I remember complaining a lot about the lack of new stuff during the tour but when it comes to the concert ifself I really loved it. The simpler stage, outfits, performances of older songs, all that stuff was amazing to me. otoh I enjoyed W fACE Tour when it came out but I think I never got to rewatch it, while I've sen BSC a lot of times. It's not that W FACE was bad but it lacked something to me. I guess it was a bit too similar to the last tours she pulled off by then. It'll be a nice experience to rewatch it now.

While it's not her best tour, BSC was what actually made me interested in Kuu. That alone gives it a bonus for me. :heart

I think BSC delivers it's concept, but that's all. Something like a TROUBLE Tour XD

I really love BSC. It may be simplistic but I LOVE her energy there. And the dance break before Trust Your Love along with that transition is amazing.

Yeah that was it; I had this feeling it was on Gossip Candy but I didn't see it in iTunes. But I think that's where it was featured as a bonus or limited release or something? Thank you!

^it's probably cut outside of Japan due to copyrights.

it was Gossip Candy yes but it's not available outside Japan for buying or streaming aside from youtube:

^ I don't remeber ever hearin' the studio version, probably wasn't a fan of the og song! but now I love it ! thanks!!!

So is anyone downloading the concerts they can upload? lol Because I need the secret limited live and second session tours just for nostalgic purposes :P Those two bring back so much memories :weep

Yeah I didn't care for the original either so when Kumi decided to cover it my expectations were already really low. But she KILLED this mix. Basically an entire re-invention. I love it.

Kumi performed the Music Fair theme song yesterday, with Ai and other singers and musicians.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_rqd39n3ls/

Cute, I guess.

THE ARTIST is crazy good. Her vocal, dancing, looks and body were on fire.
I love also the music arrangements chosen (that TOUCH DOWN performance is so addicting)
This was a amazing way to celebrate her 15th anniversary.
Give me high hopes for this year show.


Guys, what is your opinion on DNA Tour ?
2018 is the only year I didn’t watch her shows... I was not really into the material she released that year...

Omg, Kuu is going to show the new song, she worked on with all of us in her Insta live, for the first time tonight at Love music!

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...923/wXvcOw.png

It's awesome till the last part.
In the last part she put too many songs of the same high energy one after another and imo it gets messy.
Nevertheless overall nice to watch with some iconic ideas and moments.

I like DNA Tour, it's the only one I bought the BD and paid a crazy amount of money for it.

Things I like:
+ She performed all the songs from the album (except Kokoro kara I love you wasn't recorded, but I don't mind since Aenaku naru is a better song);
+ First section is great.
+ Good vocals for the whole concert, even the live broadcast for the Countdown concert had great moments.

Things I don't like:
- Outta my head performance, it's too messy and has no place in the ballad section. It's weird because Insane from W FACE Tour was so breathtaking, and this is basically the same thing with a red outfit but poorly done.
- The last section is a bit of a mess since the songs kinda blend in together.

New song is called "for...", Kuu performed a short version.
She explained back in the Insta live that the lyrics are supposed to be like a letter.

https://mobile.twitter.com/H2Gvz/sta...72530373455873

Full Kuu part on Insta:
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_uyzsT...d=x3mwjmg4qe7a

It was interesting to follow the birth of this song.
If I understood correctly. She had in her mind the first few lines of the chorus while sleeping before her second Instagram direct and few weeks after the song is almost complete.

It’s a cute mellow song :)


Thanks for your feedback guys. I’ll try DNA Tour this week.

I really like for... so far! Wonder if it'll soon be available for streaming... Should I expect a physical release of any kind? I'm not lol

Crazy how she can do all that without avex behind all of it. Feels more like an independent artist atm.

I believe she changed her view of the business part of her music career ever since getting married to Kenji. It wouldn't surprise me if she owns masters of some of her works, probably W FACE onward.

She has her own studio at home and can create music with her partner, so I guess they can skip a lot of steps that most of the artists has to deal with their record labels (financial support for the record session and other stuff).

For... sounds cute!

Guys, does someone know what was Kuu's first ever TV performance after debuting? People were talking about ayu's first performance on another thread and it came to me that I never got into looking for old performances of Kuu... Probably the oldest TV live of hers I watched was a Butterfly one lol

I know it's not what you were asking for but I just saw this video again today... And now she's approaching her 20th anniversary! :heart She's come a long way.

01:05 & 03:05

Around 1994/1995 she performed Gekka from Nakamori Akina when she was around 12 years old. I don't remember the name of the show tho.



The first performance after her debut that had some sort of report was Emotional Beat Live in TOKYO (2001.06.28) at SHIBUYA-AX.

