The Koda Kumi Rate PART II: WE'RE DONE, for now

That MAMA Awards performance was really something!

 

Bop Bop Bop almost reaching T30

Heaven couldn't wait for ha

 

I haven't had much to say about these eliminations so far. I'm just surprised that "Bling Bling Bling" did so well - I feel like I can really never read what you guys will like or dislike.

 

That's the main point of a rate. Obviously every artist has songs that are quite instant and their trademark and those will receive the most praise from basically 90% of the participants and yet there are those tracks that are quite polorizing. I love this, because I can see the songs from the other perspective.

 

Yippy yippy yi yai yippy yi yo!
Yippy yippy yi yai yippy yi yo!






















32
XXX feat. Koda Kumi / SOULHEAD

Average: 7,75
Highest score: 10x5 (@otenkiame, @aaronhansome, @Remorque, @RUNAWAY, @Weslicious) 9x1 (@Cutlery)
Lowest score: 4x2 (@ThisIsRogue, @Eskiath) 5x2 (@soratami, @yuuurei)
My score: 8​

A third song in a row that is not tied with any other? Can you believe‽ XXX, the sister track to D.D.D., was produced by the same people that produced D.D.D., imagine that. Those were SOULHEAD themselves and someone named OCTOPUSSY on the music and SOULHEAD on the lyrics. First released as a second a-side on the SOULHEAD's single Pray, it would later appear on their album Naked. Basically it's mostly the same songs as D.D.D. only with YOSHIKA and TSUGUMI taking the lead and with a different melody in the chorus. I like this quite a lot, as it carries most of the great features of its sister, still it always felt a little underbaked. Perhaps it's due to the fact that I got used to the melody of D.D.D.'s chorus, but facts are facts, fellow kuchies. Speaking of SOULHEAD, the real life sisters are pretty talented girls, as they tend to write and produce all of their songs themselves. Ever since they recorded with Kumi, I wanted to check their own stuff out and yet I only managed to listen to their self-titled offer that was released in 2010, which is actually a great JPop/JR'n'B album with a couple of really amazing tracks. By the way, speaking of the "answer songs" phenomenon, looks like Kuu and SOULHEAD were ahead of the game, as the major ones started coming out only the next year. U-turning to the track at hand, the lyrics are similar to the sister's, but the main focus is more on sexual desires, rather than partying:

It's always a perfect temptation, and when we've got it
Never let'em go, never let'em go
Breathing on you sweetly and rocking it
The stimulation is so good, right now we'll make you feel good

It's always a perfect temptation, and when we've got it
Never let'em go, never let'em go
C'mon, I want you to sing with us now
And I want you to catch us strongly
That the way we do, yeah!!
(c) @otenkiame

So more than anything this one proved, that for most of you there is no such thing as too much of a good song, even if the similarities are that apparent. For some though, this wasn't as exciting. @ThisIsRogue was glad that Kumi showed up at some point, "Kuu's vocal is probably the best thing about this." As with most of the songs that Kumi is featured on, she only makes them better. @TABOO (7) doesn't stave off his composed manner of critiquing, "When compared to her counterpart, D.D.D., XXX is definitely the weaker of the two. She still bangs, however, with her revamped lyrics and changes in both the production and flow." Love when you sum up my own thoughts on the songs so neatly. @Squashua (7) decided to cosplay as @Sprockrooster and mistook the song for a different one, "I originally had this as a 10 but only because i mistakenly thought we were rating this aggressive grimy electro-scuzz boperoo also entitled triple X. The actual XXX kinda feels like a D.D.D. redux but less interesting." I have to agree that XXX from the Dreaming Now! single is hips better to me as well. Part III, hun, Part III. A seldom comment from @EachSmallStep (7) only cements the overall take on this by the lower scorers, "Not quite as solid as its counterpart, but the refrain is an interesting take." Props to YOSHIKA and TSUGUMI for coming up with 2 melodies for the chorus. @vague (8) has a theory, "okay, i know this isn't too different from DDD, but, to me, it feels like a cute demo that avex took and polished into something really, really great. like, obv, idk if that's what actually happened, but i wouldn't be surprised if that was the case ddd. this just doesn't work as well for me, and it loses a little of its spark with SOULHEAD as the lead artist, rather than Kuu." The theory is not on the thruthful side of things, hun, but I do agree with the sentiment.

