NEWS: Well another year has passed (well the show is two months earlier than last year, so almost a year) and it's time for Morning Musume to sing Dekkai Uchuu Ni Ai Ga Aru on the 24HourTV special again. This year they are joined by Matsuura Aya and Yaguchi Mari, who are nice additions.

I can't say the performance is as touching as last year's, where it was sung for a young Morning Musume fan who had died in a car accident, but it's still a good performance. I'm not actually sure who they are singing for... athletes or something?

REVIEW: ALI PROJECT has been on the Japanese Music scene for decades and since their 1988 debut, have released a string of works. Kinsho is the duo's 11th original album, a diverse journey of Forbidden Literature.

01. Kamikaze

The opening track sets the album off with the vibrant Gothic pop style ALI PROJECT is so well known for. Seeming to lend a few techniques from their recent singles, it is a nice bridge between the group's recent work and this new album. It is a really good opening track with a nice branching of style and some beautiful vocal work from Arika. The chorus builds especially well, until the climax at the end of the chorus leading to an interesting change of tempo, to a more slow orchestral offering. 'Kamikaze' is known as being wildly reckless or destructive, a suicidal mission - This opening track definitely gives off that vibe and sets up the album. It is a recklessly, uninhibited track which endeared me in its craziness.

02. Mokushiroku Zengi

(erm) ... and I thought the last track was meant to be crazy!? Mokushiroku Zengi is an operatic rock track which right from the furious opening is totally out of left field. I really love the hook in this song which has a yo-yo effect which works really well bringing a further complexity to an already complex song. Arika handles the rockier genre well, her low notes being her forte while she manages the scream'ish style satisfactorily. The song is a flamboyant example of operatic rock in a style only ALI PROJECT could pull off.

03. Hetero Shitsurakuen
The third track's instrumental borrows some influence from the Middle East and South West Asia, with Arika's singing typical of an old Indian Film. I'm unsure where this track fits in following the previous rockier track. It seems out of place and while the chorus is redeeming, the entire song feels a bit raw and unpolished. It's definitely commendable for ALI PROJECT to attempt such a style but I feel that this could have been a lot better. The instrumental is rather flat with the same repetitions and the Indian styled vocals don't fit well with the chorus' verbosity.

04. Nemureru Hyou
The next track seems to follow on quite well with somewhat of a similar style though with a slightly rockier edge. I have to say though that this song is just too bland for ALI PROJECT. The orchestral, rock instrumental is nice but the chorus is repetitive and dull. It seems much too mainstream for them. When I listen to an ALI PROJECT song I expect experimentation and diversity but this isn't either and sitting right smack, bang in the middle of the album threatens to prevent the album from really taking off.

05. Chi no Danshou
Chi no Danshou has a beautiful orchestral arrangement and does everything that the previous track didn't, providing an interesting ballad while maintaining ALI PROJECTS' unique style. Arika's vocals are spectacular on this song and the composition has a few surprises, differentiating it from a typical orchestral track. The build of the song is gradual from verse to chorus which allows the song to float along nicely. The track has the risk of not having much lasting appeal, but for a mid album interlude it works quite well.

06. Kinsho

The album's title track continues the orchestral style for its opening before drastically switching to a more operatic influence. This song's major attribute is its growth, from the timid verses, to the dramatic chorus and hook; It seems to effortlessly take steps up at the most unsuspecting moments. Arika's vocals seem somewhat stretched on this song as she sings the obviously difficult chorus, but it doesn't detract me much from enjoying the song. Her lower vocals are pretty spot on as usual so the only those particularly powerful high notes of the chorus are affected. The song ends with a beautiful orchestral piece and some repeating chimes.

07. Setsuka Sange Shinjuu

This song follows the build of orchestrally influenced songs, opening with a pretty little piano piece before being hounded with a wonderfully eccentric mix of beats. The hook in this song is really wonderful and a hearty nod to the anticipated chorus. The chorus is very unusual and the contrast of pace between the verse and chorus helps to lift the song even further while the slower verses have their own sweet charm. The chorus is repeated quite a few times to close out the song, filling up a good 2 minutes of time. Thankfully the chorus is good enough that this isn't an issue, in fact it I probably could have gone on for a few more minutes ^_^

08. Kou
Kou takes a very drastic turn with its delicate, stripped back instrumental and gentle vocals. The track has a haunting quality which keeps you hooked throughout, almost like some sort of magical death trance. Credit to Akira that she is able to hold back in this style compared to her usual vivacious vocals. About three quarters through the song, the composition decides to go all Nintendo on us and after a soft change of pace, we have an unusual old school gaming synth piece. I'm not sure of its place in the track but it's only very tiny. The song quickly resorts back to the haunting instrumental.

09. Chiisaki Mono e no Shokuzai no Tame no Sonata
This opening Sonata sets up a mini-arc of more traditional, classical songs rather than the earlier orchestral/operatic experimentation. Akira's vocals are once again very good and the music is obviously very beautiful but I can't help but feel that this style is cut off from the rest of the album. The chorus has a much faster tempo which is slightly akin to ALI PROJECTS' more traditional style and somewhat redeeming. It is a beautiful track but I question its place on the album, along with the two following tracks.

10. Sonata of Ember Glance
This is a purely instrumental piece so there isn't really too much to say. It's pretty. The song seems to end and then begin again, I assume this is where the 'bonus track' comes into play. Yay... !

11. Tsukiyo no Pieretto
Ahh~, the bonus track (which is clearly listed on the album's tracklist, how mysterious!). Once again it follows the classical orchestral theme. It actually reminds me of one of those old black and white musicals. The instrumental is more vibrant than the two previous tracks which is nice. The song tempts us at the end of the verse with a few low notes and you sort of expect the song to launch into this incredible commotion of styles but unfortunately this isn't the case and it continues along until it eventually ends.

On a whole this album mixes a variety of styles while maintaining the direction of orchestral experimentation.

The standout tracks on this album are the ones which seem to launch into a melange of sounds and styles without inhibition. I commend ALI PROJECTS' nod towards classical orchestra and it's inclusion at the end of the album makes it a less disjointed affair, separated by the dim Kou.
On a track by track basis, I feel the album is slightly let down by a few songs but there is also quite a number of gems which are sure to keep you entertained for multiple listens.

It is said that despite having an eclectic selection of songs, if they are all of a high quality then they will work together in harmony. This is definitely the case for this album, which I feel tends to work as a full compilation rather than on an individual track basis. I would suggest listening to the whole album from front to back to get the most out of Kinsho.

Rating: B

Standout Tracks: Kamikaze, Mokushiroku Zengi, Kinsho & Setsuka Sange Shinjuu (my personal favourite).

PREVIEW: I only recently became a fan of Sound Horizon, really stumbling across them by accident. I saw a picture of their upcoming album Moira on a website and on a whim decided to google them knowing nothing about the band (artist, singer? ... I had no idea at that point). I believe the first song I heard of theirs was Mahoutsukai Sarabanto and I was pretty much hooked straight away. I fell completely in love with their songs, the diverse sounds, the story telling and the beautiful, (at times) haunting vocals.

Sound Horizon is the brainchild of composer Revo who describes Sound Horizon as a fantasy band. Their songs are stories with albums being omnibus styled; a collection of various songs/stories linked with common themes in a larger, overall story. Their lyrics are often metaphorical and mysterious with various fantasy styled themes (legends, curses, war, dreams etc).
They don't have a set group of vocalists, currently REMI, KAORI and YUUKI have been participating but each album also incorporates other vocal talents or anime seiyu for singing and narration. Revo sings as well as composes the music, while vocalist Jimang sings and narrates in various songs.
Sound Horizon has an extensive backlog of albums. Moira will be their 6th Story album while they have quite a few other works.

