Hello, AramaJapan readers! We are back with this week’s edition of #1 Song Review! Last week was a battle between SKE48, ONE OK ROCK, and BUMP OF CHICKEN. It was a tight race but SKE48 managed to get just enough votes to win. We have 2 new songs this week. Check out what the staff thought of the songs that topped Oricon, Recochoku, and iTunes this week, then give us your reviews and vote for which one you like the most.
Diva Koda Kumi has finally opened up a fanclub for international fans to get all the latest news about their fave.
Dubbed ‘KODA GUMI‘, her global fanclub is a hub where fans can find everything from updates on Kumi’s personal blog as well as “all sorts of rare content and downloads”.
This year, Babymetal has received international acclaim and have revealed they will return to NYC and London this November as part of their ‘Babymetal Back in the USA / UK Live Tour 2014’.
Venues and dates have not been posted at this time, but Natalie reports that both of the events will be held in “larger venues than before”.
Also in the works is a DVD/Blu-Ray ‘LIVE~LEGEND 1999 & 1997 APOCALYPSE’ live video compilation planned for release on October 29th. YUIMETAL and MOAMETAL’s “1999” concert footage will consist of performances at NHK Hall in June of last year while SU-METAL’s “1997” is from her concert at Makuhari Messe in december of last year.
The 3rd album from Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas ‘Phase 2’ was released back on August 6th. To promote it, they have released a video for “Swing it!!”, one of the 11 new songs.
As a screamo digital hardcore band, you can expect exactly that from this new song with a healthy dose of autotune. In the video, the band plays around an indoor pool party complete with psychedelic colors flashing true to their namesake.
Check out the video and tracklist for ‘Phase 2’ below.
Announced today at a concert held at Nakano Sun Plaza Hall, idol group Morning Musume ’14 will return with new single ‘TIKI BUN / Shabadabadoo~ / Mikaeri Bijin‘ on October 15th.
Leader Sayumi Michishige‘s describes ‘TIKI BUN’ as a cool song, while ‘Shabadabadoo~’ is her solo graduation song to contrast ‘Mikaeri Bijin’, which will include everyone except her. The single will be available in 6 versions.
Also announced was Michishige’s graduation date at Yokohama Arena at the end of Morning Musume ’14’s Fall concert tour ‘GIVE ME MORE LOVE ~Michishige Sayumi Sotsugyou Kinen Special~’ on November 26th. A special website will open on the 17th of this month featuring photographs, single information and a countdown to Michishige’s impending departure.
The PV for T.M. Revolution’s ‘Phantom Pain’ is out on his official Youtube channel. It was coined as the ‘crotch song’ by Takanori Nishikawa himself when he introduced it via a tweet- “Please enjoy it with your whole body! #Crotch song”. It was nicknamed as such because the song was used as a CM song for Delicare M’s, a cream used to stop itching around male genital area. It can be remembered that he also nicknamed his previous single ‘Tsuki Yabureru – Time To SMASH!’ as the ‘Boob song’.
The PV features the exact same scene as on the commercial, but with the lyrics changed from “I want to scratch, but I can’t”. Don’t get fooled by the premise of the song though as the PV concept deviates far from it and instead presents a very tragic love story to suit the mood of the song.
Nishino Kana – Darling
NMB48 – Ibiza Girl
Nishiuchi Mariya – LOVE EVOLUTION
Kalafina – to the beginning
Himekyun Fruits Kan – Paradigm