if I haven't bought all my Japanese DVDs I'll probably have enough money to make two trips to Japan

this !!!:luv2

I'm already anxious for the 61st single gimme gimme gimme

I'm very surprised with the views for LIT on YouTube! Btw, the song was added a couple of days ago to the Tokyo Super Hits! playlist on Spotify. (It's not there anymore, but well).

lol at an artist called 'Natsu Summer' :laugh

The video is doing better on YT than I thought also. Nothing groundbreaking but it's almost in the same numbers as On and on :yes

Yes, if it's going on like this it's going to hit the million mark with the first month on youtube.

I'm also surprised about the comments. They are positive for the most part, about 90% I'd say. Expected much more negativity.

Also, I'm surprised on how much Sukideshite is popular, it's one of her most listened songs on Spotify since the release.

http://i.imgur.com/87M8tcA.gif

Same. I don't hate Lit, but it's not her best. On to the next one please!!

With Sukideshite not being perfomed on TV nor having a tie-in (iirc) it's quite a surprise, indeed. It's a Someday 2.0 so it had the potential, I just didn't think it'd actually get there ahahaha

Avex needs to hire this guy this is truly awesome!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX3mFEaH...-by=joao.fiuza

http://i.imgur.com/F60WRh9.png
http://i.imgur.com/kHE5BaF.png

^Wow, a much better design than some of those we see every now and then

So I've had an on/off relationship with Kumi for years. I loved when she started to take off, with Grow Into One...and then slowly lost interest over the years when she moved into a more urban & ballad vibe that wasn't my thing. Every now and then something good would pop up, but I didn't follow her closely. More recently I've come back around and have found some gems from her past discography, but I feel like she can be really hit or miss (and I think I'm just not really a fan of 90% of her ballads).

So with that, I had never really cared about her concerts until recently. I watched WOML tour, and it was so good! Every song was a hit, and it was a really good show. Thinking it would be similar, I watched The Artist Live, and I was so disappointed. It felt very unpolished in terms of concept (that ballad section was a slow, painful death) -- the ideas were similar to WOML (different aspects of her career), but not executed as well. So I've had two very different experiences. What's everybody's favorite tour? Another one I should check out?

I'm also not a fan of The Artist live, it seemed rushed and with poor concepts except few things here and there. And the songs choices are kinda weird.

Anyway, those are the concerts I would recommend based on what you thought it was good:

- LIVE TOUR 2010 ~UNIVERSE~
Very colorful concert, with a great setlist and production. A lot of different props and the everything feels very fresh from start to finish.

- LIVE TOUR 2014 ~Bon Voyage~
Also a colorful concert with a very beautiful stage for a Hall Tour. Since Bon Voyage is kinda similar to WOML (talking about the albums) you might like this concert.

- Let's Party Vol. 2
A FC only live with hidden gems and remixes. It's a small concert but the setlist is good specially since you like her older songs. It's a very simple concert with a Halloween inspired theme. A very high energy concert.

- LIVE TOUR ~2011~ Dejavu
A very elaborated Hall Tour with a lot of props, costume changes, and a beautiful stage. If you're not into her ballads and her cutesy side it wouldn't be a good option, but even if you give a try you might like it since some of the things feels very fresh as well.

^ Thank you!

I love THE ARTIST for the most part of it :P
But I agree on Kaled's list, those are great concerts she pulled off this decade. Can't wait for her next FC Tour also.

The Artist just felt very unfinished to me. The whole Vocals/Ballad vs. Dancer, etc. part was not polished and it made for a really odd flow. I also don't have a lot of in-between feelings for her ballads...I either think they're great or awful (with her having more awful than great), and that section just felt really long and destroyed the flow. There were definitely performances that I thought were fun (like HOTEL and TABOO, both songs I love) but overall I was really let down after WOML.

I get your point. It was not the best ballad sections ever, there was pretty much nothing going on so if you're not the songs she picked it gets too boring. The songs for the dance section were good but could have been better. But I still like it a lot, TABOO especially. The first act as whole was the best part of the show hands down.

My favorite Tours would be :
- LIVE TOUR 2006-2007 ~second session~ : Always loved this era so it's special. I think it's her best Hall Tour so far with a good setlist, great ideas and a good energy. It's a good mix of her most popular songs during her gold days.

- LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ at Tokyo Dome : Definitely her most visually entertaining tour (the cut scenes videos were really well made). Some performances are also incredible (best concert introduction i have ever seen). Setlist is a focus on Black Cherry/Kingdom, 2 of her most successful albums (in Japan). Bad point would be its length : quite long to watch (especially the Encore).

- Dream Music Park : A stadium version of LIVE TOUR 2010 ~UNIVERSE~ which is one of her best Arena Tour to date. Great energy, colorful and fun theme. Once again, length is longer than "normal" concerts.


