CD
CD + DVD
1) SYMPHONIA
2) Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto
3) SYMPHONIA -instrumental-
4) Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Kotoと -instrumental-
Mika's last single release was last Jan's Innocent Rouge & SYMPHONIA / Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto is her 1st double A-side single release .
Music videos were made for both A-sides .
The 1st A-side SYMPHONIA was chosen to be used as the theme song for the mobile app game takt op. Unmei wa Shin Akaki Senritsu no Machi wo that will launch year end .
takt op. is an original work by Hiroi Ouji with character design by LAM . Pianist marasy also participates as the key pianist . Set in a world where music has disappeared , it portrays the battle of young women called Musicarto who carry the music scores of classical music and other great songs .
SYMPHONIA was written , composed & arranged by rionos . It's described as a dramatic no. with lyrics that go along with the game's storyline coupled with a beautiful melody & spectacular sound .
In addition , SYMPHONIA was chosen to be used as the ending theme no. for the takt op.Destiny anime .
Before the single's physical release , SYMPHONIA was 1st released digitally on 12th Oct .
The 2nd A-side Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto was used as the insert song for TV Asahi's drama Hyochakusha .
Hyochakusha revolves around a mysterious man named Hemingway (played by actor Saito Takumi) & the incidents surrounding him .
Its insert song Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto is a ballad that was written by Akimoto Yasushi , who was also in charge of the drama's script .
Akimoto wrote Mika's debut single STARS as well as WILL , marking their 1st time working together in almost 2 decades .
Mika commented , "The song is linked to the drama's content & I love Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto" .
Before the single's physical release , Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto was 1st released digitally on 20th Aug .
Next Sun is Mika Nakashima's 20th anniversary debut in the business & what better way to celebrate early on this milestone with the release of her 1st double A-side single SYMPHONIA / Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto .
I'm still a bit surprised that prior to SYMPHONIA / Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto , Mika has not released any standalone double A-side single (not counting 2014's Fighter / Gift which she released alongside with Kato Miliyah) but it's better late than never .
Both SYMPHONIA & Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto are ballads but they're still nonetheless different . SYMPHONIA has a grand sweeping melody while Shiritai Koto, Shiritakunai Koto is a lot more simpler and elements of both STARS & WILL can be felt in this song .
On that note , happy 20th anniversary to Mika & may there be even more anniversaries to come !
CD
CD + Blu-ray
1) Treasure Pleasure
2) Ao Iro Sensation
3) Treasure Pleasure (OFF VOCAL)
4) Ao Iro Sensation (OFF VOCAL)
The A-side was chosen to be used as the opening theme no. for the Hanma Baki anime & was 1st released digitally on 1st Oct .
Treasure Pleasure is GRANRODEO's 3rd song that they've used to promote the Baki anime franchise , after 2018's BEASTFUL & last year's Jounetsu wa Oboete Iru & Ao Iro Sensation served as B-side in the single .
After going the experimental music route with Jounetsu wa Oboete Iru , GRANRODEO is back to their usual classic music route in Treasure Pleasure which's a no nonsense catchy but fun upbeat song that's easy to like on 1st listen .
Whereas for Ao Iro Sensation , it contrasts the A-side well with it being a mid tempo no. .
GRANRODEO will kick off 2022 with the release of their 33rd single Kami mo Hotoke mo that will be sold on 12th Jan & Kami mo Hotoke mo has been selcted to be used as the opening theme no. for the upcoming new Saiyuki RELOAD -ZEROIN- anime .
This's GLAY's 3rd back to back digital release of new material after FRIED GREEN TOMATOES , Seishun wa Zankokuda , BETTY BLUE & last month's BAD APPLE .
To hype up the release of their 16th studio album FREEDOM ONLY that was released on 6th Oct , GLAY released 5 digital release songs for 5 consecutive months starting from May onwards .
Shukusai is included in FREEDOM ONLY as track 11 & it has a video made .
This song is classic GLAY at their best & it's quite easy to hear/see why this album track has a video made . And the fact that they mentioned the album's name in the song lyrics that also says a lot too .
With the release of FREEDOM ONLY , GLAY obtained yet another #1 release in their ever growing music discography which they rightfully deserves .
The digital release of Sono Tsugi ni is flumpool's 1st after they left AMUSE & on 1st July they've set up their own company and carried out their activities under a partnership with A-Sketch , which's owned by AMUSE .
