Japanese Christmas playlist

Now we are in December I thought to myself: I want to do a post about Japanese Christmas songs! I’m not sure I know that many, and most of them I know are from idol groups, but well here is my list~

Many probably don’t know about this Arashi song (I didn’t at least), but as I searched to see if Arashi had a Christmas song hidden in their discography, I found this! Ano Hi no Merry Christmas （あの日のメリークリスマス） is a light, typical Arashi song. Nevertheless, it’s a Christmas song and it has sort of grown on me, after having listened to it a couple of times. I would have liked some solo lines, but apart from that it’s a nice jingle for Christmas~

This is a song I know well, having listened to it many times. As always Buono! produces some great pop-rock tunes and this is no exception. I love Winter Story‘s catchy and groovy sound, as well as the brilliant chorus. A Buono! classic of mine and a great song to make me in mood for Christmas!

I can’t forget to include Momoiro Clover Z’s crazy and energetic Christmas song Santa-san! From the first time I listened to this song, I was hooked. It’s such a great, funny song with a lot of small gimmicks. Here I’m thinking of things like Reni’s ii toko (“good qualities”) dance for Santa Claus (or whatever it is) and a mentioning about Australian Christmas being in midsummer, which results in a throwback to their summer song Coco☆Natsu （ココ☆ナツ）(haha), so crazy!

This year Momoiro Clover Z’s “little brother” group DISH// (under Stardust) has released a Christmas single, nearly as crazy as Santa-san. Itsuka wa Merry Christmas （いつかはメリークリスマス）is a funny rock/pop song with fresh voices from the group’s young members (15-18 years old). Like Momoiro Clover Z they sure like to make funny gags during their songs, which I really like about this group. I also like the message of this song, which is wishing for a girlfriend from Santa Claus in order not to be lonely on Christmas eve (lol). DISH’s members always seem in desperate need of one, even though they are all quite handsome! That I find very ironic. Then again it’s just a song, and an entertaining one at that.

This Christmas song by actress Maeda Aki is from her album Winter Tales, and is the only song of that album which isn’t a cover of previous Christmas hits, I believe. I think it’s a nice “gentle” song (like the title Fuyu Fuwari ふゆふわり, meaning “gently winter”) which a  lot of bell chimes, beautiful violin and Aki’s sweet voice to top it all. I like this actress a lot, as well as this Christmas song.

I love this Christmas love ballad by C-ute! I like Aitai Lonely Christmas （会いたいロンリークリスマス）so much I even listen to it when it isn’t Christmas (haha). It’s such a catchy song and the chorus is easy to remember too~ I wish C-ute could make songs like this again. It has a strong setsunai (“wistful/yearning”) feeling to it right? I kind of like that type of songs. I guess it’s because we all yearn for that special someone during the holidays (sigh).

I know this isn’t a song sung by a Japanese person, but Canadian René Simard released many Japanese songs as a child, and I like his song Christmas Tree （クリスマス・トォリー）a lot, so thought I would include it in my list. René has a nice heartfelt voice and delivers yet a beautiful song to enjoy during Christmas. He has released a lot of other Christmas songs in French as well as some in English I’m sure. So if you like this song, you should check his other songs out (even though they are old)~

This is such a happy song from Hey! Say! JUMP about having fun in the snow with one’s sweetheart (or that’s what I gather at least). I’m not sure it’s a Christmas song, but the theme “snow” is enough for me to make it so (haha). I love the intro line: masaka, yuki da! (“no way, it’s snowing!”). That line always make me in a good mood. Not that I’m too fond of snow, but I guess we all love the magic of the first snow of Christmas right?

I had to include Nino’s Winter Song as well. Nino is my favorite member from Arashi and I just love this beautiful Christmas ballad from him. I only have the version recorded from his radio show Bay Storm, and I’m not even sure if it’s been released anywhere else. He should totally release this on an album though! My favorite part of this sweet song is when he ends the song with the line: Merry Christmas to you, Merry Christmas to you~ ♪

Fairies has also released a Christmas song! Sweet Jewel has a very uplifting feeling to it and always make me in the mood to be productive (haha). Fairies always knows how to make very girly, yet stylish songs. That’s what I love about them. In addition, the PV for this song is so glittering and pretty, you should check it out if you haven’t!

