haha Preach!! :luv2

I LOVE the front part of Face my fears but the chorus is atrocious...destroyed a potentially good song

I don't think the featuring is bad, but the drop part sound too dated :( Some years ago I'd be screaming all over tumblr cause of that lol I hope I get used to it

Sad that I absolutely loathe this song :-(

So I was listening to Chikai today and I think I'm hearing things. During the outro when she sings "Kiss me once, kiss me twice" is she singing the English lyrics of Don't Think Twice "if you want to take it to an even higher level/All you gotta do is say the word, you know I'll follow/If you wanna take it to an even higher level" in the background. I originally thought she was singing the Japanese bridge.

Yeah, I was noticing the same thing. I've tried to identify what she was singing when Chikai was released and assumed it was the japanese bridge. There's and moment during Chikai she sings the "I don't bite" thing and I just noticed now.

Oh, for people who don't know, Chikai is also available at streaming services.

That's so cool. Where in Chikai are you hearing the "I don't bite" part?

After 4:04, "I don't, I don't bite", just before the "hi no noboru oto wo..." part. I just identified it was "bite" now, because of "Don't Think Twice" haha

Oh right! Thanks.

Recochoku yearly ranking: Hatsukoi at #5.
https://recochoku.jp/special/100707/

Longer preview of Face My Fears in the Kingdom Hearts 3 Final Trailer
Japanese:


English:

Face my Fears is sounding great in that trailer!!

Also in yearly ranking:

Single: Anata (No. 7), Hatsukoi (No. 14), Play A Love Song (No. 45)
HI-Res album: Hatsukoi (No. 1)
HI-Res single: Anata (No. 1), Hatsukoi (No. 7), Play A Love Song (No. 10)

PlayStation VR footage of Hikari and Chikai from LAUGHTER IN THE DARK TOUR was released today for PS plus members.

It will be available worldwide to all PS VR users on January 16th.

Making of video:


Launch trailer:

Almost makes me want get a VR headset!

Hikki has been nominated for Best Female Artist at the 2019 Space Shower Music Awards!

You can vote here: https://awards.spaceshower.jp/2019/nominees/

Voted her 😎

Face My Fears (full opening version) - LQ
https://dbr.ee/fmmr

Beautiful song! <3

Fetching now. San you :D

Edit: Oh it's the English version haha. Kinda want the Japanese version more, but sounds pretty decent so far :P.

The Japanese version didn't leak. The stolen copies of KH3 were from the US.

Saw Skrillex for New Years Eve and he played Face My Fears in full. He played the Japanese one actually. It was so beautiful and amazing. He had some KH3 footage in the background and the laser light show was amazin. Got me hyped lol

Did anyone notice they released remastered versions of Deep River, Ultra Blue and Heart Station on iTunes and Spotify? They added Simple and Clean, Sanctuary and Fly Me To The Moon to the albums.

Yeah they were released probably a few weeks ago or so.

You can download the 2018 remastered albums here.:yes
Deep River
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...uDEEPRIVER.jpg
https://jpfiles.eu/japanese/japanese...creissue-2018/

Ultra Blue
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Ultra_Blue.png
https://jpfiles.eu/japanese/japanese...creissue-2018/

Heart Station
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rt_Station.png
https://jpfiles.eu/japanese/japanese...creissue-2018/

Yeah, I looked on her site and saw that they posted about it. I'm surprised I didn't hear about the remasters earlier.

the remasters are so good tho. I saw them when I was checking apple music for the new song

I don't have super ears so I'm not sure if they're much better than the normal versions, or the "mastered for iTunes" version of HEART STATION back in 2008.

whats the difference between the original and remastered stuff? Did she record all of the songs again?

Video of Hikari performance from the Playstation VR footage:

Nah, the original recordings just get mastered again with newer techniques, so the new masters should be clearer and have more details than the original ones.

:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2:luv2 :luv2

Im so happy she's awkwardly performing again

thank you so much!

Physical copies of "Face My Fears" single are already on sale!



AND...

The single leaked!

AAAAAANNNNDDDD...

Hatsukoi is already available at streaming services!!!

Ahhh picture disc - so pretty!!

Honestly, initial listen of “Face My Fears” wasn’t that great. I like the start with piano, but then felt myself losing interest with the dubstep being introduced. Whole song felt a bit empty, to be real.

Of course this is just after one listen, so I’m not going to write it off. I’ll see how I feel about it in a week’s time.

VR making of recording:


VR performances are now available to all VR users, not just PS Plus members.

90 seconds of Chikai performance:

I have similar feeling, the dubstep (or in general speaking, any EDM or sorts) kinda ruins the song for me. I think the song would have much more potential if she didn't go to this direction. I love the melody, just not the arrangement. But then, I guess she's finding new direction (after two beautiful organic albums :yes), and I don't mind she keeps testing as long as the final product (aka, new album) is interesting :).

PS: I hope she will release a ballad version or non-dubstep version of Face My Fears in the future.