I do agree WOML TOUR was a good arena tour but i don't like most of the album so the setlist was quite boring for me.
I liked The Artist though, mostly because of great performances like SHOW ME YOUR HOLLA, you, TOUCH DOWN, TABOO or HOTEL.

Wow, that CD/DVD package design is amazing!! I want it!

These are her best imo, including first things tour 2005. After that they all get a bit repetitive.

This list is pretty much what I'd recommend. The Artist had a lot of potential but kinda fell flat to me.

I really enjoyed The Best Singles Collection. It was so grand yet intimate. I think she did a great job.

I love Universe Tour, Second Session, Japonesque tour and that Premium live or whatever, that came as a bonus to Kingdom album

^ OMG YES PREMIUM LIMITED LIVE IN HALL. I also really enjoyed Dirty Ballroom (bonus DVD for TRICK). All them remixes and underperformed songs :luv2 But the editing was horrible for the most part though lmao.

^ True, those effects ruined some performances, but overall it's still one of her best lives, she danced the hell out of it

I think Dirty Ballroom is probably my favorite concert of hers. I don't even care about the editing because the songs were so good. That performance of Butterfly is unforgettable :heart

So cute!
Kuu, Misono and their father at Misono's wedding in July.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...924/pj3vup.png

So cute <3

OMG, that photo is so so so cute ;____; :heart

AMAZINGGGGGGG MEGAMIXXXXXXXXX *O* !!!!

^ Great indeed! I can see myself listening to it while i drive :)
I love Megamix.

Ai no Uta is featured on another love compilation:
http://rhythmzone.net/koda/news/detail.php?id=1052498

But it's a nonstop mix, so maybe nice to check out.


Btw. I've bought Kuu's mascara and eyeliner in black a while ago and it's a total recommendation.
Especially the eyeliner - it stays the whole day even in this humid summer heat here in southeast Japan.
Both are waterproof and easy to apply.

What a big compilation wow o: That might be interesting tho, indeed

Life came on my mp3 player today and I'd forgotten what a great song it was! Up there with Heat as one of her best b-sides.

The fact that the compilation has even a fictional character (Kaoru Amane) just shows how deep they went for this. haha Taiyou no Uta is a good song, but gosh, Erika isn't a good singer at all.

Interesting tracklist indeed, I'll check out when the album is out.

Two new songs registered: Dolly and Black Make Up ot Black Lipstick

wait a bit, those guys credited with Kumi on Black Make Up are literally the same ones of Namie's Black Make Up

https://media.tenor.com/images/0f63b...5695/tenor.gif

Best tie-in of her career!!!!

http://i.imgur.com/6NC50VK.jpg

I SCREAAAAMED
https://media.tenor.com/images/d27de...9ad2/tenor.gif

:shakehead for real

Yesterday's setlist in Iwate

M1 Ultraviolet
M2 POP DIVA
M3 (Medley)Wicked Girls〜HURRICANE〜MONEY IN MY BAG
M4 Insane
M5 Bassline
M6 Damn real

M7 Promise you
M8 愛のうた
M9 TATTOO〜SWEET MEMORIES〜小さな恋のうた
M10 Heartless
M11 好きでして
M12 BRIDGET SONG
M13 Stand by you

M14 HOTEL
M15 TABOO
M16 XXX
M17 Be My Baby
M18 LOADED feat. Sean Paul
M19 Bring It On
M20 What's Up

EN1 WIND
EN2 Butterfly
EN3 Comes Up
EN4 walk

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5291799711

Kuu is performing today in Yamagata

No lit :(

Yesterday's setlist in Yamagata

M1 Ultraviolet
M2 POP DIVA
M3 (Medley)Wicked Girls〜HURRICANE〜MONEY IN MY BAG
M4 Insane
M5 Bassline
M6 Damn real

M7 喜びのかけら
M8 愛のうた
M9 TATTOO〜SWEET MEMORIES〜小さな恋のうた
M10 Heartless
M11 好きでして
M12 BRIDGET SONG
M13 Stand by you

M14 HOTEL
M15 TABOO
M16 XXX
M17 Be My Baby
M18 LOADED feat. Sean Paul
M19 Bring It On
M20 What's Up

EN1 Lady Go!
EN2 キューティーハニー
EN3 Comes Up
EN4 LIT
EN5 walk

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5293061840

Also , the latest W FACE tour collage photo should be completed soon & it looks like a LIT offshot picture

LIT was on the setlist during both days of recording, so that's what matters to me. And yeah, the new tour collage is a outtake of LIT's photoshoot.

It's sad that Kumi wasn't available to attend a-nation this year, but at least we're getting something next week. The KICK THE CAN CREW 復活祭 is next week (09.07) and we're getting footage of is.

