whaaat?! new album O_o...

that's a bit fast...

Well, there's no new album announcement as of now...

Favorite Kuu covers: Swallowtail Butterfly (still need live mp3 rip of this :cry) and How Many.

^ new promo pic :heart

@Tsubasa2591: Thanks for those pics from the Universe Tour. Looks awesome. Wanna see SO much more.

^just noticed, but Kuu's dancer to the left there has an real ugly expression on her face in that second picture.... wonder what was up with that.

^^ :roflmao
Maiko's face is always like that XD
My fave female dancer is Kaichou (But she didn't show up on UNIVERSE Tour :()
Too bad, Kuu doesn't use her BIG dancer anymore (Jungle) :laugh

Maiko is my favorite, she's so sexy. :heart

my favourite female dancer is hachi! and my favourite male dancer is of course shinnosuke!! GOD! what a boy... :P he makes me hot!!! hahahahah

I'm bad at remembering which dancers are which....

^I'm pretty much the same. I actually tend to remember band member names better than dancers for some reason. However, I can remember Ayu's band members better than Kuu's. :P

^
if you have seen the performance of "you" on the Live at hall you might know him ^^

talking about live at hall... what about the live at hall 2? there's nothing about that show published on the net isn't it? we don't have any previews, or pics, setlists, anything! (it's strange, 'cause I thought that avex was going to put the show in her next album, but they should put DMP first since it's more expensive. I dunno what they are going to do with live at hall 2... :S

^I know as they've had him show off many times while she's introduced her dancers. I guess I just don't constantly pay THAT MUCH attention to always remember. I do remember him being introduced at many of her shows though.

The other thing I'm guilty of is while remembering dancers i'll get them mixed up.

^
maybe is that... some of us pay to much attention to his appearances xD hahaha

Her current dancers, taken from U*G's Blog

Oh yeah, she did Swallowtail Butterfly! Such a good song.. Chara is one of my favorites.

If Kuu did a duets album that would be interesting too, but now that I think about it it's a concept I've never seen done in Asian pop. Like of course even she has done them like with Tohoshinki etc but I mean a full album, and I think at least in the West, they're typically covers of old popular songs. That'd be cool...

let's get it straight that Sexnosuke is 38 I think, and still looking so hot. oh my :heart

and she's gorgeous in the hair commercials~

I love Maiko most :luv2

out of her female dancers i liked Ryon Ryon but she left after second session tour :/ the ones she has now are awkward in one way or another.. lol i like her male dancers though <3 shun & shinnosuke

A Cover album? Wasn't it Utada who was supposed to release one, lol? I want to see the tracklist!

i know, Maiko is my <3

Maiko is the biggest drag queen ever lol she puts Rupaul to shame.

lol and she can work a pole <3

I only know Ayu's dancers :laugh

Don't hate me... xD

^i know them pretty well. i get a couple mixed up once in awhile though.

^

Lol I don't know eithers'. I only know like Shuya and Midori, and like Maiko for Kuu.

omg I agree, my mom calls her Sporty Spice because she looks like such a lesbian. my favorite part was during trick tour, during showgirl, when it switches to BUT and Maiko makes this disgusting face. my mom always goes AHHH BULLDOG! it makes me laugh.

but I like her because she's a good dancer, she just makes the ugliest faces ever. I looove Fuko and Kaichou (hope she's still with Kuu :()

as for the males, of course I love Sexnosuke and Shun (he is so flamboyant gay, but it's cute)

omg i KNOW i used to have a .gif of her making that face... it cracked me up every time.

omg please find it, I want to upload it to my mom's facebook and set it as her default.

your poor mom xD

Not sure what everyone is talking about but I saw some Kumi ads a page or two back and she looks gorgeous~! Just sayin'...

OMG, please find it. :laugh

My faves are Sexnosuke & Kaichou.

oh, good signs for this single!

wow it's popular!!!

I'm scared for Ayu. Lol.
I love both artists but when it comes down to it, Ayu owns my heart and I feel I sadly wouldn't be able to help just holding a little resentment to Ku for bumping her off. :(
Not saying I wouldn't like Ku, just saying in my head I would probably say "DAMN YOU KUUU!" or something XD

Sorry for interrupting but can someone give me the link of kuu wallpapers or scan CD, I want it so badly T.T pleaseeee.... someone helppp. Thx btw...

I really hope Kuu shatters hearts and gets #1. That will be an amazing accomplishment :)

I hope Kumi gets #1, too. :) She really deserves it. She's so hardworking and an amazing amazing person<3. When I saw her live, she had no cocky attitude at all. She's so normal.

I edited the promo pic of Ichikami, it's not too HQ...

http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...amipromo01.jpg
Click on the pic for larger ver.

