ORICON ROUNDUP

Please note: The charts below are accumulative sales from the past 2 weeks as Oricon forgoes weekly ranks for the week over the new year.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 stay with me Koda Kumi 58,108 NEW
02 Days / GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi 40,003
03 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 37,591
04 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 28,231
05 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 23,537
06 Nocturne / Campanula no Koi Hirahara Ayaka 22,342
07 Sheryl no Uchu Kyoudaibune Nado Nome Sheryl 18,284 NEW
08 Ranka & Bobby no SMS Shoutai no Uta nado Nakajima Megumi 16,980 NEW
09 fairytale Kalafina 15,984 NEW
10 Nihon no Mikata -Nevada Kara Kimashita- Yazima Beauty Salon 15,532

Albums:

01 My song Your song Ikimoni Gakari 242,691 NEW
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 190,213
03 GIRL NEXT DOOR GIRL NEXT DOOR 171,165 NEW
04 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 166,095
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 55,048

Also, I forgot to post the Oricon charts for the last week of December -_-; (sorry) so here they are (12/21):

CHARTS:

Singles:

01 Days / GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi 127,650 NEW
02 Yowamushi SANTA Shuuchishin 33,249
03 Koyoi, Tsuki ga Miezutomo Porno Graffitti 20,905
04 Aino Mamade... Akimoto Junko 17,608
05 HEAVEN BUCK-TICK 14,724 NEW
06 Tomorrow Yukari Tamura 10,691 NEW
07 Nocturne / Campanula no Koi Ayaka Hirahara 10,332
08 Friend / Sugao no mama Rina Aiuchi 9,573 NEW
09 Sunao ni Naretara JUJU feat. Spontania / I can be free JUJU 9,182
10 White Xmas KAT-TUN 7,790

Albums:

01 SUPERMARKET FANTASY Mr.Children 177,581
02 EXILE BALLAD BEST EXILE 147,454
03 LOVE LETTER Otsuka Ai 104,232 NEW
04 BLEACH BEST TUNES Various Artists 52,835 NEW
05 ai no Uta 2 Various Artists 24,740

...my true love gave to me 10 years of bliss,
an anniversary trio,
a group of amazing vocalists,
a hit single,
a stunning voice,
the sweetest song,
a deliciously creepy new artist,
and a WINTER PARTY!

Hamasaki Ayumi, the Queen of Jpop, celebrated her 10th anniversary in 2008 and held her second tour of Asia. Because much of the year was spent touring, Ayu released only 1 studio album and 2 singles in 2008 (along with a singles compilation). Her first '08 single Mirrorcle World, an extended version of the introductory track of GUILTY, saw her hit the no.1 spot on the Oricon singles chart for the 30th time.

Ayu is kind of special to me because, like many people, she originally got me interested in Japanese Music. While I had heard some stuff before (mainly from games) Ayumi was the first Japanese artist I could call myself a fan of and that fandom of Jpop has just grown in leaps and bounds since then! While I've expanded my fandom to other artists now, Ayu will ALWAYS hold that special place in my Jpop loving heart ^_^
Mirrorcle World was such an awesome track - when I heard Mirror on GUILTY it really did leave me wanting more and it was great the song got single treatment. It has a lot of oomph and energy, fitting for Ayu's 10th Anniversary. I think a few people were disappointed that Ayu's 10th anniversary was a little quiet on the release front, myself included since I obviously can't take advantage of Ayu's awesome Asia tour - but this single lasted me through the whole year and through Ayu's ALL SINGLES COMPLETE I was able to rekindle my love for some past singles which I hadn't listened to in a while.

Of course, Mirrorcle World was Ayu's only single of 2008 until this week when she released Days/GREEN which looks to be on heading for a certain no.1 spot on the charts. Sales so far have been pretty pleasing and it seems Ayu's 10th Anniversary has been a great success. I'm hoping for another 10 awesome years! ;)

REVIEWS: We're so close to the end of the year! I actually think this is the final week for the Oricon Rankings for 2008 (the weeks ending and beginning the new year are combined for 2 week rankings/sales). I don't think it will be my final reviews for the year, I'll hopefully find time to review next week. This week I'm reviewing Ayu's new single, Manoeri's latest offering and a really odd DJ OZMA track.

Days/GREEN Hamasaki Ayumi

It seems like a millennia since Ayu’s last single Mirrorcle World, released in April. It’s certainly been quiet 10th Anniversary for Ayu on the release front, granted she has spent a lot of the year touring around Asia. Anyway, to make up for the wait we get a double A-side but has it been worth the wait?


