Yazawa Ai’s masterpiece manga “NANA” has been gaining a lot of attention this year: first with its very own tribute album, a dedicated café, and now a movie starring Nakashima Mika herself as the rocker-chick Oosaki Nana. To play with the “realism” of the movie a single has been released entitled “GLAMOROUS SKY” under the psuedonym “NANA starring MIKA NAKASHIMA”. Staying true to the style of Yazawa’s character, the single contains four rock tracks, the title track being composed by the famous rocker HYDE himself.
From the cover you can tell that SONY is trying to remind buyers that this is not Mika, but Nana. Her back turned away from camera shows defiance, while the black cover and minimum lighting represents Nana’s rebellious punk attitude. Let’s see how Mika & Co. did portraying the most popular female in the manga world: Nana.
Miki Fujimoto
Birthday: 1985-02-26
Birthplace: Hokkaido
Blood type: A
You may have heard of Miki Fujimoto from Morning Musume. She, however, started as a solo artist in the Hello! Project. Her solo works are missed very much in the Hello! Project, and many hope she will revive her solo career.
Newcomer YUI debuted in February with the song “feel my soul” and made her comeback on June 22 with “Tomorrow’s way”. At the age of 18, she writes the words and music to all her songs. With her sweet and innocent voice, YUI sings about maturing in “Tomorrow’s way”. This single’s cover features a picture of YUI looking out a window with her chin resting on a guitar. With rays of sunlight shining in through the windows behind her, it surely reflects the longing to grow up that is conveyed in lyrics of the title track. Let’s look at “Tomorrow’s way”!
Reina Tanaka
Birthday: 1989-11-11
Birthplace: Fukuoka
Blood type: O
Airi Suzuki
Birthdate: 1994-04-01
Blood type: B
Miyabi Natsuyaki
Birthdate: 1992-08-25
Birthplace: Chiba
Blood type: O
I’d like to inform you on yet another inactive Hello! Project Unit: Aa! Yes, the groups name is titled Aa! The group is composed of 3 girls: Reina Tanaka of Morning Musume, and 2 Hello! Project Kids- Miyabi Natsuyaki and Airi Suzuki. At the time of the units activity (October 2003, with only 1 single), Reina was 13, Miyabi was 11, and Airi was at the very young age of 9.
Their first and last single, titled FIRST KISS, is a midtempo R&B song. The outfits are eccentric overalls with chains and multi-colored hats. The bside, Masayume, is a slower song which is full of emotion.
Even with their young ages, Aa! is quite a good group. If you would like to see who sings what, and want to see a translation, Project Hello is a great source. Here are the FIRST KISS lyrics and the Masayume lyrics.
ORANGE RANGE’s 12th single “Kizuna” came out on August 24, 2005. The single shot straight up to the number one position on the Oricon charts and sales have been pretty good so far. Many fans have compared this single to their previous hit ballad “Hana” which was released in October last year. On the cover a swing set is shown and the symbol of the band is drawn in the dirt. The picture is in black and white and gives it more of a nostalgic feel. The CD design and the back of the sleeve feature little doodles of stick men with parachutes being eaten by alligators and struck by lightning and a game of tic-tac-toe won by the O’s. No doubt about it, “Kizuna” is about friends and remembering the good times, so grab your warm and fuzzy childhood memories and let’s go!
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