Sound Horizon's album covers are always beautiful animated works

I'm really looking forward to Moira as the album was my initial introduction to the band (despite seeing just the covers). Moira refers to the Moirae or Moerae, the Greek Fates who in Greek mythology controlled the thread of life, the life and death of mortals. The Moirae are Clotho, who spins the thread of life; Lacheis, who measures the thread and assigns each mortals destiny; and Atropos, who cuts the thread of life with abhorred shears, ending life. This theme is further incorporated with the first track Thanatos, the daemon of Death and Mortality. The Official Website has a PV preview of the opening track.

I have to say that it is definitely much darker than I had expected (Thanatos, the God of Death ... I'm not sure exactly what it was I was expecting ^_^ ) but I'm looking extremely forward to the darkness and light which will no doubt resonate throughout the entire album. Thankfully we have some more previews of the tracks from both the official site and Frost Moon Cafe's interview with Revo.

Thanatos and the Twins of Fate?

Moira Tracklist:

01. 冥王 / Θανατος (God of Death / Thanatos)
source: Frost Moon Cafe

02. 人生は入れ子人形 / Матршка (Matryoshka Doll / Matryoshka)
03. 神話 / Μυθος (Myth / Mythos)
04. 運命の双子 / Διδυμοι (Twins of Fate / Didumoi)

05. 奴隷市場 / Δουλοι (Slave Market / Douloi)

source: Frost Moon Cafe

06. 雷神域の英雄 / Λεωντιυς (Hero of the Lightening God / Leontius)

source: Sound Horizon Official Website

07. 死と嘆きと風の都 / Ιλιον (City of the Wind of Death / Ilion)

08. 聖なる詩人の島 / Λεσβος (Island of the Holy Poet / Lesbos)

source: Sound Horizon Official Website

09. 遥か地平線の彼方へ / Οριζοντας (To the Far Horizon / Horizon)
10. 死せる者達の物語 / Ιστορια (Story of the Dead / Istoria)

11. 星女神の巫女 / Αρτεμισια (Star Goddess / Artemisia)

source: Sound Horizon Official Website

12. 死せる乙女その手には水月 / Παρθενος (In the Dead Maiden's Hand, the Shadow Reflection of the Moon / Parthenos)
13. 奴隷達の英雄 / Ελευσευς (Slaves' Hero / Eleuseus)
14. 死せる英雄達の戦い / Ηρωμαχια (The Dead Horoes' Battle / Iromachia)
15. 神話の終焉 / Τελος (The End of the Myth / Telos)

Thanatos of course sounds completely haunting, I'm definitely going to enjoy that. The song is apparently over 8 min long. Epic!
Douloi I also really love. I just love Sound Horizon's various tempo changes and vocal harmonies. It's the style that is perhaps my favourite of Sanhora's so I'm sure to enjoy this one.
Leontius sounds really great so far, we don't get too much of a preview of the actual male vocals but they sounds really good so far.
Lesbos is very beautiful. The vocals are very moving even from this small preview. It definitely suits the idea of Lesbos, the island of the poet, most likely about the legendary Sappho.
Finally Artemisia once again is very beautiful. The harmonies and the vocals... wow. I can't explain how much I enjoy Sound Horizon's music. It's beautiful on so many levels.

You can still purchase the first press limited from Yesasia. I can't wait for my copy to arrive! I'll do a full review soon after, I'm sure.

Regular Limited

Moira is released on the 3rd of September. Thanks so much to animesuki's Sound Horizon thread where I got a lot of the info from.

PREVIEW: Ongaku Gatas' new PV for their upcoming single Come Together:

I'm digging the documentary style clips in the PV; that's definitely a nice touch. Can't say I'm sold on the song still. It's growing (really slowly, I might like it in a few years), but I miss their crazy, upbeat style. With Manoeri and Mucchi's exit though, the eggs have seemed to move even further into the backup dancer catagory. I don't think they got a single solo line which is extremely odd, especially for Noto. Oh well, whatever.

You can view a HQ ver of the PV at dohhhup.

Bambino Bambina Tamura Yukari

Bambino Bambina is Tamura Yukari's 15th single and the theme song for Friday TV Lab which may or may not be Perfume's TV Show (Is it different to Friday TV Lab HAPPY? *is confused*) Either way I have the song and I'm reviewing it ^_^
This song is sugar coated lollipops in marshmallow land aka all things sweet. Unfortunately too many sweets tend to leave an upset stomach and this is the case here. Yukari-chan's voice is beyond high and it's not even very good high. The song has some slight merits. It's a nice little tune, sugary sweet as I mentioned but the chorus has some nice layers to it and an electric guitar instrumental is welcomed. It's a nice tune but it's hard to get past Yukari's cute voice. If you don't mind high (high high) voices then this might be a song for you.

Rating: C+

MUSIC!!! / ZERO AAA

I'm a casual fan of AAA, really enjoying a few of their tracks so it's always nice to see a new AAA single and this time we get a double A-side to keep us all happy! MUSIC / ZERO is AAA's 19th single with ZERO being the opening theme for the anime World Destruction.
MUSIC!!! is a very enthusiastic (!!!) summer song with some nice rapping and a happy, upbeat chorus. I have to admit the opening of this song just kills me, purely because I've been unsuspectingly scared out of my wits (numerous times) when visiting Raid's blog within the last month. The song begins blaring through my speakers and it always catches me by surprise! *lol* It brings back awful flashbacks... Despite this, the song is pretty good. I expressed my distaste of some of the songs this Summer but this is a nice indication of a cool, fun Summer song. The rapping is particularly nice and the chorus is good too.
ZERO on the other hand is a dark electro/rock type song which is a nice contrast in styles for this single. I love my j-pop rock style songs but this one doesn't hook me straight away. The verses are done well and have a slightly haunting element with the synth. The chorus doesn't feel much like a chorus at all and isn't very catchy and the rap doesn't seem to fit in with the song style. It's a song built around a nice verse.

Rating: B for MUSIC!!! ... B- for ZERO

NEXUS 4 / SHINE L'Arc~en~Ciel

NEXUS 4 / SHINE is L'Arc~en~Ciel's 35th single. NEXUS 4 is the SUBARY Legacy CM song while SHINE is the opening for the anime Seirei no Moribito.
NEXUS 4 is a rocky song (surprise, surprise) but is a slightly more upbeat from what I've heard of L'Arc~en~Ciel in the past. I guess you could call it a Summery rock song. It doesn't do TOO much for me though, I think I prefer their darker style. It's not necessarily bad and I think it would work well in commercials. Hyde's vocals surprisingly work well in the more upbeat style (like I said I don't listen to them much), I'm used to him being much more dark and depressing. It's a refreshing change.
SHINE is a mid-tempo rock/pop song which is even further from what I've heard from L'Arc~en~Ciel before. I definitely prefer this track to NEXUS 4. It has some really lovely tempo changes and has that style that makes you feel as if you are floating. Hyde once again sounds really good and the song is a really nice addition to the single. I think it compliments NEXUS 4's rockier style well.

Rating: B- for NEXUS 4 ... B for SHINE

Secret Code KinKi Kids

Kinki Kids churn out another sure-fire hit with Secret Code, their 27th single. It is the theme song for 33pun Tantei and has a nice big band sound. I haven't heard TOO much of this lately so it's a good change of pace from the Summer styled songs. It's always great when a big band song is done well and Kinki Kids gives it a nice shot. My only slight reservation is that this may not be BIG enough. It is almost on the verge of a lounge style song with *some* big band elements. The pre-chorus build is a nice change of tempo and the vocals are as always lovely. The chorus should have a little bit more punch to really push it from good to great. The instrumental is a high point with a lengthy medley of horns. Very nice. It will no doubt continue their streak of no.1 hits.

Rating: B

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

20+∞ Century Boys Acid Black Cherry

My single of the week this time around is Acid Black Cherry's newie 20+∞ Century Boys. Acid Black Cherry is the solo project of Janne De Arc's Yasu and 20+∞ Century Boys is his 5th single as a soloist.