Looking gorgeous with dark hair:

https://i.imgur.com/7HxzZxJ.jpg

Her first "official" performance was Music Station Super Live 2001 (2001.12.28), singing meaning of peace with BoA.

^12? Why the fuck did she sing such a sexy song and who allowed it?

edit: The winner of that audition, Yu hasebe is a member of dream right?

Yeah... haha The red lipstick scenes are very Aishou, it's funny how she didn't change that much.

As for the audition, that was avex dream 2000, singing competition to be part of avex's next popular idol group, so all of them were members of dream (Matsumuro Mai, Tachibana Kana and Hasebe Yu). Kumi was second place and won a soloist singing contract.

I forgot to mention about her first concert, just like Ayu she also had a "secret" concert.

It as at ON AIR OSAKA, in 2002.09.28.

The setlist was:

01 COLOR OF SOUL
02 Go Together
03 So Into You
04 feel me
05 Your Song
06 come back
07 Trust Your Love
08 the meaning of peace
09 love across the ocean

ENCORE
10 I'ts too late
11 TAKE BACK
12 walk

The concert also had another date (2002.10.05) at Velfarre.

--

Seeing the performances from Ayu right after her debut gives me some weird feelings on how Kumi was treated during her time. We all know how they were treating her because of her appearance, which it crazy because I don't think she was "ugly" or "fat" at all. dream's debut was 2000.01.01 and during their second week they were already performing at Music Station. I guess she was really second place for avex/rhythm zone, waiting a whole year after her debut to give any sort of push on TV.

When she's thanking the second place in the audition her voice sounds so much like it still does to date lol

Thanks for the information, Kaled! I love that performance of Gekka so much, it's one of Akina's best songs imo, it shows how her taste in music was already amazing back then hahahaha

Now that you talked about the meaning of peace, I recalled I've seen a couple of tv lives of those performances but my mind completely shut it off lol

I still not understand the way she was treated by Avex at the beginning.
Even if she might not be the most confident girl at her debut, the fact she did not start promoting her singles release until hands in 2005 is not understandable.
Ah least the success of real Emotion should have give her access to TV show as a regular singer from then.

I can understand why avex was hesitant, even with the success of real Emotion/1000 no Kotaba and grow into one. There was still an element of uncertainty about whether or not it was legitimate career momentum, or just a fluke.

I think the stability she showed with feel my mind going top ten and easily shipping gold gave them confidence that Kumi was a solid and potentially profitable investment for the company.

There's an obvious reason why avex started throwing money at her after the release of Love & Honey.

I guess they were trying to target her at a kind of "live event" singer, focusing on clubs and festivals, and probably didn't feel the need to book tv shows for her. The uncertainty is also a factor but it's odd she got there through a contest and didn't bother promoting her debut single... If after that doing that and having a flop debut, it'd make sense to get rid of tv performances, but there wasn't even a shot lol Thankfully Kuu is really hardworking and kept on doing her music nonetheless :)

I honestly think avex didn't quite know what to do with Kumi in those early days.

Ayumi dominated the conversation at avex and amongst the newer female soloists, both BoA and Shimatani Hitomi were much safer bets.

I'd argue Kumi had good timing when she broke big with Love & Honey and then secret. I'm going to make a controversial statement, but I feel that in order for Kumi to soar in 2005, avex had to "kill" Shimatani and pull some resources from BoA.

^nah, BoA got a big hit BEST of SOUL and OUTGROWs singles were pretty much successful, even MIT 20 singles still were but she also went back to KpOp around that time.

Kumi just got big because of ero-kakkoii, let's just face it. not a shame tho and she still had a good chunk of ballads to balance it out. It was just the right moment.

Avex pulled some resources from BoA after BEST OF SOUL. Absolutely no question.

OUTGROW was a number one and multi-platinum success, but it was no where near the yearly top 20 in overall sales. By contrast in 2006, avex was throwing money at Kumi and Ayumi because both were the strongest bets. Not to mention Namie saw her fortunes reverse and avex started investing in her heavily again. BoA never had another album in the yearly top 30 after 2005.

So I stand by what I said. Let me be clear. BoA was still definitely a star, but there was a definite shift in focus by avex after 2005 in regards to their female soloists.

By the way, who said Ero-Kakkoii didn't have an impact on Kumi and her overall momentum after 2003?

Her vocals here are incredible, especially for a 12-year old. She was meant to be a legend.

I think so too. Even a US debut she got out of nowhere.

There is no shame in talking about ero-kakkoi, it was what made her stand out for sure, but even when she started with the ero-kakkoi movement it wasn't bringing any sales. COME WITH ME and Crazy 4 U sold poorly as well.

