This song was used to promote the Shunkashuutou Monogatari movie & this release is in response to fans' request after they watched Shunkashuutou Monogatari .
Shunkashuutou is Hilcrhyme's most known song to date & for a movie to be made based on it , it's pretty something . Perhaps it's no surprises that there're some music elements that can be heard in After Story .
In certain parts of After Story , it's quite easy to hear influences of Shunkashuuto in the song especially in the melody . It's probably safe to say that After Story can be considered as an answer song to Shunkashuuto itself ?
Cover for CD , CD + DVD & B'z x UCC edition(CD + Original goods) versions
1) Seimei
2) Still Alive
3) Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru
4) Fukiarenasai
The duo's last physical single release was 2015's RED while their last double A-side single was 2009's Ichibu to Zenbu / DIVE .
The 1st A-side Seimei was used in the ads of UCC BLACK Muto that featured B'z themselves . A video was made for the song but it's not included in the DVD of the single .
The 2nd A-side Still Alive was used as the theme song for TBS's drama A LIFE ~Itoshiki Hito~ that starred ex SMAP's Kimura Takuya .
This is B'z's 1st time in 17 years to provide a theme song for a drama . Their 2000 / 27th single Konya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni was used in Beautiful Life ~Futari de Ita Hibi~ that also starred Kimura Takuya . The duo commented , "We had the opportunity to have discussions with the drama staff & through trial-and-error , we were able to put together a satisfactory work . We hope it would add colour to this drama that's being filmed so earnestly ."
2 B-sides are available in Seimei / Still Alive which both of them were released digitally last year .
Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru was released digitally last Oct & this song was used in promoting the Detective Conan : The Darkest Nightmare movie & also as the opening theme for the Detective Conan anime .
And Fukiarenasai was released digitally last Nov with it being used as the theme song for the movie Shippu Rondo .
After a period of solo activities , B'z starts up again with a rocking double A-side single in the form of Seimei / Still Alive .
It's great for B'z to return back with a new single & they definitely do not disappoint with their latest single offering . Between both A-sides , I like Seimei a lot more as it's a lot more edgier & fun . Not to say that Still Alive isn't good but I feel Seimei is more stronger & memorable .
Let alone I'm quite glad that B'z included Sekai wa Anata no Iro ni Naru & Fukiarenasai as B-sides in Seimei / Still Alive as I was wondering what will happen to both songs but it's better than being excluded .
Best album B'z COMPLETE SINGLE BOX will be released on 30th Aug & all of B'z singles that they have released from 1988 until now will be included in this grand scale release .
CD
CD + DVD
1) Kokoro
2) HELLO , NEW DAY
3) LIFE
4) Kokoro (Instrumental)
5) HELLO , NEW DAY (Instrumental)
6) LIFE (Instrumental)
The duo's last physical single release was last March's Mirai Spring Package which was a re-release version of their 2015 / 27th single Mirai .
Kokoro was used as the theme song for the movie Chotto Ima Kara Shigoto Yamete Kuru .
Prior to the physical release of Kokoro , the A-side was released digitally on 13th May .
For the accompanying music video , Kobukuro collaborated with NAOTO (EXILE , Sandaime J Soul Brothers from EXILE TRIBE) & Team Lab .
The Kokoro video was shot in one take in a large 360° set . On his appearance in the video , NAOTO commented , "I probably went on set after listening to Kokoro as many times as Kobukuro . It was a shoot that once again made me feel how wonderful song & dance is ."
Similarly , Kobukuro stated , "Through this video, we were able to portray various images that we were unable to portray with just lyrics & melody ."
2 B-sides are made available in Kokoro . The 1st B-side HELLO , NEW DAY was chosen to be used as the official song for RIZAP KBC Augusta Golf Tournament 2017 while the 2nd B-side is titled LIFE .
Kobukuro once again doesn't disappoint & Kokoro is a great empowering song . What they have chosen to do in the video is very interesting & the final output gives out an artistic vibe worth appreciating over .