20+∞ Century Boys

20+∞ Century Boys has a great rock beat straight from the start and an interesting arrangement. The song almost feels like an end of Summer track, reminiscent of some sort of college drama.
The verses aren't overly special but have a nice catch towards the end of the repetition and then slip into a really nice build. The build has an awesome arrangement to it and does exactly what any good pre-chorus build should, transitioning between the verse and the chorus. This is done perfectly and the rockin' chorus follows, no doubt encouraging anyone to sing along. The "20th Century Boys!" line is the true catch of this track that you can easily pick up before the song is over and continue singing along to. Towards the end of the song there is a small instrumental followed by another nice tempo change with the bridge which slows the pace down a little.
Yasu has a great pop/rock voice and shines in this song. He is able to sing the up-tempo chorus as effortlessly as the smooth bridge and verses.
I have to admit that before the end of the song I moved from humming, to bobbing around in my chair to singing some lines in the chorus! It's very a catchy song that I really enjoyed. I find that this genre of male pop/rock can be VERY repetitive and a lot of it sounds the same but Yasu has a song which stands out with its own style and uniqueness. He has a very nice single on his hands here.

Rating: B+

NEWS: News around the Hello! Project water cooler is that a new H!P unit consisting of Hello! Pro Eggs is soon to debut. Details are scarce at this point but unit is rumoured to be announced at the Shugo Chara event on the 20th of September. They will apparently sing the new Opening for the popular anime. Fans of Hello! Project will no doubt know Shugo Chara from Buono!'s singles which have been themes for the show.

No news yet on how many girls will be in the unit or which girls they will be. Some rumoured lineups have been floating around on Japanese forum 2ch which include a Maeda/Saho/Wada/Komine lineup as well as a Ogawa/Wada/Sainen/Arai/Maeda/Saho lineup. Both are to be taken very lightly and are likely fanmade.

I personally would love for the inclusion of some of my favorite eggs Wada Ayaka, Furukawa Konatsu, Fukuda Kanon and Ogawa Saki.

Saki - Kanon - Ayaka - Konatsu

There has been a lot of recent Egg activity with Maeda Yuuka, Kikkawa Yuu and Kitahara Saki all appearing in recent groups and of course Noto, Sengoku and Sawada in Ongaku Gatas. It seems Tsunku/UFA/Whoever feels that a lot of the original eggs are finally ready to hatch into H!P.

C-ute's newest EventV contained a TV-Solo Spot selection of cm clips with each girl getting her own little commercial to promote Edo no Temari Uta II - (The order for those watching and waiting for their fav is Erika -> Maimi -> Saki -> Airi -> Chisato -> Mai -> Kanna)

I find this pretty damn cute to say the least. Edo no Temari Uta II ~ Hatsubai Chu! - No wonder the single sold so well. Enjoy!

ORICON ROUNDUP: I'm seeing double this week as ARASHI manages to score two top ten places on the Singles Chart. Their newest single Truth / Kaze no Mukou he scores a massive 468K, rocketing to the top of the chart and eclipsing the record for debut single sales for 2008. The previous highest selling debut was KAT-TUN's DON'T YOU EVER STOP which sold 382K back in May. Their last single One Love is the current best-selling single of the year and continues selling, staying put at no.9 this week with another 13K copies sold bringing their total sales to 492K.

Porno Graffitti's Gift debuts at a strong no.2 with 57K while May'n and Nakashima Megumi's collaboration Lion sits at 3rd. Continued strong sales from Southern All Stars and the Fuijioka Fujimaki and Oohashi Nozomi pairing see their respective singles fill out the top 5 while last week's no.1 from SMAP falls down to no.7.
Buono!'s newest single Gachinko de Ikoi! debuts at no.6 with 25K, lower than their previous singles but still with decent sales. Satoda Mai's group Aladdin manages to just stay in the top 10 with another 12.5K sales.

~ Deja vu ~

Namie Amuro continues her domination on the Albums Chart with BEST FICTION at no.1 for the 4th straight week. Tokunaga Hideaki's BEST SINGLES album falls one spot, surpassed by Slipknot(USA), while the Detroit Metal City album is at 4th. Saitou Kazuyoshi's SINGLES BEST album jumps up into the top 5 at no.5 while SOFFett's debuts at #10. Chart regulars Koi no Uta and GReeeeN fall out of the top 10 (It was bound to happen eventually) placing at 11th and 14th.
Leah Dizon's new album fails to make the top 10 on debut, unfortunately charting at no.16 with a rather average 8.6K.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01. Truth / Kaze no Mukou he ARASHI 467,288
02. Gift Porno Graffitti 57,667
03. Lion May'n / Nakashima Megumi 56,455
04. I AM YOUR SINGER Southern All Stars 30,207
05. Gake no Ue no Ponyo Fuijioka Fujimaki & Oohashi Nozomi 29,331
06. Gachinko de Ikoi Buono! 25,469
07. Kono Toki, Kitto Yume ja Nai SMAP 20,465
08. GIFT Mr.Children 20,338
09. One Love ARASHI 13,374
10. Hi wa, Mata Noboru Aladdin 12,587

Albums:

01. BEST FICTION Amuro Namie 88,335
02. ALL HOPE IS GONE-SPECIAL EDITION- Slipknot 44,888
03. SINGLE BEST Tokunaga Hideaki 43,382
04. Makaiyuugi - for the movie - Detroit Metal City 19,756
05. "Uta Utai 15" SINGLES BEST 1993~2007 Saitou Kazuyoshi 16,018

10. SOFFet BEST ALBUM ~ALL SINGLES COLLECTION~ SOFFet 12,757
11. Koi no Uta (Various Artists) 10,693
14. A, Domo. Ohisashiburi Desu. GReeeeN 10,008
16. Communication!!! Leah Dizon 8,620

NOTE: I've decided to switch the date of the Oricon Articles to the Tuesday release date rather than the previous weekly date which Oricon uses. This is because it tends to create confusion being a week later than the charts are posted and the fact that I have to constantly check since I have no idea how they work it out. Tuesday dates from now on *nods*

C-ute appeared on Oha Star yesterday morning, promoting their newest single Edo no Temari Uta II. The girls performed the song and joined in for the closing theme at the end of the show.

The performance was very good, perhaps other than those annoying aliens who always join in on Oha Star (but it wouldn't be Oha Star without them!). It seems only Maimi and Airi sang live which was probably a good move based on previous lives of this, but I always prefer to see everyone live. Either way good performance and the Oha Star theme was beyond cuteness.

PREVIEW: Ongaku Gatas new song Aisaretai Aisaretai has debuted on radio today. The song is the B-side on the Gatas' upcoming single Come Together. I personally prefer it to Come Together but neither lives up to the last two singles I don't think.

Aisaretai Aisaretai



The girls are also appearing in Kindai's October issue to promote Come Together.


click to enlarge

NEWS: Goto Maki took to the stage yesterday evening for her first public performance as an Avex Diva at A-nation 2008. She had previously performed at the Avex showcase for sponsors.

click to enlarge

Maki sang two songs: Shy Guy, a song by Diana King which she performed in English; and Hear me an original track which Maki introduced as being written by herself.

You can listen to a fan recording of Maki's performances below:

REVIEW(s): So I haven't really found the time to write all the reviews I had hoped so I may as well bunch them all together in my MEGA SUPER REVIEW TIME CORNER. This will hopefully not be a regular feature on the blog, only if I fall behind again ;)

Hitomi ga Kirakirara Canaria Club

Hitomi ga Kirakirara

Hitomi ga Kirakirara is Canaria (yes I was ALWAYS call them this) Club's 5th single and by far my favourite of the lot. CC's single have tended to be very happy go lucky, choirish type idol stuff which worked for them at the time but as they are gaining in popularity they seem to be changing their image, becoming slightly edgier and this single reflects this change.