Sono Tsugi ni was created with the theme of friends . Vocalist/guitarist Yamamura Ryuta commented , "This Summer , we left the place that raised us over the past 13 years & took 1 step forward with our own feet . Sono Tsugi ni includes our our anxiety & conflict on taking that step , as well as our unwavering courage ."
In recent years quite a few prominent artistes under AMUSE have left & I'm not surprised the next to do so is flumpool . Still for them to be under AMUSE for so long , I'm sure they feel appenhensive to do so especially now they're on their own & have to start everything from ground 0 .
I guess that's what they're trying to sum up their feelings as best as possible & that's evident in Sono Tsugi ni .
With flumpool now undertaking the independent route , it will be very interesting to see how this will impact the way they do things but regardless of the situation , they have my support no matter what .
CD Regular
CD Limited
1) FOREVER
2) FOREVER (hydeless version)
3) FOREVER (Anime Edit)
The release of FOREVER comes in less than a month+ after the release of L'Arc~en~Ciel's previous single Mirai .
Before the physical CD release , the A-side was 1st released digitally on 8th Aug .
Promo wise , FOREVER was chosen to use as the opening theme no. for the EDENS ZERO anime .
Based on the manga of the same title by Mashima Hiro , the anime tells the story of a young boy named Shiki , who lives among robots on a planet called Granbell . One day , a girl named Rebecca & her cat Happy visit Granbell , becoming the planet's 1st visitors in 100 years . Shiki meets Rebecca & Happy , then sets out on an adventure beyond the planet .
FOREVER is described as a a song that matches the anime's worldview & gives people a premonition of a grand adventure . Bassist tetsuya who composed the song commented , "FOREVER is our next release after Mirai during the band's 30th anniversary year . It means for eternity , to continue .
A video was made for FOREVER but it's not included in the physical release of the single .
When I 1st heard FOREVER , I couldn't help but feel that it sounds like Mirai 2.0 & depending on how you look at it , it could be a good or bad thing .
At least this year L'Arc~en~Ciel made a bit more effort to celebrate their 30th anniversary as in recent years they've been solely lacking of new material .
With next year being a decade since the release of their last studio album BUTTERFLY perhaps it would be great if a new album will finally drop ?
CD + DVD
CD + DVD A
CD + DVD B
The group's previous single release was Luv Bias in Feb while their last double A-side single release was 2013's / 9th single SNOW DOME no Yakusoku / Luv Sick .
Despite being a double A-side single release , SO BLUE has no video made and also no standard CD only version was sold .
Both A-sides have promo tie in's . The 1st A-side Fear was used as the theme song for TV Tokyo's drama Tada Rikon Shitenai dake starring member/leader Kitayama .
Tada Rikon Shitenai Dake is a live-action adaptation of Honda Yuki's manga of the same title . It tells the story of freelance writer Kakino Masataka (played by Kitayama) & his wife Yukie (played by Nakamura Yuri) . They have been married for 7 years but become involved in a shocking situation due to Masataka's affair .
On Fear , Kitayama commented, "I think it's a song that will deeply excite the drama's worldview . When the intro plays, you will be pulled into the drama & it has a sound that we as a group haven't really sung before so I'm looking forward to seeing how we will perform it as Kis-My-Ft2 ."
The 2nd A-side SO BLUE had 2 promo tie in's , it promoted Fuji TV's Moshimo Tours & was also used as Kis-My-Ft2 x LINE MUSIC campaign song .
Available in the CD + DVD regular version is Shining Ace . This B-side was used in the ads to promote Kowa's 2 new products Unakowa Ace L & Unakowa Ace G starring Kis-My-Ft2 themselves .
After releasing BEST of Kis-My-Ft2 in celebration of their 10th anniversary in Aug , Kis-My-Ft2 wasted no time in putting out another new release in the form of their latest single offering Fear / SO BLUE .
Kitayama definitely hit the nail on the head with what he said about Fear as music style wise this's unique & can't really be compared to the other songs in their discography . There's something about just how emo & moody sounding Fear is which I feel it fits promoting Tada Rikon Shitenai Dake well .
On the other hand , SO BLUE contrasts Fear as it's the direct opposite of it & it's surprising Kis-My-Ft2 did not made a video for SO BLUE as I felt it should have 1 made as their past double A-side single releases , both A-side had videos made but at least this was somewhat compensated with a lyrics video made for SO BLUE .