This is the theme song from Morimoto Shintaro’s movie Snow Prince and is such a beautiful Christmas song! I love the piano play in the background, as well as the Snow Prince choir’s young adorable voices. I totally wish they could have been a permanent group, but unfortunately they only released this single. And I wish Johnny’s would do other songs like this too. It’s so precious!

I know this isn’t an official Christmas song maybe, but I always found it very Christmas-like for some reason! Apart from that, I see the light ~Bokutachi no Stage~ is one of my favorite Sexy Zone songs. It was included on their first single and also features the very young fresh voices of Marius and Sou (I totally miss their voices now! *cries*). I would have included their more official Christmas/summer song Sexy Summer ni Yuki ga Furu （Sexy Summer に雪が降る）as well, but Soundcloud wouldn’t let me upload it (buuhuu).

So these were my suggestions for Japanese Christmas songs (which aren’t covers of English ones). I hope you enjoyed and if you know some other good J-Pop Christmas songs, don’t hesitate to mention them in the comment section below~
And let’s hope Soundcloud doesn’t delete my uploads.

Momoiro Clover Z’s first album is here!

I got this shiny beautiful album in my mailbox two days before it’s actual release (CDjapan I love you ♥o♥) and was surprised to find a wonderful little photo of ninja Momoclo added to the lot ^o^ Yay! The title of Momoclo’s first album is Battle and Romance which is just a cool bad-ass name if you ask me xD The cover is fantastic and as you can maybe see on the picture there’s shine on the paper too :O Cool huh? The design on the discs themselves are also a piece of art and I love how Kanako’s member color red clearly dominates the picture (well, she’s not the leader for nothing ^^). The booklet photos are really funny too and I liked how the pictures and lyrics were seperated (probably because there are so many tracks :P) Well,  I promised a review of Momoclo’s album and here it is! I’ve decided to only review the new songs or else this would take forever to finish (there are 19 tracks in total on this album! O_o) Yet again I’ve ended up nearly writing a novel, instead of a normal length post, but I hope you will read to the end anyway! ;3

Let’s begin:

Z Densetsu ~Owarinaki Kakumei~ (Ｚ伝説～終わりなき革命～)
This song is like taken out of a Ranger series, with the melody and the announcer who introduces the members while shouting their colors xD lol. Great stuff~ They really underline that they are Momoiro Clover Z now as Z is mentioned again and again throughout the song ;) I love when some of the members get to the high notes in this song, it sounds really good ♥ ^^ I’m glad this song was used as intro song, it really introduces Momoiro Clover Z in a throughout and crazy way in perfect Momoclo style~

CONTRADICTION
Whoah~ This song is so cool! The electric beat in the beginning is a killer choice and the deep voices of the girls are a nice fresh sound from Momoclo. I think the girls really shine in this song and the melody is very catchy (as all Momoclo songs are), especially the first instrumental after the first verses! I really like this song and it’s probably one of my many favorites of the new songs :D

Wani to Shampoo (ワニとシャンプー; Alligator and Shampoo)
I love Momoka’s lines in the beginning of the song, the voice she uses is just hilarious xD I really feel this is Momoka’s song, I don’t know why… Her voice sort of stands out :3 I keep wondering what they are singing about though – the title is Alligator and Shampoo – lol! It’s hard not to wonder. They keep singing “yabai, yabai”, which means something is bad. Hmm… I hope someone will translate that song one day ^^; But otherwise this is a funny little song, which I really feel would be even better if I knew what they are singing xD Haha

Kimi no Ato (キミノアト)
The first ballad on the album starts out with a beautiful verse sung by Kanako. Really her voice is just so pure and lovely – I love it! In the first part of the song the instrumental is only piano, which sounds really nice and then there are added more instruments as the song evolves. I really feel this is the best ballad I have heard from Momoclo yet. Now they haven’t made that many ballads (^^;) but this really brings out some beautiful tunes from all the members ♥ Now I’m already a sucker for idol ballads, but it’s probably just because I love how you can hear voices much better in calm and slow songs and then it’s also just a nice break from all those energetic songs Momoclo (and many other idol groups) usually do ;)