Likewise both B-sides are equally good . HELLO , NEW DAY is an upbeat mid tempo song that contrasts Kokoro well while LIFE has a rather surprising laidback melody that's quite heavily harmonica driven .
KOBUKURO LIVE TOUR 2016 "TIMELESS WORLD" at Saitama Super Arena DVD + Blu-ray will be released next month on 5th July .
CD
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
The group's 6th album MUSIC COLOSSEUM was released on 3rd May . Promo wise , PICK IT UP was chosen to be used to promote Fuji TV's Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatte Iru drama starring member Fujigaya Taisuke .
PICK IT UP is described as a bright dance pop number & the accompanying video has a cool + sexy theme .
4 B-sides are included in PICK IT UP . Zukkyuun & PICK IT UP -Jazzy Step ver.- are only available in the CD only version of the single .
The fun upbeat sounding Zukkyuun was used in the ads of Una Kowa Cool starring Kis-My-Ft2 themselves while the Jazzy Step version of the A-side is very interesting & differs quite a lot from the original take of the song .
The next 2 songs are only found in each CD + DVD of PICK IT UP . Made available in the CD + DVD A version of PICK IT UP is Up&Down and Up&Down,Yo Dance ! & All Around The World is only found in the CD + DVD B version .
I wasn't sure what to expect when I came across Up&Down and Up&Down,Yo Dance ! as it has a weird song title but it's actually quite enjoyable .
As for All Around The World , it was used as the theme song to promote Fuji TV's Moshimo Tours . Out of all the B-sides in the single , this's my favourite as it's a very simplistic no. with only an acoustic guitar driven melody & it's a pity it's quite short as I thought at most it should have been a bit longer .
Kis-My-Ft2 has released material at relatively quite fast successive pace ever since they made their music debut in 2011 & after they released MUSIC COLOSSEUM , they show no signs of slowing down in the form of PICK IT UP .
I'm quite sure PICK IT UP could have been something included in MUSIC COLOSSEUM but all in all , the group's latest single is quite good . I thought the melody of the A-side is really futuristic & cool sounding which the concept , outfits & video go hand in hand very well together .
I don't think PICK IT UP will be the last music release I'll be seeing this year from Kis-My-Ft2 but seeing that their next single release will be their 20th , maybe they could do something to mark the milestone ? I for once don't mind another INTER part 2 .
CD Regular
1) Non Fiction
2) Brand New Bike
3) Mahoutte Itte Ii Kana ? (VaVa Remix)
CD Limited
1) Non Fiction
2) Non Fiction (less vocal)
Bonus live audio tracks - 2017 Special Live !!「THE STILL LIFE」 at Nippon Budokan April 2017 ; include 10 songs
Ken's latest single was released 3 months + since his previous single Boku no Kokoro o Tsukutte yo .
Prior to the physical release of Non Fiction , the A-side was released digitally last month on 14th May .
Promo wise , Non Fiction was used to promote TBS's drama Chiisana Kyojin .
2 B-sides are made available in the CD Regular version of Non Fiction . The relaxed sounding Brand New Bike contrasts the A-side quite well & there's even subtle whispering thrown in the background for good measure .
Mahoutte Itte Ii Kana ? (VaVa Remix) is the 2nd B-side & this's a remix of Ken's 40th single .
While the VaVa Remix of Mahoutte Itte Ii Kana ? is quite entertaining , I still feel the original take of the song is more superior as at times a song doesn't need to have a complicated melody to sound great & the simplicity of Mahoutte Itte Ii Kana ? still shine even up to now .
Ken Hirai's 42nd single Non Fiction is used as the theme song of the drama Chiisana Kyojin starring Hasegawa Hiroki . The ballad's lyrics about life's conflicts and doubts echo the hearts of the drama's characters .
There's no doubt Ken has been releasing material on a regular basis as there was a period of time where his releases was quite sporadic .
