This Week In Japan..#15 « j1m0ne’s blog

This Week In Japan..#15

Ah, spring is in the air; the sun is out. Though hail is predicted for tomorrow :/

28th March 2007
Singles
Fate/stay night Character Image Song IV - Illya. Kadowaki Maii

They did a good job with Maita’s rather limited vocal range - Tsuki no namida is a fairly pleasant song and is marginally my favourite out of the four released so far.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Sailing To The Future. Koshimizu Ami

Not a fan of Amisuke’s singing at all, but she’s gotten a lot better over the years since the Nadja ED Que Sera Sera. This single comes with the first volume of the new AIKa OVAs (all I remember of the original series was the fanservice), which I will avoid with 98% certainty hoho. The 2% possibilty comes from the fact that Sailing To The Future and Rise are both great songs, and also that Fukuen Misato and Ohtsuka Akio are in it.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Four Worlds. Sato Chikuzen

Sato’s first single in one and a half years, FOUR WORLDS is another strong effort from the SING LIKE TALKING frontman. His style has always been a cross between blues and gospel ballads and these four songs follow in a smilar vein. Of note is the cover of Amazing Grace (featuring Arisaka Mika - anime fans may recognise her name from GSD, 12Kokki and Infinite Ryvius) which is sung in almost flawless English - eat that, Nakashima Mika.
Rating: ★★★★☆

Hitokoi meguri. Shibasaki Kou

This…was….so….dull. The best thing about this was that Shibasaki appears to have ditched that hideous hairdo she had on the last single.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Anything For You. BONNIE PINK

Surprisingly dull and uninspiring. Not one of her better efforts.
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Albums
Negima!?Magical X’mas CD. Various

Ouch. I have a terrible headache now. Horribly off-key, out of sync, banshee-like screeching. Only Shiraishi Ryoko sounded like she could actually sing live…. I need to go listen to some decent live albums to erase the painful memories of this - The Back Horn’s Ubugoe Chainsaw is a good remedy.
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆

Sincerely Dears. Tamura Yukari

A collection of Yukarin’s singles for Konami plus one new song - 13 songs altogether. Too short for me, and obviously no songs from her Polydor days (ie no REBIRTH). She should’ve included some album cuts or something. Boo.
Rating: ★★★☆☆

Cosmicolor. m-flo

So urban music has never been my cup of tea, and based on that I’m not sure if any rating I give this would be fair. Most of the tracks did my head in - only the Hinouchi/Ryohei & Monkey Majik were tolerable. I enjoyed BEAT SPACE NINE much more than I did this - I guess anything other than mainstream urban won’t appeal much to me ^^;
Rating: ★★☆☆☆

Ai am Love. Otsuka Ai

Another hits compilation - Ai’s only released three albums for goodness’ sake…..way to milk the cash cow eh? I wish they’d waited a few more years to release a best of. Nice to see Cherish included though.
Rating: ★★★☆☆