Countdown 14 - Renai Shashin

Ai's setlist from today's performance at TOKYO SKYTREE TOWN Christmas Live:

Planetarium
Dracena
Haneari Tamago
Daisuki da yo
Pocket

She seems to have gotten some good reception.

http://i65.tinypic.com/27y04n8.jpg

Countdown 15- Yumekui

Countdown 16 - Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen




Countdown 17 - Kingyo Hanabi

Countdown 18 - Momo no Hanabira



Countdown 19 - Syachihata

There is a special twitter campaign happening with nine winners of an "extravagant gift" but its only open to Japan residents. The prize seems to be either high quality cherries, gyutan (cow tongue), or 10,000¥ travel ticket. The campaign ends on January 7th.

To enter:
1. Follow the account @aiambesttoo
2. Go to this site https://avex.jp/ai/aiambesttoo/?campaign and click on a gif of the track that has a memory for you
3. Post your memory in the text box and tweet it!

Winners will be contacted by direct message.

Also if you take a look at that site, you'll see the upcoming tracks of the countdown in order. That ruins the surprise! :laugh

Countdown 20 - Kumuri Uta

So I recently joined her fanclub and I received my first issue of her fanclub magazine. I don't think I've ever seen photos from/of her fanclub magazines before, so I didn't know what to expect... but it actually is really nice quality and well put together! :) I think it's a really nice bonus that she sends this out to her fanclub.

I quickly went through and took photos of the pages, so if anybody is interested, you can view it here! :)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/8aupN22JR1QgDfn88

Lots of really nice photos of her and a nice summary of what she's been doing these past few months!

Love it! Thanks for sharing :heart

thank you for sharing! it's really cute

Countdown 21 - More More



Had to dig through a little bit deeper because Avex uploaded a bunch of music videos in full...

I love how avex is pushing her now despite the low sales!
Love all those promos and campaigns.
Condidering avex states on their company website, that their strategy for their artists in general is FC memerships and concert ticket sales, I take it as a good sign for her. Her FC fanbase is probably healthy. :)

Countdown 22 - PonPon

These are great and really well documented, thank you! It makes me miss the TeamAyu physical magazines :weep

Countdown 23 - TOKYO Sanpo



Countdown 24 - Zokkondition

Here comes a mass countdown spot drop... (Not to mention had to dig the Avex channel a bit deeper once again because of more Avex music video uploading...)

(I've spoilered them this time to save space.)

Countdown 25 - Hibi, Ikite Ireba


Countdown 26 - Dracaena


Countdown 27 - LOVE FANTASTIC


Countdown 28 - Parallel World


Countdown 29 - Dear, you


Countdown 30 - Time Machine


Countdown 31 - Re:NAME


And did I hear the album just get released digitally - and then leaked? :O

Thanks for finding them all :D

Yes it seems the album is on streaming sites already..and they started selling it at AIO PIANO vol. 6 venues on Christmas:



Also, CHU-LIP dance has started on the TikTok app :P

They added 3 dates to the tour:

2019年5月10日(金)東京：渋谷 WWW X
2019年5月13日(月)名古屋：Electric Lady Land
2019年5月23日(木)大阪：バナナホール

All small venues again, but great nevertheless!

Ooh, I forgot all about her tour. Nice to see its going to the end of May.

COUNTDOWN JAPAN 18-19 Setlist:
1. LOVE FANTASTIC
2. Frenjer
3. Is
4. Rocket Sneaker
5. Happy Days
6. Sakuranbo

Ai has been posting photos with the products used in the countdown cms



Cute, I hope we see more.
It would be cool if she did some collab with a connivence store chain selling products like the food to promote the album :laugh

Product pictures part 2

Ai is actually doing quite decently on Oricon with this release! The album is #29 in its 2nd week on the overall Oricon charts with 7,222 points (pure sales, digital sales, and streaming equivalent units) total so far! Already outsold Love Tricky, Love honey, and Love Fantastic in two weeks.

Ai said that there will be two set lists for the Ai am BEST, too tour: set list A and set list B.

