Anna Tsuchiya – Brave Vibration (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

A summer rock single from Anna Tsuchiya and a DVD showing her more of a sexy side to this pop star.

ARTIST: Anna Tsuchiya

CD SINGLE: Brave Vibration

LABEL: Cutting Edge

CATALOG #: CTCR-40291/B

DURATION: 12:04

RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2009

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ANNA TSUCHIYA feat. AI – CRAZY WORLD (a J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

“A unique collaboration between music artist ANNA TSUCHIYA and R&B artist AI with the catchy, upbeat ‘CRAZY WORLD’ CD single and also another collaboration with FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE for the remix version. Awesome!”

ARTISTS: ANNA TSUCHIYA feat. AI

CD SINGLE: CRAZY WORLD

LABEL: MAD PRAY RECORDS

CATALOG #: CTCR-40277/B

DURATION: 13:55

RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. Crazy World – ANNA TSUCHIYA feat. AI
2. What you gonna do?
3. CRAZY WORLD (FPM Hyper Society Mix) – ANNA TSUCHIYA feat. AI – remix by Fantastic Plastic Machine

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 3:45 minutes

1. CRAZY WORLD – ANNA TSUCHIYA feat. AI -Music Video

In 2007, both ANNA TSUCHIYA and AI had concerts in Los Angeles and the two also co-hosted an award show special together and the two quickly became friends.

Their friendship has led to a music collaboration with “CRAZY WORLD” which features ANNA TSUCHIYA a rock track that combines AI’s R&B (ala hip hop and background vocals) and yet keeping things down to her core with the electric guitars and rock sound that she’s known for.

The CD single features lyrics by both ANNA and AI and features music by Jan Lindvang, Thomas Heyetdahl and Marte Hveem with an arrangment by Akira and guitars by Mine Masanori.

Overall a catchy song and a very cool collaboration.

The coupling track “What you gonna do?” features another collaboration between ANNA and producer Joey Carbone. The music is by Lisa Huang and Joey Carbone. Both are well-known for co-writing many hits such as the high selling CD single “Signal” by Kat-Tun and tend to top the Oricon Composer Charts.

As usual with ANNA coupling tracks, the song is entirely in English and music (keyboards, guitar and programming) are done primarily by Lisa Huang.

The song features a cool rhythm and love how the acoustic is used in the overall song.

But the surprise for me was finding out the CD single featured a remix of “CRAZY WORLD” by FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE. The remix is very cool as it features a more faster beat and tempo and overall a well-done remix. The whole arrangement is just awesome!

The DVD features both ANNA TSUCHIYA and ANNA and as usual, Anna Tsuchiya’s music videos have very cool and dark imagery with ANNA TSUCHIYA in various outfits and a well done music video directed by UGICHIN.

ANNA TSUCHIYA is featured in various outfits in a cool black/blue outfit outside in a ranch like area, very dark. And another side featuring her in a prom queen-like outfit and setting.

AI is featured in a top hat and just singing and providing the background talking and the hip hop lyrics.

The CD insert features the lyrics and production credits to the songs and a mini-flyer for ANNA TSUCHIYA TOUR 2008.

When ANNA TSUCHIYA kind of broke away from the rock style theme with “Bubble Trip” last Summer, I was ok with it but without that rock sound, it just didn’t seem right.

But with the collaboration with AI, I figured that she would get into a more R&B setting but not sure if it was going to be more R&B-based or what.

But the song turned out to be a really upbeat rock track and overall it was pretty good and I’ve listened to it and replayed it many, many times. But the overall surprise and my favorite was the remixed version by FANTASTIC PLASTIC MACHINE.

It’s one thing to have a cool collaboration between ANNA TSUCHIYA and AI but to include another established artist that provides music for another genre is just great! The remix is totally awesome.

Also, enjoyed the DVD and really like the stylish approach to her music videos.

All in all, a very cool CD single from ANNA TSUCHIYA and definitely recommend everyone to check it out!

