I'm interested in some of the songs on "I've MANIA Tracks vol. III" that I haven't heard before. (MOMO and SHIHO tracks and Mami's track)

"Short Circuit" DVD will probably be adorable.

I think it's finally thread revival time after three months of silence. So, because I love to ramble, I thought I'd pop by and drop a news bomb.

First things first: Eiko Shimamiya is going to release a best album. The album's title seems to be E.P.S -Eiko PRIMARY SELECTION- and it'll come out on June 29th. The tracklist has already been released and looks like this:

1. ひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
2. Super scription of data
3. VANILLA
4. 太陽 (Taiyou)
5. 誓い (Chikai)
6. ひかりなでしこ (Hikarinadeshiko)
7. Dreamer -Remix- ※SORMAアレンジ (arrange)
8. 奈落の花 (Naraku no Hana)
9. 砂の城 -The Castle of Sand- (Suna no Shiro)
10. WHEEL OF FORTUNE （運命の輪） (Unmei no Wa)
11. スカラベの祈り (Sukarabe no Inori)
12. River
13. inner child

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, those are indeed two completely new tracks! River and inner child will apparently have Kazuya Takase and Tomoyuki Nakazawa involvement, but I don't really know in what way. Also, no idea which version of スカラベの祈り is going to be on this album. It could be the original from her ancient EP hologram (please no), it could be the version found on ULYSSES or (my personal wish) it could be the -brown sugar style- mix (also from hologram). There's also a special video clip on Eiko's new official site with her and Kazuya Takase talking about... something. I haven't been able to watch it completely myself due to computer problems, but I managed to catch a few seconds from the beginning and it seems the -brown sugar style- version of スカラベの祈り is playing on the background (making me even more hopeful).

In other news, Eiko Shimamiya will have an acoustic live on May 13th, which is quite soon. This might not sound too noteworthy, what with being a one-night thing and all that, but it shows definitely she's recovering from her cancer and is already in good enough shape to hold a live show (and make some new music). :)

In other live related news, KOTOKO is hitting the road with a tour once again - but this time, she's going acoustic! KOTOKO's acoustic tour, titled KOTOKO アコースティック・ライブ・ツアー”心音” ～繋げよう！歌と笑顔と君の手と～ (or "KOTOKO Acoustic Live Tour “Shinon” ~Tsunageyou! Uta to Egao to Kimi no Te" or just "KOTOKO's long-ass-title acoustic tour" as I've taken to calling it), will start on 4th of June and finish on 2nd of July, will have nine shows in eight different places and will be really interesting in general, because KOTOKO doesn't exactly spring to mind first when you think "acoustic". I'd really love to hear what songs they choose and how exactly are they pulled off.

Oh, and Mami Kawada is having a live in Shibuya next week (4th and 5th of May). All for her latest single See visionS.

Last, but definitely not least: I've and record label Lantis have a special project coming up. What exactly is it? We can only guess for now, but in just two days we will know as the secret will be revealed here, on I've x Lantis special site, on the 29th.

ooo acoustic KOTOKO will be nice!!

Awesome news! Thanks for sharing! You're like our I've expert! :yes

@dreamland: Indeed, I only wish I'd get to hear all those acoustic versions, I really want to hear how KOTOKO sounds without all the electronic instruments omnipresent in most of her songs.
@taskinillusion: Or maybe everyone already knows all this and I'm just the only one sharing the news. :P

Anyway, the I've x Lantis special project has been revealed and I thought I'd share that piece of news too. And the project is... Larval Stage Planning making a major debut under Lantis! The I've x Lantis site has more info for those interested, but to put it briefly, the site has been updated with their profiles and they are to sing a new opening theme for an anime series I can't remember the name of. The song will apparently be called 君+謎+私でJUMP!! (Kimi+Nazo+Watashi de JUMP!!), but no idea yet when it's gonna come out.

Also, I've will apparently be holding YET ANOTHER live event called TRIBAL LINK. It'll be held on July 3rd at Tokyo's STUDIO COAST. Starring in this live are all the I've girls except MELL (in other words Eiko, Mami, Kaorin, KOTOKO and LSP) plus guest stars including Hiromi Satou (dare I hope she'll sing Second Flight with KOTOKO?), Yui Sakakibara and some others I've personally never heard of.

I've gotta say, this summer seems to be full of I've lives. o_o TRIBAL LINK, Eiko's acoustic show, KOTOKO's acoustic tour, Mami's See visionS live and also I've's fanclub live... I don't know if any other year has had this much live stuff going on.