The song is an upbeat dance song with trance styled elements and edgy rock influences. Mana is the lead on this song which she always has been in CC, however because this single has more solos than previous singles it is far more obvious this time around. I have no complaints though, Mana rocks majorly! Ayu and Yurie also have solos while Rippon, Reiko, Miki and Ikucchi have duo lines. Erina and Ucchi hardly sing at all which pains me but whatever.
The verses and bridge are really dramatic which contrasts well with the chorus which is upbeat and fun "OH YAY! OH YAY!" etc. I love Mana's scream, leading onto an awesome guitar solo. Awesomely, fun song. The dancing in the PV is great too!

Lonely Moon

The B-side is a solo song from Mana titled Lonely Moon and is a really nice ballad. Mana once again shows that she can pretty much sing anything. The verses aren't too special but are saved with their "moonlight" intro. The bridge is really, really lovely and the chorus is just awesome. The emotion of the lyrics is reflected in Mana's vocals, the desperation, feeling lonely; She's very talented. The only downside is that Tsunku's backing vocals are sometimes too intrusive. Seriously, shut the hell up Tsunku! :p

Hitomi ga Kirakirara: A-
Lonely Moon: B+

Ijiwaru Crazy Love THE Possible

Ijiwaru Crazy Love

Tsunku must be saving all his best songs for TNX because THE Possible's new single is ALSO my favourite of theirs. This is their tenth single and their second to chart in the top 10, a VERY deserving feat!
Ijiwaru Crazy Love is another trance dance track which is undeniably catchy. It's less rocky than CC's single and more pop which makes both tracks distinguishable enough since they were released rather close together. The "let me know crazy love" beat is repeated throughout the song which works due to its infectiousness.
Robin, Aina and Yurika are the leads on this song as they usually are. Yurika really surprised me as she recently hasn't had as much attention as Robin and Aina and I was pleasantly surprised with her voice. The other 3 girls are utilised still in the chorus (and with lots of ah~s!), with Yuki having a couple of speaking roles. Oh Yuki.. be still, my beating heart! *ahem*
I have always loved THE Possible, but to be honest their last single wasn't amazing to me. It was good and the girls are always great but this style definitely suits them much better. Ijiwaru Crazy Love has all the makings of a hit, better than most H!P releases currently. Please check it out if you haven't, you'll be glad you did.

Koi no Rung Rung Paradise

The B-side on this single is Koi no Rung Rung Paradise and is very different to the A-side. It's kind of a cutesy pop track, pure sugar. It's hard when comparing it to Crazy Love which I loved, this doesn't quite live up to the previous track. It's still a really cute b-side and the production is pretty awesome. The chorus could have been better.

Ijiwaru Crazy Love: A
Koi no Rung Rung Paradise: B-

Gachinko de Ikoi Buono!

Gachinko de Ikou!

Now to some H!P: Gachinko de Ikou, Buono!'s 4th single continues the rock-pop edge of their previous endeavours while continuing to remain fresh and new. The track starts with a really nice intro, setting the rocky mood of the song from the get go. It isn't a hard rock but a light, upbeat rock which is perfect for Summer and anime. As I mentioned, the song is the same style as their previous tracks and there was a chance Buono! would fall down the path of all their songs sounding the same. I admit at first I did think this single was a bit too similar to previous ones but after a few listens you can really appreciate the uniqueness of this track despite it not being too different to what they've done before.
I've always disliked Momo's voice but on this song she is actually pretty decent. Somebody has obviously mentioned to her that her usual high pitched squealing was extremely annoying and she sings in a more mature voice for Gachinko de Ikou. It isn't up to par with Miya & Airi who are the top singers of both Berryz & C-ute, but it's not bad enough to ruin the song.
The song induces small bouts of cuteness in random squeals and "oh yeah!"s reaffirming that this is an anime track and the instrumental is very anime with all the overlapping vocals. It's a typical anime track, but it's a pretty good one!

Lady Panther, the single's b-side is a rock infused swinging style of a song which is a nice contrast with the A-side. The instrumental is very upbeat and has some nice big band sounding elements. The girls all sound great and the chorus sung all together is cute. It isn't the greatest song, but for a b-side it is pretty good.

Gachinko de Ikou: B+
Lady Panther: B

GET ALONG TOGETHER sg WANNA BE+

sg WANNE BE+ is a Korean trio who have been active since 2004 and (I believe) are making their Japanese debut with this single. GET ALONG TOGETHER is a piano ballad with very impressive vocals. All three of the group's members sound really fantastic with very smooth, emotional voices. The song itself isn't too impressive unfortunately. It's a typical ballad and not something that I would think you would want to kick your career off with in Japan. It isn't overly catchy or unique at all. Just when you think it is lifting it drops back. It's a bit of a teaser to be honest. Lots of potential in this group but this single isn't a winner for me.

Rating: B-

Gift Porno Graffitti

Gift is Porno Graffitti's 25th single and the theme song for Flying Rabbits which unfortunately is not about flying rabbits at all but about basketballer air hostesses instead. What a shame! Now to the song: It has that indy-rock feel which everyone just seems to love in Japan. I'm really liking Okano-kun's vocals, they're nice and unique and obviously fit the genre well (they'd have to by now, eh?) The song has a nice layed back feeling to it without being boring. It reminds me very much of a school/university drama theme, not so much basketballer air hostesses. That doesn't matter much though, I still like it.

Rating: B

Life Goes On CHEMISTRY

CHEMISTRY's newest single is a double A-side with Life Goes On ~Side K~ and ~Side D~.I have absolutely no idea what side K or side D represents and I have no desire to start throwing random guesses about.
Life Goes On ~Side K~ is sort of a techno beat dance track, not so dissimilar from the likes of Perfume. I have to admit that I'm not a huge fan of the genre and this track doesn't stand out to me that much. The chorus was pretty good and it was better towards the end. It really isn't my genre though, I've tried to like groups like Perfume and I just can't. sorry.
From the ecclectic ~Side K~, Life Goes On ~Side D~ is very laid-back and sombre in comparison. The vocals are quite nice in this song, albeit soft. It's like an acoustic version of the previous track with some strings inserted here and there. I wouldn't say it is any better than the other track, it's different. I guess whichever genre you prefer will be the side you prefer.

Rating: B- for both.

Lion May'n / Nakashima Megumi

Oh yay! An Anime track. I love my Anime openings, they're usually surprisingly good. Lion is a collaboration between May'n (Nakabayashi May) and Nakajima Megumi. It is the Opening theme for Macross Frontier, an anime (well duh!).
Lion is a synth driven upbeat track with some light rock and orchestral elements. The song itself is good for what it is, which is a mindless anime tune. It doesn't bring much that hasn't been heard before (over and over and over). The biggest disappointment is that they haven't really utilised both girls. If I didn't know better I would have just assumed it was a single artist with backing vocals. This may be because both artists sound similar, I don't know, but I don't see the point of doing a duet if you can't even tell. The song is catchy, despite its downfalls and is one of those songs that you find yourself humming without even thinking.

Rating: B

Single of the Week

Truth / Kaze no Mukou he ARASHI

Despite scouring the new release charts in a desperate bid to not have a Johnny's song as my Single of the Week, I could not find a better single this week than ARASHI's newest double A-side Truth / Kaze no Mukou he. Coming off the lovey-dovey, sickeningly sweet albeit highly successful One Love, Truth / Kaze no Mukou he is a great change of pace for the boys.

