Namie Amuro – Past < Future

I don’t know about you lot but I’m eagerly awaiting the release of Namie Amuro’s brand new album Past < Future which comes out on December 16th. This album (her 8th) will have 12 tracks. The only recongnisable tracks I’ve noticed is Wild/Dr which was released earlier on this year as a double A-side. If you buy the CD/DVD version of the album you’ll get 6 PV’s on the DVD. On Youtube the 3 PV’s to accompany the songs Love Game, The Meaning Of Us and Fast Car have been put up. I can’t find the one for Defend Love. I’m not sure how long they’re likely to stay there seeing as AVEX have a habit of pulling videos from the site.  My personal favorite is Fast Car. Namie looks sensational in the PV in her various outfits.

And 9 Became 8….Koharu Graduates From Momusu

“It’s the end…but the moment has been prepared for” (quote from the Dr Who story Logopolis)

Yesterday was an emotional day for Morning Musume fans as Koharu Kusumi graduated from the idol group and left for pastures new to become a model. As I’ve said before, her graduation really doesn’t affect me that much as I’ve never been a big fan of Koharu. From reading the accounts of people that were at the concert it was a good send off full of the usual tears and laughter we’ve come to expect from this kind of event. Good luck to you Koharu. For all the fans mourning her departure, there’s always Oha Star to watch. She’ll continue to be on that for the foreseeable future so it’s not like she’s disappearing from our screens for good.

Top 10 December J-Pop Songs

Another Top 10 monthly chart by jhp325 has appeared on Youtube and what a great selection of songs that’s been picked from the intro by Perfume to Yamapi with his latest single, the two new songs by Namie Amuro through to the no.1 song by Big Bang which is fantastic. Well worth watching this video.

My Top 100 J-Pop Songs Of All Time

Having watched Kngdmhrts55′s Top 200 J-pop PV’s (Part 2 of the Youtube videos coming up soon) I thought I’d make my own favorite Top 100 J-pop song countdown. Some of the songs are album tracks only (I’ll put an asterisk by the song title to differentiate from those that have been released as singles). It’s quite a varied list with idol groups, boybands, rock groups and so forth all featuring in it. So here we go with my all time fav J-pop songs starting with:

