Hello Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw SMAP defeat Nishino Kana and Leo Ieiri to take the top spot. Kana is back again this week, along with a newcomer. 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: GENERATIONS – ALL FOR YOU (Recochoku #8 / iTunes #8)

Ronald: I think this is the first GENERATIONS song that I’ve liked. I like the more R&B direction that they took with this song, much more so than the EDM stuff that they normally do. There is a warmth here that I normally don’t find in their songs. This song is kinda a ballad, but not quite. It’s more like a midtempo, but not quite. It’s refreshing. 7/10

Ice: Well, it’s LDH so I can expect some great dancing and they deliver in that as usual. The song reminds me a cross of an urban song and a ballad. The song is generally fast in its tempo in the verses, but the sentiment in the chorus is more like a ballad as the song slows down considerably. The technical performance in this is overall good, but I can’t say the song was that interesting to listen to. Overall, I like it but there’s nothing really special about it that elevates it. 6/10

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Recochoku #1 / iTunes #1: Nishino Kana – Torisetsu (Oricon #10)

Ronald: Same review as last week – Dreadful. I can’t with this twee, babyish crap she puts out now. I’ve really and truly reached my limit after these past few singles of the same throwback Taylor Swift crap. I hate this. 1/10

Ice: Same review as last week – Unlike Kana’s usual style of a sentimental ballad, this is a more fun and happy fast tempo’d folk-like song. Kana did not use anything particularly impressive here when it comes to her vocals but it’s mostly stable and consistent throughout the whole song. I did not feel that this was anything particularly interesting as even in the category of fun and happy songs, there are a lot of songs that do the job better. 5/10

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Ronald’s Rank:

1. Oricon #1: GENERATIONS – ALL FOR YOU

2. Recochoku #1 / iTunes #1: Nishino Kana – Torisetsu

Ice’s Rank:

1. Oricon #1: GENERATIONS – ALL FOR YOU

2. Recochoku #1 / iTunes #1: Nishino Kana – Torisetsu

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