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The WINGS of REAN Vol. 1 (a J!-ENT Anime DVD Review)

“Tomino Yoshiyuki returns with a a six-episode ONA (Original Net Animation) spinning off from his ‘Aural Battler Dunbine’ series. The first volume really doesn’t need for one to be familiar with the original series but it is a series that requires your attention because its one of those series that thrusts you into a setting where there are so many things happening all at once.”

DVD INFORMATION:

DVD TITLE: The WINGS of REAN Vol. 1

DURATION: Approx. 48 minutes + 20 minutes (special features)

DVD INFORMATION: COLOR/NTSC / 16:9 LB / Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital 5.1 ch and Dolby Digital Stereo / English subtitles

CATALOG #: BUDH0108

COMPANY: Bandai Visual/Honneamise

RATING: Suggested 13 and Up

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

STAFF INFORMATION:

DIRECTOR: Tomino Yoshiyuki

VISUAL CONCEPT CREATOR: okama

CHARACTER DESIGN: Kudoh Masashi

MECHANICAL DESIGN: Shinohara Tamotsu, Sakura Takumi

COLOR DESIGN: Yokoyama Sayoko

ART DIRECTOR: Ikeda Shigemi

DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Oogami Youichi

MUSIC: Higuchi Yasuo

SOUND DIRECTOR: Wakabayashi Kazuhiro

PRODUCED BY SUNRISE, BANDIA VISUAL, BANDAI CHANNEL

Two decades after “Aura Battler Dunbine”, legendary director Yoshiyuki Tomino returns to the land of Byston Well!

The Aura Road has been opened… As two unfamiliar worlds collide in a fog of war, the Wings of Rean call for the holy warrior. Thus begins an epic tale of fantasy and romance!

Terrorists have attacked the US military base in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. When it’s discovered that the culprits are two of Aesap Suzuki’s friends, Aesap is also mistakenly hunted by US forces and the Japanese police. As the innocent Aesap escapes arrest, he spots of a flying warship suddenly emerging from the luminous ocean. A the bow is a young woman with wings of light on her feet. Her name is Lyukus, daughter of King Sakomizu of Byston Well – a world located where land and sea meet. “My father is a Japanese named Sakomizu Shinjiro,” she says. “You will help me, won’t you, Aesap Suzuki?” Unwittingly drawn into the war of an unknown land, Aesap can only wonder what fate the future holds for him-and the world he thought he knew.

Tomino Yoshiyuki is a director and writer that is a person who I highly regard his talent for creating such series such as “Mobile Suit Gundam” (and many more series under the Gundam monicker), “Heavy Metal L-Gaim” and “Aura Battler Dunbine”.

With the latter, Yoshiyuki introduced to viewers back in 1984, a new world known as Byston Well (a world that exists between the land and ocean) and from the 49-episode series of “Aura Battler Dunbine”, in 1988 with the three episode OAV series “Aura Battler Dunbine: The Tale of Neo Byston” and an OAV with the 1999 “Tales from Byston Well: Garzey’s Wing”.

In 2005, Tomino returned with the six episode ONA (Original Net Animation) series titled “The WINGS of REAN” which is based on a light novel of his published back in 1983 through 1986.

Having only seen the first DVD volume of “Aura Battler Dunbine” (originally released in the US by ADV Films and probably won’t watch it since vol. 12 is one of the most expensive anime DVD’s and has one of the lowest print runs for an anime volume in the US), I was happy to watch “The WINGS of REAN vol. 1″ and know that I didn’t need to own the previous anime series or side-stories.

If anything, my main reason for wanting to watch this anime series is because frankly, I think that as long as Tomino Yoshiyuki releases an anime series, I’m going to be one of the first Americans to purchase his anime directorial or written works.

So, after watching the first episode titled “Uninvited One”, I have to admit that I was really scratching my head and was a bit confused. The episode wasn’t cerebral but you are immediately thrown into a war where you see a young group of kids who want to rebel against the Japanese government working with the US and China and acquiring weapons to either make a statement or become terrorirst against their own country.