The Cutie Honey PV and the OVA were doing all the work basically, because she didn't promote the song until a-nation, and she wasn't there for the final performance anyway.
She would only perform the song later in november, when she was already called to go to Best Hits Kayousai 2004. And then she went to Music Station and things started to change.

Cutie Honey was basically a real Emotion vol. 2, because Chase and Kiseki sold poorly again, but I guess rhythm zone decided to give her a shot. After the Music Station Super Live 2004 that she got the attention basically, and then became "someone".

We also really don't know how the sub-labels interact with Avex. Rhythm Zone was formed in 1999, and while it had success with m-flo and EXILE, it was still new and we don't know what their team, their budgets, etc. looked like.

Also, I think (or at least in my personal memory), Day After Tomorrow was much more instantly successful - even though it was short-lived. But it was probably hard for the label to not compare Misono and Kuu and be frustrated that Kuu wasn't taking off immediately.

On a completely different note, these days I've been going through Janet Jackson's discography and videography, and I can see a lot of influences that Kuu had from her (eg INTRODUCTION from Black Cherry being heavily inspired on the introduction of Janet's Rhythm Nation). And I know she attended Unbreakable Tour in Japan some years ago. But has Kuu stated anything on Janet at all? I would love to read what she thinks of her.

I don't remember if she said something, but back in her club days she performed at a tribute live for Janet, around the time she was doing her All for you Tour in Japan. It was called ジャネットジャクソン来日記念 前夜祭イベント トリビューライブ.

But it's clear that Janet inspired her.

I don't think Kumi would interact with her fans on stage like she does if wasn't for Janet. I mean, her Would You Mind performance is a LOT more sexual, but still the concept is the same. haha



Also, Hot Stuff has kinda the same vibe as Janet's All nite, not the same concept but the abandoned place with people dancing and using flashlights is basically there.

Kuu will perform WIND from home during tomorrow's morning live broadcast of Sukkiri!!

https://twitter.com/KODAKUMINET/stat...67820534124545

https://twitter.com/ntv_sukkiri/stat...70295420923904

let me rephrase it: I think "pulling resources" is the wrong term. This is how things work. Let me explain it with the bookmarket. there are writers who have successful albums which bring in money. This money can be spend on smaller writers to cater to different groups of readers even though they don't bring in money. Ayumi basically did this for avex from 2000 to 2004.

I'm watching her concerts back to back on YouTube and I was wondering what do you guys think about the way she tends to split her concerts into three very distinctive sections? I love her ballads to death but somehow I always find myself growing tired of watching the ballad section halfway through it :(

tbqh I feel the same... It must be amazing for those attending the tour, to have just Kuu on stage singing beautiful songs, but when it comes to watching it on DVD it gets a bit dragged... That's why I love TRICK and UNIVERSE Tour so much, there wasn't a ballad-only section. The Artist was also nice cause even tho there was a ballad section, there were outfit changes, the giant dress, the chandelier she sat on, so things got a bit more interesting to watch. But during DNA Tour the section was just so meh :dead2 I hope she spices things up for her 20th anniv tour (I mean, if it's gonna happen at all, we should have gotten the FC lottery past month but there was no word on that... I guess they're waiting to see how the pandemic affects Japan to properly announce stuff and sell tickets, cause probably when we go back to having live concerts I doubt they'll allow the crowd to sit side by side so close like they used to, so live veneus will be allowed to fit less people inside them...)

I haven't seen her tours yet but yeah I can see the concept of Kuu's interaction being there hahahaha

The part of Hot Stuff where's she's fighting those guys always gave me Xtina's Dirrty vibes, and now I can see the inspiration for the other portion of the video lol That's so cool! :laugh It's like completing a puzzle hahahah It's so clear how Xtina and Janet inspired her, really cool to see this.

Indeed! I guess that the ballad section must be the most magical experience of her tour when attending it, especially in hall tours as people are closer to her, but watching it from home it feels quite draining to go through all of it :( UNIVERSE Tour is my favourite because it has more than three acts and she scattered her ballads nicely through them, I'm glad she's has tried to shake things up a little bit for the ballad section in some of her tours though... And it would be really nice if she tried something completely different from that formula for her 20th Anniversary Tour, I do hope it still goes accordingly to her original plans for the end of the year even though it feels like it's quite possible they move everything to next year :(

To me it depends on how it's done. I do prefer concerts where she changes the songs or do different things to make it more dynamic, like the Dejavu Tour - she changed 3 times of outfit, sang with her own hologram and had an iconic moment with the changing outfit thing. As Gustavo said, the one from The Artist is great as well. Ever since BSC Tour the ballad section has been more stripped down sadly (besides Moon Crying, which was great).

