I personally hate that concept. You are catering towards an audience that does not care for anything else you did. It’s not like Ai no Uta is such a good song to begin with. To me, it’s a thorn in an artist image to rely on something like that. It is, to me, sort of weak-minded and I really don’t think it’s a good way to do either. It only drives the nail in deeper as it cements one image as „the artist who sang that one song“ making you nothing more like a one hit wonder. Getting a song out every five years or so would be different, but year after year really only harms an image instead of nurturing it.

But we have different opinions on that and there is not much to do about it either.
Ayu has the same problem with SEASONS/evolution. I‘m glad Namie had the courage to abandon most of her back-catalogue at one point.

Only sticking to songs from 20+ years ago is like telling the audience that everything you did since then is not as good. Ai no Uta only was a hit because she was at her peak and it could have been any other song. Again, that does not mal a song outstanding good in my eyes.

She performs Ai no Uta often, but she also does other songs on music shows. People generally know her name and more songs than just this one.
So let's not make it worse than it is

------------------------------------------

Made an update for her youtube views, cause I have some time at hand.
Extended the list to every PV having 400k.

Streaming update

youtube

01. Megumi no Hito - 3,571,204
02. Ai no Uta - 2,567,914
03. Cutie Honey - 1,568,568

04. Crazy 4 U - 1,317,511
05. you - 1,269,373
06. Butterfly - 1,116,791
07. Someday - 1,045,404
08. Moon Crying - 1,036,577
09. Koishikute - 947,037
10. It's all Love! - 858,981

11. BE MY BABY - 821,634
12. Suki de, Suki de, Suki de. - 819,143
13. BUT - 725,726
14. Love Me Back - 680,081
15. WON'T BE LONG - 670,294
16. Anata dake ga - 633,385
17. Koi no Tsubomi - 625,431
18. TABOO - 616,944
19. Pink Spider - 571,406
20. Unmei - 553,952

21. Aisho - 547,810
22. D.D.D. feat. SOULHEAD - 514,882
23. hands - 501,878
24. Cherry Girl - 498,551
25. Get Up & Move!! - 491,023

26. No Regret - 457,187
27. show girl- 451,369
28. Hot Stuff - 449,810
29. Ai wo tomenaide - 438,587
30. puff - 426,448
31. XXKK - 423,068
32. Shake It Up - 422,019
33. Selfish - 413,658
34. WIND - 399,888

Last update 31st August 2021

Yeah maybe, but I feel like she isn‘t really pushing it anymore. I feel like she was once known for innovation. Even the whole „these are my two sides“ don‘t really do it for me atm. I don’t really mean her signature-sound with that. It’s okay to find your groove, but even in that she used to be more adventures. There is nothing I really dislike, but nothing that gives me the chills either. I hope something great comes after the BEST (although the last three songs were kinda meh too)

I just yesterday gave the two Mini-albums another spin. I still like them but they are mostly forgettable. She recorded songs at home Right? Am I the only one who can hear that (especially on angel)?

I don't hear anything bad, but I'm also not very sensitive to such things.
I also don't know if it is fair to judge her like that right now.
AngeL and MonsteR only saw the light of day because of the pandemic, the release and most of the music on it wasn't planned (only XXKK and RUN, and maybe Killer monsteR cause she started working on it Spring 2020). The My Name Is... FC release as well and the 20th anni tour was also restricted, so that it could even happen at all.
She just took another 2-side concept because of that.

It's always funny and interesting to me to see comments about her - some say she hasn't changed and is boring, some say she has changed so much with her music it's bad and so on.
Your tastes might not align anymore, I suppose.

Oh it’s not „bad“ that’s not what I wanted to say. If something is bad I wouldn’t listen to it.
As for the sound on these songs: they sound a bit muffled (like you can hear she is in a small room weirdly. Could be just me tho.

Oh, this was also a general observation I made.
People not enjoying her anymore usual state things from opposite directions, which is probably inevitable with someone being as active and as long active like her.

Just an example maybe for last year.
puff was written by an Italian composer team and some fans asked them about it on social media.
I've read the writer indeed told them they send the song to Kuu/her team and she liked it that much, she recorded and released the song very fast last year.
From what Kuu said she found it fitting to the situation, to motivate and cheer up.

Edit:

This is nice.
They're showing a special Nissin x Koda Kumi spot tomorrow till an hour before the show starts at 109 Forum Vision in Shibuya.
Hope somebody makes a video of it.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/BWpoQz.jpg

^well I don't think being a fan means you have to arrange yourself with everything. A bad song is a bad song for me, regardless of who makes it. The other-way around I can very well like a song by an artist I don't really like.

I don't know what it is and I find songs here and there I like in the latest releases, but I also observed that the number of song I only listen to when I play the whole album significantly rose.