This site has most of the CD scans and wallpapers.

http://www.kumibrasil.com/galeria/

That's great it got #1! :yes

We'll just have to see how it fairs on Oricon.... Isn't it common that songs that are super popular on Chaku-uta do not sell as well on Oricon?

That's so evil :( Lol.
It would be different if Ku was on the verge of snatching the record and not just on the verge of shattering it so nobody can take the crown.

go Kuu, SHOCK us on the week of September 22nd!

Almost every chart does that except Oricon. They are soo old fashion. Most charts are digital sales+regular sales for albums. And digital sales+physical sales+radio airplay for singles.

There is a very good reason Oricon still counts them seperately though.

Why?

In Japan, 56 million PHYSICAL SINGLES were sold in 2008. The no. 2 in the WORLD was the US, with just 2 million.

See the difference there? XD. All other countries merged the two charts because the physical singles chart was just too pathetic, the amounts sold were neglible. In Japan, they still make a big difference and it's a very good way to showcase amongst which group an artist is popular.

Also, this is more fair to Enka artists whose fans are generally old people who barely download.

Personally, I like the fact that they keep it this way. Besides, people should remember that Japan is the only country in the WORLD that releases day by day sales information. That's worth something too!

Nackar_91 brings up a good point. But I bet you they're just waiting for Ayu to break the streak and then be like, "OKAY WE'RE GOING TO FUSE THE CHARTS NOW!" :laugh

What surprises me in this sense about the physical vs Digital sales in Japan, is that Japan is known for being more advanced and you would expect that their cameras, cellphones, ipods etc are probably like better than ours or something. So i was wondering why SO many in Japan still DO buy CDs over buying digital downloads. Personally, however, I can't entirely go either way. I don't use itunes store for digital downloads anyways, but it's just a curious thought that passed through my mind. There is one thing I'd like to see them change with iTunes though. I think they should make it so you can buy from any country's iTunes store. There's honestly so much on iTunes Canada that isn't there, not completed etc.

There are several reasons ... CD singles are generally much more interesting in Japan than in the West. The West often had thin jewel cases but even more than that just cardboard sleeves. You got the title track and then maybe an instrumental or a remix. SOMETIMES a B-side, but it wasn't guaranteed.

Japan has got special versions, bonus tracks, B-sides, versions with DVDs, special packaging etc. etc .... they know how to sell their products!

Also, what's funny is that Japan only holds 0.8 percent of the world's total PC downloads. But they hold 93.9 percent of the world's total mobile downloads.

Look at those numbers. I was blown away. I can retrieve the link if anyone wants to see the source XD

^yeah i see what u mean. they offer more than just one song and an instrumental. offer exclusive packaging, bonus tracks, special collectibles(ie. posters) etc. I've mentioned that many times to other people myself before. And WOW, those numbers are incredible.

The other thing now too, is cause Japan Editions of American artists' albums tend to have bonus tracks I've gotten more and more into just buying the Japan Releases of them as well.

We are also lucky because we have the internet and don't have to buy the Japanese Editions :yes

ps. Everyone please support Kumi Kuu and buy Suki de Suke de Suki de!

I think about the only American album lately that I bothered buying here was Christina Aguilera's Bionic since Japan Edition had no extra tracks... only thing besides that was a couple Shrek movie soundtracks.

Anyways, YES, I already preordered Kumi's new single. The CD+DVD edition. I wouldn't miss out on such a wonderful Kumi single. It's in the same order with Rina's final album that releases the week before.

I don't think you can really beat the quality that is on a CD to be honest...

^Well i do honestly prefer CDs. It is most likely why my CD collection is up around 700. Not quite but I'm pretty damn close. The other thing is like I use CDs at home or a friend's home and use my ipod when I'm outside walking down the street or sitting on the bus etc.

I just wanna hear this single... I check this thread so much to see if we have it yet lol.

Well slim cases are better, because they don't break as easily as the fat case and digipacks and are more eco-friendly.

When it comes to tracks on singles, you've got it the other way around. Most japanese singles are

1. Song A
2. Song B
3. Song A (instrumental)
4. Song B (instrumental)

It's been like this since they made the big switch from vinyl to 3" CDs (before that you didn't get any instrumentals just 2 tracks). Maybe sometimes you'll get an extra track or 2 that are remixes or w/e but not always guranteed.

Most western singles are split into 2 versions, like japanese singles, but version 1 would be

1.Song A
2. Song B

Version 2 would be

1. Song A
2. Song A (Remix 1)
3. Song A (Remix 2)
4. Song A (Remix 3)
5. Song A (Remix 4)

And sometimes they'll do a 3rd version which is a DVD single.