Zepp Namba: A
Yokohama Basis: A
Tokyo Diver City: A
Sendai Darwin: A
Tokyo WWW X: B
Zepp Nagoya: A
Nagoya Electric Lady Land: B
Heaven's Rock Saitama: B
Osaka Banana Hall: B
Fukuoka Beat Station: A
Kobe Varit: B

Ai am BEST, too sold 7,972 coies physically after 3 weeks. If she's lucky, it might get to 10k.
Nothing groundbreaking, but definitely better than her usual sales.

Ai will perform Sakuranbo at Music Station's 60th anniversary 3 hour special on February 1st

https://post.tv-asahi.co.jp/post-75456/

Sakuranbo Music Station performance



sorry the video is cropped bad

I ripped the performance from the giant .ts file, if anyone wants to download it! :)



She's as cute as ever :laugh

Ai posted a short snippet of her daughter singing dracena
https://twitter.com/ai_otsuka99/stat...36580492566528

It's on her instagram as well!

New song coming March 22nd, "kit palette."
It was written for the new kit kat product, Mainichi no Nuts & Cranberry.

https://i.imgur.com/5Zxmzqi.png

Here is a short movie featuring the song:


The cover reminds me of the LOVE HONEY cover.

Ai will perform kit palette on MUSIC FAIR March 23.

Also, there is a new sanpo video! Sendai Sanpo
https://twitter.com/ai_otsuka99/stat...67039174426624

kit palette MUSIC FAIR performance:



She also performed Planetarium with Mai Kurakai



They also performed Mai's song Secret of My Heart together but I can't find a video other than from Twitter https://twitter.com/a3yk0121/status/...188312576?s=21

Also, kit palette is available on steaming sites.

Thanks to KarenPang for sending me the Music Fair file, I re-uploaded the performance to google drive and it includes the full collab with Mai Kurakai

Collab https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Yn...jfg01MprAMem5X

kit palette https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Fs...MnejYxrtHEgRPZ

Just watched the live performance of kit palette and to me it sounds like one of those feel good songs that you van easily listen to while you're doing whatever you're doing. Going to listen to the studio version later
Both , Ai and Mai did a nice job singing Planetarium, can't say more about the performance

Ai am BEST, too tour has started at Zepp Namba!

Goods:
https://i.imgur.com/5D2rbf0.png
https://i.imgur.com/WOBZno4.png

Cut shirt ¥5800
Crew neck ¥6800
t-shirt ¥3500
pen light ¥2000
sports towel ¥2600
chain wallet ¥4800
hanko ¥1800
pin ¥800
tote bag ¥5800

Ai has been modeling the goods all this week in her instagram https://www.instagram.com/aiotsuka_official/

The pins are pictures of the conbini products from the CMs! They come at random.
https://www.avex.jp/ai/goods/detail.php?id=1001461

Today's setlist follows pattern A, which I am still trying to track down.

I'm most likely going to get a ticket for the Kobe show! I'm very curious as to how different the setlists will be. I was hoping the tour would mostly be her performing her singles, but having two setlists makes me doubt that.

When I was looking at tickets for Kobe, I was really surprised to see it's a venue with a capacity for just 350. It surprised me actually. I wonder how much of this is because of ticket demand and how much is because she wants to? I know the Zepp venues are around 3000, and the Zepp dates sold out.

Yeah I think we can't say for sure how much of Ai's decision is to tour small venues. But her sales have been declining so much and it's sad to see what a big difference between pre and post hiatus.

Ai will be on NHK's Utacon April 23rd. It's the 2nd night of their Heisei Hit Ballad show. (sooo...Planetarium? :P)

AWA has just unveiled listening plans for many artists, there was a TA mail sent last night about Ayu's plan, and it seems they have one for Ai as well. For 270 yen a month you can listen to unlimited Ai songs and also participate in ticket presale through AWA https://info.awa.fm/artist_plan/bd71bf6c8ca496823e31/

I listened to Ai am BEST, too recently and I have to say I really enjoyed it! I really appreciate that it was a very well curated album that mixes singles and album tracks together really nicely. Nice to see the 99 track lead up to the new BABASHI no Theme again. :laugh

there is a new BABASHI. How did I not know that?!

