Otsuka Ai Interview - Kurage, Nagareboshi

Channel-Ai’s sljinu has translated an Otsuka Ai interview originally posted at Oricon Style, and offers this very in depth, enlightening text on the singer’s latest single, “Kurage, Nagareboshi.” Ai talks about the title, the situation that inspired it, and both c/w tracks. It’s a very frank and honest interview, and as usual, worth reading for fans of the singer or just those who want to know more about her thought process when it comes to writing a single.

Ai Otsuka - PEACH/HEART
hitomi - Fight for Your Run☆

Flash does a track-by-track review of the ever-popular Ai Otsuka, this time concerning her PEACH/HEART single. All the tracks get a good rating and the appropriate reasons are given. However, It looks as though flash and I find different A-sides repetative. I was certainly a HEART fan, and being a pessimistic bastard for a second, you could say much of her work is starting to sound the same. PEACH for me just sounds like a poor man’s CHU-LIP which I thought was actually better. Still, lot’s of samey good stuff is still good stuff.

1337rice talks about hitomi’s Fight for Your Run☆ single, and the actual review of the song is a short one. We’re talking two sentences. Still, the post is beefed up by 1337rice speculating on Hitomi’s situation regarding her pergnancy and how this might effect her career for the foreseeable future. A bit of conjecture which might interest hitomi fans.

LOVE IS BORN ~3rd Anniversary 2006~

Recommended reading, especially for all Otsuka fans. With Aichin’s 5th anniversary right around the corner, the timing on this review seems appropriate, doesn’t it? Aprilis gives this concert DVD a full rundown, rating each piece individually and punctuating every few sections with screencaps. It’s a very thorough, detailed look at this concert from two years ago, and even without seeing the clips you can get a good sense of what was good and what was, well, better than good!

At Home Dad

Recommended reading. It’s been a long while since Aprilis has written for the blog, so I was quite pleased to see this review of the Abe Hiroshi drama from a few years back. As one expects from a Channel-Ai write-up, it’s detailed and well-structured and well thought-out. Hopefully there won’t be such a break between future posts…

And where the heck is Lainay? It’s been years since she’s posted on Channel-Ai!

SPECIAL: mihimaru GT Excite Interview - I Should Be So Lucky/Ai Kotoba

sljinu translates a rather long interview Excite Music had with the popular duo, discussing the songs in detail but also venturing into some related topics. Worth a read for fans. And during the interview, I encountered a phrase I’ve never run into before…

the Kylie Minogue song is actually quite deep

NEWS - pacific

Recommended reading. It can’t be easy being this particular Johnny’s group, what with the underage drinking and prolonged hiatus and fictional wife-beating and Kitagawa-sama sneaking into their beds every other night. Still, they’ve persevered, released a second album,and oroitsme has done an excellent track-by-track review in the usual Channel-Ai tradition: well-written, detailed criticism; a helpful look at the larger context surrounding the album and group; and plenty of multimedia. I could take points off because none of them are posing as sexy firefighters in any pictures, but I’ll let it go for now. This is definitely worth your time, especially if you’re a JE fan.

Rocket Sneaker / OnexTime

DJAeon does an excellent job describing Aichin’s latest single Rocket Sneaker/OnexTime, and if you can bare track-by-track walkthroughs, the commentary does well to describe the overall feel of Ai’s three tracks on the record, and it gives a good overview of Aichin’s sound as it’s developed thus far. A nice read for Otsuka fans alike.

Perfume - Love the World

1337rice gives a quick and honest, yet fun, review on Perfume’s latest chart topping single and even goes on to say that Perfume reminds him of a techno Morning Musume. Tee hee! 5 stars all around for this review. Buy links are at the bottom, but seriously, who doesn’t have this single already…?

Aragaki Yui - Sora

oroitsme has a review of Aragaki Yui’s 2007 album Sora over at Channel-Ai. If you don’t know who Aragaki Yui is, oroitsme covers that before diving into the review. oroitsme notes that the album flows very well; possibily because it is without any singles to interrupt new tracks mixing with each other.

Arashi - One Love

Oroitsme does a track-by-track review of Arashi’s One Love, and the analysis of the A-side is spot on, that the melody grates easily, but the chorus is a superb slice of pop. The other tracks get a fair rating which suprises me, because I thought the FINAL Remix feat. WISH, Love so sweet & One Love was complete and utter pants.

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR - HOT LIMIT (Channel-Ai)
HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR’s “HOT LIMIT” (appears)

Channel Ai discusses the latest single by HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR by reviewing each track individually. They also mention that the PV is a “carbon copy” of T.M Revolution’s original PV. And yes, the motorcycle noise makes no sense whatsoever.

Appears, on the other hand has a totally different approach to reviewing HOT LIMIT. He clearly states in his review that Haikara clearly “fails in their interpretation of the single”. One may disagree with this bold statement but after reading his clear and genuine explanation, you gotta ask yourself whether are Haikara looking to interpret or reinterpret this song.

JYONGRI - Love Forever

Channel-Ai’s 1337rice tackles each track of this brand new release, eventually concluding that it is “not a good album, nor a bad album.” If you love ballads, this is one review you’ll want to read, as plenty of samples are offered for your enjoyment.

Kuu’s ‘Moon’

The blog gives us a track-by-track review of the quad-A-side single, providing readers with a listen of each track and then going into the song itself. They also provide the Moon Crying PV and go on to explain the story behind the song. A very enthusiastic review, Channel-Ai gives a five-star rating for three out of the four songs, but for “That Ain’t Cool”, they certainly thought that it wasn’t cool of Fergie to be taking Kumi’s spotlight in the song, and I couldn’t agree more. Fergie takes up almost half of the song! Despite the low score on “That Ain’t Cool”, the single took home a 4.5 star rating, with DJ Aeon saying that this is a must-buy single, and a good comeback effort after that “rotten” comment she made a few months back.