J-Pop

Eh, why is Toda Erika on the cover? Well, I will explain it later. Introducing FUNKY MONKEY BABYS with their 6th and latest single “Mou kimi ga inai (もう君がいない)”. The title means you are not there anymore, this suggests that this is a sad love song but its warmhearted melody is perfect for the current opening winter season.

Who is FUNKY MONKEY BABYS

FUNKY MONKEY BABYS is a Japanese hip-hop band grouped in 2004 under the record company DREAMUSIC Inc. All members in the group are from Hachiôji, Japan. There are three members in this unit: Funky Katô (MC), Monn-kichi (MC) and DJ Chemical (DJ) who joined later. Clearly, “BABYS” is an intentional spelling error for “BABIES.” Known as fann-mon(ファンモン) in short.

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Today, Yuna Ito is back with her latest single “Urban Mermaid” after the collaboration song “Mahaloha” with Micro of Def Tech. From the song name probably you can guess that this song is dedicated for the women with its cheer-up tune! The song is very nice and the promotional video is also very beautiful too. Yuna Ito looks gorgeous in it.

I’ve been a fan of Yuna Ito since her debut song “Endless Story”, she is a professional singer. As mentioned earlier, this is a song for the women, to support and cheer for them. So, in the PV for this song also featured a lot of women walking behind Yuna Ito and gather together in a room with Yuna Ito singing at the center, shown in the picture below.

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Actually I’m not really into Japan Hip Hop music, but recently I heard this song and think that it is nice to share with you all. The song called “ONE LOVE feat. Shota Shimizu (清水翔太)” by Dohzi-T (童子-T). Dohzi-T was born in May 13, 1969 and to my surprise, he also participated in Ayumi Hamasaki’s pre-debut single “Nothing From Nothing“!

This song was released as single in July 2007, but I heard this song in his album “ONE MIC” which released not long ago. The album is worth a listen and I think ONE LOVE is the best in the album. The lyric was presented in rap by Dohzi-T and Shota Shimizu who has great R&B voice sings the chorus. It has a nice piano intro that brings out the love feel. The song is more on soft type of hip hop.

Read on to listen to the song as well as kanji and romaji lyrics! This song’s lyric is very hard to get, I only found it on Yahoo!‘s page and it is embedded in flash player which the lyric can’t be copied. So, I had to manually type it. Thanks Yahoo!, that’s very kind of you. And for the first time, this song is available for download.

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Today I want to share a nice song from TOKIO with their latest single release “Honjitsu, mijukumono (本日、未熟者)”. This song is written by Nakajima Miyuki who last time wrote a song for them too which is “Sorafune”. This song was release in mid August and it was the theme song for a very nice drama “Juken no Kamisama” which acted by one of the TOKIO’s member.

In this song, the lyric is challenging and the melody is strong, but very suitable to the TOKIO lead singer Tomoya Nagase because of his great voice. The song is really nice because he put his soul in performing it and this song is actually pretty high pitch! I always amazed at Tomoya’s ability to sing in high tone yet maintaining the great control. He is one rare great singer in Johnny’s Entertainment!

As mentioned earlier, this song is the theme song for just ended j-drama “Juken no Kamisama” which means exam god. The drama is about primary students study hard to pass the exam and enroll to their dream school. Actually it is pretty sad to see in such a young age, and they already have so many pressures to handle, maybe because of their education system. This situation was portrayed clearly in the drama. The theme song “Honjitsu, Mijukumono” which means I’m still a kid today or Today, I’m the amateur, and really match the drama’s story.

On the other hand, it is also good to see that, they are mature enough to think about their future and fight for it. So, let’s work hard together for a better tomorrow and be cheerful :D. Listen to the song below as well as the lyric (with romaji) and translation!

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Today, I want to introduce you a song called “Lifetime Respect ~女編 (onna hen)~” sang by a group RSP who originated from Kansai area. This song is released in August 8th, 2007 with the first week selling of 26,477 units. What makes this song unique is it actually is an answer song to the original version of “Lifetime Respect” which sang by Douzan Miki (三木道三) that released 6 years ago.

The original version which sang by Douzan Miki was served as a proposal song for a man to the girl he likes to become his wife and get together forever. During the release, the touching lyrics of the song was favored by many people and became a big hit.

But it will be hanging half-way if there is no answer from the female. RSP completed that by this woman version (女編) and from the rhythm, it suggests that the woman is agree on the proposal. Before going to the lyric of the song, let me introduce you further more about this rising star group. Continue reading

Bokura wa heisei ONLY! Showa De SHOW wa muri,
Acchi mo kocchi mo ii ne! HEY-SAY wa ii ne!

This is how is the song lyric begins in Hey! Say! 7’s first single “Hey!Say!”. They are the latest Johnny’s Junior group which consists of five members. They were called Hey! Say! 7 because all the members are born in the Heisei era and that the year of their formation was 2007. The smallest is 13 and the eldest is 17 this year.

I still remember when I watch Music Station on Animax last week, Hey! Say! 7 was one of the performing artists and they were supported by their senior Kamenashi Kazuya. He was noticed about the youngness of this group, and he was keep saying that “I’m from Showa era”.

But what is this Heisei and Showa mean?

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In my early age of Jpop chasing, I hardly listen to The Brilliant Green‘s songs, maybe because they are in hiatus period. The only song I ever heard is Hello Another Way only. But recently when I watched J-drama “Tantei Gakuen Q” the credit part there… the familiar voice comes in. In such a short time I can’t remember who’s voice is this but I saw the running credit there written “The Brilliant Green – Stand by me”, I was so shock!

The Brilliant Green (or BuriGuri as short) has ended their hiatus by singing the Ending Theme for Tantei Gakuen Q, their 15th single but is the first since 2002, which released on the 22rd of August. I’m not a big fan of TBG but I want to say that this song is nice! I just love the voice of the lead singer Tomoko. Actually I listen to many Tomoko’s solo project: Tommy February⁶ and Heavenly⁶‘s songs, and they were good. 😀

According to thePPN, BuriGuri will release their best album somewhere near in the future, definitely will looking forward to it. Please read on to get to listen to the song as well as the lyrics and for the first time, translation from me! It is a very hard job for me because I’m not pro in Nihongo, and I use several online translation tools to get it done. It is not 100% accurately converting the lyrics but I think is almost there, hope you like it thanks! Yoroshiku!

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Sometimes I think that Korean are singing really well in Japanese. This song further supports my thought. Introducing “Lullaby For You”, the single by JYONGRI, which released back in July 25. She had Korean ancestry but born in Osaka, Japan. Maybe because of this, no wonder I found that her singing style is close to Korean style Japanese song, every single lyric is clear and full of emotion.

Lullaby For You is JYONGRI’s third single. Lullaby For You was used as the Square Enix game Subarashiki Kono Sekai’s theme song. Lullaby For You is a very nice, gentle, and soft R&B song. It is quite romantic song I would say. You will feel very comfortable when listen to this song, although it won’t make you sleep :).

Actually, i know JYONGRI before this song, I think is her second single when she performed in Music Station (again!). What is catching my eye is that when she performed, the keyboard she played is front slanted! Wow, that’s flashy in my opinion. ThePPN also mentioned that one of her signatures as a musician is to have a forward tilting keyboard in her performances.

BeyondTheSea had posted up a nice review for it. Please continue reading to get to listen to Jyongri “Lullaby For You” as well as lyric & translation :D! Continue reading