Top 20 J-Pop Songs of 2012

By now you should know that I listen to a lot of artists. Lmao who am I trying to kid? But as far as I know, even though the Oricon Top 10 singles this year hit an all-time pathetic, it was still a pretty eventful year, and the songs released in 2012 were pretty good.

So here's my Top 20 J-Pop Songs of 2012 before we welcome 2013, another year of AKB48 ridiculousness and ayumi hamasaki's further efforts to revive her career.

[New Release] ayumi hamasaki - LOVE again

CD+Bluray
CD+DVD | CD

ayumi hotmessaki really knows how to make a fandom burn. For the first time ever, the peeps over at the AHS forums actually made an accurate prediction -- except it was a joke that wasn't really supposed to happen. You'd think it's bad enough she re-used a mini-album cover for a classical album cover, but bitch be keepin' them surprises coming. After all, ayumi hamasaki always tries new things! Releasing singles as mini-albums (never done by her before!!) and now putting mini-albums into full-length albums (also never done by her before!!). This Queen of J-Flop has more copies of Koda Kumi's TRICK up her and Maro's sleeves than you may think.

63rd Kouhaku Performers' List - Angela Aki be MAD

Red Team

1. aiko – “Kuchibiru”
2. ayaka – “Hajimari no Toki”
3. Ikimonogakari – “Kaze ga Fuiteiru”
4. Ishikawa Sayuri – “Amagi Goe”
5. AKB48 – “AKB48 Kohaku 2012 SP Dai 2-sho”
6. SKE48 – “Pareo wa Emerald”
7. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu – “Kohaku 2012 Kyary Pamyu Pamyu Medley”
8. Koizai Kaori – “Sake no Yado”
9. Koda Kumi – “Go to the top”
10. Godai Natsuko – “Koi Zange”
11. Sakamoto Fuyumi – “Yozakura Oshichi”
12. Tendo Yoshimi – “Soran Matsuri Bushi”
13. Mika Nakashima – “Hatsukoi”
14. Nishino Kana – “GO FOR IT!!”
15. Perfume – “Spring of Life”
16. ayumi hamasaki – “2012 A SPECIAL Medley”
17. Fuji Ayako – “Wasurenai”
18. Princess Princess – “Diamonds”
19. Nana Mizuki – “BRIGHT STREAM”
20. Mizumori Kaori – “Hitori Nagaragawa”
21. Momoiro Clover Z – “Momoiro Kohaku Da Z!!”
22. YUI – “Good-bye days”
23. YUKI – “Prism”
24. Yuki Saori – “Yoake no Scat”
25. Wada Akiko – “Ai, Todokimasuka”

White Team

1. Arashi – “New Year’s Eve Medley 2012″
2. Itsuki Hiroshi – “Yoake no Blues”
3. HY – “Ichiban Chikaku ni”
4. EXILE – “Rising Sun”
5. NYC – “NYC Kohaku Medley”
6. Kanjani 8 – “Hatsu Kohaku!! Zenryoku Zenshin Jya Jya Jya Jya-n!”
7. Kitajima Saburo – “Fusetsu Nagare Tabi”
8. Hiromi Go – “Dangerer☆”
9. Golden Bomber – “Memeshikute”
10. Kobukuro – “Kami Hikouki”
11. Saito Kazuyoshi – “Yasashiku Naritai”
12. Sandaime J Soul Brothers – “Hanabi”
13. SMAP – “SMAP 2012′ SP”
14. Tachi Hiroshi – “Arashi wo Yobu Otoko”
15. TOKIO – “KIBOU”
16. Tokunaga Hideaki – “Ue wo Muite Arukou”
17. AAA – “777 ~We can sing a song!~”
18. Naoto Inti Raymi – “Brave”
19. Hikawa Kiyoshi – “Sakura”
20. FUNKY MONKEY BABYS – “Sayonara Janai”
21. Fukuyama Masaharu – “Beautiful life”
22. Hosokawa Takashi – “Naniwabushi Dayo Jinsei wa”
23. Porno Graffitti – “Kageboushi”
24. Miwa Akihiro – “Yoitomake no Uta”
25. Mori Shinichi – “Fuyu no Riviera”

Meh, nothing really exciting to look forward to this year, but I'm gonna be pissed mad if Angela Aki's absence is because of her not receiving an invitation. Bitch got a TV show earlier that year on the same TV station but doesn't get to perform on Kouhaku? Incredulous. Plus while SONGBOOK flopped, you gotta admit that was some pretty good shit. 

Of course, ayumi hotmessaki will be opening the show once again for the 10000th year in a row so yay for her. I'm looking forward to this special medley (first time for her) but it'll most likely be full of her older hits since she doesn't even need to announce it to know that A BEST 3 will be coming our way soon. I'm hoping for at least Song 4 u and Wake me up to be included but let's just say she's more likely to sing SURREAL / M / evolution / Boys & Girls / etc. etc. 

