Hello AramaJapan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw Masaharu Fukuyama come out on top again, this time against SKE48 and whiteeeen. This week we have 2 newcomers plus a blast from the past, from before this feature even started. 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: Juice=Juice – Wonderful World / Ca va? Ca va? (not in the Recochoku top 50 / not in the iTunes top 25)

Ronald: Wonderful World – Good God, this is crap… I can’t really think of anything redeemable about this. I know I crap on the 48s all the time, but this is even worse. Everything here is just so flat. The vocals have no character. The track is just there. It’s a completely non-entity. 0/10

Ca va? Ca va? – This one is a lot better. It has a French title and there is a French influence here. Something from the 60s. There’s also a bit of  surf rock influence here. All the little parts that come to make up the instrumental are quite interesting. The vocals are still a complete lack though. 5/10

Single total: 2.5/10

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Recochoku #1: Sandaime J Soul Brothers – R.Y.U.S.E.I. (not in the Oricon top 50 / iTunes #6)

Ronald: Honestly, this may very well be the best mainstream pop song of 2014. I used to like Sandaime J Soul Brothers more, but then they got into this rut around the end of 2013. They’ve been extremely hit or miss since then. “R.Y.U.S.E.I.” momentarily revived my interest in them though. It’s a really good song. There’s nothing groundbreaking here; it’s your basic EDM song but there’s something special about it. It has a really nice melody. I really like the softer parts of the song and how it builds to this explosion at the chorus. It’s quite euphoric. One thing I fear though is that we’re just going to keep getting second-rate clones of this song, very much in the same way that we’re now getting a bunch of second-rate “Hanabi” clones. 9/10

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iTunes #1: Naoto Inti Raymi – Itsuka Kitto (Oricon #7 / Recochoku #2)

Ronald: I like Naoto Inti Raymi. One thing that bothers me though is how god awfully generic his songs can be at times. “Itsuka Kitto” is one of those cases. There’s nothing memorable about this song really. I feel as if I’ve heard it a million times already from him and various other acts. It’s just kinda there. He can do a lot better than this. 4/10

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Ronald’s Rank:

1. Recochoku #1: Sandaime J Soul Brothers – R.Y.U.S.E.I.

2. iTunes #1: Naoto Inti Raymi – Itsuka Kitto

3. Oricon #1: Juice=Juice – Wonderful World / Ca va? Ca va?