[Koda Kumi] The 205th Thread - angeL & monsteR

[Isicio]

Finally I canceled my order from hmv and bought the CD only versions from cdjapan, but the bonus postcards are no longer available, anyway I like the songs, so I'm excited to have the minis.

[thinkingoutloud89]

If I ever see the limited editions in bookoffs in japan these upcoming years I promise to bring them home and sell them to you guys.

[Corvina]

@MKAyu
You hit the nail on the head.
Especially FAKY is an interesting case with rising streams of their music especially on youtoube due to their activities outside.
And Kuu was smart to start with that shortly after her 10th anni already.



Kuu shared that she plans to do live streams for 3 months starting in January.
If those are going to be FC limited, just talk or even live performances she's only teasing.
Info is coming soon!

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by Isicio

Finally I canceled my order from hmv and bought the CD only versions from cdjapan, but the bonus postcards are no longer available, anyway I like the songs, so I'm excited to have the minis.

I think not a lot of postcards were given away via CDJapan

Anyway this time round HMV Japan is really slow . Took them almost 2 weeks before my parcel at last left Japan this weekend oO

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic really dented ems' efficiency severely

Not just HMV Japan , I also experienced the same thing via CDJapan & my friends' usage of EMS

[Corvina]

Yeah, my HMV order was just shipped last week on the 10th, a week after release.
But I'm happy they even shipped and didn't cancel.
I want the clearfiles they give out so badly, which is why I went with them for the CD only editions.

[Isicio]

Cdjapan restock the postcards on the preoder. I have the ones for Bon Voyage, DNA and re(CORD) but this time I miss the new ones. I choose airmail without tracking to avoid customs fees so I expect they will arrive at the end of this month.

[KarenPang]

I wanted to cancel my HMV Japan order but I decided not to cos of the discount they gave which CDJapan does not give for its members

Just that only this year HMV Japan has been really slow & already before the COVID-19 pandemic happened , I had issues with the bank cos they thought HMV Japan is a fraud website where in reality I've been ordering from them for more than a decade

Anyway , Part 2 of Sora's Senpai Club interview has been uploaded



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2NUlhazlU4

Omg Kuu answered Kaled's question O___O

[kaled kalil]

Awwwww she answered my question! Senpai noticed me! I wish I had my real first name there, silly me, but that was cute ♥

[KarenPang]

^ I was like wow when your name was called out in the video

And it's interesting the only question Kuu answered during the Q&A segment is from Japan while the rest are from other countries including yours

Not sure if Part 3 of the Sora's Senpai Club will have a continuation of the Q&A segment

The makeshift capsule machine Sora's Senpai Club was real cool too

[kaled kalil]

From other episodes in the series, the 3rd is also Q&A, so probably more questions will be answered. The cardboard gacha machine is very cool indeed!

[oaristos]

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

Awwwww she answered my question! Senpai noticed me! I wish I had my real first name there, silly me, but that was cute ♥

I'm so happy for you! That was a great question, too. I'm glad she was reminded of how amazing her cover albums are.

[Diva_br]

Someone uploaded at JPS the EP from PARADOX LIVE, so I uploaded the song with Kuu


EMPEROR -WE’RE ON FIRE!!- feat. KODA KUMI

Thank you to UVtears

And, you're so lucky Kaled!!

[Corvina]

Kuu was the recommendation on the Fuji TV morning programme Tokudane this morning!
To be precise they suggested PARTY and showed its PV apparently.
Pikotaro also was a guest and he spoke about how awesome Kuu is, too!

[RainbowFive]

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

For those who are still wondering about the CDL stream situation, Ayu is also doing her CDL stream on Thumva and people who watched other concerts previously said that it works fine outside Japan in the thread.

http://www.ahsforum.com/forum/showth...15#post3332315

@Rainbow141 Besides her first Arashi VS episode (2011) I don't remember seeing her interviews subbed, ever. Most of the time when she's doing a regular TV show, like Sukkiri, they usually sub in japanese some important things that she's saying, as pretty much every variety TV show in Japan, so maybe this is an option for you.