Also, in addition to the live front, I've is becoming more twitter-active. In the past couple of days, Kaori Utatsuki and the LSP girls (Airi, Nami, Rin) have all joined Twitter. (And Nami's even tweeted in English a few times awwww) That leaves KOTOKO as the only I've singer without a Twitter account - I wonder when she'll get one. But, if you're in Twitter, please do follow the girls! :D

Okay, I know I shouldn't double post but I just can't not share this awesome piece of news. :D

Remember TRIBAL LINK? (If not, just take a look at my post above.) Anyway, TRIBAL LINK isn't just a live event. I've will also be releasing two cover albums called TRIBAL LINK-L and TRIBAL LINK-R on 29th of July. I was aware of these albums before, but I never said a word because I thought it would be just a bunch of other anisong and eroge singers covering I've songs (like unify, a cover album released ages ago containing I've songs re-sung and re-arranged by some eroge group I can't remember more about). Now that the tracklists have been revealed though, we can see that it's totally not just guests covering I've. Tracklist below. Also, covers.

http://www.getchu.com/brandnew/70890...903package.jpg http://www.getchu.com/brandnew/70890...904package.jpg

EDIT: The tracklists for each release got confirmed.

TRIBAL LINK-L
1. IMMORAL (KOTOKO)
2. Abyss (奥井雅美)
3. blossomdays (Larval Stage Planning)
4. birthday eve (橋本みゆき)
5. 砂の城 -The Castle of Sand- (川田まみ)
6. アナタだけのAngel☆ (榊原ゆい)
7. 常識！バトラー行進曲 (nao)
8. Face of Fact (詩月カオリ)
9. For our days (MAKO)
10. Collective (飛蘭)
11. Princess Brave！ (桃井はるこ)
12. Leaf Ticket (佐藤ひろ美)
13. SHIFT -世代の向こう- (島みやえい子)

TRIBAL LINK-R
1. Velocity of sound (飛蘭)
2. The Maze (詩月カオリ)
3. ジェットスマッシュ！ (桃井はるこ)
4. Ever stay snow (nao)
5. Lupe (川田まみ)
6. Automaton (奥井雅美)
7. Close to me… (島みやえい子)
8. jihad (榊原ゆい)
9. Permit ～許しの塔～ (佐藤ひろ美)
10. Lilies line (Larval Stage Planning)
11. Philosophy (橋本みゆき)
12. FLY TO THE TOP (KOTOKO)
13. Double HarmoniZe Shock!! (MAKO and 川田まみ)

So, as we can see it's the same line-up the live event has, which is only predictable. This tracklist makes me excited for many reasons: Kaori Utatsuki actually gets to sing something other than denpa or ballads, Mami Kawada gets to make her own rendition of Eiko's undying classic Suna no Shiro, Eiko's version of Close to me... sounds like an awesome idea, KOTOKO's FLY TO THE TOP will most likely top MELL's original and MAKO will appear on an I've release for the first time since 2004! Her return is certainly welcomed, as her songs were (for me) some of the highlights of the earlier I've Girls Compilations. :)

The one complaint I have would be about Larval Stage Planning: it seems they're the new Kaori Utatsuki, releasing nothing but denpa songs. :( Though Airi's two HeaRt and Nami's piece of my heart definitely showed these girls have potential, they are reduced to being the new denpa girls. But maybe I'm just being too cynical; after all, the LSP girls have barely been with I've for a year.

The guest line-up also looks promising. Hiromi Satou's duet with KOTOKO way back in... 2004, I think, was definitely great and I think she can also pull off songs on her own. nao I know from her work with fripSide and I expect great things from her tracks, since especially the later fripSide have her sounding great. Also, her distinctive voice should do wonders to the endlessly bland Ever stay snow.

The rest, however, I have never listened to. I've heard about Yui and Halco though, so at least they shouldn't be complete nobodies. :P

So, I'm definitely looking forward to the TRIBAL LINK albums! What about all of you others (if there's anyone following this thread). Do share your opinions, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who wants my monologue to end!

(PS: Cookies for you if you actually read through this whole monster of a post! It seems I still have much to learn about not writing huge walls of text...)

WHOA! Now this I'm excited for! Do I see Lia's "SHIFT -世代の向こう-" being covered by Eiko!? And KOTOKO's "Abyss" being covered? And... "Face of Fact" being covered by Kaori! I love that song! And Kaori. :) I'm definitely excited for this!

I'm hoping (and assuming) that the covers will be rearrangements of the old songs like "The Front Live Covers"?

And I'm interested to hear some Larval Stage Planning stuff. Haven't heard their music yet, I've just read reviews on them.

I don't know for sure if the songs will be re-arranged (á la Front Line Covers), but it seems like the most likely thing to happen. I'm also assuming they'll be tweaked at least a little, because if not for a little update, songs like FLY TO THE TOP and Ever stay snow will sound older than ancient. Besides, they'll probably want to edit the arrangements to fit the new vocals better.