I can't stand the 45min of the ballad section from FANTASIA for example. Nothing happens besides walking, not even the lifting thing from Ai no Kotoba makes it interesting to watch at home. I was disappointed with DNA Tour because it had a good concept for stage, with the two screens. I just couldn't believe they didn't think to do any interesting thing for the whole section. Besides the water effect for the first song, which was great, it ended in the middle of the song and then it was gone.

I do understand that those are the moments for people to really think about the lyrics and feel the emotion, and that's why the lyrics are on screen during the section, but well....

I remember crying hard during the ballad section in the show I attended but yeah watching them on DVD is not so exciting.

In most of her lives, there is an outstanding ballad performance in middle of over performed ballads. So yeah it’s enjoyable only if you love the songs chosen.
Pro for WOML Tour, i noticed she did not perform Ai no Uta there!

Rewatching Kingdom Tour made me remember how great hands performance was... while all the full section was crazy long to watch.

FANTASIA is on another whole level of problems to me, it felt like a rushed concert, as if they decided too late to hold it, so they recycled lot of stuff, didn't really take advantage of that big wide stage and also Kuu was clearly nervous during a lot of times, to the point of forgetting where she was supposed to be in order to end the concert with Lick me lol
I mean, BC Tour was held on the same venue and there was more stuff going on with the stage, screens and props, whereas for most of the first section of FANTASIA she just danced on that mini round stage in the middle of the catwalk. The rock section wasn't even a whole rock section and that angry-mom-thats-gonna-call-the-manager wig didn't help at all and there was nothing new on that, she recicled Selfish from first things tour, screen videos from Kingdom Tour for FREAKY, CWGB stuff from UNIVERSE Tour for We Will Rock You... And then she could made a smart recycling by performing again the rock version of real Emotion from Black Cherry but didn't lol
It's a pity cause it was so grand and the setlist itself is really good, but it feels empty and not-new overall.

Yes, the ballad section might be a little bit boring when it is watched from home (when she is singing some overperformed songs I usually go down to the kitchen in order to grab some snacks or tea lol) My favorite is the one from Dejavu Tour due to the songs selection, her outfits, hairstyle and vocals (in general she sounds amazing during Dejavu tour)

I also love how she changed things up with Bon Voyage (only 3 ballads if you consider Imagine as one... then she goes for more uplifting tunes, changes her outfit and does that cool medley) and WOML (only hands is her typical ballad, the rest songs are more upbeat... and this section is rather short, during which she changes her outfit, plays piano and does some crazy stuff in the air while singing Dance In The Air... awesome)

This is why all those 3 tours are my top3 favorite (I also love The Artist, Universe and W Face)

In general I am happy that she no longer does her kawaii sections and with the last tours it seems that she stopped recording those silly background videos in order to entertain her audience while changing outfits... it is so much better to watch her dancers doing some crazy stuff on stage instead... or watch some tour music videos (W Face, Strip, Shutout)

FANTASIA does feel a bit rushed/cheap/wasted opportunity, sadly, especially coming after UNIVERSE, Dream Music Park and Billboard Live and being a Dome concert :( I guess they probably didn't want to put a lot of money money/effort in it because it was an "one night only"? (or two nights? I can't remember) I think it's my least favourite concert of hers, along with Premium Night, I simply can't get into them and their ballad sections don't help either :(

2010 was a crazy year, new compilation with original album, remix and later a cover album. Four concerts (UNIVERSE, Dream Music Park, Billboard Live and FANTASIA). She was also promoting Can We Go Back, Gossip Candy and Suki de. I got tired just listing these things, I can only imagine how insane it was for her.

I don't know if the concert was rushed, or they just went out of ideas for FANTASIA. I guess she saw the feedback from the Billboard Live and thought it was a good idea for the ballads shine for themselves, with no tricks and props. It could also be a matter of budget, we know the girl likes do use the budget rhythm zone gives to her and make the most of it.

I'm still not a huge fan of the concert, even tho the stage is awesome and she looks absolutely beautiful for the first section (not a fan of the Karen-like hair for the rock one), but looking back I understand the setlist more (I was mad for not having underperformed songs, but now I see that was not a place for her to perform songs only her fans knew the words to). I also hate the interludes.... Thank god those funny bits aren't a thing anymore.

--

On a side note, poor Kumi lost all her turnips. lol You have to sell them, girl.