Non Fiction is yet another single I enjoy & this's definitely not the last music release coming from Ken as his Ken Hirai Singles Best Collection Utabaka 2 will be released next month on 12th July & Non Fiction will be included in this release .
CD
1) Overture ~Music Colosseum~
2) EXPLODE
3) VersuS
4) Ii ne !!
5) Let's Go !!
6) SEVEN WISHES
7) Yasashii Ame (Kitayama Hiromitsu) {CD Only Track}
8) One Kiss
9) Sha la la☆Summer Time
10) Camellia (Tamamori Yuta) {CD Only Track}
11) Baby Love (CD Only Track)
12) Kiss shi Chau zo
13) Life is Beautiful ~Taisetsuna Anata e~ (Fujigaya Taisuke) {CD Only Track}
14) Kimi no Iru Sekai
15) Bang ! Bang ! BURN !
16) r.a.c.e.
17) Tonight
18) Dream on
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
Both CD + DVD's tracklist
1) Overture ~Music Colosseum~
2) EXPLODE
3) VersuS
4) Ii ne !!
5) Let's Go !!
6) SEVEN WISHES
7) One Kiss
8) Sha la la☆Summer Time
9) Kiss shi Chau zo
10) Kimi no Iru Sekai
11) Bang! Bang! BURN!
12) r.a.c.e.
13) Tonight
14) Dream on
The group's last album release was last June's I SCREAM . In MUSIC COLOSSEUM , the latest new album has 14 songs while 4 bonus tracks are exclusively found in the CD only version (3 solos sung by Kitayama Hiromitsu , Fujigaya Taisuke & Tamamori Yuta + 1 group track) .
MUSIC COLOSSEUM includes single songs Sha la la☆Summer Time , Tonight , Kimi no Iru Sekai , SEVEN WISHES (the last 3 from their 1st triple A-side single INTER) .
The meaning behind MUSIC COLOSSEUM , "7 brave heroes taking on a challenge to their own way of 'MUSIC' ." The album's concept sees each of the group's 7 members as music warriors who are fighting to find their own way . For this , each member was responsible for the creation of a song on the album including coming up with lyrics , arrangement & vocals with help from their staff .
Several new short version songs are included in the DVD tracklist of MUSIC COLOSSEUM CD + DVD B version (as part of a Bokura no Music Colosseum special movie) but they're not included in the CD itself as follows :
- Ore no Aji (Yokoo Wataru's solo)
- PURE LOVE (Senga Kento's solo)
- Wotakudattatte It's Alright ! ~Gaiden~ (Miyata Toshiya's solo)
- Sexy Peach (Fujigaya Taisuke's solo)
- Josshii Matsumura no SCREAM (Nikaido Takashi's solo)
- Chara ku NIGHT? (Kitayama Hiromitsu's solo) ; melody is sampled from Snack SHOW wa (B-side in 18th single Sha la la☆Summer Time) which was sung by Kitayama , Yokoo & Miyata
- Touch (Fujigaya Taisuke & Tamamori Yuta) ; B-side in Sha la la☆Summer Time
I will review MUSIC COLOSSEUM based on the CD only tracklist of the album .
Kicking things off in MUSIC COLOSSEUM is Overture ~Music Colosseum~ . Unlike the group's past album opening tracks , this's so far the longest opening no. and also it has a fair bit of singing that Kis-My-Ft2 does .
EXPLODE is the 1st new group album track & it's technically the only new song that gets a video . The video plot is a continuation from Tonight (1st A-side in 18th single INTER) & in this case , the video has a wild + strong theme .
While I enjoy EXPLODE as it's quite an aggressive punchy driven no. , this time round , I feel this song don't deserve to get a video to a certain extent as there're other new album tracks that I feel it should have video(s) made instead which for this , I will talk about them later on .
VersuS & Ii ne !! are the next 2 new group album tracks . Both songs are upbeat songs but what set both of them apart are the melodies as VersuS has an interesting saxophone melody while Ii ne !! is just a fun fast paced track with no frills .