Perhaps a proper video for SO BLUE will be made & released in the near future ?
Kis-My-Ft2 will wrap up 2021 with the release of LIVE TOUR 2021 HOME DVD/Blu-ray on 15th Dec .
After releasing the mid tempo driven no. Kimi to Nara in May , B'z are back with a classic fun uptempo Rock no. in the form of UNITE which was used to promote last month's B'z presents UNITE #01 which featured B'z performed alongside with 2 other great JRock legends ie. GLAY & Mr.Children .
For B'z standalone performance , they performed UNITE as the opening no. which as the song title implies really united everybody who attended all the 4 sold out B'z presents UNITE #01 dates & even after being in the business for more than 3 decades , B'z still got it .
With B'z music release pattern in recent years , I will not be surprised if they will put out a new studio album next year . Only time will tell .
CD
CD + DVD A & CD + Blu-ray A
CD + DVD B & CD + Blu-ray B
CD + DVD C & CD + Blu-ray C
KAT-TUN's latest single release offering comes in 6 months+ since their previous single Roar .
Both A-sides were released digitally on the same day as the physical CD release , the group's 2nd after Roar & the digital exclusive no. Flashback .
We Just Go Hard Feat AK-69 / EUPHORIA is KAT-TUN's 1st ever double A-side single release and both songs have videos made .
The 1st A-side We Just Go Hard was used as the new image song to promote DRAMATIC BASEBALL 2021 & replaced Roar's B-side ie. Light and Blue + it also promoted Going! Sports & News .
In addition , We Just Go Hard features rapper AK-69 making this KAT-TUN's 1st ever collaboration no. .
The 2nd A-side EUPHORIA was used as the theme song to promote TV Asahi's drama The High School Heroes starring Johnny Juniors' Bishounen .
The High School Heroes is a hero drama set at Gosei Academy , which celebrates 100 years since its founding . EUPHORIA is described as a dance number with an uptempo beat . On the song , KAT-TUN commented, "We worked on the song hoping that it will bring excitement to the drama."
Through this aggressive dance number , the group's strong determination & excitement for the future can be felt .
A total of 4 B-sides are included in the release :
- My fantasy (CD Only Track)
- Last Summer (CD Only Track)
- Lily (CD + DVD C / CD + Blu-ray C Track)
- Thank you! (Fanclub exclusive track) ; 15th anniversary song & lyrics written by KAT-TUN themselves
Celebrating the 15th anniversary year of their debut , KAT-TUN releases their 29th single which is also their 1st ever double A-side single !
We Just Go Hard is the image song of NTV's Dramatic Baseball 2021 baseball broadcast , as well as the theme song of NTV's Going! Sports & News programme . Hip-hop artist AK-69 , whose tracks are often selected by baseball players as walk-up songs , wrote & co-composed We Just Go Hard while also being featured in the song .
Meanwhile , the powerful dance number EUPHORIA is the theme song of the TV Asahi drama The High School Heroes .
Prior to the release of We Just Go Hard / EUPHORIA , KAT-TUN is the rare Johnny's group that has never released a double A-side single & in a way it's quite surreal to know that it took them so long to finally broke this cycle .
Both A-sides feature usage of autotune & I normally am quite criticial of artistes that utilise autotune as they can over abuse using it but because KAT-TUN's discography don't have a lot of auto tune driven songs , that to me is still ok .
At its core , We Just Go Hard is actually a very simple song unlike EUPHORIA which KAT-TUN really went all out with autotune usage .
Just like Kamenashi Kazuya's solo no. Pure Ice which was included in Roar , it's not really a surprise that both Pure Ice & We Just Go Hard have some music similiarities since AK-69 worked on both tracks and I realised that on some days I like the song(s) while on other days I do not even though I must admit that I felt Kamenashi should be doing more rapping as he actually is quite good in it .
B-sides wise , given a choice I will not really listen to them as they're not my cup of tea but Thank you! lyrically is very touching even though melody wise it's a different matter altogether .
Overall , I feel it's heartening to see that KAT-TUN's 15th anniversary on whole is so much more positive on every single level as compared to their 10th anniversary which was the lowest of lows for them .
Before 2021 comes to an end , KAT-TUN will release 15TH ANNIVERSARY LIVE KAT-TUN DVD/Blu-ray on 24th Nov .