100: Morning Musume – Kanashimi Twilight
99: Yousui Inoue – Shonen Jidai
98: Yamashita Tomohisa – Daite Senorita
97: Aimmy – Blue Vibration
96: AKB48 – Iiwake Maybe
95: Sawa – Stars
94: L’arc En Ciel – Forbidden Lover
93: Thyme – Hello
92: Perfume – GAME
91: Mai Kuraki – Never Gonna Give You Up
90: Southern All Stars – I Am Your Singer
89: Exile – Fly Away
88: Yui – Cherry
87: Stereopony – Namida no Mukou
86: Exile – Fireworks
85: Wink – Ai Ga Tomaranai
84: SweetS – Sky
83: L’arc En Ciel – Driver’s High
82: X-Japan – Tears
81: Miho Fukuhara – Love!Winter Song
80: KAT-TUN – Keep The Faith
79: Dreams Come True – Sono Sake E
78: Perfume – Electro World
77: Rina Aiuchi – Navy Blue
76: L’arc En Ciel – My Heart Draws A Dream
75: Namie Amuro – Do Me More *
74: Hyde – The Cape Of Storms
73: Ami Suzuki – Potential Break Up Song
72: Meisa Kuroki – Shock ~Unmei~
71: UVERworld – Shamrock
70: RSP – A Street Story
69: Rie Tanaka – Fields Of Hope
68: angela – Dear My Best Friend *
67: Momoi Haruka – Mail Me
66: The Possible – Shiawase no Katachi
65: Perfume – Polyrhythm
64: NEWS – Bambina
63: My Little Lover – Otono nai Sekai
62: Hitomi Shimatani – Camellia
61: Olivia – Starless Night
60: NEWS – Summer Time
59: Dreams Come True – Goodbye My School Days
58: alan – Sora Uta
57: Buck Tick – Heaven
56: Perfume – Take Me Take Me *
55: Ai Otsuka – Yumekui
54: marino – Flavor
53: Maki Goto ft Sweet Black – Lady Rise
52: Ayumi Hamasaki – Fairyland
51: Koda Kumi – Taboo
50: Aiko – Kabutomushi
49: Hikaru Utada – Take 5 *
48: Shuuchushin – Yowamushi Santa
47: M.O.V.E – Romancing Train
46: Chihiro Onitsuka – Memai
45: Angela Aki – Tegami
44: Tokio – Sorafune
43: Lindberg – Believe In Love
42: Yui – My Generation
41: The Brilliant Green – Kuroi Tsubasa *
40: Namie Amuro – Rock Steady
39: Koda Kumi – No Tricks *
38: Jasmine – Sad To Say
37: Miki Fujimoto – Okitegami
36: M.O.V.E – Dogfight
35: MiCHi – Promise
34: Takashi Sorimachi – Poison
33: AKB48 – River
32: K – Almost Human
31: Erika Sawajiri – Free
30: Ayumi Hamasaki – Days
29: Yui – Tomorrow’s Way *
28: Kotoko – We Survive
27: Hikaru Utada – Passion
26: Scandal – Space Ranger
25: Namie Amuro/Double – Black Diamond
24: Hikaru Utada – Prisoner Of Love
23: Mr Children – Hanabi
22: Dream – I Love Dream World
21: Koda Kumi – Freaky
20: Nana Mizuki – Heaven Knows
19: MiCHi – Change The World
18: AKB48 – Sakura no Hanabiratachi
17: Perfume – Secret Secret
16: Acid Black Cherry – Nemure Hime
15: Mika Nakashima – Glamorous Sky
14: Perfume x Momoi Haruko – Akihabalove *
13: Ami Suzuki – True *
12: D.D.D – Heart
11: Zone – Secret Base
10: Namie Amuro – Baby Don’t Cry
9: Erika Sawajiri – Destination Nowhere
8: Yuna Ito – Brand New World
7: hitomi – Wish
6: Yumi Matsutoya – Hello My Friend
5: Hikaru Utada – Flavor Of Life
4: Lindberg – Mine *
3: Soulja feat Thelma Aoyoma – Koko ni Iruya
2: Hikaru Utada – Heart Station
1: Perfume – Dream Fighter

Yes, Perfume are at no.1 with Dream Fighter. I adore the song, listened to it so many times and I don’t think Perfume will ever top that song with whatever they release in the future.

Feel free to tell me what you think about the countdown.

AKB48 To Star In Their Own Drama

Mark your calendars down for Friday January 8th on the TV Tokyo channel at 12.12am as this will be the start date for AKB48′s new drama series called “Majisuka Gakuen” which has been written by their producer Yasushi Akimoto. This will be the same timeslot as “Men Dol” when it aired in 2008.

The lead role goes to Acchan but all members are expected to appear in the drama which is based around teenage yankees or delinquents. We could even see some SKE48 and SDN48 members in it too. You can check out the official website of the drama: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/majisuka/ . I can’t wait to see this drama. Roll on January 8th.

Buono – Bravo ☆ Bravo PV

Here comes Buono’s 9th major single called Bravo Bravo which comes out on December 16th. It might grow on me but it’s a step down in my opinion from their last song Take It Easy which I liked a lot. The song is the 9th ending theme to the anime Shugo Chara!

J-Pop Top 200 Music PV’s Part 1

I found these amazing set of videos on Youtube by the user Kngdmhrts55 who chooses the top 200 J-pop music PV’s of all time. I’ve got to say it has an interesting mixture of current songs and older ones which I like a lot.  I wouldn’t even know where to start if I had to pick my top 200 J-pop songs. Have a look at the 4 videos below. I’m sure you’ll find a lot of songs you enjoy on this amazing countdown. Part 1 covers from 200 to 101.