I hope LSP will improve blossomdays. KOTOKO's version never really impressed me. On the other hand, I can't imagine them outdoing KOTOKO on Lilies line. I love the original so much.

And I'm also so excited to hear Kaorin sing Face of Fact and The Maze! She's done so few dark songs like this, it'll be nice to hear something different. Besides, they are great songs and I'm sure she won't let me down. I can already imagine her singing Face of Fact... :heart

http://nicosound.anyap.info/sound/sm14931147 TRIBAL LINK previews. Hear and judge.

KOTOKO always sounds so good. :heart Can't wait to get my grubby downloading hands on her version of IMMORAL (who sung the original, btw?).

I honestly don't know much about the rest of the I've sound singers so I can't pick apart any other voices but I liked most of what I heard.

IMMORAL was originally sung by Mami Kawada. I wonder whose version will turn out better. :P

You should really listen to the whole albums! :) I didn't know any I've singers besides Eiko Shimamiya until I downloaded LAMENT and OUT FLOW, but now I pretty much love 'em all.

-------------------------------------------------

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15905254 TRIBAL LINK's Day Stage. The whole thing, completely free of charge and no registering required. Watch away!

I'm currently halfway through with the show. Larval Stage Planning was good - they sang well, Airi and Nami were adorable, but Lin looked like she was in pain for the first two songs. LSP's mainstream debut song was also heard. It was awfully average. Yui Sakakibara was... unexpected. Her outfit was freaking bizarre, she looked like my aunt and sounded like a four-year-old in her first song. o_o Kaorin was awesome. Her songs rocked and she pulled them off with style. Eiko Shimamiya performed well, but the songs she was given are seriously far from top-notch. To her credit, she almost saved SHIFT. Now, off to watch the rest.

Edit: Okay, wow, Mami's portion was REALLY bad. She ruined The Castle of Sand with her overenthusiastic singing and slurry Engrish. I think it would've been a lot better even with the small change of her singing more quietly. Lupe's verses also suffered from the energetic delivery, but at least the chorus was good. Miyuki Hashimoto's rendition of birthday eve was very good but WHAT WAS THAT THING SHE WAS WEARING were all of these women drunk while picking their outfits or what. KOTOKO was average. :| Hiromi Satou's performance was nice.

I merged two of my previous posts, because, y'know, triple posting would be just rude. But I'm once again resorting to double posting, because I feel these news need to be told.

KOTOKO is leaving I've.

Yeah. I... I don't really know what to say. The explanation she gave was something like "I need to get outside my comfort zone and try new things", but I just can't help but wonder if there's something else behind this decision. She's leaving after over 10 years with I've. Talk about a change.

Also... KOTOKO is releasing her fifth album. It's called 「ヒラく宇宙ポケット」, "Hiraku Uchuu Pocket" ("Open Universe Pocket"... or something like that?) and will be released on 5th of October. For those thinking this is her last album with I've, I'm going to flat-out say no. The album will be released under Warner Home Video label instead of Geneon or Lantis, which I've is affiliated with. I've producers are still very involved though; over half of the album has them either composing, arranging, or doing both. For convinience's sake (or maybe just 'cause I feel like copypasting stuff), I'm posting the tracklist (and credits) here. Oh, also, all songs are new.

All lyrics by KOTOKO.

1. TR∀NSFoRM
Composition & Arrangement: Takase Kazuya

2. ☆-未来-列車-☆ (☆-Mirai-Ressha-☆)
Composition & Arrangement: kz

3. メーテルリンク (Metal Link)
Composition & Arrangement: DECO*27

4. ラブレター (Love Letter)
Composition: Nakazawa Tomoyuki
Arrangement: Nakazawa Tomoyuki & Ozaki Takeshi

5. 青いジープで (Aoi Jeep de)
Composition: Ozaki Takeshi
Arrangement: Ozaki Takeshi & Nakazawa Tomoyuki

6. mirror garden
Composition: KOTOKO
Arrangement: masayoshi minoshima

7. Command+S
Composition & Arrangement: Hiroyuki ODA Pres. HSP

8. X-kai-
Composition: Ozaki Takeshi
Arrangement: Ozaki Takeshi & Nakazawa Tomoyuki

9. サ・ヨ・ナ・・・ラ (Sa.yo.na...ra)
Composition: Iuchi Maiko
Arrangement: 夏目晋 (romanization pretty please?)

