Basically about a bunch of art students chasing their dreams and falling in love with each other.

I know a lot of people would probably call this drama boring, but it's really quite a strong storyline with a pretty stellar cast. There's also enough humor scattered throughout the drama so it's really not all that bad.

It's admittedly not one of the fastest moving dramas around, nor is it one of the most romantic or funny, but it definitely ranks really high in the "looks" department. The cast is good looking, the setting is really gorgeous, and there's always a sort of nostalgic feel about the whole show. It's sort of like a modern day artsy short story, where everything just feels too perfect to be true.

You'd walk away from this drama feeling like you've lived out a really elaborate dream, but as time passes, the dream slips away and you really don't remember quite a lot of it. It's still very very beautiful and worth the time to watch and enjoy.

[Maou]
Starring: Ohno Satoshi, Ikuta Toma


A lawyer tries to kill an investigator's (is that what Ikuta is?) family and friends, making sure the investigators feels the full extent of loss and suffering before the investigator himself gets killed. Yet the lawyer is never found out.

The lawyer is doing this because the investigator accidentally killed the lawyer's brother years ago, yet got away with it because his father paid someone off.

Well honestly, the story is much better than what I just wrote. It's far too complex and clever to summarize correctly. If you're looking for suspense, mystery and drama, this is the perfect show for you. You'd be blown away by the amazing storyline, very strong acting and how darned intelligent it is.

Well except for the Tarot card gasping girl, which is just lame but if you can ignore that then it's a really great show.

[Seigi no Mikata (2008)]
Starring: Yamada Yuu, Shida Mirai, Mukai Osamu


A perfect older sister who is really an evil woman deep inside tortures her younger sister. However, no one notices anything abnormal about the older sister because all the evil she does (to others) end up benefiting those people, which causes people to call her "Seigi no Mikata", meaning ally of justice.

This drama is seriously all for the laughs. You'll laugh at how the younger sister Yoko is so pitiful and all the pain she has to go through. You'll laugh at how ridiculous bitchy and unreasonable the older sister Makiko is. And you'll swoon at how handsome Mukai Osamu is.

What else does one need?

Well, at least to me, considering how much I like the two artists I am going to review in this entry. I was looking forward to both of these singles because the artists have NEVER disappointed me before. It seems 2009 is starting off on a bad foot for me, musically-wise at least.

Now everyone knows I've not done music reviews for a very long time, since I don't think I'm any good at it (I'll most likely crap my way through the whole thing). But I'm just giving it a shot again, perhaps months of not reviewing has given me new powers or something.

I'm going to review AAA's Tabidachi no Uta as well as Takizawa Hideaki (from Tackey & Tsubasa)'s Ai.Kakumei in this post.

[The B-sides are better than the A-sides?]

For me, my favorite songs on these two singles happen to be B-sides. Which is kind of odd since A-sides are supposed to be the ones that's supposed to be better isn't it?

AAA's Mosaic is undoubtedly a rather catchy song with a tune that resembles other countries' music (on first listen at least, I found it rather Kpoppy). However, the song is persistently mid-tempo - not slow enough to be sentimental or sexy, not fast enough to imagine any sort of interesting dance routines - which is rather frustrating. Throughout the song, all three vocalists remain uninspired, singing without power and attitude. This makes the song lack energy and makes the already draggy song even worse.

Compare it with any one of their earlier songs - DRAGON FIRE, Friday Party or BET even - and you'll see the lack of motivation in their singing glaring at you in the face.

One word I've seen being thrown around on the forums to describe this song is GENERIC. I usually don't consider any song generic, but upon first listen of Mosaic, I found no better word for it. It is truly mind-numbingly generic and it grows old very very quickly. You might love this song on first listen (as have I), but don't expect this song to remain on your favorites list for long.

I'm probably mistaken, but the song is supposed to be on the sexier side, but fails due to the constant synthesized thumps in the music. It reminds me of a church choir conductor keeping count. It's probably because of how fake it sounds. Maybe I just can't tell real thumps from fake thumps. Maybe I just have no idea what I'm doing at all in this post.

I know it sounds really bad at this point, but you should still give it a listen. It's decent for a few plays I suppose. I just seem to have passed that decent few plays.


Takizawa Hideaki's voice has never really impressed me much. It's thin, slightly whiny and he can't reach the higher notes without sounding like he has to go to the toilet. So it came as sort of a surprise to me when I first found out he was coming out with a solo single.

Well, I didn't like the single much, as you can tell by now. The only song that sort of impressed me with WITH LOVE, which happens to be the B-side for this single too.

It's a slow song and it does well in the first minute or so. The song is simple, sweet and relaxing. Takki doesn't have problems till the chorus starts. And once the chorus starts, ALL the problems start.

