HAPPY was used in the ads of Okinawa Orion Beer's Southern Star starring BENI herself .
A 4 parts movie Natsu no Yozora to Aki no Yuki to Fuyu no Asa to Haru no Kaze was released nationwide in Japan last Oct .
BENI contributed 1 of the 4 movie theme songs ie. Yumeiro Biyori that was used in part 1 of the movie (sub title Tokidoki Momijiiro) , starring Suzuki Nobuyuki .
Both HAPPY & Yumeiro Biyori are very different musically but between both , I personally like Yumeiro Biyori more .
Not that HAPPY is bad but it's nothing fantastic to shout about & it gets quite repetitive after a while .
On the other hand , something about Yumeiro Biyori draws me into it when I 1st heard it prior to the song's digital release .
BENI will release a new mini album in Spring which the EP's theme will focus on love .
For now , it's not known whether HAPPY and/or Yumeiro Biyori will be included in BENI's upcoming new mini album release .
CD
CD + DVD
Tracklist for both versions :
1) Subarashiki Uso
2) Never Mind
FOR ROOTS ~Siroten Fields Once More~ live tracks :
3) 388859
4) HELP
5) Harukaze
This's flumpool's 1st release of 2020 . The A-side was chosen to be used as the theme song to promote NTV's drama Shiranakute Ii Koto .
A video was made for Subarashiki Uso but it's not included in the CD + DVD release of the single .
Starring Yoshitaka Yuriko , Shiranakute Ii Koto tells the story of Keito , a reporter for a weekly magazine whose life becomes a mess after learning the truth about her father .
This is flumpool's 1st time in 7 years to provide a theme song for a drama .
Prior to the physical single release , Subarashiki Uso was 1st released digitally last month on 9th Jan .
Never Mind serves as the B-side in the single & for this , it was chosen to be the opening theme song for the anime Ahiru no Sora .
1st released digitally on 8th Jan , Never Mind was created with the theme don't lose to yourself .
Other than Never Mind , 3 live tracks that were recorded from last Dec's FOR ROOTS ~Siroten Fields Once More~ are also included in the single .
This's 1 of the rare occasion where I personally prefer the B-side more than the A-side .
Despite this , both Subarashiki Uso & Never Mind are very different from each other but in a good way . Subarashiki Uso is quite a serious sounding song that fits in promoting Shiranakute Ii Koto while Never Mind is very anime sounding ish .
I would prefer if either 1 of the songs was a ballad but nonetheless , the overall mood I get from Subarashiki Uso is that it's a lot more upbeat as compared to flumpool's previous single HELP .
That said , flumpool's 5th album will be sometime later on this year & I'm already looking forward to it big time . Not sure if their new album will be on par if not better than their last 2 albums but if that happens , no complaints about it .
As long as flumpool's new album ain't a Fantasia of Life Stripe 2.0 , then all is good .
1) Be ZERO
2) Okubyou na Ookami 2019
The A-side was chosen to use as the opening theme song for the Mushiko no Kagasuteru anime .
Mushiko no Kagasuteru anime is produced by Netflix & it was distributed worldwide on the same release date as Hilcrhyme's latest digital music offering .
The B-side Okubyou na Ookami 2019 is a newly recorded version of Hilcrhyme's 7th single .
While Be ZERO was used as the Mushiko no Kagasuteru anime opening theme song , for Okubyou na Ookami 2019 it was used as the anime's ending theme no. .
It's quite unusual for the same artiste to contribute both the opening & ending theme songs for an anime but I guess there's always a 1st for anything .
Hilcrhyme don't really contribute that much songs for animes & when I heard Be ZERO , it's very anime sounding .
On the other hand , I would have prefer if a new song would have been used as the Mushiko no Kagasuteru anime ending theme no. as I frankly find not much music difference between the original & newly recorded Okubyou na Ookami 2019 .
Hilcrhyme in due time will release their last remake album STAR ~Remake Best 3~ and I will not be surprised if both Be ZERO & Okubyou na Ookami 2019 will be included in the release .
1) Innocent Rouge
2) Mukunaru Mono
3) Innocent Rouge (instrumental)
This's Mika's 1st music release of 2020 & unlike Mika's past single releases , only 1 version of Innocent Rouge was released ie. a CD + Photobook limited version .
Innocent Rouge originally was chosen to be used as the theme song to promote the Innocent musical .
The Innocent musical was supposed to take place tomorrow in France's Palais des congrès de Paris Bordeaux Auditorium but it has been cancelled .
Mika played Marie-Josèphe Sanson in last year's staging of the Innocent musical alongside with Lead's Furuya Keita .
The contents of the Innocent musical is based on the Innocent Rouge manga series which was created by mangaka Sakamoto Shinichi .
Mika has been a long time fan of the Innocent manga series . Prior to the Innocent musical , Mika cosplayed as Marie-Josèphe Sanson when she performed at HALLOWEEN PARTY 2017 that's organised by VAMPS .
Other than the creation of the Innocent Rouge manga , Sakamoto Shinichi also oversaw the story of the Innocent musical .
Credits wise , Innocent Rouge was written by Sakamoto Shinichi while the song is composed by MIYAVI .
Mukunaru Mono serves as the B-side in Innocent Rouge . This's an acoustic song sung by Mika during the Japan run of the Innocent musical .
Besides Innocent Rouge , MIYAVI also composed Mukunaru Mono .
Mika was not so musically active last year with her only releasing Yuki no Hana 15 Shuunen Kinen Best-ban BIBLE compilation album .
But Mika no doubt has returned with a bang & Innocent Rouge contains some of her best music material in recent years .
This's not Mika's 1st time releasing Rock music but something about Innocent Rouge , it's quite different from what she used to do , in a good way .
Both the A & B-sides are really good and they contrast each other extremely well . Kudos to MIYAVI for composing 2 very distinct songs which're unique from each other .
I personally enjoy Innocent Rouge a lot & I frankly have no complaints on it . I sure hope this will not be the 1st & last time MIYAVI composed for Mika , he definitely should do more for Mika in the near future .