Thank you very much!

Well I've finally tracked down setlist A from Yokohama Basis haha



Utacon performances - passed on to me from KarenPang, re-uploaded by me.
Also sorry I made a mistake in the previous post, the show was not hit ballads, just hit songs in general.

kit palette
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Hx...s5bMquEFP6z6a9

Sakuranbo
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1VG...ZUjQH__TeXAUvj

Lastly Ai will be touring China and Taiwan again with AIO PIANO at ASIA vol.2
7/17 Guangzhou
7/19 Chengdu
7/27 Shanghai
7/28 Shanghai
8/17 Taipei
https://avex.jp/ai/live/tour.php?id=1001363

Setlist B from Shibuya WWW X May 10th

^ I feel like really any performance of Kingyo Hanabi and Planetarium needs to be rounded out with CHERISH. CHERISH has always felt like it could transition easily between those two songs and the next set of songs in a performance.

Definitely. It would fit better than it currently does after Kuroge Wagyu in set list A

Ai has written lyrics, composed, and arranged a song for singer May'n.
It is called stair and will be on her new summer concept album YELL.
Release date July 31st.

http://mayn.jp/yell/

I've just read that she'll be at Japan Expo this summer : https://www.japan-expo-paris.com/fr/...sic_106699.htm

Wow, that's amazing news!!

Also announced: ROCK IN JAPAN FESTIVAL
Monday, August 12
http://rijfes.jp/2019/lineup/artists/

New single announced for a 09/04 release!

https://avex.jp/ai/news/detail.php?id=1074319

New song is called Chime and is the opening for the 2nd season of the new Fruits Basket anime, starting to air in two days.
Will be available digitally 07/05.
kit palette is going to be included in the physical single as well.

nice tie-in!

I went to her showcase in Paris this afternoon :)
She focused on her more recents songs from her last 2 studio albums. I expected to hear her classics but she only performed an electro version of Sakuranbo.

The show was quite dynamic. I left Ai with LOVE FANTASTIC (that i didn't like) and as i loved the songs performed, i gave a listen to LOVE TRICKY & LOVE HONEY. I love few songs :)

She seems to love her current style, she especially mentionned QueeN as her favorite song from her discography. She performed it this afternoon.
If anyone is interested, she performed (not in order) : Sakuranbo / タイムマシーン / affair / 私 / QueeN / TOKYO散歩 and few others.
She was really pretty.

that makes me so happy :heart

what was the rest of the audience like? was it a decently-sized crowd?

"Chime" is already out and I liked it. It's very anisong-ish, but with Otsuka's own flavor.

I want to know the DVD contents, 6800 yen is an expensive single...

I think so. The room was one of the biggest. I was in the first rows so I couldn’t see how full was the room but the audience near me was quite participative :)

She also performed in another show Planetarium / Kingyo Hanabi ans Chime. I have seen a video on YouTube.
The interview was for once interesting. She mentioned she wrote Planetarium before her debut, she doesn’t like Cherry (in a question asking how she feels about Saruranbo) and she even learned few French words for the occasion.

Here is the link

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=...&v=ejZgmW6Pd9c

* 愛 am BEST, too tour 2019～イエス！ここが家ッス！～ (full concert / 120 min.)
* Tour backstage movie & MC collection (40 min.)
* Chime -MV-
* kit palette -kit kit collaboration movie-

That explains everything, a whole concert + additional content.

Thanks, looks like a good release!

Sounds like a fun show! So happy Affair was performed!

I didn't know this cover of "TOKYO漫歩" existed...
By a chinese girl called ロンモンロウ（龙梦柔/龍夢柔）{Ron Monroe?}

Chime covers + Promo Pic


Official tracklist:
01 Chime
02 kit palette
03 XOX
04 Chime（Instrumental）
05 kit palette（Instrumental）
06 XOX（Instrumental）

FC/mu-mo/venue limited edition box set will include a 4-disc live CD from Ai am BEST, too tour
-Setlist A: Zepp Diver City (2 disc)
-Setlist B: WWWX (2 disc)
Also includes a 20 piece photo card set from the tour


Limited edition goods:


The covers + promo pic were shot in Paris, she even posted a Paris Sanpo video and is wearing the same dress!
https://twitter.com/ai_otsuka99/stat...03840128049153

And last of the news, the setlist of today's ROCK IN JAPAN's performance:
1.PEACH
2.kit palette
3.momo no hanabira
4.Chime
5.rocket sneaker
6.XOX
7.pon pon
8.Happy Days
9.sakuranbo

OMG she looks SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!