Moving on to the highest scorers you should notice that's the first song to get the whole five 10s. First up is a 9 giver though, @Cutlery, who had a reason for giving it less, "Subtracting a point cuz this is basically the same as D.D.D. but less enthusiastic and with slightly less production quality. Still a bop" Really? I believe the production is on par with its sister, only that the chorus melody is less striking. @RUNAWAY is once again gushing, "this ‘answer song’ is just as good as the original, and I honestly might like it more than D.D.D. It’s just SO GOOD." Now that's a statement for a headline. I wonder how quick @Weslicious is in noticing which of the sisters his listening to, "A good sister track to DDD. Both as good as each other." Happy you enjoy them so, hun. @Remorque has a similar expirience with the songs, "Okay, but I'm living as much for this one as I do D.D.D.." Hmmm, would people guess D.D.D.'s placement after this elimination? So how does it feel being on the bottom, @otenkiame? "DDD's twin sister, and so delicious with the more prominent electric guitar. I actually dig this track's rap verse more, but like DDD's chorus more. Regardless, LOVE both of these." Glad you love them so much.

To my knowledge, XXX was never performed live with both acts, so here's a solo one by SOULHEAD.

​

 

31
No Regret

Average: 7,88
Highest score: 10x4 (@Osiris, @lalaclairi_, @Squashua, @Cutlery) 9x2 (@soratami, @me!)
Lowest score: 4x1 (@Eskiath) 5,5x1 (@Love Deluxe)
My score: lookie above​

Dun dun dun! The last track to miss Top30 is none other than the 8th single in 12-in-12, No Regret. Produced by h-wonder (lots of good stuff, as you should already know) and written by Watanabe Tooru (Trust you), the songs is very anime opening and guess what, it was used as one for The Law of Ueki. This was one of my first Kumi obsessions, the straight-forward and catch AF sound that is so predominant in the anime specific songs was very hard to resist. This is pretty spotless when it comes to bops, still a couple of gripes I have with this. First and foremost, the mastering is so weird here, half the times I'm listening to this it sounds very muddy and secondly, I still don't know what the background ladies sing. As those are not a part of the official lyrics, guess I'll be suffering forever now. Speaking of lyrics, those are a pretty standard anime spiel of believing in yourself and not giving up:

Alone in a corner of the cold city,
Without a place to go, I always just wandered about
Wanting someone to notice, I kept screaming
My voice was devoured by the darkness

In this world with only lies, I want
only you to see the true me

I at least won't hand over these feelings to anyone
If I could even surpass fate
This moment will never come again, so let's have no regret
Don't hide it
Now I'll unleash
all my power to you!
(c) @otenkiame

And not to forget about the amazing 12-in-12 artwork, this round we have India:

​

The anime-ism of this surely got everyone talking, right? Like one of our top scorers, @lalaclairi_, who wasn't swayed by the actual facts, but appreciated the sound in general, "I don't know if this was ever one, but No Regret would be an amazing anime opening/closing." Opening it is. @RUNAWAY (7.5) has some... technical difficulties with his hearing, "in my notes I put it down as another Cutie Honey rip-off and it’s astonishing that less than a year after Butterfly, she decided to put out ANOTHER song that sounds just the same. It gets marked down for being unoriginal." Okay, props to you for listen all the songs that were used in anime/dorama, still those 3 have some similar instruments, but there are no the same, hun. You shouldn't worry though, @vague (8.5) will be your partner in crime, "the backing track is basically Butterfly pt. 2 which was basically Cutie Honey pt. 2 dddd. but i enjoy all three songs, so it's fine w/z me." Okay, once again, I'll agree that the instruments are similar, but that's it! @otenkiame (7,5) on the other hand is being a voice of reason, as most times, "Very anime-esque and poppy. It's solid, it really is, but it's always felt a little not Kuuish to me? Whatever that means." You know what, you're right, it does sound a bit alien, although considering the amount of genres Kumi devoured over the years, I tend not to notice. Among those who clocked the anime side of things was @yuuurei (7), "I wrote that this sounds like an anime theme and then I read that it was in fact an anime theme. It's pretty good, too." I wonder if that anime was actually any good. It did run for 2 seasons and had 2 games as well. @Remorque (6,5) didn't find the anime qualities to be of any help, "This one's quite enjoyable, but there's parts of the song that sound a bit jarring to me..." Which ones, hun? @TABOO (8) noticed the main adventage of the song, "There is so much urgency here; the run from pre-chorus to post-chorus is full of such energy! No Regret grabs you, and simply won’t let go until it’s done." Certainly gets me going! We're not alone in enjoying the adrenaline kick, as @Squashua highlights his favorite part, "That haywire drum'n'bass implosion before the final chorus though. Literally pulsating with energy and drive this one." If I went to a gym, I would put this on a playlist. Finishing off with @Cutlery we have some more love for the high burst of energy, "This Hi-NRG jam sounds straight out of 90s J-pop, and I'm living for it! I'm always a sucker for strings used «unusually» and this single fits the description perfectly! Its hopeful lyrics are cliche alright sometimes and downright inspirational at others" The strings are really nice up in here, indeed.

Kumi performed this one live on TV a couple times, still didn't really do so via touring:
​

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

NO!

 

Out Top30!



D.D.D. feat.SOULHEAD
you
Candy feat.Mr.Blistah
Shake It Up
feel
WIND
Love goes like...
No Regret
Birthday Eve
Lies
Ima Sugu Hoshii
KAMEN feat.Ishii Tatuya
Someday
A Whole New World / Koda Kumi & Peabo Bryson
(07/14)




Get Up & Move!!
Ningyo-hime
Yume no Uta
Tsuki to Taiyou
Puppy
Koi no Tsubomi
WON'T BE LONG
JUICY
Candle Light
Cherry Girl
I'll be there
Unmei
With your smile
Milk Tea
Twinkle
GO WAY!!
(07/16)




LAST ANGEL feat.Tohoshinki
Amai Wana
Himitsu
Ai no Uta
anytime
Under
BUT
Koi no Mahou
Aishou
Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto
Wonderland
FREAKY
MORE
Black Cherry
(08/14)




TABOO
show girl
Your Love
stay with me
This is not a love song
Driving
Bling Bling Bling feat. AK-69
That Ain't Cool feat. Fergie
Hurry Up!
Moon Crying
JUST THE WAY YOU ARE
Joyful
Ai no Kotoba
Venus
(05/14)


EXTRAS

Get It On
Sweet Kiss
Boys ♥ Girls
XXX feat. Koda Kumi / SOULHEAD
JOY -meets Koda Kumi / TRF
Everybody feat. Koda Kumi / Katori Shingo from SMAP
Futari de...
Asu he
Simple & Lovely / m-flo loves Koda Kumi
Sora
Run For Your Life
girls
Come Over
Dear Family
Bounce
Once Again
Lady Go!
Always
Winter Bell
(03/19)​

 

Someday, Yume no Uta, With Your Smile, Himitsu, Just The Way You Are, Lady Go! and Always can go next!

Bye.

 

And toss Get Up & Move!! in there too. I'd add Ima Sugu Hoshii as well, but I'm sure a song that slutty will hang on a bit longer, so no point calling for it to go.

 

No.

 

The Top 30 is pretty much what it should be. I’d say Lady Go, Himitsu, and JUST THE WAY YOU ARE are my choices for next to go.

 

Lady Go! deserves at least top 20.....

It's one of if not her best b-side......y'all.

 

YAY to some discussion! Of course we have a tie up next and one of Kumi's biggest song is one of the tied songs!

 

Get up & Move is a bop!!!!!! One of my favorite songs that got left, I expect to see it in like top 15.