10. beat
Composition: Ozaki Takeshi & KOTOKO
Arrangement: Ozaki Takeshi & Nakazawa Tomoyuki

11. 聞こえる (Kikoeteru)
Composition: KOTOKO
Arrangement: C.G mix

12. 開け！ソラノオト (Hirake! Sora no Oto)
Composition & Arrangement: Saitou Shinya

13. 地球-TERRA- (Chikyuu -TERRA-)
Composition & Arrangement: Iuchi Maiko

Also check out the special site for the album for a pretty banner, a small preview of the first track and a message from KOTOKO, which might or might not reveal something about her reasons for leaving I've (I still can't figure out why).

Wow interesting news!!
The banner is pretty! I\m looking forward to hearing the new album!

Hey look, we got previews for KOTOKO's fifth album!









The covers have also been revealed to the public but I won't bother posting 'cause they can be seen on the previews.

Yay for chipmunkiness in Mirai Ressha, lol. I sure do hope TRANSFORM's PV won't be just... that. 45 seconds is borderline tolerable, but four minutes of "topless" KOTOKO flailing around with warping make-up and hairstyles? No, sir, no. Aside from that, I do like all the previews. It's already sounding like Hiraku Uchuu Pocket will have more to offer than Epsilon no Fune did.

@Kacku: please don't worry about double or triple posting...I really appreciate all this news you bring <3

But wow, Kotoko leaving I've...craziness.

I am excited for her 5th album though, I've barely begun to start listening to her...so it's good for me.

The covers look neat!
And the previews all sound great!

@emiko: Well, forum rules don't encourage double-, triple-, etc. posting and I do try to follow the rules as well as I can. Also, even though it may not seem that way, I don't want to completely monopolize the thread with just my own posts. And I tend to get a bit paranoid about people being annoyed by me posting one long-ass post after another. But it's really nice to hear that the news updates are appreciated. ^^

I'm also very excited for her 5th album, especially with the whole package being brand-new stuff!

@dreamland: I wish I could fully agree with you about the covers... The regular edition is pretty nice, colorful and all (although I could well do without the repeated door opening pic...), but the limited edition cover is a bit... bland. It looks like a perfect target for a secret slipcase though: you take that cover off and a nice, brand new cover is unveiled! Like with Ayu's Love songs recently.

I'll gladly agree about the previews though, they're all sounding great!

You are more than welcome to do the type of double-posting that you have been. News is always welcome, so that's not what we mean when we say we discourage double posting. We mean don't do it in quick succession. Like say I made a comment about a song, and then thought of something else to say two minutes later and instead of editing my post I just made another one. That's what we don't want. But all of your double posts are always days or weeks apart and you're always bringing news, so you're fine!!

I can't believe KOTOKO is leaving I'VE!!! :thud She's been with them forever! It's just so shocking. I really do wonder what the core reason is... I can understand her wanting to branch out and do different stuff though. But she's still KOTOKO and with that goes a certain style, you know? I'm really looking forward to her new album! The previews sound amazing and she looks really pretty! Thanks so much for sharing all this news!

^Ah, thank you very much! I shall continue with my double-posting ways then. :P

[Warning: wild speculation ahead]

Yeah, KOTOKO leaving is just... out of nowhere. I think it might have been a really sudden decision, because between Epsilon no Fune and this day, she released three singles (not to mention many eroge songs) while still under I've - that's often been the amount indicating a future album release for KOTOKO and Mami. That, coupled with the large amount of I've-produced songs on Hiraku Uchuu Pocket, seems to imply (to me, at least) she was already working on an album with I've and for one reason or another switched labels and got new friends on the producing list halfway through. It's not like she's hanging on to I've at all now that the departure's been announced (which would make the whole leaving-the-group thing questionable); instead, she's pumping out non-I've songs left and right. She already has like... three non-I've eroge songs coming up. Not to mention a new single, the opening for Shakugan no Shana III, has also been announced. But it doesn't seem like a simple matter at all and my speculation has yet to reach a conclusion.

Speaking of KOTOKO's new non-I've songs, here's one example: Pray's Color -Link- for a game called Mashiro Summer.



At least the split from I've has her take some new musical paths. This definitely doesn't sound like every I've song she ever did, which I was slightly afraid might have happened. But it's still clearly KOTOKO, which is always good.

And to elaborate about the Shakugan no Shana theme song: it's called Light My Fire, has lyrics, composition and arrangement by ryo (supercell) and will be released as a single on November 16th. KOTOKO sure seems to have a hectic release schedule after the label switch. o_o A single only a month after an album release? Wow.

HEY GUYS GUESS WHAT HIRAKU UCHUU POCKET HAS LEAKED ALREADY AND I'M SO EXCITED I'M ABUSING CAPS LOCK NEEDLESSLY

Get the album here: http://www.j-mp3.info/2011/10/kotoko.html

It really has tracks in 320 quality and all the scans there. My listening time starts now!