I don't mind EDM in the middle of a song, and it contrasts in a cool way with the piano intro, buuuut the dubstep used in Face my Fears itself sounds dated/empty to me. It could still have a drop or something but better. Whenever she's singing I enjoy the song, be it over the piano intro or during the verses with a eletronic beat behind her, but the breaks are too meh. I hope I get used to the song lol Don't Think Twice is still my fav song from this batch (and idk how but this time I ended up enjoying the english version, cause in the other two games I prefered the Japanese ones)

I may be in the minority but I love Face My Fears.

me too.

I reaaally like face my fears, but I got tired of it already (I played all day long yesterday haha). it's not bad at all! but dubstep has never been my thing.

^ I did the same. I just let Chikai and Face My Fears repeating themselves when I went to bed lol.

Same with me. Now I like the song more because I really love her vocals in the song. Every time I play the song, I'm waiting for her vocals coming back while resisting those boring dubstep breaks.

I didn't mind her working with Skrillex, but like others have said, the drop is just bad. It could have been a lot more interesting and full.

I listened to Face My Fears for the first time today since the single is available on Spotify and I liked the song quite a lot.

It's weird... I've got so hooked up to the song, more than Oozora, Forevermore, and Play A Love Song (comparing when the songs were first released). Her vocal is so haunting that I can even ignore the breaks between her vocals. I didn't expect myself loving the song that fast... :shakehead.

Do ya'll see Utada releasing an EDM album?

I'm jumping on the Loving Face My Fears bandwagon!

anyway what is she saying 2:11–2:29? is it like Passion, where some things make sense when played backwards?

isn't she saying "abunai abunai abunai"? huauhahu

I hear this. if this is it, it means "dangerous" in Japanese

That part is a mystery... What I heard is "won-yun-nai-won-yun-nai..." :roflmao

English article and interview with the director of the VR performance up on the PlayStation blog: https://blog.us.playstation.com/2019...able-tomorrow/

it would be interesting if it says this, but, no :( I re-listen to this part again and it doesn't say "abunai". I even cut the part and reversed it using Audacity, where it even much less sense :laugh

I hear "wNgaya wNgaya wNga-wNgaya" :laugh

Hahahhaa I can see where someone listens to wonyunnai, but wNgaya? Girl, check your listening! Hahahaha

Well, at least we know it's not a reversed sentence/word hahah

I'm in team liking Face my Fears when she's singing, the rest seems so empty, but it's so good when she's singing.

I like the chorus more in Don't Think Twice, but prefer the verses in Japanese.

I'm so excited for KH3! Going to have no idea what's going on because I've only played the two actual games and none of the apparently really relevant side games!

well I suppose the "Ng" is pronounced, I don't know how to describe it but I'm Southeast Asian and it's common in our languages—check yours sis, how is it wonyunnai? :laugh

Face my Fears lyrics

Japanese Version:

English version:

huahuauhahua there is no Ng in Japanese nor English nor French (does Utada speak any other language? auahuhua) but to be fair, when I listened to it again on my speakers very loud I heard the same thing you did hahaha

but I read someone on twitter saying it was something like "wagaya wagaya wagaya" and sometimes the "g" in Japanese is very soft and nasal, closer to a ng than to a g.

who knows tho haha

^ That's quite plausible cos I did learn that certain Japanese dialects pronounce g as "ng" (amazarashi pronounces it so all the time in their songs too)... wagaya means "one's home / one's family"

I also read somewhere that it could be "nayamu" (to worry / to be troubled), but she switches the "mu" to the front so it starts as "mu-nayamunayamu..." and I was thinking it might make sense if you consider that she does the same move-last-word-to-the-front thing for the verse lines

I LOVE this discourse!

I think it's just an addlib, like the "zeya zeya zeya / seiya seiya seiya" part in Yuunagi, with no real meaning.

^ in Yuunagi it's actually a Japanese cheer! It's more upbeat when chanted. :yes I can't make out what she's saying in face my fears at all, though.

Yes, it sounds like this, but it wasn't her initial thought, almost a coincidence. She said that during NHK's "Professional Shigoto no Ryūgi".

I just viewed her Hikari performance from Laughter in the Dark, i really loved it! The new arrangements are pure gold!

I also love Face My Fear since the first preview of KH3, it's quite touching and upbeat in the same time. It fits KH universe quite well.
I haven't listened to Don't think twice yet but i love Chikai.
My guess is i'll prefer Face My Fear in english and Chikai over Don't think twice since i'm so used to the japanese version.

Glad to see the single is charting well everywhere, i would love she take this occasion to make few concerts worldwide, i would definitely go if she stops to Paris.

Wasn't there supposed to be a broadcast of the tour this month?

^ there was. It was broadcasted today and it's already up on Jpopsuki :)

That's great! Very excited to watch it! :)

It seems she got her first Billboard Hot 100 entry with Face My Fears!

^ yeah, on #98. amazing tbh.

I uploaded the concert in the downloads section.

