Ginga

**Ginga** (銀 (ぎん)河 (が), *Galaxy*) is Sayonara Ponytail's eighth major album. It features illustrations by Nakamori Kemuri (who previously illustrated ROM).

The album consists of 11 tracks and was released on November 24, 2021.

## Personnel

* Nacchan - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Ayumin (second generation) - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Shuka - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Yuyu - vocals; chorus; etc.
* Fukkun - recording; acoustic guitar; etc.
* Maumau - recording; bass; guitar; synthesizer; programming; etc.
* 324P - recording; mixing; guitar; synthesizer; programming; etc.
* Megu - recording; mixing; synthesizer; guitar; programming; etc.
* Megane-kun - cheering (and so on)
* Kuroneko - total production

**Illustration (Special Summons God)**
* Nakamori Kemuri

**Sayopony Family**
* Chiitan (second-generation god)
* Yuritan (first-generation god)
* Ayumin (first-generation)

**Ongaku to Mahou Staff (音楽と魔法スタッフ)**
* Hayashi-sensei (林先生)
* S-chan (successive)

**Guest Musicians**
* Keiichi Morinaga, Tomohito Nomura - Additional Recording & Mix
* Terry Waters - Chorus Arrange & Additional Recording (M-2, 4, 10)
* Takako Nishikori - Guest Piano (M-2)
* Tae Nakamura - Guest Piano (M-11)
* Mastering: Keiichi Morinaga

**Tower Records Staff**
* Eikichi Maruyama - A&R
* Minami Shimada - Label Promoter
* Jiro Kurata - Supervisor
* Ikuo Minewaki, Satoshi Takahashi - Executive Producer

**Special Thanks**
* Tatsuya Yuki
* Takaaki Taguchi
* Takumi Terao

## Promotion

Ginga was first teased on New Year's Day 2021, when Sayonara Ponytail posted a video to social media which announced the production of a new album. The video filmed live-action scenery while previewing new music. The names of some of the album's songs were displayed as well, including: *Gekijou*, *Chiisana Heiwa*, *Yume de Aetara*, *Yoru no Boukenshatachi*, *Rakuen*, and *Chimera*. The latter two songs would get standalone releases during the year.

On October 13, Sayonara Ponytail's official Twitter account revealed that a CD announcement would be made at the end of the month. Ginga was officially revealed on October 27.

On November 16, Sayonara Ponytail released the song Kono Michi on online music streaming platforms. The image used to promote Kono Michi's digital release shows the same location shown in the 2021 New Year's new music compilation video.

From November 18 to 23, a 6-day countdown was held where new album art of the vocalists was released on social media.

On January 18, 2022, *Ginga* was released on music streaming platforms.

## Packaging and Design

**Ginga** shipped in a standard jewel case with a slipcase cover. The slipcase front depicts the five vocalists and Kuroneko in a room used as a music studio. The vocalists are dressed in white jackets with the label "PONI" and a cat-like insignia reminiscent of the NASA logo. The room is littered with musical equipment, notes are plastered on the wall, and on the ground among the music paraphernalia is a shoujo manga, a pizza with a single slice missing, and a Nintendo GameCube.

Like ROM, the cover contains numerous references to Sayonara Ponytail's history. On the left bookshelf, there is a framed picture of a lady with a conical hat, which is a reference to the band's current social media profile picture. Below that to the left is a framed image of the artist photo released for Yumemiru Wakusei (The Dreaming Planet). At the top right are framed pictures of the cover of Chiisana Mori no Ookina Ki and Sayonara Ponytail's Tower Records artist photo (a.k.a. "No Sayonara, No Life?"). Beneath these is a plushie of the blue creature which appears in the Long Time No Sea album, a framed group photo drawn by Yuritan, and a framed image Chiitan drew of SayoPony World.

The slipcase back reveals that to the right of the room, a window opens to a fire escape, showing that the room is situated within a brick building. However, the exterior beyond this is outer space. In this void, the other members of the music team and Megane-kun are floating. Kuroneko observes them from the window sill, and various wires pour out from the room and connect to the music team member's different instruments: Megu plays a saxophone, Fukkun an acoustic guitar, Maumau a keyboard, and 324P a mixing console. No wire connects to Megane-kun. Floating among them are various items: a paper plane, a giant donut, a soda in a fast food cup, a burger being eaten by 324P, and the pizza slice missing from the room.

## Bonuses

*Ginga* came with a shoulder bag featuring art of one of the Sayonara Ponytail vocalists. This bonus was exclusive for early buyers who purchased their copy of *Ginga* through Tower Records Japan online stores only. Due to the higher manufacturing cost of the shoulder bags, bonuses were limited to online orders.

## Post-release

The album peaked at 95 on the Oricon Albums Chart.

## Trivia

* Ginga's album cover features a Nintendo GameCube. Previously, the album ROM, which was also illustrated by Nakamori Kemuri, featured a Nintendo Game Boy.
* It is the first album to contain an equal number of songs produced by each member of the music team.

## References

1. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/1453195482344292357
2. ↑ Sayonara Ponytail. Booklet. *Ginga*, T-Pallete Records, 2021.
3. ↑ etc. was originally「など]
4. ↑ originally「とか」
5. ↑ originally「特別召喚・神さま」
6. ↑ originally「歴代・Sちゃん」
7. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/1344830131764793344
8. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CJfEdm0HGEd/
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/1448127754558390272
10. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/1453195482344292357
11. ↑ https://www.instagram.com/p/CVhnvDbv2TV/
12. ↑ https://linkcloud.mu/81d23e05
13. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/1483564482140205056
14. ↑ https://twitter.com/sayopony/status/1455732323610021891
15. ↑ https://twitter.com/kuroneko\_pony/status/1456219880445788164
16. ↑ The Oricon data is no longer public but has been retained on Japanese Wikipedia