūchū Camp and Uchū Nippon Setagaya are more well-known.
• Growing the Beard: Either with Oh! Mountain or Orange, where their style began to grow more into what they are known for. Most fans agree that when ZAK became their producer (as he was just an engineer for Neo Yankees' Holiday as well as Honzi and Darts's inclusion) was brought on board, the band became what everyone loves.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Shinji's playful dialogue with his bandmates on 98.12.28 about wanting to do shows the next year and the following year become depressing considering what happened in 1999..
  • The title of 98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare roughly translates to "A Farewell to Men", which adds an eerie tone to Shinji's own death in 1999.
  • The photos of Shinji seen smoking often adds eeriness considering his heart problems that lead to his passing.
  • The underground fans begging for Fishmans to get recognition outside of Japan becomes this when following their inclusion on Spotify, Universal Music Group began to remove their music from Youtube.
  • "ゆらめき In The Air" comes off as this with it's lyrics, such as "I hope you don't fade away today, not today… Flickering in the air", coming off as one fan described as "a near epitaph".
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Kin-ichi and Yuzuru still honor Fishmans to this day on their social medias. Kin-ichi especially in regards to his respect to Shinji, talking highly of him and even sharing little anecdotes and such of their partnership.
  • Yuzuru adds this as well considering his original plan after Fishmans was to retire, but following Shinji's passing, he decided to continue making music by forming the band Polaris, which is often looked as a Creator-Driven Successor to Fishmans.
  • The title of Uchū Nippon Setagaya: Shinji's calling his home of Setagaya, Japan is universe/space home.
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • Shinji's vocals, due to how distinct they are.
  • Any time Honzi's violin or accordion come to play, expect people to proclaim amazement.
  • The vocal harmonizing at the end of Long Season will do this, as well as send chills.
• Memetic Mutation: Hailing Shinji as a god is this within the community.
  • "WAAAAAAAAAALKING IN THE RHYTHMMMMMMMMMMMM".
  • I AM FISH!
  • The water splash sounds from "Long Season", which some have unfortunately compared to toilet sounds.
  • Get round in the season!
  • BAAAAAAAAAAAA BABABA BABABAAA!
  • "ARE YOU FEEL GOOD?" and "ZA FISHMANS!" off of "Oh! Slime" of 98.12.28.
• Posthumous Popularity Potential: Motegi confirmed this in an article for The Japan Times, saying:
  We got good reviews, but in sales terms it was pretty laughable. Our name didn't really get out there until after Sato died.
• Signature Song: "Nightcrusing", "Walking in the Rhythm", "ゆらめき in the Air", "Long Season" and it's single counterpart, "Season", and for much earlier fans "いかれたBaby".
• Tear Jerker: For a happy band, some of their songs are saddening..
  • Long Season can go from happy and sad in the span of it's 30 minutes, but especially at the final part where the band does a beautiful unison and heart breaking Bookend.
    • That's saying a lot, but compare it to it's shortened counterpart "Season". Yeesh...
  • "Daydream", which just sounds like such a Bittersweet Ending to the band's final album. Arguably all of Uchu is this, sounding more cold and sterile compared to the much warmer and brisk Long Season.
  • "ゆらめき in the Air" sounds like pure heartbreaking bliss, especially with Shinji's ethereal like vocals.
  • The entirety of 98.12.28, especially with the knowledge this was the last time anybody saw Shinji Sato alive. The final beautiful harmony notes he gives at the end of "Long Season" can give some shivers.
    • It's a lot more depressing when you read the paste bin translation, where there's a slew of Harsher in Hindsight moments in regard to his death, such as stating ”So this next song makes me think that even I will probably change over the next 10 years…”, considering he wouldn't live past 1999. Sniff.
  • Honzi's passing after batting cancer is this for fans as well, due to being a vital part of the band's sound in their experimental years. Some even admitted to tearing up to her appearance at The Long Season Revue, since she had lost her signature hair.
  • "ゆらめき In The Air", their final single. While already a very emotionally gripping song clocking at 13 minutes, the lyrics add some of the biggest Harsher in Hindsight moments such as "I hope you don't fade away today, not today… Flickering in the air". Yeesh...
• Tough Act to Follow: The Fishmans+ performances. Very loved and enjoyed, but it's agreed you can't top Sato's vocals.
  • Averted with Uchū Nippon Setagaya compared to Long Season. Being drastically different in tone and atmosphere helped it immensely.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: Everything. Everything.
  • Shinji's vocals for how beautiful they are.
• Vindicated by History: Fishmans, while being somewhat popular in Japan, didn't really get heavy recognition, and even Motegi in 2019 commented that their record sales in the 90s were "pretty laughable". The band's Japanese reputation began to steadily grow after Shinji's passing, giving them a heavy dose of Posthumous Popularity Potential. And that's not even to their American fanbase.
• Viewer Gender Confusion: Shinji's vocals are so distinct that most people thought the band was lead by a female, arguably what made the band so appealing.

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