FUNKY MONKEY BABYS will release their 16th single, "Sore demo shinjiteru/Love Letter", on June 8th, and it looks like this year will bring an unusually hot summer, with power shortages continuing all across Japan.

The man chosen for the newest FMB CD jacket is the kind of man that will increase that heat - no - that will send it soaring.

That man is Matsuoka Shuzo.

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The single includes "Sore demo shinjiteru", the theme song of Asahi TV's Sunday night drama "Asuko March!", and "Love Letter", featured as Shiseido's SEA BREEZE CM song. Two celebrities were chosen to appear on the CD jacket and PVs to match the theme of the two songs.

The first PV to be produced, "Sore demo shinjiteru", stars professional tennis player Matsuoka Shuzo. FMB chose him, a man extremely passionate about his job, to represent the song they wrote as a message to Japan.

The must-see music video features Matsuoka as a high school teacher. He acts with intensity, and though he has almost no lines, he conveys the importance of believing in oneself and the importance of a passionate spirit.

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In addition, the song was created before and after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, and the group says that the contents of the song were changed after the disaster struck. FMB's music is usually positive and upbeat, but this new song is meant to gently embrace the listener. What hasn't changed is FMB's basic principle of "supporting our listeners through our music".

FMB explained, "Right now, what we want to say to our fans isn't a loud, 'You can do it!', to push them to action, but instead, 'We're here for you. You're not alone'. Rather than saying 'You can do it!', this song is meant to say to the listener, 'We can do it!'. We rewrote the song, and this is what it became."

Matsuoka commented, "When I first listened to the song, the lyrics seemed to be saying, 'Don't give up!'. I was able to sympathize with those feelings, and so I accepted the offer to appear in the music video as well."

No doubt, this is a song for all of those facing difficult seasons in their lives.

Check out the preview of the "Sore demo shinjiteru" PV, featuring Matsuoka Shuzo, below!



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Source + Photos: Barks