Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw Utada Hikaru defeat Bodan Shonen Dan and Chris Hart. She’s back again this week, facing off against two newcomers. Find out what various staff members thought of the songs that topped the singles charts this week and share your thoughts on them too!

Oricon #1 / Billboard Hot 100 #1: Sandaime J Soul Brothers – J.S.B. HAPPINESS (Oricon Digital Singles #8 / Billboard Download Songs #6 / Billboard Streaming Songs #17)

Ronald: This is so cheesy! Is this a joke? Is this a parody release? Why was this released, let alone as a single? This is supposed to be a feel good, inspiring song, but it just makes me cringe. I hate the chorus, in large part because it’s a forced singalong chorus, with the all the “ohhh” and “yeah” going on. The song generally feels repetitive and as if it’s really goes nowhere, except to that forced turd of a singalong chorus. I honestly don’t get this group’s point anymore. Two years ago, I was going on about how they were making a change in the industry, and that sure as hell didn’t happen. And it won’t happen with the crap they’ve released since then. But at least they’re not releasing more “R.Y.U.S.E.I.” clones. On second thought, I’d rather have a “R.Y.U.S.E.I.” clone than this… JSB Crappines. Ughh, yeah… this is bad. 1/10

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Oricon Digital Singles #1 / Billboard Download Songs #1: Utada Hikaru – Anata (not released physically / Billboard Hot 100 #2 / not available for streaming)

Ronald: I’ve been quite critical of Utada since her comeback due to her releasing music that I feel doesn’t live up to her legacy. This is one of those songs that I would rank in the middle. I don’t really see it as single material, but it’s a nice album track. I think the jazz influence is quite interesting. It’s a bit like a stripped down Shiina Ringo song. 7/10

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Billboard Streaming Songs #1: Spitz – Kaede (not in the Oricon top 50 / Billboard Hot 100 #6 / Oricon Digital Singles #2 / Billboard Download Songs #2)

Ronald: This is decent. It’s not something that I would actively listen to. It makes for good background music though. 5/10

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Ronald’s Rank:

1. Oricon Digital Singles #1 / Billboard Download Songs #1: Utada Hikaru – Anata

2. Billboard Streaming Songs #1: Spitz – Kaede

3. Oricon #1 / Billboard Hot 100 #1: Sandaime J Soul Brothers – J.S.B. HAPPINESS

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