Thank you Kaled! Kuuchan read your name, you are so lucky! <3

[Gustavopc]

So happy she read your question, Kaled!! I also know Jeremy from twitter (the first question she answered was his), it even feels kinda surreal Kumi got to answer actual overseas fans omg!!!

On another hand, however, there's something on this interview that bothered me... When she said she likes rock music but doesn't do it often cause fans have an image of "Koda Kumi" that she has to fulfill, it made me a bit sad tbh. And that explains a lot about what we were talking about the other day, that her similar-sounding songs have somewhat spoiled the experience of her last albums since 2017. Girl, I'd die for a full rock album, from teen-rock like Avril till nu-metal stuff. I know, she does sing rock once in a while, but seems like she's stuck in a box where she can't change the main image of what Koda Kumi feels like to her. To me she's such a chameleon, I never thought she had a fixed image of her singer persona like that. Maybe that's even why her cover albums stand out in her discography, maybe she feels more comfortable in doing things a bit different, mixing her style and the original singer's. When she sang "I am finally free" and such back in 2015 I thought she was free to sing and do whatever she wants, but it doesn't seem to be the case

I mean, there are good points about this. Having a signature, a faithful group of fans and so on. But I felt like talking about this cause it's somewhat in line with that earlier discussion. I was expecting her to change her style and sound a bit after her 20th, but seems like it won't be the case... Wonder when we can get an album where breaks from this image she thinks that Koda Kumi must always have :/ I think it's okay to return to it once in a while, like ayu did with A ONE being a back to her roots release, after going for different stuff.

But don't get the wrong idea, I still love her and loved to see her answering those questions hahahaha Please Kuu give us that world tour, I will learn Japanese for you I promise!!

[Rainbow141]

Originally Posted by Diva_br

Someone uploaded at JPS the EP from PARADOX LIVE, so I uploaded the song with Kuu


EMPEROR -WE’RE ON FIRE!!- feat. KODA KUMI

Thank you to UVtears

And, you're so lucky Kaled!!

Haha I'm UVtears ^^ I'm so crazy I bought the entire album just for that one song @__@ It was an album-only track.... =__=;


@gustav Same! She IS a chameleon, and I love every one of her styles. But so many fans, including some English-speaking fans, have come to prefer her sexy hardcore image. =__=;; I'm getting sick of it... I love WORK IT! on monsteR so much because I get UNIVERSE vibes. But I much prefer angeL because it has such variety and a return to her cute self.

Cute, sexy, cool, tough... we haven't seen her full display like that since JAPONESQUE I think. Even W FACE ~outside~ and ~inside~ wasn't as diverse, even though you're right gustav, that it was much more varied than everything since. I've always loved tracks like Ningyo-hime, Can We Go Back and No Man's Land for being rock-ish. And "Otoko" from the cover album. She has the perfect vocal range for it. And all her different styles suit her -- I wish she did what SHE wants, not what fans want. Koda Kumi is a little bit of everything and to me, has one of the most unique sounds around. UNIVERSE, TABOO, So Nice (for example)... they all have such a strong kind of flavor to them that makes them stand out against the regular crap of the music industry.

Sigh.

Originally Posted by Corvina

Kuu was the recommendation on the Fuji TV morning programme Tokudane this morning!
To be precise they suggested PARTY and showed its PV apparently.
Pikotaro also was a guest and he spoke about how awesome Kuu is, too!

Uwah, that's great! PARTY is still one of my favorite tracks from the last few years >w< Can never get enough of her EDM sounds.

[tokyoxjapanxfan]

Personally I’m surprised she hasn’t moved towards a Dua Lipa-esque sound. It’s still sexy, but more mature, sleek and current.

I think she’d be able to pull it off super well. She can dance, she’s hot, she has a powerful voice. She’d perhaps pull it off the best out of Japan’s current active artists.

The dance genre would suit her incredibly well.