--

She's on Sukkiri talking about Animal Crossing. haha

The performance was cute, she was playing with her dog while singing. Audio was bad tho, clearly the same mic that she used for All for you. lol

Happy to see Kuu for another long segment on Sukkiri! :)

DJ Koo from TRF live remixed some selected Kuu songs:



Her VS Arashi episode is airing today as well.

Kuu can't login into her Instagram account for the last three days, that's why she's so silent there.
Instead she posts more on Twitter through her staff.
Hope she solves the problem soon, miss her posts. :cry

Guess Who Is Back music box



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59pswCduZso

Last time Kuu appeared on VS ARASHI was way back in 2011

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EXaFaawU...jpg&name=small

https://twitter.com/KODAKUMINET/stat...39855261528064

The 2 photos Kuu holding were taken when she played Dual Curling during VS ARASHI , back in 2011

Currently watching BSC Tour, really enjoying it. i heard all the tours as mp3 but didn't really watch half of them since Billboard probably. Rewatching makes me realize that the tour I attended (W FACE) was pretty average in comparison. I mean she can stand there for 2 hours and sing and I'll get goosebumps, but even at the time it did not feel as exciting as other concerts by her (I watched on DVD).

Thats said, all her concerts feel really nice - and always fresh even if she just performs singles. She is just on another level when doing lives - it always feel genuine in a way. I also rewatched a lot of Ayu performances, and I don't want to compare (I'm still amazed how much star power that small person has), but the feeling is different - the expectations somehow too. Maybe because I don't long for a good vocal performance with Ayu.

I really enjoy Premium Night, don't get the criticism and as someone who does not attend regularly I would have prefered the BSC Tour over the W FACE Tour to attend.

Lastly - I think she needs to break of the ballad sections. I get them, they are always nice and it is probably good to have them between two parts with intense performances but it would help so much to put them in-between upbeat-tracks.

Ah...oh...and I'm still amazed how singers can remember so many lyrics. I mean, i can too and my head is mostly full with random lyrics but it is something else to sing on stage with no guide vocals (and sometime 30 to 40 songs in a row). Just something worth to notice, since it is probably something you expect from a singer (his/her job) - still a cool thing to pull of.

DJ KOO starting the kumix with the TRICK introduction made me cry a little bit inside cause I remembered we never got a full studio version of it :(

And still on 2010 yeah that was an insane year when it comes to live performances, she had all those tours and concerts and lots of tv lives, a-nation, and she found time to literally travel to the other side of the globe and make a photobook there ROFL We were too spoiled

This week's VS ARASHI featuring Kuu as the sole Plus One Guest

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1pZ4y1s7mz

Beginning of the show ARASHI congratulates Kuu with this year being her 20th anniversary

And Kuu commented that she , ARASHI's Aiba & comedian Kano Eiko were born in the same year

The episode is available on JPS. I'll watch later. Last time she did was during Love Me Back promotion, and it was so much fun. Also, her team won that time, and the reaction Kitagawa Keiko had when she lost was so funny. haha

It's kinda weird that those promotions were probably schedule months prior to the whole covid problem, and I wonder if something was going to happen around May/June and it's postponed without further details. For Sukkiri yesterday they were promoting reLIVE's video release at the end of the segment, as this is the only thing out recently.

At this point let's cancel 2020 and do her 20th anniversary in 2021.

--

I thought that it was very sweet of her to do WIND with her dog, since the PV had RUM that sadly died years ago. She even said something about this on instagram.

Oh I didn't recall that RUM was on the PV, now I'm soft :(

On the promotions I'm pretty sure we would be getting a single by now and it'd be featured in an upcoming best of album. Now who knows lol

---

I got nothing else to do so I decided to rank the most viewed 20th Anniv PVs in Kumi's channel. In the spoiler I've put those under 100k

1. you - 529k
2. Crazy 4 U - 435k
3. It's all Love! - 404k
4. Someday - 328k
5. Pink Spider - 319k
6. Koishikute - 297k
7. Love Me Back - 247k
8. BUT - 231k
9. Ai no uta (album version) - 207k
10. Cherry Girl - 198k
11. Get Up & Move!! - 195k
12. show girl - 181k
13. Unmei - 179k
14. D.D.D. - 174k
15. Birthday Eve - 168k
16. hands - 163k
17. Shake It Up - 162k
18. Gentle Words - 162k
19. Selfish - 122k
20. TAKE BACK - 116k
21. No Regret - 115k
22. Candy - 114k
23. WIND - 113k
24. stay with me - 103k


Really happy for Crazy 4 U and Pink Spider, but we gotta stream MORE and Bassline! And at this rate I believe IaL! will be the first one to cross 1M views.

