Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw BUMP OF CHICKEN defeat V6 and Mai Kuraki. Mai is back this week, facing off against two newcomers. 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: Bodan Shonen Dan – Chi, Ase, Namida (Recochoku #42 / iTunes #33)

Ronald: This song is what one would expect from KPop: a song copying Western trends, featuring a mix of singing and rapping. I’m not a fan of tropical house. It’s a subgenre of a genre I don’t care for: EDM. The singing and rapping are just ok, nothing really here to catch my attention, nothing I haven’t heard before. I also feel as if this song goes nowhere and exists just for the chorus’ instrumental, which isn’t even that interesting seeing as how it sounds like a bunch of songs coming out of the West right now. 5/10

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Recochoku #1: Beverly – I need your love (not released physically / iTunes #8 / Billboard #14)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wFF7Wu_0tE

Ronald: The vocals… This song is all about the vocals. And they are some of the best Western-style vocals I’ve heard out of Japan in a while. It’s funny though that Beverly isn’t Japanese, but Filipino, but then again Filipinos are known for vocals. Her main vocals are great, but the backing vocals she did also caught my attention. There are a lot of riffs and runs in this song, which is something that isn’t as common in Japanese music, so it caught me by surprise. The one problem I have with this song is the pre-chorus; it just sounds really juvenile. 7/10

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iTunes #1: Mai Kuraki – Togetsukyou ~Kimi Omofu~ (Oricon #21 / Recochoku #2 / Billboard #6)

Ronald: Same review as before: This is decent. The intro suggested that the song was going to be a lot more interesting than it ended up being. The use of traditional instruments was nice. Mai’s voice was soft and unforced. I will say that this song was just a pleasant listen, but nothing more than that. I just felt like it didn’t go anywhere. 5/10

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Ronald’s Rank:

1. Recochoku #1: Beverly – I need your love

2. Oricon #1 / Billboard #1: Bodan Shonen Dan – Chi, Ase, Namida

2. iTunes #1: Mai Kuraki – Togetsukyou ~Kimi Omofu~

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