When I first heard Days I honestly wasn’t too impressed, but I blame that on it being a tiny little clip and I probably wasn’t really paying attention lol. It ended up being a very good track. It’s a beautiful, sweet ballad and Ayu sounds really good on it. The track grows really well and the chorus is particularly nice. While I’ve heard people rave about this track I beg to differ, it’s sweet but it’s not a knock out.

Now the next track is more my style. GREEN is another mid-tempo sort of song and its unusual instrumental wins me over this time. It has a really beautiful musical arrangement with some wonderful sort of Chinese highland type sound. I suck at explaining the intricacies of instrumentals so just give it a listen and call it what you will. The song itself is really nice, the chorus has a wonderful sound to it. Ayu’s vocals go vibrato crazy on this track which bothered me at first but I got used to it very quickly.

This whole release has a bit of a different sound for Ayu, she’s sort of dabbled in these styles before but it’s nice to get a single with 2 really nice, unique tracks – it makes for a refreshing single. I wonder if Ayu is moving away from the rock sound she’s been hooked on for the past few years. That’s one thing I do enjoy about Ayu, her genre and style is ever changing as she grows as an artist from pop, techno, dance, rock etc. I welcome anything new that Ayu wishes to bring to the table and thus, this single is great.

Rating: 8/10 and 9/10

Lalala Sososo Mano Erina

Oh hai Manoeri! Is it release time again already? I’ve been watching more Manoeri stuff lately and I’ve realised she’s not the devil-spawn demon child I thought she was. She’s pretty cool but that doesn’t mean I have to like her music and I don’t, sorry Manoeri.

Lalala Sososo isn’t as slow as ManoPiano and it’s not as fast as LUCKY AURA, it’s sort of a cross in between. Let’s talk about the song itself – it’s pretty much ‘meh’ to be honest. It’s not horrible but it’s not even close to being good. It reminds me of an early 90s British children’s show theme song. I can just see some horrible claymation characters strolling down the street XD Manoeri’s voice – erm. I’ve heard people saying “wow she’s improved” – I honestly don’t hear it; perhaps a very slight improvement. I still think she sounded yards better in Ongaku Gatas which defies all logic. It’s almost as if they told her to start sounding crap … although knowing UFA that’s a possibility. It’s not really Mano’s fault and I don’t blame her, UFA need to just get her some vocal training, which is something ALL H!P members should be receiving ALL THE TIME … even Takahashi.

The whole piano gimmick is stupid. Unless she goes out there and does some Alicia Keys piano work then there is no real point. Any person and his dog could be taught to play the routines Mano performs and I have no doubt that she can probably do much more difficult stuff. All in all Mano falls victim to UFA pushing her in the wrong direction. She needs to be doing fun, upbeat, dance tracks that suit her voice, instead she’s stuck doing … well this. Bland and boring.

Rating: 6/10

I RAVE U ravex feat. DJ OZMA

Ok so I have no idea what ravex is… I assume it’s some sort of rave themed project from avex? I RAVE U features DJ OZMA and his band of merry men and topless ladies (see infamous Kohaku performance).

I’ve heard DJ OZMA songs before and I know going in it’s gonna be a little over the top and unusual … but I wasn’t expecting this at all. It took me a while to even figure out what to make of it. To make things worse I heard the song for the first time while watching the PV (oh god lol). I’d hate to ruin such an experience for anyone else so check it out! >.<

This is one of those songs where I don’t know what to say about it, you kind of have to make up your own mind on it. You’ll either love it or hate it. I think I’m leaning towards love, it has spread throughout me like some awful plague. It's quite addictive.

Rating: 8.5/10

PREVIEW: Hamasaki Ayumi has been having a bit of a quiet 10th Anniversary, with only an album and single release earlier in the year as well as her recent Asia tour. Her second single of the year is the double A-side GREEN/Days which is released on the 17th of December. We have yet to hear what Days will be like but GREEN, which has been used in the Panasonic Lumix FX37 cm for the past few months, has been leaked in full.

The song has a bit of a Chinese feel to it which I'm really enjoying. The intro in particular is really lovely and the instrumental throughout is interesting to listen to, really nice. Ayu has a bit of a strange singing style in this song, not that she hasn't sung like this before, but it almost sounds like a live version rather than a studio recording. It might be the vibrato - either way it doesn't bother me as I'm used to it. The song itself is really pretty. I've seen some mixed reactions amongst fans but I really do love it (and I don't love everything Ayu, I swear) - From the sneak peek pics of the PV it looks like we're getting some sort of an old Shanghai themed PV and it should be incredible.

