This Week In Japan…#12
07 March 2007
Oh my gosh it’s March!! And I was still saying Happy New Year to somebody the other day….I missed reviewing Hirai Ken’s Kimi na suki na toko last time out but it’s probably my fave song at the moment. This week - loads and loads of releases as well. Gyabo!!! I’m so behind the times with English language music now >_> I’ve just got hold of the Kaiser Chiefs’ new album. And Maximo Park. And Charlotte Hatherley. And Albert Hammond Jr. Oh my poor ears…..
Chart news from last week: Shimotsuki Haruka sold 5,083 copies of Tindharia no tane \[^o^]/ (compared to Kanda Akemi’s 2,264). Utada Hikaru sold some 270k copies of Flavor of Life, I’m pleased for her - she sure needs some good news after her divorce was announced last week. Well, hopefully she won’t end up like her parents, who divorced for the 7th time last year. You’d have thought after the 2nd re-marriage/divorce that they’d learn a lesson but apparently not.
Singles
Kirei na senritsu. KOTOKO
I was hoping for some thrash metal tune, but alas! It’s a typical KOTOKO song even though she didn’t write it. The guitars are well…. nothing special really; in fact they sound out rather out of place. Hopefully Kirei na senritsu will get a warmer fan reception than Chercher….. oh, and on Marty Friedman’s site he calls the anime Maria sama ga mieru. Yes, I’m sure he can see Maria-sama, good for him.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
CHE.R.RY.YUI
Lame title! was the first thing that came to mind. YUI’s sounding more like Avril Lavigne than Avril herself does these days. Not a bad thing, that. I like this a lot more than Rolling Star.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Harukaze. Yuzu
Surely No.1 come next Wednesday? Their songs are so simple yet endearing. Harukaze is a collaboration with violinist Hakase Taro though you probably wouldn’t notice - it’s very much a typical soaring Yuzu folk ballad.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Sakurairo. Angela Aki
God, there’s just so many good releases this week. I’m sure most ppl will be familiar with Angela by now (go play FFXII if you aren’t). The c/w songs are different versions of previous releases (On & On, Music and HOME). If you’re into piano pop ballads (think Sarah McLachlan), this is for you.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Candy Line. Takahashi Hitomi
She’s making a career out of one big hit from some big-name anime followed by 2-3 miserably-selling singles. Debuted with the ultra-annoying Bokutachi no Yukue (GSD), did naught for a while, sold big with Aozora no namida (Blood+) followed by two singles nobody bothered with and here we are now. Will the Gintama name increase her sales? I certainly think she’ll make top 20 with this at least - it’s a pretty good song to boot. C/w song Kanjiru mama (written by GaGaGa SP bassist Kuwahara Yasunobu) is fabulous too.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Osaka Lover. Dreams Come True
Blimey. Have we gone back to the ’80s? This is reminiscent of stuff from their earlier days; a bit like Jikan Ryokou. These veterans sure know how to write great pop hooks, and Yoshida Miwa’s vocals are always a pleasure to listen to.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Nagareboshi~Shooting Star~. HOME MADE Kazoku
I can’t remember the last Naruto song I actually liked….. probably Snowkel. This isn’t one of HOME MADE Kazoku’s best songs, but after a string of forgettable singles this is at least catchy.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Afureru. MY LITTLE LOVER
They’ve had, and will have, better singles than this. Boring MOR pop ballad.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Precure, Smile go go!. Kudou Mai/Miyamoto Kanako
OMG the background vocals are so annoying : The ED song is just…………bleeurrgh. Reminds me of just why I hate Powerpuff Girl songs ~_~
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
One more time, one more chance. Yamazaki Masayoshi (from last week)
Yawn. Not one of my favourite Yamazaki songs; so however it’s rearranged it’s not going to appeal to me. It’s a 10-year old song for God’s sake. I guess there was no chance of them using Celery or Chuuka Ryouri instead? ^^; The short instrumental version arranged by Tenmon is the best thing about this single.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Albums
Dear…. Tainaka Sachi
I’m now positively sure that Tainaka hates those Fate/stay singles 
They’ve now been turned into a bombastic Final Fantasy-like orchestral tune. Actually they sound much better this way 
I like it [^_^]b Fits in better with the flow of the album as a whole. Tainaka wrote all the other tracks on this album - I’m like a broken record now, but I’m really impressed by her songwriting and vocals. I’m wondering if she’ll be able to sell more records without the backing of Fate/stay from now on. Saikou no kataomoi sold poorly at first, but her appearance on Music Station saw an upturn in fortunes and it eventually crept past the 10,000 sales mark.
Most of the songs are upbeat piano-based power pop - Ari no Yume is a really fun song. Sachi only plays piano on one track - the disillusion/Kirameku mashup. Hope she doesn’t only end up selling records to the otaku crowd; with the right connections and promotion Tainaka could go a long way - and she’s not even 21 yet. (EDIT: Sachi debuted at No.17 on the first day!!! I’m so happy~~).