The response to the Koishikute PV is so interesting. I always thought it wasn't exactly a fan favorite despite being a digital hit.

I definitely think a single of some kind was planned for May as well.

It's ECSTASY time!




PV is also up

How-to-video No.4: ECSTASY



Also there's a dance version PV for Be One released.
Kuu's dancers dance the part of her and Kenji (Kenji=male, Kuu=female).



Kuu shared this as well as a staff version video of Be One one of her staff members made alone at home!
Both got Kuu all teary-eyed, she's missing meeting everyone of her dancers, staff and her fans. :laugh

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_5R5xs...d=4sio3glt6twn

https://www.instagram.com/tv/B_6f68i...d=c569eq4voc1w

Trust Your Love is up as well



I love the song, but the PV is something special for sure. lol She looks so uncomfortable dancing with the guys. The icy look is kinda cute, but the other one is not flattering at all to her.

@Gustavo Bassline is such a non event that I haven't watch the PV ever since the release. Love the song, but the PV is not that good.

I don't think she was 100% comfortable with dancing at that time. She was still so green in the early days of her career.

Trust your Love, So into you and Color of Soul are my jams.

I think she looked kinda cool in TAKE BACK but Trust your love is much more embarrassing. The song is great though.

Glad she made How to Dance for ECSTASY. I love the PV!

Btw guys, let’s share our Top 5 for concerts. It will be interesting to see which concerts are the most loved here!

Oh my god only 5? lol

Well, I should say UNIVERSE, JAPONESQUE and WOML Tour surely are my top 3, they were really entertaning, gorgeous outfits, cool stages and props, great setlist and even the merch was so cool. I'm also a big big fan of BEST SINGLE COLLECTION and The Artist... I feel like Premium Night should be included as well but I can't remove any of those I said before, so it's an honorable mention :P

Interesting Top!
It was really nice to watch all her concerts. I have only watched her recent concerts 1 time so for some, it was a discovery.

The exercise is not easy indeed.
Here is mine :

1. UNIVERSE/DREAM MUSIC PARK
Definitely her best and most creative tour.

2. THE ARTIST
I love the new arrangements in the performances. She was also freaking gorgeous.
Too bad the interludes videos are boring.

3. Second session
Well the nostalgic factor. The Setlist is great and she was so pretty.
Love goes like... is still one of the most fierce performance she has ever done.

4. Black Cherry
Iconic live. Iconic intro.
The encore is just way too long.

5. WALK OF MY LIFE
I don’t really like album but the concert is definitely one of the best.
Her energy is amazing and I like the fact she played instruments during the live.
Dance in the rain performance is so amazing.

For me...

UNIVERSE
Black Cherry
Dejavu
Bon Voyage
TRICK

Kumi has never had a truly "bad" tour (thank goodness!) Some have been better than others, but all of them have been unique and standout in different ways.

I think her most underrated tours are probably Kingdom, JAPONESQUE, and DNA on just the technical level alone.

I can't rank her tours and concerts.
I can only part them in ones I like more and ones I like less.
The ones I like less are Premium Night (it's pretty much all over the place), Bon Voyage (such great ideas, but somehow I can't really feel the execution) and secret live (I dislike her vocals except for some of the ballads - that high pitched shriek she uses throughout the whole thing is horrible, lol).
But honestly I watched all of them pretty often and you can't go wrong with any them imo, always just depending on what someone prefers.

Something interesting is that DNA is the most watched from her current tours since 2015 uploaded on youtube.
And there are a bunch of comments under it saying that this was the first Kuu tour those people attended, being new fans. You can see the influence of her going viral in 2018 I guess. Well, and it was popular among her fanbase as well as a shorter tour, so less fans were able to go.

I agree
All her tour are really different with their own theme and specificities. She almost never recycle her ideas from previous tour, this is a great accomplishment when you are touring for 15 years!


I need to rewatch JAPONESQUE, I adored the relive but I just watched the original tour 1 time.

Well for Kingdom, I guess the scandal had big impact in the final product. The idea and scene were great but you could see she was not as comfortable as usually during the whole show. What annoyed me in the tour was the long ballad section and the lack of Aisho (the last one is also a reason why I was a bit disappointed by JAPONESQUE too).

Funny thing, I assisted to Bon Voyage and found it really nice to attend to (especially the hall was really small). Rewatching it though YouTube had a different impact... I found it not as interesting as the others one to watch via screen. Still a great memory :)

Anyone else watching Kumi sing Chances All on her insta live rn :laugh she is taking requests for karaoke

She sang CHANCES ALL, Kiseki, Taisetu na Kimi e, TABOO, Joyful, Kimi Omoi, INSANE, NEVER ENOUGH, Come Over and Comes Up. It was cute :) . She also tried Shhh! but she doesn't know the lyrics at all lol. There were some dancing bits, like UNIVERSE, PARTY, OMG and others.