Truth



The song starts off with some dramatic strings and the whole instrumental is very orchestrally inspired which is an automatic winner in my books. The guy's vocals aren't overly impressive (in fact they're surprisingly bad in some bits, especially the lower registry), but they are idols so that can be forgiven. I know I blab on and on about songs needing to be catchy and this one fits the bill in almost all aspects of catchy..ness. It has the infectious "I take your life forever, you take my life forever" lines in the verses; the undeniably brilliant backing vocals in the bridge and a very decent chorus. The second verse and bridge mix it up enough to remain fresh throughout and the instrumental is great. I don't know much about ARASHI but I like this song.

Rating: A-

Kaze no Mukou he



The second single on the track is a mid-tempo Summerish song and it ticks the boxes a Summer song should. Laid back? Tick. Summer influenced instrumental? Tick. Rapping? Tick. Catchy? Tick. Uplifting? Tick. It's another really good song. The vocals on this song are better than the previous, though the range seems much less on this song which may be the reason. The song is a touch repetitive but the chorus is good enough to make up for it and it doesn't even take a full listen for you to already be singing along "Kaze no Mukou he!" whilst bobbing around like an idiot. A top rate Summer track.

Rating: A-

I really enjoy the antithesis of light and shade in these two tracks. From the dramatically moody Truth to the upbeat Kaze no Mukou he. The contrast is wonderful. I'm not sold on the group yet but I do enjoy this single very much. Tracks are on the media player at the top of the blog so have a listen and see if you agree.

As most of you may know by now, Haromoni@ is officially ending with its last show on September 28th. While Haromoni@ had a lot of problems and seemed to be rating worse as each week passed, it is still quite sad that we won't have our weekly dose of Musume madness.

Is this the end? :(

I have to admit that I'm not an avid viewer of Haromoni@ so it may not have hit me as hard as others. I did used to watch it, but then like most people I tuned out when it became a boring panel show with only a few minutes of entertaining skits per episode (if that). From the random walking around the streets handing out napkins to MouTube to the quizzes and such, it wasn't really fresh and new and that showed in the number of fans tuning out. Not even Morning Musume could keep the show afloat.

So what next for Morning Musume on tv? Anyone who knows me personally would know that for AGES I have been blabbing on about MM (or really any of H!P) doing a drama series. Whether it is just one member of MM or all of them. They might not be able to act, it may be too expensive to be realistic ... I don't know but I know that it would get viewers to tune in. I can definitely imagine a school yard drama (30 min an episode), where each girl got her time to shine and had their own little stories each week, maybe with cameos from other H!P members. It may be tacky, it may be cheap but it would be fun and better than the current stuff. H!P members have been in dramas before and have made their own movies. I don't see why they couldn't do it again. Not only would it hook pretty much all the current fans, it could bring along new fans too (if the story was good enough). That being said, I'm still holding out for a Berryz Kamen/C-utie Rangers show ;)

Yes, please! ^_^

There is the off chance that we'll go back to the old Hello!Morning days but I honestly can't see it happening. The current gen doesn't have the comedic talent that MM had back when H!M was popular. UFA (or whoever runs the program) doesn't seem to have any new ideas that would even work. It would end up being old, rehashed ideas with less funny girls. That doesn't sound like a winner to me.

So I want my drama. Give it to me now!! (Perhaps if I cry loud enough the H!P fairy will grant my dreams come true?) Anyway, let's look on the bright side. At least we won't have to put up with that annoying baby King anymore!

Sayonara, King Akachin!

ORICON ROUNDUP: Amuro Namie stayed at the top of the charts this week for her third consecutive week, surpassing the million dollar milestone for the 5th time in her career. Her last million dollar seller was back in 1998 with 181920 and BEST FICTION has definitely brought her back to the top. It's been a long haul but she got back there. Congratulations Namie-sama!

Tokunaga Hideaki's new set of BEST albums sold well, SINGLES BEST charting at no.2 with 87K while SINGLES B-side BEST was just outside the top 10 at no.11. Continuing the BEST theme: EXILE ENTERTAINMENT BEST is at no.4, Saitou Kazuyoshi's "Uta Utai 15" SINGLES BEST 1993~2007 is at no.6 and THE BEST OF DETECTIVE CONAN 3 is at no.9. *phew* lots of BESTs.

Recent regulars GReeeeN, Kusou and Koi no Uta stuck around in the top 10 while Kimaguren's ZUSHI falls out.

On the Singles Chart SMAP takes the top spot (surprise, surprise) with 90K sales. Kono Toki, Kitto Yume ja Nai is their 10th consecutive no.1 seller. Last week's no.1 Southern All Stars continues strong at no.2 with 77K while Gake no Ue no Ponyo sticks at 3rd. Quiz Hexagon's Aladdin is at no.5, Mr Children at no.6 and ARASHI is at no.9 in their 9th week on the chart.
New releases from FLOW, Spontania feat. JUJU, Tanimura Nana and GARNET CROW filled out the rest of the top 10 with alan's Sora no Uta at no.34. Poor alan continues to sell dismally despite a ton of money being thrown her way. Oh well.

Fujimoto Miki's Okitegami returns to the top 100 in her 17th week selling 1,018 cds. Long live sales events! C-ute's Edo no Temari Uta II ranks at no.90 in its 3rd week selling 5 less copies than Miki-sama, bringing their total sales past the 35K mark, while THE Possible's Ijiwaru Crazy Love falls out of the top 100 with only 554 copies sold.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01. Kono Toki, Kitto Yume ja Nai SMAP 90,616
02. I AM YOUR SINGER Southern All Stars 77,165
03. Gake no Ue no Ponyo Fuijioka Fujimaki & Oohashi Nozomi 41,009
04. WORLD END FLOW 32,190
05. Hi wa, Mata Noboru Aladdin 25,893
06. GIFT Mr.Children 25,738
07. Kimi no Subete ni Spontania feat. JUJU 22,722
08. If I'm not the one / SEXY SENORITA Tanimura Nana 17,276
09. One Love ARASHI 17,016
10. Yume no Hitotsu GARNET CROW 10,817

34. Sora no Uta alan 2,774

89. Okitegami Fujimoto Miki 1,018
90. Edo no Temari Uta II C-ute 1,013
??. Ijiwaru Crazy love THE Possible 554

Albums:

01. BEST FICTION Amuro Namie 153,107
02. SINGLE BEST Tokunaga Hideaki 87,009
03. HB Kusuo 25,616
04. EXILE ENTERTAINMENT BEST EXILE 25,074
05. ZERO CRAZY KEN BAND 19,738

06. "Uta Utai 15" SINGLES BEST 1993~2007 Saitou Kazuyoshi 19,559
07. Koi no Uta (Various Artists) 17,245
08. A, Domo. Ohisashiburi Desu. GReeeeN 16,468
09. THE BEST OF DETECTIVE CONAN 3 (Various Artists) 14,900

11. SINGLE B-side BEST Tokunaga Hideaki 12,664
12. ZUSHI Kimaguren 12,068

PREVIEW: Morning Musume's new single is released next month and a new profile pic has been leaked this morning. The girls are wearing Fall/Autumn styled outfits for their September single.

It's hard to take much just from this one pic. These may or may not be the outfits worn for performances. Resonant Blue had the one outfit, but Mikan had two sets, with a different set used in profile pics. Who knows? Can't say much from the layout since this seems to be the normal layout they've been using recently. All I can say is that it looks lovely and I can't wait till the end of September!

PREVIEW: Berryz Koubou has new profile pics for their upcoming album 5 (FIVE) up on the H!P official site.

I'm not certain what I think about the outfits. They seem very 60's mod inspired which is kinda cool, but they could have been done better. I only really like Yurina & Miyabi's (who are wearing pretty much the same thing in diff colours). Both those girls look stunning. I really don't like Momo & Chinami's outfits and the other girls' are hmmmm ok. It's all very bright and colourful though, which should mean a fun album with 5 (FIVE).