Rating: ★★★★☆
Negima!? Uta no CD 2. Various
How much I was looking forward to this, if only to get hold of MinaJun’s fantastic Eien no toki o koete. Iinchou also gets to sing a duet with her best mate Asuna (Kanda Akemi). Similarly, a lot of the other tracks are duets/trios etc - even Shichimi & Motsu get their own song ^^; Only Yueyue and Chiu get to sing solo tunes. No Mamimami this time (silently rejoices). Sadly, no Horie Yui or Satou Rina either (sob).
CD2 is 10x better than CD1. I loved almost every song here, except maybe Shichimi & Motsu’s Neapolitan no Sauce which is only funny the first time round….. My favourite (apart from Eien no toki….) is the cheerleaders’ YELL◎ (lyrics). OMG it’s so catchy (reminds me of Kylie), it makes me want to grab some pom-poms and do a little dance. Well, not really but…. And totally wasn’t expecting the Eva and Chachamaru song to be some quasi-folk tune 0_o The yuriyuri couples’ (Sayo/Kazumi & Konoka/Setsuna) songs are really nice too. I guess I don’t care anymore if they can sing or not as long as the songs are fun. That’s the whole point of image albums. The cover however, is awful. Poor Negi looks somewhat deformed………… and why doesn’t Chamo-kun get his/its own song??? And ZOMG ep 23 OP….MUST….HAVE…IT.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Linear. Straightener
Linear probably refers to the band’s musical direction. It’s more of the same old, same old. Good if you’re a Straightener fan - bad for everyone else. Unfortunately there’s nothing as catchy as Tender or Rocksteady on the album.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
From a small town. GRAPEVINE
My first impression of this was UGH. Given it a few more spins and my opinion’s improving each time. It’s certainly not an album that will catch your attention immediately, but songs like Toge ni doku, FORGE MASTER and Ranchero’58 reveal their charms after a couple of listens. The studio version of Sredni Vashtar is brill.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Heavy Starry Heavenly. Tommy Heavenly6
I really wasn’t too bothered bout getting this album (I mean, it leaked a whole damn month ago - Isn’t the Internet wonderful?) til one of the song titles caught my eye - my bloody knee-high-socks. How could anyone resist listening to something called that….or so I thought. I really should know better, lol.
Come back, the brilliant green - I really miss them. Los Angeles was one of my first non-bubblegum Jpop purchases and there really hasn’t been anyone to fill the gap….it’s their 10th anniversary this year! That I’ve spent most of this review talking about buriguri probably shows you what I think of the album…..This Tommy business is getting old.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Evolution. EXILE
That all those hardcore, gangster-looking guys turn out to be just a bunch of poncy dancers, lol. I admit it, I actually bought one of their albums (Styles of Beyond) ^^; but I only got it because I liked SHUN - well that, and the fact that the songs were actually good. So no more SHUN - yawn. This is a snoozefest generally, but there are some songs that sound vaguely interesting - Haruka kara doko e and Yell. Regardless, this will still no doubt sell by the bucketload…..
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Sakura saku machi monogatari. Ikimonogakari
I’ve been looking forward to this for a while now; it’s a great pop album but the only downside is that more than half the tracks are from their previous singles. Boo. Thankfully, the new tracks aren’t just rubbish filler - in fact they all sound like potential singles. Probably my fave release this week.
Rating: ★★★★☆
Stuff I skipped (there’s just way too much):
Journey. w-inds. (cheesy boybands are way down my priority list)
Natsukawa Rimi (all her songs sound the same >_>)
Shimatani Hitomi
Momusu/Berryz
Kato Miliyah
Isoyama Mio
Suzuki Masayuki
1001Nights. Bennie K (dunno why, but they’ve never appealed to me. In fact, their songs annoy the hell out of me ^^; - Already seen the PV for this and I don’t like the song…)
Yamada Yu
TVXQ (Oh noes, cheesy boyband)
Suzuki Ami joins THC!!
THC!!
Pride of Tomorrow. JUNE (It’s rubbish)
Dreamers - the EXILE battle losers
Gekirangers + tons of other stuff I’m too lazy to mention
Stuff I’m still hunting for:
Himawari!! Song Collection
Getsumen to Heiki Mina Character Collection 1
Okinawa Full Orchestra. BEGIN
Hajimete no machi. theSOUL
Daikichi Collection. Bianco Nero
Bokura o tsunagu mono. Hata Motohiro
Hyper Flying Boy. Chou Hikou Shonen
Mayoi naku. Sasagawa Miwa
Seasons Colours. Yuming
Harukaze. doa
Ashita no nai koi. Takeuchi Mariya
Pan to yagi to Love Letter. Fairlife
Hashiridasu kisetesu. Redballoon
Sakura biyori. Hoshimura Mai
March 8th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Yes, I’m sure he can see Maria-sama, good for him.
*fangirlz yew*