The theme for this year is Uta de Aitai, which crudely means "meet with song", but nobody likes to be greeted with ayumi hotmessaki's vibrato, and neither does anybody like to be greeted with YUI's voice coupled with her perpetually constipated singing face. I'm telling you, gurl's secretly an attention whore.  "Oh hey guys since I'm going for my second hiatus I never know when I'm coming back (i.e. in 6 months) so I've decided to attend Kouhaku for the first time eva!!!"

I'm also looking forward to MISIA's performance that will be shown live from some African desert. I would've preferred to see Kuu performing Koishikute (Or even a medley with both singles this year) but oh well. Hopefully the red team wins this year again like last year, especially now that they have AKB48 and shit. 

[New Release + Digest] Mika Nakashima - REAL

CD+DVD | CD

Mika Nakashima is giving us some Lady Gaga The Fame Monster wig realness in the covers for her upcoming album REAL. I don't think they're particularly amazing but she does look really pretty there. It's also the first time she's using 2 different covers again since YES that is not simply one of her opening her eyes and closing in the other. Speaking of which, I still can't get over the hideousness of her VOICE covers. She essentially looks like an aerobics student who got lost in the woods halfway through and is trying to hear the aerobics music to find her way back.

But much like VOICE, as you would hear in the digest later below, the album tracks for REAL sound very reminiscent of VOICE's - gentle, easy listening, etc. It doesn't really hit you HARD from what I've heard so far, and even the most rock-influenced album track, PASSION, in the digest doesn't really stand out. 

Nonetheless, this is the kind of music that Mika has always been giving us and I'm looking forward to this album as a whole. I don't see it being as good / better than STAR from what's available so far, but who wouldn't like to be proven wrong? Well, everybody, but you know what I mean. I kinda stopped caring after LOVE IS ECSTASY came out because of all the snooze-worthy singles that came after that. I have read somewhere that she's still having a tough time vocally after that ear incident so I hope she further recovers as her nationwide tour in 2013 looms nearer.

REAL will be released on 30th January 2013.

CD Tracklist

1. Hatsukoi (初恋)
2. DEAR
3. Ashita Sekai ga Owaru Nara (明日世界が終わるなら)
4. PASSION
5. You Knocked Me Out
6. LOVE IS ECSTASY
7. BE REAL
8. SUPER WOMAN
9. SUPREME
10. Pierce (ピアス)
11. Kioku (記憶) - how original after you have a song titled MEMORY
12. Epilogue (エピローグ)
13. LETTER

DVD Tracklist

1. DEAR (Music Video)
2. LOVE IS ECSTASY (Music Video)
3. Ashita Sekai ga Owaru Nara (Music Video)
4. Hatsukoi (Music Video)

[CD Packaging] ayumi hamasaki - again

I just received my copy yesterday probably due to the Christmas rush or something. Urgh but yay



Once ~*again*~ it's packaged in a thicker 2CD jewel case just like LOVE.



Ayu subtly acknowledging her fans with foot fetishes



And yea, basically boring shit like that. The disc art itself is sleep-inducing.

Music Station Super Live 2012: Guess who's NOT invited?

Here is this year's line-up for Music Station Super Live 2012!

Oh look! Hamasaki Ayumi-san ish no inviteto thissu year desu! Rooks like after her no-show last year because she didn't buy a return ticket early enough, Tamori-san has had it! We get more impatient as we get older after all, can't blame it all on him. Either that or she simply decided she's going to have sex with Maro all day that night just in case the world really ends on that day.

2012/12/21

1. aiko
2. ayaka
3. ARASHI
4. Ikimono Gakari
5. AKB48
6. EXILE
7. KAT-TUN
8. Kanjani8
9. Kis-My-Ft2
10. Kyary Pamyu Pamyu
11. KinKi Kids
12. Kuwata Keisuke
13. Koda Kumi
14. Kobukuro
15. JUJU
16. Superfly
17. SMAP
18. SEKAI NO OWARI
19. Sonar Pocket
20. TOKIO
21. Nishino Kana
22. Perfume
23. B'z
24. FUNKY MONKEY BABYS
25. Fukuyama Masaharu
26. Princess Princess
27. Hey! Say! JUMP
28. Porno Graffiti
29. Mr.Children
30. Momoiro Clover Z
31. YUI
32. YUKI
33. Yuzu
34. L'Arc～en～Ciel
35. Ling Tosite Sigure

(Source)

If I even live on the next day to torrent the show, I'm looking forward to ayaka, Kuu, Superfly and Perfume! Meh, that's not a lot of performers to look forward to, but still.