Here is the tracklist for 5 (FIVE):

1. HAPPY! Stand Up
2. この指とまれ！ (Kono Yubi Tomare!) - Tsugunaga Momoko, Tokunaga Chinami, Sudou Maasa
3. バカにしないで (Baka ni Shinaide) - Shimizu Saki, Natsuyaki Miyabi, Kumai Yurina, Sugaya Risako
4. 行け　行け　モンキーダンス (Yuke Yuke Monkey Dance)
5. Ah Merry-go-round - Shimizu Saki, Tsugunaga Momoko
6. CLAP! - Natsuyaki Miyabi, Tokunaga Chinami, Kumai Yurina
7. REAL LOVE - Sugaya Risako
8. 夢を一粒～Ｂｅｒｒｙｚ仮面　Ｅｎｄｉｎｇテーマ～ (Yume wo Hitotsubu ~Berryz Kamen Ending Theme~)
9. ジンギスカン (Dschinghis Khan)
10. 付き合ってるのに片思い (Tsukiatteru no ni Kataomoi)
11. BE
12. スッペシャル ジェネレ～ション (エキセントリック Remix) (Special Generation (Eccentric Remix))

I'm especially looking forward to CLAP! and the ~Berryz Kamen Ending Theme~.
5 (FIVE) is released on the 10th of September.

PREVIEW: Ongaku Gatas' *finally* have a new single coming out to be released on the 10th of September. The track, titled Come Together, is the first with 8 members following the grads of Manoeri and Mucchi.

I think the cover is very stylish and I like the black and white contrast with the girls' orange jackets. Everyone is looking pretty good too. Very nice.

You can listen to a radio rip of Come Together HERE.

The song is not what I expected AT ALL. It sounds very old school H!P and nothing like Ongaku Gatas' last two singles which seemed dance inspired. I do like the song, but I'm not sure it has the replay factor that their previous singles had. I'll have to wait for a better quality rip and/or a PV to try and win me over.

The group also has upcoming concerts in December. A leaflet promoting the concerts is below:

Click for higher res

Kono Toki, Kitto Yume Janai SMAP

SMAP's 43rd single is a mid-tempo ballad and theme for TBS's broadcast of the Olympics. Unlike the other recent Olympic ballads this one is actually pretty good. The song benefits from an inventive arrangement, preventing it from sounding repetitive like so many failed ballads are. The instrumental is nice with some orchestral strings mixed with a traditional band. The lead up to the chorus is gradual and the chorus itself is uplifting. Everyone is sound reasonably good, some better than others. It's a decent, uplifting song with a nice theme.

Rating: B

WORLD END FLOW

Is it just me or does every FLOW song seem to be for an anime? This one is for Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch R2 which I believe is a movie, I dunno (Edit: This is apparently the second series of the Code Geass anime. My bad!). I quite like a couple of FLOW's past songs and this one is again pretty good. FLOW's rock sound is utilized with a good arrangement and sound, and the lead's voice is very suited to the genre (in a non Visual-Kei way, thankgod!). I really like the bass playing 3/4 into the song. Very cool.

Rating: B

If I'm not the one / SEXY SENORITA Tanimura Nana

Nana-chan has given me 2 songs to review this week. Thanks! *feigns enthusiasm* Her 4th single is her first double a-side.
If I'm not the one is a sweet, slow ballad. The ballad has a melancholic feeling right from the start and Nana sings the song well, conveying the mood through her vocals (her English is pretty good). The song is slightly repetitive. It is a nice song though.
From sweet to sexy, SEXY SENORITA is Nana's attempt at a spicy, salsa track. She sings Spanish much worse than she sings English *lol*. I don't think her voice suits this style of song, I prefer her in the ballad. The song is ok but I don't think it compares to the likes of Koda and Namie who she would no doubt be competing with in this specific genre. For what it is, it's ok.
All around this single is OK. It's nice to get two totally different styles, I just wish at least one had been better.

Rating: B- / B-

Yume no Hitotsu GARNET CROW

Yume no Hitotsu is GARNET CROW's 27th single and is the ending theme for Golgo 13. The song is a mid-tempo ballad. I really like Yuri's voice, it's unique and adds quality to what could otherwise be an average song. I love the way she holds her notes, there is some undefinable quality to her voice which is very becoming (to me at least). That being said, the song is average only saved by Yuri's vocals as I mentioned. It's neither good nor bad. It isn't catchy which is its downfall, it doesn't leave much of a lasting impression. I actually prefer the verses to the chorus, which is slightly worrying.

Rating: B-

Single(s) of the Week

This week's singles were all pretty decent for me and it was hard picking just one Single of the Week. So I cheated and picked two which I thought were equally good.

Sora no Uta alan

alan is a Chinese/Tibetan singer who debuted last year with Ashita e no Sanka. Her debut really stood out to me and I loved her chanting and vocal prowess. Her new single is the second of her Godai Elements series and represents the Air/Heaven (unless you hadn't gathered from the title, Sky Song).
Sora no Uta begins with alan's characteristic vocal chant-style stuff, which means I automatically love the song. The instrumental is very light and simple, reflective of the air theme and alan's vocals are soft and suited to the style. There is quite a bit of English in the song and alan manages to sing it properly and I understand it all which is a nice change. There is a strange talking section which has some sort of backward sounding vocals. I'm sure if you played the track backwards you'd find some spooky message.
All in all it's a very pretty track and I'm somewhat biased towards alan. Avex seems to be putting a lot of money and effort into her and I can't wait for her album later this year.

Rating: B+

Kimi no subete ni Spontania feat.JUJU

I dont know much about either of these artists but from the moment I heard this song I was pretty transfixed from start to finish. I'm a big fan of the male rapping + female vocal duos, Mihimaru GT being one of my favourite groups, and this mashup follows the same formula.
JUJU's choruses are very beautiful and the opening line is so catchy, I love the "I wanna say I love you" bit. Very lovely. Her voice conveys the emotion of the lyrics well and while she doesn't have the best voice in the industry, it has a certain innocence about it that suits the song and she sings well.
The verses are rapped really well by Spontania and his voice is light and free flowing as he intertwines through the lyrics. I'm not a fan of many rappers in the J-music industry, some of them are pretty shocking but Spontania has a very laid back, cool style.
This song is one of those songs which floats effortlessly right through from start to finish, very fitting for Summer and one of the better Summer tracks I've heard this season.

Rating: B+

You can check out both Singles of the Week on the media player at the top of the blog and see what you think!

ORICON ROUNDUP: Southern All Stars and Amuro Namie dominate this week as they both post huge numbers to take the top spots on the Single and Album charts.

I AM YOUR SINGER is Southern All Stars' 30th Anniversary track and after 30 years they are still going strong, walloping the singles' chart with 357K sales. Their first single since 2006 triumphed to the top propelling Southern All Stars to the record for most top 10 singles, with 43 chart toppers.
Last week's no.1 GIFT stayed strong, dropping only one spot to no.2 while Gake no Ue no Ponyo stayed put at 3rd, propelling its sales over 100K. Aladdin drops 2 places to 4th, while ARASHI's One Love pops back into the top 10 in its 7th week.

New entries fill the rest of the top 10 with alice nine., DMC, Nakagawa Shouka, BONNIE PINK & THE Possible posting sales above 11K.
THE Possible's sales are perhaps the most impressive, the group posting their 2nd top 10 single in a row with ever increasing sales. Ijiwaru Crazy Love sold 11.6K this week, an increase of 3K over their last top 10 single, Kazoku e no Tegami. The strong first week sales means that this single is their current best selling single. Congratulations to the girls for a truly deserving feat!
In other good news, C-ute has had their 2nd best selling week ever with Edo no Temari Uta II selling 6.5K to put them in 19th spot this week. The sales push the Edo inspired track to 34K total sales and C-ute's 2nd best selling single.