It continues to build up, like most Japanese songs do when they try to be grand and all. This instrument joins in, that instruments joins in, bla bla bla. We know how things go by now. It complicates the song, detracts from the whole innocent feel of it and just makes it loud and overbearing. It's like falling in love with that cute quiet girl that sits shyly at the back of the class, only to find out later that she's a cursing screamer that throws tantrums at the drop of a pin.

But it's just not enough to be overbearing is it? They had to add a whole CHOIR in. One word - overkill. By this point, the song is no longer really romantic or sweet or anything simple at all. It reminds me of a song people sing for their country - patriotic, proud, annoying - or at a graduation ceremony - overly dramatic and no one really cares after singing it once.

Similarly to Mosaic, WITH LOVE is good for a few listens. It too, is a safer song choice, and you'll get bored of it very easily. If you would like to listen to a really sweet and simple Tackey & Tsubasa song, try Sotsugyou~Sayonara wa Ashita no Tame ni~ instead. It was a much better attempt at something genuine.

And yes, if the best songs are already so bad, you can imagine how terrible the others are.

[The bad A-sides]

AAA's Tabidachi no Uta has a disadvantage from the start because of its ominous name - which means Song of Departure - causing me to have bad feelings about the song even before I take my first listen to it.

Somehow, all the three main vocalists sound out of their element. Nissy sounds sharp, nasal and - for lack of a better word - whiny. Misako sounds terrible because her parts are way too low for her, causing her to sound like an inexperienced karaoke junkie. Urata fails to impress me too (which is saying a lot), because he sounds like he's aged a lot. His voice is not the sweet, smooth and unique one I fell in love with in Chewing Gum. He tries too hard and it shows. His voice is airy in many instances and it gets depressing to listen to him altogether.

And then, the rap arrives. I suppose he's trying to do the whole emotional, raspy rap that Soulja (the Japanese one) does. He just sounds like he's whispering very anxiously.

The chorus is decent I suppose. Another safe one. It's almost as if they don't care anymore.

The single came with a remixed version of Tabidachi no Uta. It sounds rather house/club-ish. Listen to this one instead. At least with the filters and the synthesized notes, you can't tell how boring and bad this song is. It's much better than the original. Even the rap sounds better.


Takki's Ai.Kakumei starts off like most of his songs do - slow, simple with a traditional instrument somewhere at the back to lend him a more Japanese and serene feel - but they all end up the same way - bad.

From 0:34 to 1:06, he goes into some sort of macho monologue. Something about a "GARU LOVEZZ BOY". Oh my, it's so romantic! Ahhh! *rolls eyes* Just, next time, don't fail so hard okay Takki?

Just when I thought this song was going to Japanese and Enka-ish, it bursts into a Latin tune. Once again, he's just trying far too hard. The song might have worked if he just stuck to being all salsa from the very beginning, which he obviously didn't. The whole thing just seems like one big parade of performers trying to catch your attention. It's confusing and after a while, you just can't be bothered.

The chorus is obviously too high for him. He struggles through the whole thing. In fact he's kind of shouting through the whole thing.

I suppose the song is like this only because it was written for a musical. But that doesn't mean it's not funny. It's hilarious. Worth the listen just for the lame monologue.

[Perhaps someone else would like these?]

I have no idea what a piece of my word is supposed to mean, but I think it is kind of sad that this song wasn't released as a single in itself. Perhaps it's because only the girls of AAA were featured in this song and we all know the girls alone can't sell enough to meet Avex's standards. Typical girl group Jpop, it has a comfortable melody that doesn't try to be too showy or anything. However, this is a double-edged sword as the song tends to sound repetitive after a few listens.

Chiaki sounds like she sings with her mouth constantly in an 'O' shape. A bit awkward really. Misako doesn't sound like herself. In fact, I thought she didn't have a part in this song until I listened REALLY closely.

I'll be honest here, I'm not a fan of the typical Jpop female voice. But if you are a H!P fan or like girly voices in general, this song should suit you well. Easy to sing along to, it's bound to be a favorite to cover by the many internet amateur singers. Great for late night blogging background music.


I really thought I would love Takki's Home Party!!. It features other popular JE members, like Yamapi, Yokoyama Yuu and my fave Murakami Shingo. It has all the potential to be the most awesome song ever.

Well it was just blah.

All the three featured JE members did was shout "HEY HEY HEY!", "YAY!", "WA HA HA HA!" and other unnecessary nonsense. In fact, this song did not sound like a home party at all. It sounded like a group of enthusiastic old men playing Monopoly. They don't even sound drunk enough for it to be interesting.

It could be fun for someone else I suppose. The tune is basic cheery pop that is too juvenile and elementary for someone as old as Takki is. I mean, hasn't he sung something like this back when he debuted or something?

I think I just expect too much from Takki.

And that sums it all up. I am very very disappointed in both singles. You won't blame me either, after you've taken a listen to both of them.

By the way, see those amazingly similar single covers? They're the actual covers (and are actually different!) for the two singles. Couldn't they have come up with a better cover if the single is already going to be bad?

Labels: AAA, Tackey and Tsubasa