[KarenPang]

1 thing great about the Sora Senpai Club interviews they've done with Kuu is that not only there's the inclusion of English hard subtitles , it's also 1 way for non Japanese fans to get to know Kuu especially if they don't know who she's

Also I like the way they conducted the interview they did with Kuu & also past guests in an objective manner and the atmosphere is lighthearted but it also get serious when needed

Most of Kuu's Rock influenced songs I'm a fan of as I really like Rock music & her voice suits Rock just like Mika

I do not mind a Rock album from Kuu , don't know about a full length album but a mini Rock album would be another alternative compromise

And Rainbow141 don't worry you're not the only 1 who have bought an album just for 1 song , I did it twice +_+

The Paradox Live Exhibition Show -悪漢奴等- is available digitally but just like GRANRODEO's tribute album , not all the songs can be bought online :s

https://recochoku.jp/album/A2001895569/album

[kaled kalil]

Thanks, everyone ♥

It's hard to know what she wants to do and what she might feels pressure to do. If you look back on how her career went after Crazy 4 U, the urban/hip-hop was one of the styles she often did, most of her collaborations are with rappers, so the current state of her music being trap-pop and very rap based is understandable. Maybe this is what she thinks people expect from "Koda Kumi".

Between this and rock, I would definitely say she likes hip-hop over rock, but at the same time I don't know if this is the Koda Kumi persona, and Kumiko liking rock more. I personally don't care for rock that much, but her own rock style (ningyo hime, selfish, freaky, can we go back) I enjoy, so I would definitely enjoy some more dips in this genre. It's funny that she never did a rock type ballad, with the only one remotely close to it being Aishou, that would be nice to do it again.

As pointed out before, what's popping in the world doesn't always translate in Japan, so I wouldn't expect her to do some of the current trends. The disco-pop that Dua does now, which I would die for Kumi to try to be honest, doesn't seem to be something that the japanese audience care, besides BTS's Dynamite not a single song that is influenced by that is in the top 100 of streams music services (using musicline.me as an example https://music.line.me/webapp/chart/appLineRanking). The whole top 10, besides BTS and YOASOBI, sounds pretty much the same to me, piano ballads or rockish songs.

[Ayu_Love]

Originally Posted by Rainbow141

Haha I'm UVtears ^^ I'm so crazy I bought the entire album just for that one song @__@ It was an album-only track.... =__=;


@gustav Same! She IS a chameleon, and I love every one of her styles. But so many fans, including some English-speaking fans, have come to prefer her sexy hardcore image. =__=;; I'm getting sick of it... I love WORK IT! on monsteR so much because I get UNIVERSE vibes. But I much prefer angeL because it has such variety and a return to her cute self.

Cute, sexy, cool, tough... we haven't seen her full display like that since JAPONESQUE I think. Even W FACE ~outside~ and ~inside~ wasn't as diverse, even though you're right gustav, that it was much more varied than everything since. I've always loved tracks like Ningyo-hime, Can We Go Back and No Man's Land for being rock-ish. And "Otoko" from the cover album. She has the perfect vocal range for it. And all her different styles suit her -- I wish she did what SHE wants, not what fans want. Koda Kumi is a little bit of everything and to me, has one of the most unique sounds around. UNIVERSE, TABOO, So Nice (for example)... they all have such a strong kind of flavor to them that makes them stand out against the regular crap of the music industry.

Sigh.



Uwah, that's great! PARTY is still one of my favorite tracks from the last few years >w< Can never get enough of her EDM sounds.

Agreed!

Some of Kuu's rocks songs are my favourite in her entire discography. She is the only artist I know that does 'sexy rock' and does it so well. 'Selfish' is not just one of my favourite songs from her but also one of my favourite MVs from her, I love it. I also love 'Boom Boom Boys', 'Ningyo Hime', 'insane', 'No Man's Land' etc. I love the more 'rock' segments that she does in her live shows as well as the sexy dance bits.

I would love for her to release an album of 'rock-ified' songs she done in her lives before, such as the rock versions for 'Bling Bling Bling' and 'Real Emotion'!

I love her EDM songs, her sexy sensual songs, her rock songs and her ballads. It would be awesome if one day she did an EP project where each EP had a different genre theme that makes up the chameleon that is 'Koda Kumi'. So a rock one, an EDM one, a sexy 'candy/so nice' RnB one, and a ballad one etc. I would die for that haha. I doubt she ever will, but I would love it lol.

I thought the Japanese audience was quite fond of her rock songs?