On the album charts Amuro Namie continues to dominate, selling 257K of her BEST FICTION compilation. The gargantuan sales push her ever closer to the 1 million mark which she should pass this week.
EXILE's best album sticks in the top 5 at no.3 while former top 5ers GReeeeN, Kimaguren & the Koi no Uta compilation fall out. Crystal Kay's Color Change! charts at a disappointing 8th selling only 15K, down 35K from her last studio album's (All Yours, 2007) debut sales.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01. I AM YOUR SINGER Southern All Stars 357,154
02. GIFT Mr.Children 44,342
03. Gake no Ue no Ponyo Fuijioka Fujimaki & Oohashi Nozomi 37,560
04. Hi wa, Mata Noboru Aladdin 36,051
05. One Love ARASHI 33,015
06. RAINBOWS alice nine. 15,921
07. SATSUGAI / Amai Koibito DMC 15,692
08. Shiny GATE Nakagawa Shouko 13,564
09. Kane wo Narashite BONNIE PINK 13,447
10. Ijiwaru Crazy love THE Possible 11,642

19. Edo no Temari Uta II C-ute 6,524

Albums:

01. BEST FICTION Amuro Namie 257,440
02. HB Kusuo 42,409
03. EXILE ENTERTAINMENT BEST EXILE 34,607
04. "Uta Utai 15" SINGLES BEST 1993~2007 Saitou Kazuyoshi 33,088
05. THE BEST OF DETECTIVE CONAN 3 (Various Artists) 24,864

06. A, Domo. Ohisashiburi Desu. GReeeeN 18,078
07. ZUSHI Kimaguren 16,110
08. Color Change! Crystal Kay 15,519
09. Koi no Uta (Various Artists) 14,826

NEWS: A translation of Matsuura Aya's in-depth and revealing interview with Hot Express. It is very interesting as Ayaya delves into who she is as an artist, her songs, performances and how she has grown since her debut 7 years ago. Thanks to Ronin @ H!O for the translation.

Matsuura Aya's first appearance in hotexpress! When she debuted, everything was so much fun that she couldn't help it. By the time she was 18, she was on the verge of being destroyed by the "Ayaya image" she had ended up creating herself. Swallowing the buds of her ego and her intentions of becoming an artist, she has struggled on to "Kizuna". She wants to be true to herself. Please have a look at this interview overflowing with the humaneness of this girl.

--Actually, I've been observing Matsuura Aya's wonderful power of expression ever since the time of your debut. Seeing you perform songs like "Dokidoki! LOVE mail", "Tropical Koi shiteru" etc. while fully enjoying it yourself, I thought, "She's no ordinary person...". I thought, "How can she be so full of self-confidence, even though she's a newcomer?". (lol) How did you actually feel at the time of your debut?

Matsuura Aya: I enjoyed myself! Really. However, I think I could truly enjoy it only in the two or three years following my debut. I didn't know anything yet, so I was happy just because I was having fun. But when I became older and reached the second half of my teenage years, I came to understand that every single thing I do affects so many people from the staff and that so much time gets wasted because of it. And when I understood that, I started thinking about many other things, but in the beginning it was all fun because I didn't know anything.

--You were seen as the "representative of idols" at a pretty early stage already, right? I had the feeling you were delighted about it from the bottom of your heart. I thought, "How much does she like herself?". (lol)

Matsuura Aya: I really loved myself! Ahahaha! No doubt about that. (lol) But I was surprised at the same time. I couldn't help but feel strange when I watched my PVs and saw myself on the TV screen. I couldn't calm down because I kept thinking, "I'm on TV!", but I was really, simply happy about it. The more people were supporting me, the more I got fired up.

Now, I'm able to get directly into the right mood like I'm switching it on and off, but at the time of my debut I didn't know anything like that. So, for the shooting of a promotion video, for example, I didn't go in front of the camera until I got into the 100% right mood for it. And, when I finally went in front of the camera, I wasn't happy about how the video turned out. Because of that, it used to happen often that we had to wait until I got into the right mood. But that also means that I was always 100% into it when I was on screen.

--When you got into such a situation at the age of 14 or 15, when you were extremely busy and lots of things kept moving hecticly, wasn't it difficult for you?

Matsuura Aya: It happened at least once in the first two or three years. It's been 8 years since my debut now, and it's happened about 3 times. I felt pressured, I didn't understand myself very well anymore and many other things happened, but the biggest inner conflict I had was exactly when I turned 18. I was really so busy all the time that my first break was one and a half years after my debut. And since really everything I did was new to me, I didn't have any time to look back. I didn't even have any time to watch the TV shows I took part in, because I was already working on something else. But when I turned 18 I looked back for the first time. Looked back at myself.

That's when I noticed it. I had gotten used to being called "idol" and the job wasn't easy at all, but I had become able to act like I was smiling from the bottom of my heart even if it wasn't from the bottom of my heart. My face muscles had memorized how to make the face I call "my best face" and I had become able to smile even if I didn't feel like it. And when I was looking at pictures of myself, it looked like I was making the same face in every picture. When I felt like "?" towards that kind of myself, somehow everything stopped for a moment. I ended up feeling that I was like a doll. I thought, "It's not good like this!" and, "I have to act and say things upon my own emotions!"

It's not like I had a manual for it, but I felt that I had come all that way only making proper, harmless and inoffensive comments. I thought, "But it doesn't have to be like that. It's ok to say things that are more humane." [she means saying wrong, impolite or even offensive things] That's how I've come to think, "I want to be true to myself, I want to be honest" at the age of 18. Since then, I've tried talking the way I feel like talking, even in concert MCs. I didn't know how others would react to it, but I still wanted to try speaking honestly. When I did that, the reaction of the audience was even better than usual. The staff liked it, too. That means I was the one locking myself up in a shell on my own. That's what I realized. And I could overcome it.

--You've probably come all this way trying your best to keep the "Ayaya image" that you unintentionally created at the time of your debut.

Matsuura Aya: That's right. I've always observed myself from an objective point of view. Seeing "Ayaya" from an objective point of view, I thought to myself "Ayaya has to be like this!" and formed her the way I wanted her to be. And that was wrong.

--I'm sure there were many fans who thought Ayaya would always love and continue singing songs like "Momoiro Kataomoi", "Yeah! Meccha holiday" etc. which have many factors typical of idols and entertainment. But recently, you've started releasing songs targeted at a wider audience.

Matsuura Aya: That's right. If you ask me why I've entered this world, I'd answer that it's because I wanted to sing. Normally, people who listen to music do it because of a person they admire or because they're fascinated by the lyrics. It's the same for artists, too. I always pay attention to the lyrics when I listen to music. And when you listen to "Yeah! Meccha Holiday", for example, don't you think "What the heck's that song about!?" (lol) Songs like that have a very catchy melody, but I wanted to sing songs that you can sing no matter how many years pass, even after 10, 20 years, songs that contain lyrics everyone can relate to. That's why I started singing songs like my current single, "Kizuna", and the previous one, "Egao".

--I've actually believed that you'd overcome the status of an idol and become active as the artist Matsuura Aya one day. The first time I felt that way was when I watched the movie "Ao no Honou" which was shown in 2003. I'm sure playing the role of someone whose lover turns into a murderer was difficult, but you completely engrossed yourself into that role when you were acting, right?

Matsuura Aya: The same was true for everyone around me. Director Ninagawa Yukio never gives an OK unless you're totally into the role. The scenes I appear in were filmed a lot later than the ones with Nino (Kazunari Ninomiya), but still, I entered the set beforehand and studied by observation, etc. That way, I got to know the way everything works on the set. And since it was my first movie, I thought, "I want to make it a good movie", "I want to do everything I can 100%", so I created the role in my mind on my own. The director didn't give me any directions at all. It felt like he was thinking, "I don't understand young people nowadays anyway, so I'll leave it to Ayaya and Nino. You can change the lines too, just play the roles the way you want. And teach me how kids nowadays think," and I thought that I have to properly live up to his expectations. That's why I always discussed everything with Nino. The director rarely allowed a second take, so we had to do everything right and get an OK on the first try. (lol) But I'm glad that I met Ninagawa-san through that movie.

