Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw NEWS defeat Doughnuts Hole. This week, we have three newcomers facing off. Find out what various staff members thought of the songs that topped the physical and digital charts this week and share your thoughts on them too!

Oricon #1 / Billboard #1: HKT48 – Bugtte Iijan (Recochoku #18 / not in the iTunes top 50)

Ronald: This is a bit different for one of these groups. For some reason, this reminds me of a really cheery hitomi song, especially the chorus, the mix of the vocals and the instrumental. This song also reminds me a bit of pop from the 60s and 70s, with a touch of Celtic music strangely enough. 5/10

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Recochoku #1: Perfume – TOKYO GIRL (Oricon #2 / iTunes #3 / Billboard #2)

Ronald: I used to get really excited about new Perfume releases, and now I don’t care. At all. I just think that they’re a project that has overstayed their welcome. And it’s not the girls, per se. It’s more Yasutaka Nakata and how tired he is now. This song sounds so phoned in, and in this instance, I am putting some of the blame on Perfume themselves. Everything about this is so flat. 3/10

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iTunes #1: Yonezu Kenshi – orion (Oricon #3 / Recochoku #2 / Billboard #3)

Ronald: The Japanese version of “Closer”? I’m like, really dying right now over how similar they sound. This is really odd, really unexpected. And it looks like I’m not alone in this thought. A while back, I would’ve heard this song as soon as it came out, but honestly this guy just bores me now. This is something different for him, but with how much it sounds like “Closer”, I’m really weirded out. 6/10

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Ronald’s Rank:

1. iTunes #1: Yonezu Kenshi – orion

2. Oricon #1 / Billboard #1: HKT48 – Bugtte Iijan

3. Recochoku #1: Perfume – TOKYO GIRL

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