Love the covers!

The song is okay but she looks great!

Chime music video

LOVE IS BORN ~16TH ANNIVERSARY~ setlist:

1. kit palette
2. frenjer
3. akkanbe
4. action 10.5
5. U-boat
6. life~love circle~
7. momo no hanabira
8. heart
9. i love xxx
10. planetarium
11. shabondama
12. queen
13. affair
14. laugh
15. xox
16. rocket sneaker
17. pon pon
18. happy days
19. chime
20. 360
21. sakuranbo

AIO Piano Vol.7

Feb. 8 - Osaka - The Phoenix Hall
Feb. 9 - Nagoya - Imaike Gas Hall
Feb. 15 - Tokyo - Iino Hall

https://avex.jp/ai/news/detail.php?id=1077335

https://jpopsuki.eu/static/images/torrents/283178.jpg

sooo beautiful <3

[Limited Time] Full Concerts On YouTube:

LOVE IS BORN ～3rd Anniversary 2006～:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPuprDG2-Ag

LOVE IS BORN ～5th Anniversary 2008～:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsR7DtLQ27g

LOVE IS BORN ～10th Anniversary 2013～:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUnfiz7PCio

LOVE TRiCKY LIVE TOUR 2015 ～ヘルシーミュージックで体重減るしー～:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vLlVVGlRQI

LOVE HONEY TOUR 2017 ～誘惑の香りにYOUワクワク～:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKWSezwSQbE

LOVE IS BORN ～14th Anniversary 2017～:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IdGuLAVk1Y

LIVEピアノ弾き語りアルバム『Aio Piano Arioso』Trailer

So glad they uploaded the Love Tricky Tour. That was such a good album.

I think LOVE HONEY Tour didn't leak as a video release, just the audio of the DVD. I uploaded it on Jpopsuki.

Hoping to check out the Love Tricky Tour! I love Laugh and Affair from that album!

I watched the LOVE TRiCKY and LOVE HONEY tours, I liked the latter especially. I didn't know it before, but Ai is quite a captivating performer! She doesn't need to do much to keep me engaged.

JAM PUNCH Tour 2005～コンドルのパンツがくいコンドル～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=macOvFE0GdA

LOVE COOK Tour 2006 ～マスカラ毎日つけてマスカラ～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuNUUejtcFc

LOVE LETTER Tour 2009 ～チャンネル消して愛ちゃん寝る!～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1YDOcSGKvU

LOVE PiECE Tour 2008 ～メガネかけなきゃ夢がネェ!～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvTT0szS7nI

LOVE IS BORN ～12th Anniversary 2015～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R02ayz_7p5Q

LOVE LETTER Tour 2009 ～ライト照らして､愛と夢と感動と･･･笑いと!～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vl0NaJ6XsQ

LOVE IS BORN ～6th Anniversary 2009～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJXrFWhZjjA

LOVE IS BORN ～7th Anniversary 2010～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmYcE5ZgnMU

LOVE is BEST Tour 2009 FINAL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLaLW6qU_Dk

愛 am BEST Tour 2007～ベストなコメントにめっちゃ愛を込めんと!!!～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9x2uiccZbM

LOVE IS BORN ～13th Anniversary 2016～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkJoE7bUxM

Watched the Love Tricky Tour and wow, she is looking smoking!

Started the Love Honey tour and popped on a bit of Love Honey whilst I was playing the PS4 today. Not listened to that album in ages but I'm definitely on a bit of an Ai kick right now!

