This Week In Japan…#4
Another quiet week while everyone’s recovering from the festive period.
1 January 2007
Bye Bye X Hello. SNOWKEL
Mostly known for doing a song for Naruto. I like this single a lot, very anthemic and melodious - a lot like Bump of Chicken.
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! Character Mini Album Vol. 5 - Odori Momoha. Fujita Saki
I’m getting serious Tamura Yukari vibes from Fujita Saki now, it’s scary. Not only do they share a slight physical resemblance, their singing voices also sound eerily similar. And they were both on Artsvision up until today…..maybe that’s why Yukarin moved, lol.
click for bigger size - Saki and Yukarin
Anyway, this is the last of the character mini albums after Hocchan, Aipon, Inoue Marina and Hirano Aya’s efforts. It’s another sterling effort, and I’m all geared up for the anime which starts in a few weeks. Hayashibara Megumi was tapped to play the lead role of Manami as well as singing the OP/ED songs (Okazaki Ritsuko covers) but her focus on motherhood meant she decided to drop out of the role. Which is kinda depressing as Mardock Scramble, which Megu had a role in was cancelled recently as well, so we won’t be seeing much of her this year.
Bara ga saku, bara ga chiru. Aiuchi Rina
I’ve always found GIZA artists’ (Kuraki Mai, Garnet Crow, U-Ka Saegusa etc) output pretty underwhelming - bland MOR pop. Aiuchi Rina’s voice is powerful but her music is just…dull. Bara ga saku, bara ga chiru (Souten no Ken OP) a latin-infused number, doesn’t stick in the brain too long (thankfully), but the c/w song Powder Snow has a decent enough melody. I love hearing her talk though; she should become a seiyuu or something, her voice is perfect for it.
Innocent Love~Chi hate umi tsukiru made. mink
I love mink’s voice. Very unlike most stuff you’ll hear on the Oricon, it’s deep, rich and full of emotion. Shame that’s not true about most of her material though. This single however, is good stuff. They’re all soaring ballads which showcase her vocal strength, and I’m looking forward to her album due end of February.
Ten made todoke. Nakamura Ataru
A singer with well documented ‘gender issues’, the 21-year old singer-songwriter’s debut album is a solid collection of pop and rock tunes, featuring one of 2006’s best singles ‘Tomodachi no Uta‘ and ‘Kakeashi no Ikizama, the opening theme for upcoming REIDEEN anime. Those unfamiliar with Nakamura will probably be a little confused by the different vocal styles she adopts depending on the song; a slightly shaky falsetto for the slower songs like Kaze ni naru, and an edgier and (ahem) deeper voice for the rockier stuff like Watashi no Naka no ‘Ii’ Onna. The latter song made me go WTF the first time I heard it; I thought it was Kawamura Ryuichi singing. This probably won’t be the best pop album you’ll hear this year, but a worthy addition to any Jpop collection anyhow.
leftovers from last week
Hikari/Tegami. Kawaguchi Kyougo
He’s had trouble replicating the success of his debut single Sakura, which is a bit of a shame as Kawaguchi is a talented singer-songwriter. This is more of the same piano-led ballads that he’s known for, and if you liked any of his past stuff you won’t be disappointed by this.
Kyou made no watashi, ashita kara no kimi. Kato Izumi
I don’t watch Bokura ga ita so I only got around to listening to this album now; -_- wish I’d done it earlier. I really like it - good acoustic pop by this 15-year industry veteran. Her style somewhat reminds me of Matsu Takako, and perhaps a little of Oku Hanako. Shame she’s not more well known.