D’ no Junjou (D’の純情)
This song is just totally badass. I think it’s the violin and the melody – it really sounds like a villain’s theme and before watching the PV I was sure that was the idea of this song (as the other song was a heroine song). But then it turned out to be a ninja song and I was like “that’s even better!” xD Ninjas are so cool, but maybe they are “evil ninjas” in this song, because the melody very much indicates a villain’s theme to me ^^;  Heh and then I also love the “dash, dash, dash” parts of the song lyrics, really catchy ^o^ ♪

Ame no Tachikara wo (天手力男)
This song has a very different style as well and is probably the most original song on the whole album – it’s without a doubt also the catchiest. God I’ve had this song in my head forever since I heard it for my first time (it’s actually quite terrible) but then again it’s also a really great song, so I just keep listening to it again and again! Lol xD With this song I also wonder what they are singing about – the song title means something like “from us in the rain?” (According to google translate) so I’m not so sure about it… they also sing atsui a lot in the song, which means hot; could it be they are singing about the hot rainy weather?? Probably not (laughs) ^O^;;; But nevertheless this is a really good song (probably my favorite on this disc), which I just can’t wait to watch a live performance of! :D

Orange Note (オレンジノート)
I’m happy this song finally made it to the recording studios ^o^ It’s just one of the true/original Momoclo songs that have stuck with them since their debut and it’s a really fantastic song too ♥ Too bad Akari isn’t in this version, as I really love her rap in this song (even though I actually think Shiori did a good job at covering Akari’s part too) but I guess it can’t be helped as she’s probably never coming back and I have to get used to that fact :/ I’m just happy it got recorded though, I love love this song :3

Stardust Serenade (スターダストセレナーデ)
A calm and soothing song this is, it’s probably not the most noticeable song though, but I like it anyway xD (Yes I’m a sucker for calm songs and ballads…>_>;) I like when the girls go: “ah, ah~”, sounds nice ;) The bridge part is actually also very nice in this song and is definitely my favorite part of the song ^-^ I don’t know what else to say about this song that I think it’s cute and I’m sure it will grow on me J And btw, am I the only one thinking the word stardust in the title could be a possible reference to their agency? :P

Kono Uta (コノウタ; That Song)
Yay, another song where Kanako is the first person to sing (bonus!) xD Haha, I like the fast singing parts of this song and the rap parts ♥ Kanako’s voice is also really good in this song as they sing in really high notes sometimes for this song and Kanako’s amazing voice can reach those high notes like they were a piece of cake ;3 But then again this song is probably the least interesting of the new songs. I don’t know what it is, but it’s just a bit bland imo. What do you guys think? :O

MomoClo no Nippon Manzai! (ももクロのニッポン万歳!) (Bonus Track)
I had a smile on my face the whole time listening to this song, to me it sounds like they are mentioning as many cities and areas of Japan as possible; it’s really hilarious to listen to! ^o^ The girls also try on some really crazy dialects and funny expressions xD Love it! But the “hyoto, hyoto” parts drive one a little crazy too I guess (lol) >o<;; Otherwise, a really fun and original song too, I would very much like to read a translation of this song, like many of the other songs on this album > <;  *sigh*

Now to the solo songs! :D I think it’s so cool that each member got a solo song on their very first album (wow!) That’s probably a first in the history of debut albums in the idol world (lol) ^o^  and I really hope it’s a tradition they are going to keep *3*

Momota Kanako – Taiyou to Ekubo (太陽とえくぼ)
The intro is really sweet and cute, very fitting for the cute and adorable Kanako :3 I really love this song. It’s catchy and calming and brings me to think of summer and sun (which of course also is a bonus to me in the cold Denmark xD) ~ Kanako’s voice is good for all kinds of songs and this song is no exception. Even though it would have been cool to hear her in a song with a more challenging style, I really like this song and think it fits her very well ^^ It would be weird to hear Kanako sing a sad song or something, happy is more her style ;) With that said, I hope this is the first Kanako solo of many great to come in the future (^_▼^)