[New Release] ayumi hamasaki - A Classical

Talk about an overkill. Ayu is about to fall into Nicki Minaj territory where they both seem to use one picture for every single shit they do over the course of a few months. Like I mentioned in the post before this, they were probably rushing to wrap up this release after Ayu was so depressed with her sales that she decided not to record new material for the third release. Max Matsuura probably then decided to pick the first guy he sees down the street to draw Ayu's LOVE cover for this release.

It would have probably saved more time and money just to have a gold A symbol surrounded by fancy shit like in MY STORY Classical, and I can guarantee better reception from fans as well. Win-win situation! Ayu's team really needs to get their shit together. This is A Classical. Not LOVE Classical. Heck, even a picture of Ayu sketched naked while totally wasted, lying down in a bathtub filled with booze would be better because it pretty much encapsulates the entire course of her career.

Wait till I talk about the tracklist. I don't even know what to say. First of all, we are getting 10 songs for the price of 3200yen. Have they not gotten a clue from LOVE and again's sales that overcharging ain't cool? Secondly, Ayu is now falling into Every Little Thing category as well because for every "compilation" album they do, they include their biggest hits in it, and now Ayu is doing the exact same thing. SEASONS. M. Voyage. Oh thank god, at least evolution isn't on it. And on top of that, they even added 3 new songs she did this year. You & Me? Seriously? *orchestra in the background* OHHHH FRILAY NIIITE!

Of course, this tracklist had 7/10 songs voted by TeamAyu. Of course this was going to be a predictable tracklist. Because using avex logic, while asking "What is the Ayu song you most want to hear in classical form?" for A Classical may seem too obvious, asking "What is your favourite Ayu song" for A SUMMER BEST was totally not obvious. I get it, I get it.

Alright I'll stop being such a bitch. I'll admit that I'm looking forward to hearing those songs anyway. I really enjoyed MY STORY Classical, and likewise I hope this doesn't disappoint.

A Classical will be released on 8 January 2012.

CD Tracklist

1. M
2. Love song
3. SEASONS
4. You & Me
5. BLUE BIRD
6. Days
7. Voyage
8. Song 4 u
9. Missing
10. Dearest

Also, since everyone and I included hate the cover, I've decided to take matters in my own hands and do up my own version of the cover which I think uses a more appropriate image that definitely puts the Classic in A Classical. Or Ass, if you will.

What can I say, avex needs to hire me asap. You're welcome, everybody, and Merry Christmas!

Oh noes! ayumi evenmoresucky on Oricon!

The Mayans were right. The world is coming to an end this 2012. We are all gathered here today to mourn the passing of something that might have gone a little sooner than it thought. Its final remnants did not even reach the Top 3 of the Oricon album charts, and that is with 3 more releases coming up within the next 3 months. Rest in peace, ayumi hamasaki's career.

Looks like our lonely parlee queen won't even need to wake herself up no more because she won't even be able to go to sleep for the next few days on end. Bitch got so depressed, she cancelled what could be a third mini-album and called for a new classical album instead while she wallows in self-pity in the corner of the PV set for Namie's Damage. I can already hear her team shouting to one another, "Cancel the scheduled photoshoot! Call up some random guy to draw a picture of her LOVE cover for the classical album!"

LOVE getting #4 wasn't exactly that bad. But again getting #7 and having such a huge sales decrease just 1 month later means something is wrong here. It doesn't even matter if the release only sold for 3 days of the first week because it's not like it'd even make much of a sales difference anyway. Maro be killin' her image bitchezzzz

I'm already so tired of this whole Maro thing. Nothing can bore and/or irritate audiences more than shoving your new boyfriend into everybody's faces ranging from album shoot to music video TRILOGY AGAIN (oh lord save us) and most probably to the upcoming tour as well. Now tell me who's going to bother to pick that shit off from shelves when, thanks to the media, EVERYONE knows that it's him on the cover? Somewhere in the Johny's Entertainment offices Nagase Tomoya is sniggering, glad that he wasn't part of any of this shit when he was with her.

ayumi hamasaki sings to a plant in a music video and everyone is bored. Namie Amuro sings underneath a tree during her dome tour and everyone is RAVING about that tree. Speaking of predictable flops, looks like YUI isn't doing too fantastically either. Then again, I've never seen her as a relevant figure in the industry. "Oh hey guys I'm gonna take a second hiatus that'll probably last around 6 seconds again, see if you'll miss me this time!" ok bye

[Music Video] Namie Amuro - Damage

Now we know what happened to the budget that avex didn't give ayumi hotmessaki. Namie is already promoting this ~*digital single*~ in proportions more than Ayu would give for her 5-months-5-release nonsense.

Sure it looks like a more high-budgeted, better version of Break It with dance moves she's done a thousand times before, but this shit looks good. And for a 35-year-old woman, Namie looks as badass as those text effects I did in the image above. God dammit, I'm only 17 and I already look like shit. The special effects, cinematography and editing in this video alone makes this one of the better PVs we've seen in J-Pop this year.