My copy of Ayu's new best album FINALLY arrived. Here are some quick pics of my A COMPLETE ~ALL SINGLES~:

The cd set comes in this nifty box which is adorned with a collage of Ayumi's singles around the sides.

The set contains a lyrics booklet + mini photo booklet with alternate covers of all Ayu's singles + 3 CDs + 1 DVD. Very nice package for the price I paid.

I can't wait to check out the DVD, I *might* do a review here with pics and such if I get around to it... Anyway~ *off to listen to Ayu* ^_^

ORICON ROUNDUP: This week's charts saw Hamasaki Ayumi manage to bring down the current queen of the charts Namie Amuro, with stunning sales of her new A COMPLETE ~ALL SINGLES~ album. The singles compilation moved sales close to 539K with Amuro's BEST FICTION dropping to 5th on the charts with 43.6K.

Hamasaki's no.1 debut for her A COMPLETE marks her 14th no.1 in her 10 year career and is the 4th best debut of the year behind Amuro, Exile and Bz's BEST albums. 2008 does seem to be turning out to be a year of BESTs, that's for sure.
American works from Ne-Yo and Metallica charted at 2nd and 3rd on the charts, with Shikao Suga's Funkaholic debuting at no.4 with 44K.
Berryz Koubou's new album 5(FIVE) charted outside the top 10 at no.11, selling a slightly disappointing 11K. With the rave reviews from fans, the album would have been expected to outsell their previous works but they could only manage a few hundred more first week sales than their previous album, and less than past works. With the album now having fallen from the charts, it seems to be a disappointing result from an album which deserved much more attention.

On the Singles Charts, Mr. Children have blasted away new releases from GLAY, UVERworld, Otsuka Ai and Nakagawa Shoko to remain at the top of the charts for the second straight week. HANABI sold another 84K to bring their two week total to 344K.
New releases from DIR EN GREY, Kaela Kimura and Superfly also made the top 10 while ARASHI and Fujioka FujiMaki/Nomozi Ohashi remained high in the charts at 8th and 9th.
Ongaku Gatas' newest single Come Together drew close to 10K sales, up from their last single Yattarouze! though they were unable to make the top 10, debuting at no.12.
alan's newest single Kaze no Tegami charted failed to capture the Japanese audience, coming in at no.34 with only 2.8K copies sold only marginally up from her last release.

CHARTS:

Singles:

01. Hanabi Mr.Children 84,262
02. Aka To Kuro To Matadora/I Love You Wo Sagashiteru GLAY 68,206
03. Koishikute UVERworld 52,333
04. Kurage, Nagareboshi Otsuki Ai 34,118
05. Tsuzuku Sekai Nakagawa Shouko 32,906
06. Glass Skin DIR EN GREY 25,890
07. Mustache/Memories (Original Version) Kaela Kimura 22,554
08. Truth/Kaze no Mukoe ARASHI 172,272
09. Gake no Ue no Ponyo Fujimaki Fuijioka & Nozomi Oohashi 17,037
10. How Do I Survive? Superfly 11,310

12. Come Together Ongaku Gatas 9,740

34. Kaze no Tegami alan 2,812

Albums:

01. A Complete ~All Singles~ Hamasaki Ayumi 538,876
02. Tear Of The Gentleman Ne-Yo 62,163
03. Death Magnetic Metallica 47,354
04. Funkaholic Shikao Suga 44,023
05. Best Fiction Amuro Namie 43,608

11. 5(FIVE) Berryz Koubou 11,715

NEWS: Goto Maki performed her 2nd and final performance at A-nation '08 yesterday evening, the final day for A-nation this year. Maki performed alongside artists such as AAA, alan, Mihimaru GT, Koda Kumi, Amuro Namie and Hamasaki Ayumi as well as many others.

Unfortunately for Maki (fortunately for us *snigger*) it began pouring rain almost immediately as she stepped on stage . (Click to enlarge pics)

Maki steps confidently onstage ... and the heavens opened!

While a lot of the crowd ran for cover, Maki ushered them back to hear her performance. Maki performed soaking wet in the rain, singing the same setlist as her previous performance. Check out Goto Maki's Avex Debut for a fan recording of Maki's performances of Shy Guy and her original song, Hear Me.

Here is a news report on the event which features clips of a lot of the performances - Maki is at 0:08 and 1:56.

Some more pics from A-nation '08's final day: (Click to enlarge pics)


Amuro Namie


mihimaru GT ~Hiroko <3


AAA


Alan


Koda Kumi


Hamasaki Ayumi