Hayami Akari – fall into me
This is more to the gloomy side, but it’s also more to the cool side ^_~ Akari’s voice has also been good to rap parts and this song is mostly rap, but then she suddenly turn over to a more high note, which sounds totally amazing! The slow notes in this song is also really cool and the beat and rock tunes just makes this into a totally kickass song! xD Too bad it’s such a short song though (maybe the recording studio thought all this awesomeness in one song could be bad for the heart or something, so they decided to shorten it to make sure nobody would suffer a heart attack of over-excitement! Lol) xD Well, I wouldn’t mind a little too much excitement though ;P

Tamai Shiori – …Ai Desu ka? (…愛ですか?; …Love?’)
This is such an idol song in both body and soul ^o^; But nevertheless, Shiori’s loveliness shines bright in this song~ ☆ I have a feeling the lyrics must be very innocent, but then again, it suits Shiori. Shiori and the color yellow just has that feeling of innocence, am I not right? :P But yeah, it’s a cute song and good for the ears too, but it’s probably the least noticeable of the six soloes. (Sorry!) >-< But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great song, all the songs are! It’s just a bit more to the ordinary side xD If you get what I mean? ^^;

Sasaki Ayaka – Datte Aarin Nanda Moon☆(だって あーりんなんだもーん☆)
This is a song that’s far away from ordinary! (Haha) This solo song just screams A~rin in full force *U* Am I guessing right that this song is about cakes? (lol) Well I don’t have to ask; even the calendar page of A~rin in the Momoclo calendar had cakes all over it :P I loved how she squeezed in her “puni puni” trademark saying in the lyrics and it actually sounded great – yay! I think this is the funniest of the six solo songs and it’s probably also the catchiest one (can’t get the rin-rin-rin parts out of my head!) ^o^

Ariyasu Momoka – Arigatou no Present (ありがとうのプレゼント; Thank You Present)
This is a true ballad and a beautiful one too ♥ Gosh, I love Momoka’s voice; it has that hoarse quality, which just sounds great in songs and is a nice contrast to the light voices of for example those of Kanako and Shiori ^^ Momoka sings this song in a very heartfelt way and it wouldn’t surprise me if she broke out in tears when she sings this live. I’m happy she got a song like this.

Tagaki Reni – Koi wa Abare Ondekoza (恋は暴れ鬼太鼓; Love is a Raging Ondekoza)
Wow, an enka song? Well I guess that’s crazy Reni for you! ^o^; Haha! I actually like this song style and it really fits Reni’s voice imo. Again I wish this song was a little longer… When it stops I always just feel like “that’s it? I wanted more!” >_< Apart from that I’m interested to hear why Reni choose this type of song? It’s definitely a style that suits her ;)

Phew! I finally finished the song reviews, now to my overall opinion of the album: I think this is a strong debut album and it has a lot of energy. If anyone says he thought this album was boring, he must be lying. I really think MomocloZ has proved their ability to stand strong even after losing Akari as a member. I’m very glad to have bought this album and I hope it is first of many Momoclo albums, to be added to my music collection ^O^ Heh.

Btw, here’s a funny picture of Kanako I stumbled upon today! ;D

The beautiful bee queen! ♥ ^o^

Happy birthday Kanakoo~!

Now the day has finally come ^o^ My favorite Momokuro member has turned 17! ^O^

Happy birthday KanakoooOOOoOOOOOoooO!!

This girl and idol group is very special to me, so I’m really happy that Momoiro Clover Z is doing so well at the moment. It’s also very obvious that there has been put more work into their PVs with every new PV they make :D Yay! I think Kanako is a great leader to the group and her color red fits that role perfectly~ ^^ I love how she can move her body into the most crazy positions and even though she’s the second oldest member, her voice is the lightest one in the group!! :P  I think that Momoiro Clover Z (even though missing Akari) will keep growing and show what an original, creative and fun idol group they are. Think about it: they have sung as both Indians, boxers, bowlers, bikers, pandas, bikini/sailor girls, thieves, ninjas, rangers and worn yukata school uniforms! xD (lol) You really never know what they will do next and that’s exactly what I (and lots of others) love about them :D And then I also think the girls have wonderful personalities which really shines through in their performances :3

Well, I hope you have a great day Kanako and that you as well as all Momoclo’s members will keep doing crazy, funny and wonderful new songs :D Never give up on your dream of getting invited to Kouhaku Uta Gassen! xD You will make it one day – I’M SURE OF IT.