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Photoshoot from ‘Mahiru no Tsuki’

Artist: Hitomi Shimatani Product Code: AVCD-30805 Release Date: 2005.08.31 Debut Ranking: #12 Label: avex trax

Approximately six years have passed since Hitomi Shimatani’s debut in the J-Pop Industry back then in 1999 with her debut enka single ‘Osaka no Onna’. Since then her music has undergone through multiple genres. She has released twenty singles, 4 studio albums, a best compliation album, a mini album and a concept album. Apart from her impressive singing career, Hitomi also has an acting and seiyuu career. In August, Hitomi was proud to release ‘Mahiru no Tsuki’ to commemorate the release of her 20th single.

‘Mahiru no Tsuki’ was released just 21 days after her single ‘Falco’. Despite the fact that this single was promoted more than ‘Falco’, it sold much less. In fact ‘Mahiru no Tsuki’ sold only around 10,500 copies, making it one of her lowest selling singles. The reason could be due to the fact that ballads do not sell so well and the release date was so close to another single.

The cover for ‘Mahiru no Tsuki’ itself is very artistic and has a simplistic concept. The black and white colour gives a distinctive sense of timelessness and elegance. An interesting concept is the use of chiaroscuro, where the photographer played with shadows and different shades of grey. The cover features Hitomi only with a plain background. Her hairstyle is arranged in an elegant manner while still retaining a simple and fresh look.

1. Mahiru no Tsuki

The title ‘Mahiru no Tsuki’ means ‘Midday Moon’ in Japanese. I believe this ballad reflects Hitomi’s career quite well. It gives you the feeling of reminiscence and transition. Hitomi has gone through numerous ups and downs in her career and has moved from one genre to another. Nonetheless she still releases beautiful music for her fans to enjoy.

The lyrics were written by shungo and talk about how she found comfort in the moon during the phases of her life when she was happy and also when she was not so happy.

This ballad is simple and very soothing in itself. Even if the tone of this ballad is not as emotional and heart-rendering, it conveys a feeling of serenity and peace in a subtle manner. The background music is quite nocturnal, composed in a pensive and dreamy manner with a piano and violins.

The promotional video reflect the concept of the cover art. It’s extremely simple. The setting is in a room, where a window shows a view to the moon. Hitomi and a group of musicians are situated in this room, where they perform. Basically the phases of the day are displayed from the light coming from the window. I loved how this symbolised the phases of her career.

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2. Prayer

‘Prayer’ follows the typical ballad and slow song format. The tone of this ballad is less serious than most of her ballads, especially with the tinkling background music reflecting her past releases back then in 2003. I felt this gave a fantasy and magical atmosphere to this song. Her vocals really seem to stand out in this track since the instrumentals are quite faint in comparison.

The composition and lyrics were in the hands of BOUNCEBACK. The typical style of BOUNCEBACK is predominant, where poetic imagery is predominant. The lyrics also speak about how the moon symbolises the love of the woman and her lover.

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Conclusion

Overall this single was a relatively good single, considering the tight schedule. It wasn’t anything exceptional, but it had a consistent tracklist which fitted the theme of the ‘moon’ and reflected her career well. The concept, the promotional clip and artwork fitted perfectly to her anniversary single.

However I have to admit that this single was quite disappointing for a 20th single. It seemed to be thrown in at the last minute, making this single a generic ballad single with nothing that stood out in particular. The promotional clip was beautiful but it was obvious that it was on a low budget, which is pretty disappointing when an artist is celebrating her 20th single. It had nothing really special to encourage people to pick up and buy. The least avex could do was to add a first press extra, such as a sticker.

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Mahiru no Tsuki Cover

CD Tracklist

1. Mahiru no Tsuki
2. Prayer
3. Mahiru no Tsuki (Instrumental)
4. Prayer (Instrumental)

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