Man i really loved that last bit of Sakura Drops when she fiddles with the prophet-6 synthesizer. Hope an audio rip of the concert pops up!

Again, thank you so much for uploading the concert!! :love

Taken from the Billboard interview with Skrillex, about how the collab came to be and how he met Hikki:

Full interview: https://www.billboard.com/articles/c...karu-interview

Utada at a metal concert why am I not shocked lmao

The opening cinematic of KH3 goes so well with the song. A massive bop and I don’t care what anyone says.

Lol, Rock am Ring is not a metal festival or concert, it's one of Germany's biggest (rock) festivals. Like the name says.
But as it is so big, it also opened up to more mainstream acts like Skrillex.

Nevertheless interesting that she came to attend a festival here.

Off topic but did anyone see Hikki’s tweet about people farting in an elevator?

^ yes I did

At this point nothing Utada does anymore surprises me that much :D If she would make an entire song by just stumping on random instruments and it would sound amazing I would just shurg and say "yeah, probably, it's Hikki" :cool

Random, but I was jamming to this song when I realised the verse sounds like a sped up version of Stay Gold’s verse hahaha. Or is it just me..

Anything new coming from her yet?

a new single three weeks ago?

if you wouldnt have mentioned it, i would 100% think about it all day long (where i know this song) and would not come to the conclusion ... this song is really good

Ehhh, I dont really count that. haha.

Hatsukoi won for best 5 albums and the song won in best 5 songs by download at the Japan Golden Disk Awards.

Also, Shittosarerubeki Jinsei will be the theme song for the movie Parallel World Love Story

First Love is the #1 selling album in Oricon's Heisei Ranking, selling 7,672,000 copies.
Additionally, Distance is #4 (4,472,000) and Deep River is #8 (3,605,000)

She is #10 in the best selling artist list with 37,340,000 total copies sold.
[singles: 15,525,000 copies / albums 21,815,000]
Top single: Automatic/Time Will Tell 2,063,000
Top album:First Love 7,672,000

Top 3 Ranking:
Single
*I'm confused because on the previous page it lists Automatic and here it lists Addicted to You!
Addicted to You
Wait & See
Can You Keep A Secret?

Album
First Love
Distance
Deep River

DVD
BOHEMIAN SUMMER 2000
traveling
UTADA HIKARU SINGLE CLIP COLLECTION + VOL.3

Blu-ray
WILD LIFE
Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura
Penguin Highway

I guess she doesn't have enough Blu-ray releases so they included movies she's done the themes for.

Full product ranking: https://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/193854/rank/

Top artist article: https://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2133352/

edit: changed the numbers because the converter i originally used sucked

^

Automatic was the highest selling single of hikki if combining both 8cm and 12cm versions. But oricon counted them separately (back in 1999, Automatic 12cm version was yearly no. 5, while the 8cm version was yearly no. 22). That is why Addicted To You is listed as the highest selling single of hikki instead, as it was the first single without 8cm version.

Interesting! Thanks for the clarification

Hikaru Utada's "Laughter In The Dark Tour 2018" will be officially released on Blu-Ray/DVD as well as NETFLIX and iTunes on June 26th 2019.

The limited edition numbered 3 disc Blu-Ray/DVD set includes the entire "Laughter In The Dark" show along with a making-of feature + MVs/making-of footage of "Forevermore," "Anata" and "Hatsukoi"



Source: @UTADABLOG at Twitter.

hoping the netflix distribution is global.

OMG YES!!!... I also would like a cd from her T_T maybe someone will rip it later, they always do!

I hope it's on Netflix globally too although I also want to buy the physical version (I wonder what the price will be, eek!)

I don't want to know how much that set will cost.:laugh
Is there going to be a standard physical release or just the limited 3 disc set?

Cost ¥10,000 excl tax & shipping.

CDJapan pre-order link: Hikaru Utada Laughter in the Dark Tour 2018 [Blu-ray + 2DVD + Photo Book + Backstage Pass (Replica) / Limited Packaging]

Full news in English from her official site:
http://www.utadahikaru.jp/en/news/detail.html?id=506038

Looks like the "standard release" of the Tour will be digital only.

Hikki's staff account on twitter just confirmed today that it will be!

-

TV Spot


Play A Love Song

Sold out on CDJapan Oo

That’s fast 😳

Aww that's a shame, I was really hoping a physical release of the standard version with the limited edition being sold out.

I'm really chuffed it's going to be on Netflix and can't wait to watch it on there but I did also want a physical copy as I figure it will be easy to select performances I want to watch again. But maybe this will get me more into the streaming thing and I won't feel the need to get everything physically lol.

It´s still/again available on CDJapan
But to expensive, also whould have wished for a physical standard version, because I don´t have netflix

Disappointed in the digital/streaming only standard release. It will be great to have it on Netflix but the blu-ray will have superior quality. It's too expensive for me so I will have to settle for streaming only.
Maybe DVD and Blu-ray ISOs will be online to be downloaded.