BSスカパー！「KICK THE CAN CREW『復活祭』」9月7日(木) 後6:30

Feels weird not having Kumi on a-nation :(

Yay lit!! this is the first time after her pregnancy that she actively declined a nation. I wonder why, though we might never know.

The tour is planned one year ahead and they have to go with the schedules of the halls they use.
From my experience halls are pretty well used throughout the year with all kinds of cultural events, not only concerts. So my guess is that a-nation was just not possible this year in the tour time frame.
The own tour always comes first.

A little hard to do a-nation when she has her own tour dates the same nights. She also didn't perform at in 2014 for the Japan Stadium fes for the same reason. I'm sure she'll perform next year if her schedule allows for it.

A-nation lately has been set basically on the date year after year (2014 - 08.29/08.30 - 2015 - 08.29/08.30 - 2016 - 08.27/08.28 - 2017 - 08.26/08.27) so it's probably something that they knew before hand and still booked her tour dates during those days. She probably gets a lot more money doing her tour, so I'm not mad or blame her. It is what it is, it's just that it's not a real summer festival without a Kumi performance there.

Didn't she do like A Nation FEVER island last year, but isn't that different from the main A Nation festival? Could there be something like that again?

Kuu will be apart of "Thank You Disney" an Avex Disney tribute album releasing on October 25th covering So Close from Enchanted.

http://avex.jp/thankyoudisney/#diskcol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXh1KxI4uls

Nice we're getting a new song! A quite boring one but that doesn't matter. Just the fact that it's not It's a small world or A Whole New World again its great.

That's such a random Disney song choice, lol. But it's cool that the tribute album is including songs from newer Disney movies. Thanks for posting!

I wish she would cover some other Disney song but I'm sure this will sound great as well.

Better than nothing. I never heard the original. I wonder if I should listen to it or not before I hear Kumi's version.

I believe I saw Kenji's post about some song (for Kumi? for his band) on Instagram this morning but now the post is gone.

So Close is such a beautiful song, it will be amazing with her low register!

Just hope it aint the 61st single :P

I really don't know, what to expect from the album and Kuu's cover. The news doesn't say, if the songs are in English or Japanese.
But the already released Beauty and the Beast cover is in English and it doesn't sound that good....
I only hope Kuu's is in Japanese. At least her cover also has a Japanese title attached to the English original one.

^I actually don't see the point of covering a song in another language? I mean, if a western artist would cover a Kumi song I'd hope it to be in it's original language.

BENI is triggered

It's a tribute album actually and it's pretty common for Disney songs to have Japanese versions.
Just like Miliyahs rendition of Moana's How Far I'll Go earlier this year, which had the English and a Japanese title combined and was entirely in Japanese.

For this album some songs only have the English title, others have both. So I hope some of them are in Japanese, as especially the older ones already have Japanese lyrics.

Did you mean May J. ? :rolleyes
http://www.generasia.com/wiki/May_J._Sings_Disney

I meant BENI cause she changes the language of her covers (x

^But what BENI does is technically a remake (even though it seems she gets random chinese cookie sentences to write the songs)

well her albums are called COVERS not REMAKES tho

that's why I said TECHNICALLY

Next tour puzzle is done.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...923/XrEJNx.png

Possibly a new special single?

^ That's just an outtake from LIT shooting, it's very similar to the promo pic

Oh, I thought it would be a single with covers from the same photoshoot like Ayu did with those special singles of Premium Showcase ~Feel the Love~.

I need the 61st single announcement like right now e.e

^ Saaaame :(

(my copy of LIT hasnt even arrived tho, how I hate that about Brazil)

Me too. :(

Me, too... It's been 84 years...

I expect all the info for the next single in about 2 weeks, the earliest next week.
Then it's announced at the same time frame like the info for LIT (announcement July 12th -> release date August 2nd ), given the next single is released at the start of October and not later in the month.

And I guess we will see the long purple hair she had in between for on of the outstanding singles.

Edit:
Got my tour ticket today..
I'm in the 11th row on first level, yay!

Another new song:

http://i.imgur.com/3AEBQCf.png

Probably from the record session of W FACE, basically the same composers of Insane and Bassline.

Molasses? Sounds sticky, dirty, and sexy.

what's with Kuu and candies/sweet stuff on her song names? :P

Molasses better be a new ero-kakkoi song. She hasn't done many lately. There was only Cupcake.

Love this photo shoot but still don't love the actual single cover.

Does anyone have a link to DL W Face? :)

xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

I really love that cartoon :luv2

New tour puzzle pic started today and I suppose it's coming from the new single:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...924/tSmAQB.jpg

Plus it's Kumi day tomorrow and as she has a tour date tomorrow as well, everybody attending is gettng a sticker. Info is from the FC.