As for Kumi specifically, I enjoy her persona, her voice and her live shows and I have a few hundred songs i really love, so there isn't really a need for me to get unlimited new top-notch songs. It's just cherry on top.

I'm going to pre-order the 3 disc version. I wish there was less of the more recent albums and more from Bon Voyage included as well as some of her covers. Disc 1 looks like such a nostalgia trip though!

This. It’s insane how foreign a concept this seems to some.

I agree, tho I don't really know why were talking about it.
It wasn't part of the topic. :confused

I feel like I must be the only fan who really likes Ai no Uta. Do I wish Kuu would switch it up for live performances? Sure, but I think that's how things are mostly done in Japan, right? Ayu always does SEASONS or Boys & Girls or evolution.

I don't think it's Kuu being "weak-minded", I think it's the industry standard to sing your staple song as a seasoned artist. Describing her as "weak-minded" is not only a bit harsh, but also seems incorrect to me, because Kumi's music for the last 6-ish years has been a complete departure from what she's done in the past. She's made bold career moves, especially in terms of the sound she's going for. Nothing weak-minded about it, and I'm saying that as a fan who has found it hard to relate to the newer stuff. (We're all entitled to our opinions though.)

I was concerned about Ai no Uta over popularity for years but I’m okay with it now.
On a bright side, Kumi is lucky enough to have one personal song liked by the general public through the years. Most artists struggle to have that in their career.

We can consider Butterfly, Cutie Honey and Megumi no Hito in that category as well.

Just watched the online live. How I wish she'd lower the key for some songs :( nevertheless, it was an enjoyable 45-minute live :)

Full setlist for the Nissin online live:

01. XXKK
02. IS THIS TRAP?
03. DO ME
- MC -
04. Driving
05. Chase - real Emotion - anytime
06. Moon Crying
07. Ai no Uta
08. BRIDGET SONG
09. Megumi no Hito
10. OMG
11. Lady Go!

Aftertalk is starting soon.

EDIT:

It wasn't shared here yet, but here's the radio rip from the new WALK OF MY LIFE version:

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV18r...om=333.337.0.0

Great strings version with hint of e-guitar!
Love that last note of Kuu. :heart

^ ma’am could you at least sing the songs included in your ‘best’ album about to be released so we don’t have to cry over the songs not included? Thanks.

WOML is art in full!! So good !!!

Why is it so hard to understand why singers have signature song? They often perform their main hits on TV or special events because that's the song the general public knows and they want people to still remember them. You will always see Mariah Carey singing Vision of Love and We Belong Together, Celine singing My Heart Will Go On, Britney singing Toxic, just like Kumi has Ai no Uta and Butterfly. TV appearances where they often perform their signature songs are not made for the fans only, the fans knows their other tracks and will be interested in, but for the general public it's usually the songs that they know that they care only.

And it's not like Kumi isn't performing other songs on her tours? She didn't perform Ai no Uta for the reLIVE Tour, AND Tour neither, and guess what, even for her 20th Anniversary Tour she didn't perform Ai no Uta for the main video release, so she does sing other stuff where it matters to the fans.

As for angel+monster quality, the mastering of the tracks is not great honestly, even a lossless rip from the CD sounds a bit low quality for some tracks listening with a good headphone. No One's chorus is a mess with all the different layers mashed together without proper care, which is a bummer because the song is not bad, but some tracks like RUN still sounds nice (I don't know if it was recorded before COVID, but knowing she had this song for years it might have been recorded before she had to record at home).

The Nissin mini concert was fun, but I wish she performed a bit of her newest tracks too. To be free as used for the teaser, you could at least performed this one....

I'm really surprised we're only getting 5 re-recorded songs, since this project has been in the making for quite a long time now and she basically never leaves the studio! I'm also surprised she didn't pick TAKE BACK, as much as I love the song, an update would do wonders to it. (I was also expecting another version of walk, I feel like the ~to the future~ one has been overplayed way too much, even though I can't even remember if she keeps singing with this arrangement at her tours ^^')

Nissin Rao Presents KODA KUMI SPECIAL ONLINE LIVE 2021 digest

https://twitter.com/KODAKUMINET/stat...49606772285440

4 MORE radio rip:

https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1LL411u7tC

PV will be up 11/15 when the song will be released digitally.
Kuu herself showed some previews in her Insta story today.

100のコドク達へ-Short Ver.- radio rip:

https://m.bilibili.com/video/BV1s44y1e7k6

Like usual big thanks to Kyu-Leon for sharing.

Today also a new magazine interview with previews for the WALK style book got released.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/oMWJ8D.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/9ila8y.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/MqAcRL.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/tXiacN.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/ffhTOg.jpg

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/dgHarc.jpg

Source:
https://www.jprime.jp/articles/photo/22427

And just because the lyrics are absolutely amazing and choko was so kind here's a translation for the short version of 100のコドク達へ :

Made by our chocopockymaster