A promotional image which was linked with Yumekui.
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Artist: Ai Otsuka
Product Code: AVCD-31021
Release date: 2006.08.02
Debut Ranking: #4
First Press: Special Packaging
Label: avex trax
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After four months of inactivity, Ai Otsuka returned to the music scene by releasing her twelfth single. Her highly anticipated single, “Yumekui” was announced to be released on the second of August, close to the release of “Tokyo Friends The Movie” in theatres. This single was specifically made by Ai-chin to fit the theme of “Tokyo Friends” and consequently it is no surprise that both songs within this single were featured within the series and the movie.
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Tokyo Friends was released on June 8, 2005. Unlike many other Dorama, it was never aired on TV. Instead it was released as DVD; 3 DVDs to be exact. Volume one and two contained the first 4 episodes while volume three contained the last episode. Each episode is approximately 70 minutes long. A Tokyo Friends Premium Box was also released, which includes all 5 episodes, a bonus DVD and 12 postcards. Although this is a very typical Tokyo-story and was never aired on TV, it was quite successful, most probably because it was Otsuka Ai’s debut as an actress.
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Screen cap of Ai-chin during the encore.
JAM PUNCH Tour 2005 is Otsuka Ai’s highly anticipated concert tour. This is Otsuka’s first concert tour since her debut in September 2003. The name JAM PUNCH is a play on the titles of her two albums: LOVE PUNCH and LOVE JAM. The concerts were held in 10 different cities across Japan and on 14 different dates. Two DVD editions were released on July 27, 2005: the regular edition had a blue cover and included footage from the June 1 concert filmed at the Tokyo International Forum Hall A. The deluxe edition had a gold cover that included footage from the concert and off shot scene from the tour. The overseas deluxe version DVD (region 2) and VCD were released on August 15, 2005.
The set list for the DVD is slightly different from some of the earlier concerts. For example, Strawberry Jam was performed instead of pretty voice, Sakuranbo and Happy Days weren’t performed in the encore section. Ai also wore different costumes for the first few concerts.
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Frienger PV shooting
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Frienger
Released Date: 2006.04.12
Debut Ranking: #2
Label: avex trax
Product Code: AVCD-30916
Extra: 5 colour CD jacket |
“Frienger”, Ai Otsuka’s (or intimately referred to as “Ai-chin” by her hardcore fans) 11th single, was released on April 12, 2006, approximately 7 months after the release of her 10th hit single, “Planetarium“. For those of you who are curious about the title, “Frienger” is a word combining “friend” and “ranger”, which relates how a friend is like a ranger who will always fight for you whenever you’re in trouble.
A preview of “Frienger” was first heard when au mobile MUSIC-HDD W41T used it as a TV commercial song. The B-side of this single, “Amai Kimochi Maru Kajiri”, which translates to “Taste Those Sweet Feelings Boldly”, was also used as the commercial song for music.jp, a popular music download site for Japanese mobile phones.
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Planetarium
Released Date: 2005.09.21
Debut Ranking: #1
Label: avex trax
Product Code: AVCD-30769
First Press: Special packaging |
Ai Otsuka’s 10th single, “Planetarium”, was released on 2005.09.21. “Planetarium” gained the first place on the Oricon daily single charts on its first day of release. This single also managed to achieve the top position on the Oricon weekly single charts, having more than 121,000 copies sold so far.
This is Ai’s first ballad single that has achieved such excellent results, which is quite a feat. As most die-hard fans of Ai know, her ballads usually sell poorly compared to her upbeat singles, such as “Sakuranbo” and “SMILY”. I do believe that the success of “Planetarium” is a positive sign that Ai Otsuka is gaining her fame rapidly due to her recently released DVD drama, Tokyo Friends, for which the sequel movie will be shown in theatres next year; her radio show, Otsuka Ai no ai-r Jack; and last but not least, her talents as an artist. Ai composes and writes lyrics for all of her songs and also has excellent piano playing skills.
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