 

Guess what I didn't do yesterday? The reveal as I was busy romanizing the new Aoyama Thelma album. Here hoping we will see one of eliminations this evening.

 

(boom shaka laka is a jam!)

 

Haven't listened to it yet.

 

It was quite alright, better than her previous one for sure.​

29
(TIE)
Yume no Uta

Average: 7,90
Highest score: 10x2 (@yuuurei, @RUNAWAY) 9,5x1 (@otenkiame )
Lowest score: 3x1 (@Cutlery) 5x1 (@Empty Shoebox)
My score: 8​

Did anyone expect this to go so soon? Guess that 3 really did it in, huh? One of Kumi's biggest hits is vacating the premises. Produced by Yamaguchi Hiroo (Rain, Talk to you, m.a.z.e.) and written by Kumi, this is an epic sounding power ballad, which manages to not be boring one bit, as it can be with ballads in general. I would go and gush a bit about this, as this was a moment, when it came out, and Kumi sounds amazing singing this, still... remember this?

The cat is out of the bag! The track doesn't plagiarize just one, but 2 whole songs! Mainly the Hiroo guy took the verses from Tsuyuzaki Harumi's Mou Nido to and chorus from Oku Hanako's Yasashii Hana and spliced them together to create Yume no Uta. FOR SHAME! My score perfectly expresses my feeling towards this. A huge song that is muddled by being Kumi's very own Frankenstein. It's kinda the same how I felt about SHAKE IT in that regard in Part I.

​

Lyrically we have a song of heartbreak where the guy has already left and yet Kumi keeps seeing him in her dreams and hoping for him to come back:

​

I want to see you, but I can't
The feeling and reality of this
seem to blur and distort what's in front of me
Please, somehow, don't cry anymore
Though my heart hesitates

I love you so much, yes
more than anyone else, yet...
When I've woken up alone again today,
I'll drown in you
knowing this dream won't come true
(c) @otenkiame​

​

When it came to your knowledge of the song's questionable creation only a couple of you knew. @otenkiame didn't bat one eye at the thought though, "Over the top and dramatic as all else. This winter ballad is definitely among my favourite of hers. Love when she just goes all out with the ad-libbing at the end. Shame the entire song plagarized not one but TWO songs." You get some, you lose some, right? @Weslicious (9) wasn't really shaken by the revelation either, "A lovely winter ballad. Queen of elegant plagiarism and not looking both ways when crossing the road." I bet Kumi herself didn't have anything to do with this. She was presented with the melody to write the lyrics nevertheless. @Cutlery has seen right through the trickery, "Nothing much more than a bloated, insipid, bland ballad of post-breakup, riddled with awful production cliches and too much sap for my taste. Next!" I wouldn't go that far, hun... and I would watch your back from now on if I were you. When it came to @Remorque (8) to comment on the song, he was quite impressed, "She sounds fantastic here." She really does. Although @vague (8.5) thought that Kumi went a bit overboard by the end of the song, "this is a really pretty ballad. the melody is so lovely and her emotional vocal delivery really sells this. the ad-libbing over top of ad-libs at the end does make me laugh a lil bit, tho... like, calm down, sis." But... how else would she convey her feelings! She is the queen of YEAH, FOR YOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUU ad-lib after all. @TABOO (8) decided to go back to Futari de... in order to give this a proper scoring, "I much prefer 夢のうた in comparison to its counterpart as it sounds a little more structured and polished. I wasn’t initially a fan of this track, but it’s definitely grown on me over the years." Love when songs do this to me! Concluding with our top scorers, we have @RUNAWAY, who appreciated the dramatics of it all, "I love this song and how theatrical it is. It really is a dream song." And @yuuurei, who despite some of her... arguable opinions found a gem in this one, "Gorgeous! She's singing her heart out here, love it!" So happy you love this, hun. Still waiting for some of that glowing commentary you were speaking off. I mean this one is positive, yes, but gimme more!

This was, of course, performed to hell and back and is still getting quite the exposure during Kumi's tours.

​

 

Oop read me
Altho I didn't trash/call for the cut of a ballad forever this time around, unlike Days and HEAVEN ki