1. Running On (15 Millions collect MIX)
2. 赤い花
3. Running On (Original Karaoke)

For fans of the TV show ASAYAN, we have watched as producer Cozy Kubo (and executive producer Tetsuya Komuro) have tried to work their magic in creating an all-female pop group.

The group is L☆IS (Lolicon Ike Ike Sisters) and the group consists of 15 members, young women, who were given the opportunity to work with Japan’s greatest musical producer TK and successful CK and unfortunately messed up all chances they had in becoming a music group.

After the young women were selected, there was disaster. Cliques developed within the group, some of the young women did not want to put in the same effort to learn the choreography which was essential for the group and in the end, by the time the girls had to perform live in an audience, some of them seemed out of it.

They were so unorganized that they had to receive verbal lashing from the producers to get better and reminded that if they want to make it in the industry, they had to put everything they have into learning the choreography and getting well together as a group.

Eventually the members were able to get things going for the single “Running On”. The single features each member performing a verse from popular TK-related songs such as FREEDOM~FRIENDSHIP~Don’t Wanna Cry~Overnight Sensation~I’m proud~DEPARTURES~You’re my sunshine~Hey~ Ladies & Gentleman~I BELIEVE~ Feel Like dance.

For the most part, the vocals were good, the problem was the harmony and execution (especially live on television). More time was needed to develop these 15 women. I just felt they took on too many members and that is the producer’s fault. It’s one thing to see what they did with dos (dance of sound) three members but 15, way too much to manage.

The coupling track “Akai Hana” (Red Rose) was good. The arrangement for this song was by TM NETWORK’s Naoto Kine and Cozy Kubo and unlike the first song is performed solely by Arisa Kido. I did find this quite interesting that they worked with only one member for the coupling track but overall, a good coupling track.

The third track is the instrumental for “Running On”.

But eventually, after watching the recent ASAYAN episode, it was too late, the girls didn’t all get along together as hoped, they didn’t learn the choreography as expected by the producers and they took it for granted. So, to the group’s shock, TK ended the unit immediately after the release of their single.

I was very shocked to see how this experiment turned disastrous but maybe it would be easier if TK or Cozy Kubo focused on young members than young women. Maybe slightly younger and are not going to give much attitude. Who knows… maybe ASAYAN will attempt the experiment again but its unfortunate that L☆IS had a perfect opportunity to become a music group and literally messed it all up for themselves. But not all blame goes to the women, there has to be blame put on the producers.

If you are going to develop such a large group, this takes time and effort, not weekly for the sake of a television series. There was too much, too soon for these young women and it was a half-assed effort that they were doomed to begin with. I have no doubt that similar to what TK did with dos (dance of sound) and focusing on three members, he could have done the same with L☆IS but with half the members. Possibly seven or eight members but 15 was just too much to manage and I’m sure TK and Cozy Kubo learned from this unfortunate situation.

Overall, “Running On” is a good single, not great but OK. If anything, the women’s attitude and lack of preparation for their TV appearance just hurt this project and what we have here is literally a TK one-shot for his failed group, L☆IS.

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GROUP: PUFFY

ALBUM: amiyumi

LABEL: Epic/Sony Records

CATALOG #: ESCB-1722

DURATION: 30:57

RELEASE DATE: July 22, 1996

1. とくするからだ
2. ウサギチャンネル
3. サクラサク
4. Simple
5. アジアの純真
6. パフィーのHey!Mountain

I can remember when I first saw Puffy members Yumi Yoshimura and Ami Onuki performing on a Japanese music show and what caught my attention was that they were not of the norm in terms of female Japanese performers.

These girls sported sneakers, t-shirts and jeans and also puffy hair. Needless to say, they easily distinguished themselves from other Japanese music groups.

So, I had to make a call to a friend in Japan and get the lowdown on Puffy and their music and several days later, I have the duo’s first (mini) album in my hands.  “amiyumi” contains seven songs and one of those songs is their big hit and debut single “Asia no Junshin”.

The album kicks off with the Okuda-esque track “Tokusurukarada”.  A song that translates into “advantage body” which is a fun, enjoyable rock track.

The second track is titled “Usagi Channel” and features a song written and sung by Ami.  A slow-tempo, acoustic and electric guitar driven track.  Pretty cool song.

The third track “Sakurasaku” which means “Blossom Blue” and a song with a country music kind of sound.  While the fourth track “Simple” is a rock-driven track along the same lines as “Tokusurkarada”.

The fifth track “Naga iki Shite ne” is a song written and sung by Yumi.  A slower tempo track which is bass guitar driven.

The sixth track “Asia no Junshin” is the duo’s first CD single and literally a very popular, catchy song.  Some may call it Okuda genius but for the most part, the song is pretty cool and really doesn’t make any sense if you are listening into the lyrics.

The final track “Puffy no Hey! Mountain!” has a classic 80′s rock flavor.  Slower tempo but a pretty cool track.

The CD booklet features photos of Puffy and contains the lyrics to the songs on the album.

For the most part, I would imagine that “amiyumi” was an album created in order to showcase the various musical styles that we can expect from Puffy.  Rock, country, pop…

Overall, the album is OK, not the greatest if you are expecting tracks to be similar to “Asia no Junshin”.  But I do think that perhaps that these women have more to give musically but with only one single in their belt for now, I definitely look forward to their second single and hearing more from this group.

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amiyumi

Puffy

1. 視線
2. ありふれた痛み
3. 視線 (オリジナル・カラオケ)

Hiroko Moriguchi is one of the more well-known Japanese music artists outside of Japan because of her theme songs used on anime TV series and films for “Gundam” (“Gundam F91″ and “Gundam Z”) and “Ronin Warriors” to name a few. But for many J-Pop fans, she is known for hosting NHK’s “Pop Jam”, one of the hosts of “Yume ga MORI MORI” along with SMAP and also appearing in various dramas.

Her 21st single is “Shisen” (eye) which is used for Slim Beauty House. An upbeat pop song which is a pretty good pop song from Moriguchi but I have to admit that the reason why I bought this single was not for “Shisen”, it was for the coupling song “Afurureta Tameni” (Common Pain).

I first heard “Arifureta Tameni” when it played on KZOO (an AM station in Hawaii that plays Japanese pop music on certain days). I taped several hours of KZOO’s J-Pop hour that I recorded and one night as I was driving, after a ending a relationship, this song played. It was a song that struck me to the core because of it’s sad lyrics but also the pain you can hear in Moriguchi’s voice. Beautifully sung but for me at that moment in time, Moriguchi’s break-up song became my breakup song.

As for the third track, it’s the original karaoke for “Shisen”.

Overall, “Shisen” is a good single but if you have recently broken up with someone and are looking for a breakup song, look no further, the coupling track “Arifureta Tameni” is one of the best breakup Japanese ballads out there.

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