CD
ALL SINGLE LIVE Version - CD + 2 DVDs | CD + Blu-ray
KICK-OFF STUDIO LIVE Version - CD + 2 DVDs | CD + Blu-ray
30th Anniversary Ballad Works [Slow Collection] - 2 CDs
1) AKIRA
2) Kurayami no Naka de Tobe
3) Kakumei
4) Popstar
5) Hyoryu Seyo
6) Tomoe Gakuen
7) Shippai Gaku
8) Koushien
9) Bou
10) Shinon
11) Shiawase no Salad
12) 1461 Nichi
13) Seiiki
14) Itterasshai
15) Rei -ZERO-
16) Hajimari ga Mata Hajimetteyuku
17) Kanata de
Fukuyama's last studio album release was 2014's HUMAN .
AKIRA has a total of 17 songs which includes 1 physical single & 4 prior digital released songs .
This album release is to celebrate Fukuyama's 30th anniversary in the music business & AKIRA is the name of Fukuyama's late dad who passed away many years ago .
A substaintal number of songs have numerous different promo tie in's as follows ::
Released prior to AKIRA :
- Tomoe Gakuen ; released digitally on Dec 2017
- Koushien ; released digitally on Aug 2018 . Was used for 2018 National High School Baseball Tournament 100th summer + NHK High School baseball relay song
- 1461 Nichi ; released digitally on 2016 . Was used as TV Asahi's theme song in coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics
- Seiiki ; 32nd single . Used as the theme song to promote TV Asahi's drama Kurokawa no Techo
- Rei -ZERO- ; released digitally on April 2018 . Used as the theme song to promote the Detective Conan Zero no Shikkounin movie
AKIRA album tracks :
- Kakumei ; used to promote the movie Shinkaishaku : Sangokushi
- Shippai Gaku ; promoted NTV's drama Seigi no Se
- Shinon ; theme song for NTV's drama Remolove ~Futsuu no Koi wa Jado~
Before AKIRA was released physically , Shinon was 1st released digitally last year on 9th Nov & it's also the only album track that had a video made .
Remolove ~Futsuu no Koi wa Jado~ drama staff contacted Fukuyama to provide the theme song . After learning about the drama's worldview , he created Shinon that expresses the feelings of the protagonist after she has been putting off her love life .
Fukuyama commented ,"For Mimi & the characters in the drama , what are the necessities of love as they live their lives ? I wrote this with that theme ."
As Fukuyama nears the age his father was when he passed , he felt that he could go 1 step further as a performer by portraying his own views of life & death . This helped him to come up with the title song & it became the overall theme of the album .
Fukuyama commented , "It took me 30 years to start writing about separating from my father . However , this is not complete . It's a 'song of beginning' that will help me to further express my views on life and death ."
- Shiawase no Salad ; used in the ads of Kewpie Half starring Fukuyama himself
- Itterasshai ; promoted NTV's drama Ikutake no Asa
- Hajimari ga Mata Hajimetteyuku ; used in the ads of Dunlop Bureau
It's hard to believe it has been so long since Fukuyama last released a new studio album & frankly AKIRA is really worth the long wait .
This's 1 of the rare cases that I feel no prior release material should have been included in AKIRA as most of the new material is actually really good .
Also , the sound consistency of AKIRA is quite good even though the middle of the release got a bit too slow for my liking but luckily the music pace was picked up considerably .
Fukuyama performed Shinon & then subsequently Kakumei numerous times on TV towards the end of 2020 and I think it's quite evident why he chose these 2 album tracks out of the rest as they're 2 of the standout no.s in AKIRA but I also like the other new songs in AKIRA as well .
I found myself listening to AKIRA a lot more than HUMAN and that's definitely a good thing . Fukuyama might not be as musically active as others even though he has been in the industry for a really long time but for his music , he usually place quality over quantity and that's more important .
Lastly it just so happens that today is Fukuyama's birthday & what better way than to publish + write my review on AKIRA ?