--You've worked again as an actress several times after that. Do you feel the same kind of satisfaction as when singing?

Matsuura Aya: I do. There's a lot you learn from theater and musicals too. The way to speak, for example, and also how to put your feelings into acting. You can learn all that from observing the actors and actresses around you. There's something to learn every time.

--Also, I forgot the name of the show, but if I'm not mistaken, you performed in a NHK music show with a jazz band in back, right?

Matsuura Aya: It was Momoi-san's show!

--When I watched that show, I thought that you might have discovered the desire to explore more artistic, deeper levels of music.

Matsuura Aya: First of all, I like live sounds. It's the same with my voice and with music instruments. The pleasant feeling you get at the moment when the sounds of the instruments come together is awesome. I really love that groove and that sense of unity as if everyone was doing something together while holding hands. I got to know the fun of that in such a setting as the one in Momoi-san's show. I strongly thought "Ah, I want to become such an artist!".

--It's the same with your movies and your singing with a live band. Whenever you had the chance to do something different, something you haven't done before, you've always made use of it, right?

Matsuura Aya: That's right. I think "I always want to keep on challenging myself". I don't like creating a wall on my own by saying "This is impossible" right from the start. If you try to do it and fail, you can't help it, but I'm the type to think "Let's just try to do it first!". I like that kind of thrill. I think that a life where everyday is an exciting adventure is more suited for me than a stable one. I tend to get tired of something once I get used to it.

--"Kizuna" is your new song. After listening to this song I wanted to ask you about something. What kind of message does Matsuura Aya want to convey to the listeners through this song?

Matsuura Aya: Of course, I'm not targeting a specific generation, but I want the generation of parents, the generation of people who have children to see that "we think about a lot of things too, even though you might not expect it." The people around me who are about as old as I am are all level-headed and think about various things. We're not just playing around doing nothing. In this industry, your age doesn't matter. Even if it's two people who could be parent and child according to their age, they still talk with each other as two adults. So, I thought it would be good if the whole world was like that, too. I'm sure there are actually lots of children who have built their own opinion about many things, but can't express them because grown-ups look down on them, thinking, "It's only a child." That's what I want you to feel when listening to my songs.

Another thing I wanted to tell children though "Kizuna" is that "you are not alone". It was the same for me, but when you're 18 or 19, you feel like a tragic heroine when you're worried about something or feeling down. Like "I'm the only one who's in pain.", "Everyone else are enemies." But it's actually not like that. Whatever you do, you're always being supported by someone. We have to make ourselves aware of the fact again that "we're only alive because someone was there for us". I'd like this to be conveyed through the song.

--But you need persuasive power for that, because nothing can be conveyed if the listeners think, "How does singing about stuff like that help?" You have to overcome this hurdle.

Matsuura Aya: Yeah. I wouldn't be able to sing it if I hadn't experienced it myself. I wanted to sing this song because I thought that I understood the lyrics. Earlier, you mentioned about how I've done everything with a lot of energy at the time around my debut, but it was really like that. No matter if it was a song about love or something greater like in this one, I had no choice but to sing it with the help of my imagination. Some of the thoughts I came up with were delusions, because I didn't have any experiences myself. Now, eight years after my debut, I've gained some experience in life, even if only a little. I've come into contact with many different people, listened to them, observed them, and now I can finally sing songs as if they were my own words. I think that was a big change in the sense of "conveying something to people". When I think "Ah, I've come to understand this feeling!", "I've also experienced this!", I can properly put my feelings into the words I'm singing.

--Is it that the more you sing your new song "Kizuna" the more perfect and ideal your performance becomes?

Matsuura Aya: That's right. Every time I sing it, I feel different inside. I can't sing it exactly the same way twice. I sing the words differently depending on the day. That's why I can enjoy singing it.

--In addition to singing about the negative parts of life and the situation the world is in, you also pray for happiness and say the words of gratitude again and again. I think that's the kind of song "Kizuna" is, but do you sometimes think or feel the way like described in the lyrics of this song in everyday life too?

Matsuura Aya: After watching bad news, I think seriously about many different things. Also, it's the same when you're having a normal life too, you actually don't say "Thank you" as often as you'd think. Maybe you often don't say it to very close people either. I sometimes really wonder if I said thanks to my family recently. However, every time I sing this song it reminds me that I should say thanks. I mean, these words make me really happy when someone tells them to me, too. The song "Kizuna" really made me think about many different things.

--It's a very common question, but at what times do you strongly feel the importance of "bonds"?

Matsuura Aya: For example, the bonds between me and my family, people from the staff, and other people who are close to me can only be deepened when I talk a lot with them, or discuss something until we come to an agreement, right? And, if we assume that I can switch between on and off, there are people who know the "off" me. I know how to deepen my bonds with people like that, but my fans, if I were to put it clearly, only know the "on" me, right? Nevertheless, they all support me from the bottom of their hearts and tell me that they'll follow me no matter what happens. I think there's no stronger bond than that! As for me, I tend to be suspicious of people when I meet them for the first time. I think "What kind of person is he/she?" "What are his/her intentions?" I'm the type who doesn't trust others easily. It's because I'm very timid and I don't want to be hurt. (lol) Compared to that, my fans all support me 100% from the bottom of their hearts. I think that kind of bond is amazing. And that makes me really think, "Thank you." If someone asked me if I could do the same for someone else, I'd be in trouble.

--You can strongly feel those bonds at the "Matsuura Aya Concert Tour 2008 Spring 'AYA The Witch'" which is currently being praised highly. Can you tell us about the content of the tour?

Matsuura Aya: This time, I perform all of it with a full live band which I always wanted to do. So, the "Let's all create a groove together!" and "Let's all become one!" emotions all depend on me this time. That's why I learn a lot from this. It's a challenge too. I'm having a lot of fun. Basically, it's two performances per day, day and night, so I keep telling myself that I have to pace myself, but every time, I end up completely exhausted. You don't notice it at all when you're standing on stage, but after changing my clothes I notice how exhausted I am. My body is always honest. (lol) But when I'm asked if I can pull off the second performance, I can somehow do it. I think the calls of my fans are amazing after all. They raise the tension so high that even I can't control it anymore.

--Does that mean that you absolutely love live concerts?

Matsuura Aya: I love them! I love live concerts the most! I like musicals and stuff too, but in concerts I can stay as Matsuura Aya. I love talking too, but I can be most honest when I'm singing, even more than when I'm talking. When you're talking you keep thinking about things like, "I want to make it sound interesting," "I want to word it nicely," etc. That's why I think I can be myself the most when I'm singing, and I want many people to see my real self.

--Well then, this will be my last question. Matsuura Aya, what kind of artist do you want to become in the future?

Matsuura Aya: I've only recently become able to even think about it, but I'd really like to write my own lyrics. Once, I became impatient, thinking, "Won't it be the time for me to do it soon?" though. Was it around the time when I became 20? Just when I was worrying about that, Yuming-san asked me to be a guest in her radio show, and I consulted her about it. I asked her, "Isn't it time for me to start writing lyrics?". She replied, "It's best to write lyrics when you really feel like it. Actually, there's nothing more difficult than understanding and expressing lyrics someone else wrote." That helped me stop being so impatient about it. But in the last one or two years I thought, "If I write the lyrics myself, I can probably put even more emotions into them," and "It might be good if I put my own experiences into words" and started writing a bit. But I'm still a bit too ashamed. It feels like someone's reading your diary. Since I write everything exactly the way I feel about it, I can't word it beautifully. (lol) But when I'm satisfied with them, I think it'd be nice if I can release a song with self-written lyrics in the near future.