While the police go after these young kids, you learn that Suzuki Aesap is not just part of the group but his father is a high ranking military officer.

That’s when things start to go a bit haywire as these huge spacecraft start to come out of the ocean and a girl named Lyukus has the ability to fly through her boots that sprouts wings (aka the WINGS of REAN) and give her the ability to fly. Lyukus happens to be the daugther of King Sakomizu of Byston Well.

Through all the confusion, we see Aesap and Lyukus together, trying to survive but all these other characters wanting to go to war. Sound confusing?

Well throw into the mix that aircraft from the US military start attacking the spacecraft and all of a sudden, everyone is sucked into some portal and into a new world and everyone then you have these ships from another world battling each other, US and Japanese government (mainly US) taking on the various spacecraft and introduced to people of those spacecraft and really episode 1 ends up to be an episode that really didn’t offer any character development.

You’re literally watching multiple battles ensue and I have to admit, I found myself lost.

In episode 2 titled “The King of Hojo”, after a US jet flies directly towards one of the alien spacecraft, everyone around is sucked into Byston Well.

The episode then focuses on Lyukus and Aesap being joined by a fairy like creature known as the Ferario and many people not too thrilled that Lyukus brought the WINGS of REAN (which so far you learn that these are boots that grow wings and allow a person to fly) to the surface world (real-time Earth) and that there is an expectance of Aesap to be the next holy warrior and should take command of the WINGS of REAN.

You also learn that Lyukus, the daughter of King Sakomizu is rebelling against her father. Eventually, he has been a changed man since marrying his second wife whose tribe have helped him build the Aura Battlers (a special type of mecha suit). From the holly warrior who created the country of Hojo, her father has now become a tyrant.

VIDEO:

Since this DVD release is from Bandai Visual, and BV releases are known for its quality, the video is 16:8LB and presented with a framerate of 1.78:1. As for the animation, the animation was very colorful and the character designs are by Kudoh Masashi, known for his work his character design work for “Aquarian Age”, a few episodes of “Planetes” and “Witch Hunter Robin” but mainly for the popular series “Bleach”. The mechanical designs were done by Shinohara Tamotsu (known for his live action work with the “Kamen Rider” series and creature designs for “Samurai Deeper Kyo”) and Sakura Takumi (who has worked for Tomino in series such as “Turn A Gundam” and “Brain Powered”).

AUDIO:

With the amount of battles happening in the first episode, that is where you start to enjoy the audio from Banda Visual releases. Again, known for their quality for encoding at 448 kbps, “The WINGS of REAN” sounds very cool ala Dolby Digital 5.1.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

I have to admit that there was one special feature that I just had to see and that was the “Cross Talk” segment which featured director Tomino Yoshiyuki and singer ANNA TSUCHIYA (who sings the ending theme “My Fate”).

For those who are not familiar with Tsuchiya’s music and how she is during interviews, she’s an artist that really speaks her mind out, a professional who knows how to communicate effectively of flirtation, sexuality and darkness through her music.

And interesting enough, Tsuchiya is upfront of how she feels about Tomino and all in all, a very interesting interview with both individuals. If anything, I enjoyed Tsuchiya’s candidness and Tomino talking about how difficult it was to come up with the animation for ANNA TSUCHIYA’s song with only two weeks to work.

A very cool interview with both individuals.

Bonus features also included are the textless ending and promotional trailer (English subtitled).

And last but not least, with every Bandai Visual release is a cool informative insert and in this case, you get a 32-page booklet that showcases overlook details from the anime series, an interview with Tomino on drawing the storyboards, the drama, the characters, fast-paced storytelling. There is also an interview wtih Kudoh Masashi and his approach to the character designs. Also, an informative piece on the characters which helps for the appreciation of the series.

To end the booklet, there is a rough sketch gallery by Kudoh and storyboard extracts from episode 1 and 2, which I am so happy to see included in this first volume of the DVD.