The next new group track Let's Go !! was used as the theme song for the Japanese dubbed version of The Lego Batman Movie that was released in Japan's cinemas on 1st April & this's the 1st time Kis-My-Ft2 provides a song to be used in a Hollywood movie .
In this case , Let's Go !! was specially created for the movie & it centres around the theme that everyone from children to adults can be a super hero to someone . According to Kis-My-Ft2 , it has a catchy melody & lyrics that make you want to sing together .
A video was made for Let's Go !! which's included/part of the Bokura no Music Colosseum special movie .
SEVEN WISHES is the 3rd A-side of Kis-My-Ft2's 18th single INTER . This was used in the ads of JR Kyushu's Atarashii 7tsu no Nagasaki e KISS MY NAGASAKI & this song had no video made despite being an A-side in INTER .
Yasashii Ame is the 1st of 4 bonus tracks included in the CD only version of MUSIC COLOSSEUM & this's sung by the group leader , Kitayama Hiromitsu .
Kitayama's past solos in Kis-My-Ft2's past studio albums were consistently quite good & the emotional driven ballad Yasashii Ame is no exception . I'm frankly surprised that during the current ongoing Kis-My-Ft2 LIVE TOUR 2017 MUSIC COLOSSEUM , Kitayama didn't performed Yasashii Ame & likewise with the other 3 bonus tracks .
One Kiss is the next group album track & as the title suggests , this's quite a slow paced no. .
Sha la la☆Summer Time is Kis-My-Ft2's 17th single & last year's Summer song was used in the ads of Unakowa .
The next 2 songs are bonus tracks in the CD only version of MUSIC COLOSSEUM . Camellia is a solo song sung by Tamamori Yuta while Baby Love is a group track .
Honestly , I don't think Tamamori has the best vocals in Kis-My-Ft2 but somehow his solos are not bad . Same thing goes with the mid tempo Camellia although up to now , I still like his previous solo (ALIVE) in I SCREAM as the video won me over for its artistic direction .
As for Baby Love , I find it a bit cheesy for my liking . The same thing goes with the track after it , Kiss shi Chau zo . I'm sure there's a reason why both tracks are put next to each other as they give about the same vibes but aside from that , given a choice , I would skip both tracks if possible .
Life is Beautiful ~Taisetsuna Anata e~ is the last bonus track available in the CD only version of MUSIC COLOSSEUM . This's a solo song sung by Fujigaya Taisuke .
Aside from this , Life is Beautiful ~Taisetsuna Anata e~ is also the only song in the album that has personal input as the lyrics were written by Fujigaya himself .
In general , I feel that each of the members can sing quite well but Fujigaya is 1 of the better ones & this's evident in this great piano driven ballad Life is Beautiful ~Taisetsuna Anata e~ .
To me , Kitayama & Fujigaya can handle solos on their own with no issues but together as a duo , they're definitely much stronger as their past duo collaboration songs are some of my favourite tracks in the group's discography .
Kimi no Iru Sekai is the 2nd A-side of Kis-My-Ft2's 18th single INTER & this was used in the ads of Kowa's Hokkairo Nuku Nuku Toban .
The next 2 group album tracks Bang ! Bang ! BURN ! & r.a.c.e. are some of my favourite new material in MUSIC COLOSSEUM as they're both edgy sounding .
While Bang ! Bang ! BURN ! is ok , r.a.c.e. stands out more as I really like the melody of this song & this's 1 of 2 album tracks that I felt a video should have been made .
Tonight is the 1st A-side in Kis-My-Ft2's 18th single INTER . The last single song included in MUSIC COLOSSEUM , Tonight was used in the ads of Daiichi Kosho's LIVE DAM STADIUM & this's my favourite single track in the album .
Dream on is the final song to conclude MUSIC COLOSSEUM & this's a great track to wrap things up as it's such an empowering soaring no. . Surprisingly , Dream on is the closest song that can almost be considered as a ballad & this's the 2nd album track I felt a video should have been made over EXPLODE as I enjoy it a lot .