But nobody really buys physical singles for western artists anymore. They press them but they have like a run of like 500,000 copies and then they're usually deleted.


They do that so people will be more inclinded to buy the japanese press (which is more expensive) than the import (which is cheaper).

The only draw back for CDs is that even the tiniest scratch or speckle of dust can make it skip, and you can't scratch an mp3.

^That's why you rip it to your computer as a lossless right away and then store the CD. That's my favorite thing to do, anyway.

@hsienko: That may be true about press of japanese releases of western artists. However, sometimes its worth the money if there's enough extras. For example, the JPN press of Britney's Blackout includes 4 bonus tracks(all of which are great) and an extra for ur cellphone. So even if it is $6 more for JPN Press seems more worth it to me. If it's like only one extra song I usually won't bother with a JPN Press and buy it here in my HMV Canada.

And about CDs, I've had a couple get scratched. However, i used that special stuff to clean them and they work fine. Also, as long as you take care of them and dont do dumb stuff like let ur pet chew them u should be fine.

Anyways, i think this thread is getting horribly off-topic....

Yup, same here. I actually don't listen to the CD that much, but I love having them, collecting them or browsing through the booklet. I'm crazy like that XD

^ aw, I thought it's some really important news :( You misleaded me.
It's all Love! girls from 21st look very cute though!

^i want that kuu stuff now. also, i better like that ayu towel. i ordered it.. just YA doesnt have the Ayu tshirts.... :(:(:(

They all look so colorful <333

wow, Kuu's anation goods look really good. I'm surprised!

http://i33.tinypic.com/dfy835.jpg

He is so cute!

http://i34.tinypic.com/2pslywy.jpg

Cool!

that Lollipop cosplay gurl is hot

and maybe they will include digital sales into Oricon after Ayu gets #1 weekly for L and breaks Seiko Matsuday's streak. Yeah I bet avex is bribing Oricon in every way they can.. :P

http://i36.tinypic.com/2nquvch.jpg

I need her pants. Like, in order to live.


EDIT:
http://i38.tinypic.com/5cjf5y.jpg

Haha, Ayu fan snuck in there...

Kill it with fire!!!!

lol, jk. See guys? Even Ayu fans can be BFFs with Kuu fans. :love

ps Those pants are so cute, get me a pair to sleep in too and we can match.

Ayu & Kumi fans UNITE! People who are fans of both are such awesome people!

http://i33.tinypic.com/2qxozee.jpg
anata dake ga moved up a spot on RBT!

lol ayu fans and kuu fans should always be best friends since they have the best music taste in the World :yes :lech

^True. :D

I love the pics. The pic which Love Shine posted is the most colorful piece I've ever seen. Absolute love. <3

:yes No ones taste comes even close to ours lol

Why do all those people look awesome? D:
I wanna look awesome too xD

well thank you very much. :laugh

This. :yes

Ayu + Kuu fans = <3

I love you guys, really! :heart

And thanks for those pics, they're all looking good (especially those colorful, tanned, Gyaru looking girls, love).

I'm a BIG fan of both Ayu + Kuu!! I <3 the mix here with those pics!! They both mean SO much to me. :D:D:D:D

i don't know if someone posted this before or not
Live Tour 2010 Universe
Avex

Release Date Oct 06, 2010
Artist Kumi Koda
Genre J-Pop
Version Japan
Price: US$ 54.99
Catalog No. RZBD-46682
Pre-order link :Play-Asia

^hmmm... its not posted on CDJ or YA yet.... That's kinda odd.

Also, i love that u have Dream and EXILE in ur siggy! So Cool!

@ soldier: sometimes play-asia and 95music get the news way faster than cdj and YA.it happens on some other artiste before.i'm not sure why they receive the news way faster than cdj and YA.
They even accept pre-orders for the new single also
New Single (but i think its an album since the price is expensive)
Avex

Release Date Oct 13, 2010
Artist Kumi Koda
Genre J-Pop
Version Japan
Catalog No. RZCD-46674
Price: US$ 32.99

Pre-Order:Play-Asia
off topic :thanks.credit goes to polyrhythm for the siggy XD

mu-mo Chart :heart

http://i36.tinypic.com/30joi0j.jpg

Go, Kuu, go!
Nice start for the digital charts, recochoku and mu-mo!

Those goodies are so colorful!
I love it, so summerish haha

True :yes

So expensive T_T
I'll have to save a lot lol

It's so great that she's doing it so well digitally!
4/10 songs are Kuu's ^_^

they sometimes gives people wrong info like this.haha.i once ordered an album.but they said its single.end up the cd that i received was an album XD