LOVE IS BORN ～4th Anniversary 2007～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eYmIt8XeAk

LOVE FANTASTIC TOUR 2014～おぉーつかあいはまほぉーつかぁい～
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgXafD0FgTw


...and that's it, avex uploaded all Ai Otsuka's concerts (except for her 3 new releases: LOVE IS BORN 2018, 愛 am BEST, too tour 2019 & LOVE IS BORN 2019 / and LOVE IS BORN 2012 which was released as a FC Limited Edition)

LOVE TRiCKY TOUR is one of my favs!

I recommend you to watch:
LOVE FANTASTIC TOUR 2014
LOVE IS BORN ～12th Anniversary 2015～ ("Kumuriuta" and "Kimi Fechi" sound so good in this concert)
LOVE IS BORN ～13th Anniversary 2016～ (all the songs have new arrangements and sound really cool! plus the piano ver. of "Natsu Sora" is pure love)

With the concerts being removed soon, I did a backup of all the uploads :)

Hopefully I didn't miss any!

They uploaded her newest concerts (except LOVE IS BORN 2019) and are extending the expiration date until the end of April.

^Ahh thank you!! I will be grabbing a few of these. :luv2

Yay so glad they are extending the date, gives me more time to catch up!

Just to say, watching these concerts, I do enjoy a bit of Hey Bear!

Ai has announced two releases for February 3rd, 2021!

First, a live DVD/Blu-ray/CD of LOVE IS BORN ～17th Anniversary 2020～!

Tracklist:
01. LOVE FANTASTIC
02. shooting star
03. One × Time
04. HEART
05. チケット [Ticket]
06. 扇子 [Sensu]
07. 向日葵 [Himawari]
08. ふたつ星記念日 [Futatsuboshi Kinenbi]
09. 雨色パラソル [Ameiro Parasol]
10. あっかん べ [Akkanbe]
11. TOKYO散歩 [TOKYO Sanpo]
12. XOX
13. ロケットスニーカー [Rocket Sneaker]
14. フレンジャー [Frienger]
15. さくらんぼ [Sakuranbo]
16. Birthday Song
+ Audio commentary by Ai on the DVD & Blu-ray

Second, 犬塚 愛 One on One Collaboration (Inuzuka Ai One on One Collaboration, because it'll be released during a year of the dog lol), a "remake album" with 10 remixes each done by a different producer! Four of these remakes have already been released as digital singles.

Tracklist (order not finalised):
PEACH (Tomggg Remix)
金魚花火 (ANIMAL HACK Remix) [Kingyo Hanabi]
Chime [AmPm Remix]
黒毛和牛上塩タン焼680円 (maeshima soshi Remix) [Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 680 Yen]
桃ノ花ビラ (mabanua Remix) [Momo no Hanabira]
さくらんぼ (Kan Sano Remix) [Sakuranbo]
君フェチ (春野 Remix) [Kimi Fecchi (Haruno Remix)]
SMILY (Lucky Kilimanjaro Remix)
妄想チョップ (ケンモチヒデフミ Remix) [Mousou Chop (Kenmochi Hidefumi Remix)]
ユメクイ (SASUKE Remix) [Yumekui]

New song “Nandake” is on streaming sites now!
https://asab.lnk.to/aio_nandakke

It’s pretty good!

https://i.imgur.com/5WBMMbZ.jpg

Ai will release a new song titled GO on her birthday, September 9th.

They are running a campaign on twitter where if you post your favorite photos and videos of Ai on twitter with the hashtag #大塚愛GO, staff and Ai herself will select ones to put in a music video.

Announced today is Ai's New Album, the first in 4 years!
It will be released on December 8th, title not yet announced.

It will have a total of 11 songs, including:
Dracena
Chime
Aibiki
Nan Dake
GO

It will come in 4 versions:
1.First Press: CD/DVD+Goods+Sumapura (Mobile FC, mu-mo, pre-order @ Love is Born venue) ¥9,900
2. CD+2DVD+Sumapura ¥8,470
3. CD+Blu-ray+Sumapura ¥8,470
4. CD+Sumapura ¥2,970

The DVD/Blu-ray will contain LOVE IS BORN ～18th Anniversary 2021～

Fans preordering at the Love is Born venue will receive their copy with a serial number handwritten by Ai.