And in celebration of Kumi day there's also new tour goods released tomorrow. Theme is 'Black is Beautiful' and the new tour goods are the denim jacket, the Tweety shirt and the hoodie in - surprise - Black.
http://rhythmzone.net/koda/news/detail.php?id=1053061

Hopefully the new single is announced tomorrow!

The Lit photo shoot was such a missed oppertunity. She looked beautiful, but it's so close up and the tacky design ruined it.

Sat's setlist in Yamaguchi

M1 Ultraviolet
M2 POP DIVA
M3 (Medley)Wicked Girls〜HURRICANE〜MONEY IN MY BAG
M4 Insane
M5 Bassline
M6 Damn real

M7 Promise you
M8 愛のうた
M9 TATTOO〜SWEET MEMORIES〜小さな恋のうた
M10 Heartless
M11 好きでして
M12 BRIDGET SONG
M13 Stand by you

M14 HOTEL
M15 TABOO
M16 XXX
M17 Be My Baby
M18 LOADED feat. Sean Paul
M19 Bring It On
M20 What's Up

EN1 Lady Go!
EN2 Butterfly
EN3 Comes Up
EN4 LIT
EN5 walk

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5302683422

Yesterday's setlist in Shimane

M1 Ultraviolet
M2 POP DIVA
M3 (Medley)Wicked Girls〜HURRICANE〜MONEY IN MY BAG
M4 Insane
M5 Bassline
M6 Damn real

M7 喜びのかけら
M8 愛のうた
M9 TATTOO〜SWEET MEMORIES〜小さな恋のうた
M10 Heartless
M11 好きでして
M12 BRIDGET SONG
M13 Stand by you

M14 HOTEL
M15 TABOO
M16 XXX
M17 Be My Baby
M18 LOADED feat. Sean Paul
M19 Bring It On
M20 What's Up

EN1 WIND
EN2 Butterfly
EN3 Comes Up
EN4 LIT
EN5 walk

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5303949947

The next W FACE tour collage photo looks like it's taken overseas ?

Amazing Setlists

Has the title for Bridget song ever been explained? Or are there any theories?

^I actully wouldn't be surprised if it's just bad Engrish and Kuu thinks it has something to do with bridges. :laugh

She didn't speak about it, but Kuu likes to use words from the English urban dicitonary ( like Lit or Lippy).
So it's most likely from there (contemporary English expressions).

http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...idget&amp=true

So 'Bridget Song' would translate to something like 'a song to cheer you up' or 'happy song'. Fits to the lyrics.

From today till 09/10 you can send Kuu through her FC, to which city or venue you want her to come perform (again).

Also, the Black Night Market was successful, the bllack Tweetie shirt and the black hoodie sold out in minutes.
So now we're getting a second round from September 8.
http://rhythmzone.net/koda/news/detail.php?id=1053289

First pic from the Kick The Can Cres Festival from today.
It's from the broadcast.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...923/dvrpDc.png

This was the setlist:

1. Ultraviolet
2. UNIVERSE
3. XXX
4. Hurricane
5. money in my bag
6. LIT
7. LOADED
8. poppin' love cocktail

(https://twitter.com/kk_pixx)

Pretty much an a-nation performance. Nice to see Ultraviolet and LIT there. I hope someone recorded the whole thing, but I won't hold my breath.

The user is uploading a recording from the TV, so far Ultraviolet and a little bit of UNIVERSE is there to see.

Full Kuu part from yesterday for streaming:

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...922/fN5T2S.jpg

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/5311576402?...ag=v2688545815

You can also download it there, directly from the video.

Thanks to Kinot from Baidu.

Kick The Can Cres Festival photos

http://cdn2.natalie.mu/media/1709/09...der_KTCC_1.jpg

http://cdn2.natalie.mu/media/1709/09...ge_KTCC_13.jpg

http://natalie.mu/music/news/247906

01. Ultraviolet
02. UNIVERSE
03. XXX
04. Hurricane ～ Money In My Bag
05. LIT
06. LOADED feat. Sean Paul
07. Poppin' love cocktail feat. TEEDA

OMG! She looks amazing <3 Nice that we had this instead of a-nation!

I really like the setlist but to me that outfit is her first miss to me in a while lol But she did great nonetheless, loved LIT there

I like the outfit except the top. It feels like the outfit was too revealing, and she decided to throw a t-shirt on top of it just to make sure nothing was going to pop out.

What?
The top is glowing in the dark, it's awesome! :laugh

The setlist is awesome, pure energy.
And I love how powerful she's singing UNIVERSE and the lower register in LIT!

I know, but still, I don't like it. It's too random for me. :P The festival is up on JPS, if anyone is interested.