Ayumi on Sweet, January 2006 Issue
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Artist: Ayumi Hamasaki
Product Code:AVCD-30892/3
Release Date: 2005.11.30
Highest Ranking: #1
Genre: Pop/Gospel
Label: avex trax
Format: CD or CD+DVD
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Around a little more than two months after the release of “HEAVEN”, Ayumi Hamasaki surprised her fans and released her 38th single which was recorded and filmed in New York. It was titled “Bold&Delicious” and was released only one month prior to her eighth studio album.
This single has created quite a lot of commotion amongst fans of Japanese Pop and Hamasaki alike. It has a very different feel from her previous releases, it sounds rather urban and daring. The music itself sounds rather “American” and this fact was emphasized especially since both of her promotional videos were filmed in New York. Ayu herself admitted in a magazine interview, GirlPop, that she herself did not know how her fans would react to the release of this single. In a way, she released this single as if to test the people’s reactions and to surprise the public with something unexpected.
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evergreen
Release Date: 2001.10.17
Peak Position: #1
Label: HAUNTED RECORDS \ Ki/oon \ SONY Records
Product Code: KSCL-411
First Press: 3″ (8cm) CD with picture label housed in a coffin shaped jewel case (Product Code#: KSDL-1223)
HYDE Official Web Site |
In 2000, much to fans’ surprise, L’Arc~en~Ciel announced that they were going to be on a brief hiatus. Future plans for the band were unsure, but the members knew what they wanted to do individually. hyde was the last of the members to release solo material, and his can be considered as the most experimental of the group. In October of 2001 he released his debut single as HYDE titled “evergreen”. No doubt many fans of the band were surprised at the direction HYDE had chosen for his solo project. His singing style was gentler and his whole presentation became more relaxed and calm, and he even took to wearing simple loose clothing and suits. Let’s see how the (then) new HYDE fairs.
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Be My Last
Released Date: 2005/09/28
Debut Ranking: #1
Label: Toshiba-EMI
Product Code: TOCT-5002
Official Site
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Utada Hikaru’s 14th single, “Be My Last”, was released on the 28th of September 2005. This single debuted at the top position on the daily Oricon charts on its release day. “Be My Last” also managed to achieve the first position on the weekly chart, selling about 80,043 copies to date. By taking a look at the sales amount of Hikki’s earlier releases, one can notice that, compared to Hikki’s standards this single didn’t fare well, at all.
The reason why this single is selling so poorly, is mainly because there is only one song included in this single. This single doesn’t even include the instrumental version of “Be My Last”. The cover design also is not really attractive and rather plain. So it is not surprising that many J-Pop fans do doubt the worthiness of this single.
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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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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.
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