I’m not going to lie to you. My first view of the first episode left me with question marks and I was confused. I felt that maybe I needed to stop and watch “Aura Battler Dunbine” to understand what the heck was going on because I was lost.

Fortunately, after the second episode, things started to make sense and I’m glad that the frenzy of battle and too many characters introduced, episode 2 started to focus a lot on the main two characters Lyukus and Aesap.

I also have to admit that on the second viewing, I started to appreciate it more after reading the insert booklet. I have to be thankful for Bandai Visual for their continuing effort to include these booklets because they really do put you in the shoes of the director and character designer and see things from their perspective.

Also, how the booklet introduces the characters and explains things that you may have not picked up in the first two episodes.

I would expect that the majority of people who are watching the ONA series are fans of Tomino’s work and know that it takes patiences when watching his animated series.

For me, that’s quite fine because so far I enjoy watching each series director and written by Tomino that I just find very intellectual, very entertaining and all out awesome!

The first volume of “The WINGS of REAN”, I may have been a bit confused with the first episode but I’m sticking with this series because really, Tomino’s works have been special and I look forward to watching how this one ends.

I look forward to volume 2!

+ Another story from “Aura Battler Dunbine” written and directed by Tomino Yoshiyuki

+ Cool video and audio and an informative booklet provided again by Bandai Visual/Honneamise. Gives you appreciation of the work of the director and character designer.

+ Very good voice acting

+ A rare interview to see both Tomino Yoshiyuki and music artist ANNA TSUCHIYA. An unusual pairing for an interview but quite enjoyable!

- No English dubs for those who need that

- First episode is very confusing

ANNA TSUCHIYA – COCOON (A J!-ENT World Groove CD Single Review)

“After a brief stint with a sugary pop song with ‘Bubble Trip’, ANNA TSUCHIYA returns with two hard hitting, enjoyable rock songs!”

ARTIST: ANNA TSUCHIYA

CD SINGLE: COCOON

LABEL: MAD PRAY RECORDS

CATALOG #: CTCR-40265/B

RELEASED ON January 30, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. COCOON
2. U

DVD: Region 2, 16:9LB, Duration: 3:48 minutes

1. COCOON (Music Video)

After the animation for “NANA” was completed, many wondered what would happen to ANNA TSUCHIYA.

Her CD singles created for the “NANA” anime series has been her popular songs thus far and she is pretty much, visually and musically, almost the near incarnation of Nana, the rockstar with her attitude and beauty.

But suprisingly, she teamed up with a producer for Britney Spears and her post-Nana CD single was “Bubble Trip”, a sugary pop song, while not bad, it wasn’t what I was expecting to hear from ANNA TSUCHIYA.

But in Jan. 2008, ANNA TSUCHIYA released her latest CD single titled “COCOON”, a return to the style of the music she was known for during her “NANA” music run and the music that works for her.

The song is very awesome! Hardhitting, electric guitar driven and all in all, one of her best CD singles, if not my favorite fast song from her thus far.

“COCOON” is another hybrid Japanese and English track and consisting 90% in English and just an all out rocking track! The song is about loss through what seems a bitter breakup and not wanting to lose that person.

For this track, ANNA TSUCHIYA wrote the lyrics with Miyazaki Ayumi and the arrangement by Gary Newby from the Railway children.

The coupling track is titled “u” is another cool rock track on the album and this time all in English. Unlike previous coupling songs that dealt with sex, this time around, Tsuchiya’s “u” is a dark song about living in darkness and almost suicidal in a way. Loving someone and either losing that love and not wanting to be alive.

The lyrics are by ANNA TSUCHIYA and music and arrangement by Joey Carbone and Anthony Mazza.

As for the DVD, the DVD actually is quite interesting. It’s only one music video (COCOON) but definitely features a dark side of ANNA TSUCHIYA who is clad all in black. Black dress but with blonde hair in cornrows and is actually a video filled with darkness and anger. If anything, I really dig the imagery of Tsuchiya throughout the video.