Kis-My-Ft2 is on the attack with their 6th album MUSIC COLOSSEUM which sees the Johnny's group challenging new forms of music .
I thought when Kis-My-Ft2 released I SCREAM last year , they weren't able to amp things up further but MUSIC COLOSSEUM proved me wrong in some ways or another as if you buy all versions , they really give the fans their $ worth as this by far contains the most no. of new material to date .
In addition unlike their past albums , MUSIC COLOSSEUM doesn't include any B-side from their singles which's extremely rare as that happened to their previous releases but not this time round & it's also evident that there's a considerable amount of personal input from the members as well .
However after giving MUSIC COLOSSEUM extensive listens , I feel that I don't enjoy it as much as their previous albums as for starters , some of the new songs sound like what their juniors might sing if not they're too slow for my liking .
It's a bit strange as somehow in MUSIC COLOSSEUM , it somewhat suffered the same fate as ARASHI's Are You Happy ? as for both releases , the members have a lot more personal input that went into making the albums but the result turn out less than stellar .
The difference is at least in MUSIC COLOSSEUM , there're some strong memorable album tracks (EXPLODE , r.a.c.e. , Dream on) & except for Baby Love , I like the other 3 solos bonus tracks even though I thought it's quite unfair that Busaiku didn't get any solos in the CD (even though that's somewhat made up in the CD + DVD B of MUSIC COLOSSEUM) .
Kis-My-Ft2 has no doubt release material at quite a fast pace since they debuted in 2009 & already MUSIC COLOSSEUM is their 6th album which's pretty insane . In the midst of releasing too fast , the quality of their music suffers & unfortunately that applies to MUSIC COLOSSEUM .
That said , it's all not a loss cause for MUSIC COLOSSEUM as there above mentioned tracks still make the album worth a listen but given a choice , I would rather listen to their past albums as up to now , my favourite album from them is still their 4th album KIS-MY-WORLD .
Kis-My-Ft2's 19th single PICK IT UP was released 3 days ago on 7th June & this song is not included in MUSIC COLOSSEUM + I will review it subsequently .
For now , I will not mind if Kis-My-Ft2 slow down in releasing future albums as I rather they release 1 every 2/3 years & make a great 1 as sometimes if you release a new album on a yearly basis , fans might not be able to keep up & in the process , quality will take a backseat over quality .
CD
CD + DVD
1) Just You and I
2) Strike A Pose
3) Just You and I -Instrumental-
4) Strike A Pose -Instrumental-
This's Namie's 1st single release of 2017 & the A-side was used to promote NTV's Haha ni Naru starring actress Sawajiri Erika .
Just You and I is described as a medium-paced no. that has a beautiful blend of string instrumentals & piano powered by Namie's gentle but sturdy vocals . The lyrics express the deep love 1 can have for a very special person making this song the perfect match for the complex issues explored in Haha ni Naru .
Strike A Pose serves as the B-side in the single & this upbeat song was used in the ads of ReVIA starring Namie herself .
Namie Amuro sings the theme song Just You and I for the NTV drama Haha ni Naru . Accompanied by a beautiful piano + strings arrangement , the warm gentle medium-tempo no. describes a deep and irreplaceable love .
I said before that I'm not that into Namie's mid tempo/slow paced songs but Just You and I is quite good . I feel that in recent times , this's something that Namie has improved as I feel in her older releases , I can't feel enough emotion poured into them .
As for Strike A Pose , I've already heard this prior to Just You and I & I'm quite pleased to see this included in the single . The song itself is fun & contrasts the A-side .
I think it's time for Namie to release another compilation album as this year's her 25th anniversary in the business . And honestly , I would not be thrilled if she release another studio album that complies the singles she released from late 2015 (RED CARPET) until now as I'm not keen on another Uncontrolled part 2 .
It's surreal to know that BEST FICTION was released in 2008 & I await to see what will be Namie's next music move .