Additionally, there are some bonuses with the versions.
FC early pre-order: A4 folder with your name and Ai's autograph
FC Shop/Venue pre-order: GO single with handwritten serial number
Tower Records: Postcard (Tower Record ver.)
Mu-mo: Postcard (Mu-mo ver.)
Amazon: Mega Jacket

Other retail stores will have postcards as well.

-

Speaking of Aibiki, it was never posted but it was released in May with rapper AKKOGORILLA



The single included 2 other songs, High-Navi and Matatabi

LOVE HONEY feels like ages ago and I really love it so I'm so looking forward to the new album, her latest releases were really good!

Is someone in her fanclub? would love that FC edition

Excellent! I loved Love Tricky and Love Honey so can't wait to hear the new album!

Same here. I looked through her website and it is really inexpensive to join (300 yen plus taxes), so I think it is worth. Besides, I think it’ll be limited to 1 per person since it will have your name written.

AHHH, I'M READY!

Her latest releases are so good!

GO Music Video


Avex has published an interview with Ai, some highlights:

-She says that Aibiki and Nandake are songs resulting in her wanting to "update" herself while also giving people the feeling of "Oh, it's Ai" while they listen to it.

-About being able to continue her music for 18 years: She says music is self-reflection, and she never feels satisfied. She always thinks she could have done more, or sometimes she is not good enough. She says she has continued so far because she has never been satisfied with her work.

-She struggled the first 6 years after her debut, feeling like if she didn't sell, it was all pointless, and she went through thoughts of how she could escape (her situation). But she says she had her daughter at the right time, because then she could rest, and felt like she could finally breathe.

-During her maternity leave, she didn't feel so pessimistic about her music as she used to because she had hope that she could create music that she loved. But as time passed, she had feelings that maybe she didn't fit in with the current times. She mentions that in the past she made decisions based on how music sounded through speakers, but now she makes decisions on how it sounds coming through smartphones. And she mentions that it's hard to keep going.

-GO is a song about anger. This song came to her while she was riding her bike and she says it coincided with the mood she was in. Around that time, she had lots going on in her personal life, and she had gotten sick, had trouble cooking and sleeping. She says GO was fueled by something that was annoying her, and later in the interview mentions she came up with GO because she had to suppress her emotions.

-The important part of the song is that rather than thinking positive, it's ok to think "0 is fine!" and negative things are fine

-She wrote GO before the corona virus, but she says that the song overlaps with the current situation of the world. She also mentions that she caught corona virus Her fears about the virus made her feel stronger about GO, but she did not release it last year because she didn't want people to think she was releasing it because of the situation, so she waited to release it for her 18th anniversary.

-When she looks back on her music, she realized that anger and sadness are driving forces, but they are the driving forces to move forward, so the songs become positive. Anger is a positive emotion for her. This is also shown in GO

-The title GO only appears at the ending of the song and doesn't have much to do with the rest of the lyrics. But there are times in life where you want to stop, but you have to keep going. So she thinks the song applies to everyone.


* I skipped the part in the middle about TikTok because this took a long time and also I didn't care, lol.

*ALSO* I am not a translator, so this was just the gist of the interview and it's possible I misunderstood, also I had a lot of help with looking up a bunch of stuff.

The article if you are interested:
https://avexnet.jp/column/detail.php?id=1000487

Title of the album is "LOVE POP"

I'm really in love with "Nandakke". The arrangement and the melody are 10 out of 10.

I really like this name! And she was recording a city pop song a while ago, I hope that's the direction of the album tracks :love

Tracklist for "LOVE POP"

1. Chime
2. Santa ni kiss wo Shite (サンタにkissをして)
3. Koi Furu (恋フル)
4. Hoshizora Record (星空 レコード)
5. Nureru Hana (濡れる花)
6. Mr. lover
7. Aibiki (あいびき)
8. Deme Neko Paradise (デメネコパラダイス)
9. Nandakke (なんだっけ)
10. Dracaena (ドラセナ)
11. GO

Very interesting song titles! I'm so looking forward to this album, she's been very good and very consistent with her releases since she came back.

I absolutely love the promo pic for this album. She's just been looking so good. :luv2