a-nation ‘08: The good, the bad and the costumes (Part 1 of 2)
Raid takes a look at a-nation 2008 and casts his judgement on the artists involved, ranking them mostly on performance. Pictures taken from the concert help the post along nicely.
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.
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!
First look: Otsuka Ai - Kurage, Nagareboshi
Album review: miaou - All Around Us
Recommended Reading. Pengie is touched by the overall beauty of Ai-chin’s latest PV, “Kurage, Nagareboshi”. She can relate to the lyrics of this beautiful song to her own life stating situations like these are “bittersweet”. She also has an interesting perspective on the ambiguous title. For those who haven’t seen this beautiful PV, pengie has an embedded version on her post.
In her second post, she reviews miaou’s latest album, “All Around Us”. She introduces miaou, for those who haven’t heard them before, as being “mellow rock without vocals”. She takes an in-depth spin of the album, showcasing her favourite tracks from the album while picturing in her mind the places where this “mood music” takes her. For those who want to try out something new, or in need for some relaxing music, try out miaou, you won’t be disappointed.
Recommended reading. Selryam has a great idea here, listing significant musical firsts in his personal discovery of Japanese and other Asian music. It’s an interesting list, and I think can be a useful insight towards how tastes develop and interests refined. I’d actually be interested in seeing what other people could do with similar lists…
Otsuka Ai - Kurage, Nagareboshi
Recommended reading. oritsme has a very enjoyable write-up on the latest from Aichin. I especially liked the line, “as a video it’s an effervescent visual treat” - it makes me imagine her playing the piano in a huge glass of Alka Seltzer.
Recommended reading. oroitsme has a very nice write-up on what looks to be a very nifty merchandise tie-in. The pictures of the black sneakers strike me as particular droolworthy, though for the price of these shoes I could probably get two minutes alone with HSJ’s Ryosuke-san… Ahh, there’s a merch tie-in worth drooling over.
Let’s Take a Look at Some Ballads!
Misa over at Cutie Party has decided to create a little series to cover some ballads that she likes. In this post, she reviews two of Otsuka Ai’s singles: Kingyo Hanabi and Cherish. In her next posts, she will be covering some Younha and H!P ballads. Personally, I’m surprised she isn’t planning on mentioning any of Matsuura Aya’s ballads, but the ballads she plans on covering are great ballads anyways. Since this is a series, stay tuned to Cutie Party for more ballad reviews!
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.
Ai Otsuka, Puffy to be guests at Avril concert
Tokyograph has news of two special guests at an upcoming Avril Lavigne concert in Japan: pop duo Puffy and singer Otsuka Ai. Puffy and Avril have already collaborated before, but Otsuka is a brand new choice. Maybe Avril is a fan?
Ai Otsuka - LOVE PUNCH
Ami Suzuki - white key
Nami Tamaki- Fortune
Brett from Kurayami Monogatari has been keeping the blog very active. There have been more than just these three reviews. Misono, T.M.Revolution and Kitada Nana releases have also been reviewed. Check them out.
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