Hello, Arama! Japan readers and welcome to this week’s installment of #1 Song Review! Last week saw ONE OK ROCK win against Inaba Koshi and SMAP. This week, we have 2 newcomers and a blast from the past. 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!
Check out the latest ratings for the winter dramas below!
On April 2, the horror movie “Nozokime” will open in Japanese theaters. The movie features Tomomi Itano in her first starring role. “Nozokime” is based on the 2012 novel of the same name by Mitsuda Shinzo. It tells the story of an assistant director at a TV station, played by Tomomi, who investigates the death of a young man. Before his death, he said that he felt as if he was being watched. While investigating the case, Tomomi’s character realizes that she too may soon face a similar fate.
The trailer for “Nozokime” was recently released. It gives a good scare and shows off Tomomi’s acting skills. The trailer also gives viewers a taste of her new single. Besides starring in “Nozokime”, Tomomi will also be singing the movie’s theme song. It is titled “HIDE & SEEK” and will be released on April 20. It will be released in 3 editions: CD+DVD Limited Edition A, CD+Goods Limited Edition B, and a CD only Regular Edition. More information on the single will be announced in the future.
Check out the trailer for “Nozokime”, including the “HIDE & SEEK” clip, after the jump!
This week’s guest was Sakamoto Masayuki of V6.
Sakamoto Masayuki x Kanjani8 – Kangoku Rock
Hello, Arama! Japan readers! As you may have noticed, our Featured Artist series has been dormant for over a year now, and I said that I wanted to revive it a few weeks ago. I thought about who to do a feature on, and then I realized that I said I would do one on ACO back when I reviewed CICADA’s debut album about a year ago. And seeing as how she released her new album in celebration of her 20th anniversary last month, now seems like the perfect time.
Who is ACO?
ACO is a singer-songwriter and composer from Aichi Prefecture who was born in 1977. She debuted in 1995 with the single “Fuan na no.” Her music was originally R&B, but as her career went on, she got more involved in electronic music. She would now be best described as being an alternative artist. Over the course of her career, she has worked in many genres besides R&B and electronic music, including jazz, trip hop, hip hop, downtempo, and rock. ACO has collaborated with many artists throughout her career, including Dragon Ash, DJ KRUSH, Sunahara Yoshinori, and Carsten Nicolai. In fact, the Dragon Ash song, “Grateful Days”, is ACO’s biggest claim to fame, due to the song selling over 1 million copies.
Arashi’s 48th single and their first of 2016 is “Fukkatsu LOVE”, featuring lyrics by Takeuchi Mariya and music and arrangement by Yamashita Tatsuro. The song is the commercial background song for NTT Docomo d hits. The single will be released on Feb 24.
Cutting guitar has been added to Yamashita Tatsuro’s unmistakable chorus and rhythm, and the five members of Arashi heartrendingly and melodiously sing the universal story of love between a man and a woman that could be taking place in any era. This dramatic love song is like a novel.
The single covers, tracklist, and audio preview are out. Check them out below.
This week’s guests were MAN WITH A MISSION and GENERATIONS.
MAN WITH A MISSION – Memories
GENERATIONS – AGEHA
This week’s guests were Makihara Noriyuki, WaT, miwa, and GENERATIONS.
Makihara Noriyuki x WaT x miwa x GENERATIONS – Kitakaze ~Kimi ni Todokimasu You ni~
GENERATIONS – AGEHA
miwa – Kataomoi
Makihara Noriyuki – No.1
WaT – Boku no Kimochi / Hajimari no Toki