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Of all her concerts I would choose:

- reLIVE Black Cherry: I like the original, but this is a whole another level.
- UNIVERSE/Dream Music Park: I mean... You can't deny the star power with this one.
- First Things Tour: My second concert from her and I just love it. I think she wanted to tour so much since the beginning that it really showed her passion for the stage. Not to mention that awesome performance of Crazy 4 U....
- Dejavu Tour: I'm a sucker for cute Kumi and the stage was beautiful with the whole candy factory theme.
- Kingdom Tour: Her best stage, no doubt. To me this concert was her peak vocal wise. Even the long ballad section I love because of the different arrangements, Taisetsu na Kimi e from the Song Menu is sooooo beautiful.

But it changes from time to time, so... haha

Honorable mentions:
- A-nation 15th Anniversary Premium Live: Great concert, also adding all the collaborations is the cherry on top for me. It was a whole a-nation concert for her, it doesn't get any better than that.
- Let's Party Vol. 2: Saigo no Ame ♥♥

As for the one that I watch the least is First Class 2nd LIMITED LIVE. I know it was a gift for the fans and all, but when you start to enjoy the song... it's over.

My favourites are probably The Artist, UNIVERSE, Premium Night, Bon Voyage & Blacky Cherry. Dream Music Park is up there too but I agree with everyone that Kuu doesn't really have any truly bad concert. There's always something to like. Also, some of my favourites tend to change (constant battle between The Artist & WOML to be in my top 5), so yea. :D There are instances where I find a show's concept not too interesting or sometimes her voice isn't as good as it usually is but that's it. I think she has a really strong 'live catalogue'.

My mom* decided that she wants to watch a Kuu concert so I was thinking about which one I should show her. I personally find The Artist, WOML or UNIVERSE to be the best choices? Not sure which one I should go with, it's so hard to decide. In the end, they're all good so that's that. I also love Premium Night but don't think it's the best introduction to Kuu (+ I think I'm more in the minority with loving it). What do you guys think, UNIVERSE, WOML or The Artist?

*Finally, my mom starts to appreciate Kuu. I don't know what made her change her mind but I'm happy.

I don’t think I’ve watched a kuu’s concert from beginning to end after 12 years of fandom lol But I love WOML and Trick a lot. Bon voyage was really well executed as well.
Now that I think about it, I’ve not seen anything from the 2017 and 2018 tours. I’ll have to check.

Agree! You could feel how she was excited to have a first national tour!
I haven’t watched it in the while and took the opportunity to rewatch it with YouTube update. I love her energy in it! It was such a great show!
And yeah Crazy 4 U performance is amazing!


All of them are in my Top 5 so first of all, good choice :)

I would think UNIVERSE has more first listener friendly songs and a diversity that will probably help your mom to enjoy the 2 hours show.

I think THE ARTIST is a good choice too! The way the concert is built really show the skills of Kumi as an artist.

WOML is great but her way to sing in that period is a bit particular, I wouldn’t try this one first even if it’s probably her most complete arena tour so far!

This make me think, her 15th anniversary was such an event! She was on fire. As much as her 10th anniversary.

The official Tokyo Government Youtube account upload a Kumi message about social distancing and the stay home movement.



She also sang You're So Beautiful.

^ queen of politics and fights against pandemics <3


Ku should become a gamer! haha she's streamin' rn and singing her songs, she sounds so good. she's the cutest!!

She's coming for Maki Goto's YT channel gig. haha

Kumi was playing with LiSA! https://www.instagram.com/p/CAAmLtKAFzI/

Nintendo please hire Kuu to make some AC CMs!

^ omg she should do something for bayonetta 3!!!! T_T it would be the hottest thing!

I finished watching the last tours I missed.
I confirm BSC is my least favorite one. Nothing really outstanding.

I liked DNA Tour, even if I don’t have big affect with the album. I think W FACE Tour was a better hall tour but some performances were nice to see (I Scream, Haircut and NEVER ENOUGH)

So, on DNA Tour, I now think my issue was more the filming and editing than the tour itself. I felt that a lot during HAIRCUT, cause it's a great performance but some shots make no sense, the part where she rips her extensions looks odd and a bit after you can see the begining of her wig change so it takes a bit of the magic out. And overall in some shots there seems to be a lot of empty space. It's weird saying that cause I never felt bothered by a tour shooting of hers before, but in comparison BSC had a simpler stage but there it didn't feel like an empty stage. And by the way there's a part where's she's performing Crazy 4 U and the camera starts in the middle of the audience and then goes down towards her in the stage and it's SUCH A COOL SHOT! You can see the audience and how close to everyone Kuu is, it almost felt like being in the crowd.

is there an mp3 of the artist?