The DVD stars Asano Tadanobu (Zatoichi, Ichii the Killer), who happens to be the husband of singer CHARA who plays the character of Tsuchiya’s boyfriend.

As for the CD insert, it’s a tri-fold with an image of Tsuchiya and production credits on one side and the lyrics on the other.

All in all, this is a solid CD single from ANNA TSUCHIYA.

It may not have the “NANA” tie-in but it features the sytle of music of what we appreciated from her during and even before her “NANA” run and this “COCOON” is definitely my favorite fast-paced CD single from her yet.

Definitely a CD single that ANNA fans will definitely appreciate!

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[WORLD GROOVE] Currently listening to ANNA TSUCHIYA – BUBBLE TRIP/sweet sweet song

ARTIST: ANNA TSUCHIYA

CD SINGLE: BUBBLE TRIP/sweet sweet song

CATALOG #: CTCR-40259

LABEL: MAD PRAY RECORDS

RELEASE DATE: August 1, 2007

DURATION: 12:21

Official Website

1. BUBBLE TRIP
2. sweet sweet song
3. BUBBLE TRIP [STUDIO APARTMENT Remix]

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 3 minutes

1. BUBBLE TRIP

I had the opportunity to listen to ANNA TSUCHIYA’s “BUBBLE TRIP” CD Single a month before it’s release in Japan (as part of our interview and promotion of ANNA TSUCHIYA on J!-ENT) and I will tell you that I was amazed to find that Anna’s latest CD single was pop.

For the past year, ANNA TSUCHIYA has been promoting her music with the anime tie-in to “NANA” and her music was rock and she has attracted a lot of fans to that style of rock music.

But we knew that after “NANA” (the animated series) would end, I was anxious to see what kind of music would we hear from her.

When I received the press release that she was working with composers Brian Kierulf and Joshua Schwartz (Britney Spears, Willa Ford), I was caught a bit off-guard but realized that she would return to doing pop music but also, a return of the remixed club music on the latest CD single.

So, with Kierulf and Schwartz (aka KNS Production) composing, Anna continues her collaborations with well-known composers/musicians and in this case, no surprise, that “BUBBLE TRIP” sounds very Western and is sugary pop.

For fans who enjoyed the rock side of Anna’s music, the other A-Side song “sweet sweet song” is a fun, rock song. Not dark or emo-ish but an enjoyable pop-rock song.

The third track “BUBBLE TRIP [STUDIO APARTMENT Remix]” is a very cool remix by the duo Morita Masanori and Abe Noboru (both known as STUDIO APARTMENT) and features an addicted groove and very hip compared to its sugary sweet original.

The CD insert is artistic with pictures of Anna Tsuchiya and a skull and the song lyrics.

The DVD features a 3-minute music video of “BUBBLE TRIP” which is a very cool, trippy, Alice-in-Wonderlandish type of music video.

I can listen to ANNA TSUCHIYA’s music and because I have listened to her since her solo debut, I’ve pretty much been privy to whatever she was going to release and just enjoy it.

But I know that there are many people who discovered her music because of the “NANA” animated series and because of that, I’ll just tell you right now, “BUBBLE TRIP/sweet sweet song” is not anywhere close to the style of music she released in the past year. If you are looking for songs within the same context as “Rose”, “Kuroi Namida” or “LUCY”, you are not going to get that style of music with this CD signle.

Because of the collaboration with KNS Production, fans of ANNA TSICHIYA who listen to Britney Spears (music from pre-2003) and similar Western pop stars will truly dig this CD single.

Personally, I’m a bit conflicted with this CD single because on one hand, I enjoy her past music and even the remix music. But on the other hand, I grown to appreciate the style of music from her last three CD singles and album with the in-your-face rock music, that I truly enjoyed.

So, I’m curious what kind of music will she do in her upcoming CD single in November.

For now, “BUBBLE TRIP/sweet sweet song” is a CD single that I enjoyed at the moment but unlike previous CD singles from ANNA TSUCHIYA that received many replays, this CD single didn’t.