@Gustavopc I wouldn't blame the editing, but rather the concept of the concert itself. As said by Kumi, the DNA stage was better seen from the second level of the hall, so you can see the moving screens and get the whole gimmick. Since it is like this, you get much more open shots with DNA footage than for BSC. It could also look empty because DNA stage it didn't have a second floor. She was performing in the middle of the stage pretty much all the time, as for BSC she was on the second floor performing Shh, or using the stairs, or the cool moment with Ningyo Hime.

Btw, I also like that shot. It's like you're there walking back to your front set and you're getting close to her. haha

To be all three tours (BSC, W FACE and DNA) had too much of this "empty" space feel. For BSC and W FACE you can understand because the concert was made to fit all types of hall, so it's a simple center stage.

a-nation will not take place this year due to COVID-19

https://twitter.com/anation_navi/sta...04786781806592
https://twitter.com/anation_navi/sta...05050188263424
https://twitter.com/anation_navi/sta...05360067665920

Hardly a surprise , everyone's health is more important

I was expecting a-nation not to happen as usual... Maybe if things get better they will host a kind of streaming live-from-home festival, who knows, but the concert itself was feeling unlikely by now. That makes me worry about Kumi's tour as well. Poor girl, right in her 20th year :/ At least she seems to be looking on the bright side of things, making videos and songs from her home, sharing a lot of stuff with us and also reinforcing the appeal to stay at home. I feel proud of her as a fan :)

avex did said that in place of no a-nation this year , they will do something in lieu of it

That's not mentioned for now but probably avex might stream past a-nation footages online for a limited period of time

https://aramajapan.com/news/a-nation...tponed/106400/

Also Kuu is not the only artiste that deserves to celebrate her 20th anniversary this year

Others like BENI (15th) , GRANRODEO (15th) , Kame to Yamapi (15th) , UVERworld (20th) , Hirai Ken (25th) , V6 (25th) , they all should be doing that this year too but unfortunately due to COVID-19 , they have to find different ways in celebrating

And for once technology is not the enemy here

Kuu just said in the tags of her new Insta post that we get an announcement soon!

Also DNA tour already overtook The Artist in views and shortly will with Bon Voyage and Premium Night, too! :)

EDIT:
She now also posted in her stories, that she had a staff meeting by video today for new goods.
Now she asks us what goods we wanna have.

Oh, I hope she announces it soon! If she's excited about it, I'm excited as well :P

The only kind of goodie I long for nowadays is for pamphlets and/or calendars to make a comeback, she always delivered with those, but I gues it wasn't worth anymore keeping on doing those unfortunately.

Today's How to Dance is ECSTASY again, but the chorus.



It's funny that she's teaching the choreography that she uses when performing live nowadays, and then they show the PV where she's doing the complete one. haha

ree-back

They've released 6 exclusive wallpapers on each Koda Gumi and playroom yesterday. It's the first batch, we're going to get more, yay.

Kuu also announced another Insta live for 9 pm JST today. And she recorded again yesterday.

She says in her post that the chorus choreo is harder to do, so that might be the reason.

Watching the live now, She's sung a few snippets of songs but mostly she's just talking to guests/fans.

She played a snippet of a new song, you can barely hear it tho

https://twitter.com/Kairi__93/status...433192449?s=19

SOUNDS NICE!

Some more info about the upcoming announcement thanks to LiDaYu and kinotrumpet on Twitter!

She planned to make the announcement at on the tour finale but it’s cancelled. She will announce it on May 29th via instagram live and she has been preparing for it since November.

Queen of making announcement for the announcement. Can't wait.

The announcement is going to be published 4 pm JST May 29 on her FCs. ;)

@kaled rofl extacly my thoughts

Well here comes the all time best guys!

New 20th anniversary project for playroom: they are looking for people to tell memories and situations related to Kumi. https://rhythmzone.net/koda/news/detail.php?id=1083477

On a total random note, does anyone know what was this event that Kumi performed (?) on last year?

http://kumiloves.free.fr/Galerie/?alb=1863

It was indeed during the time she was visiting South Korea, and I remember she posted pics of that outfit on her instagram, but I had no idea she was performing something. And there's a pic from the entrance with ayumi's name? lol

Did they just removed the lives from the youtube channel? :/