ʕ•̫͡•ʔ Upcoming 2018 Album and Tour in the 57th thread ʕ•̫͡•ʔ
 

http://www.generasia.com/w/images/1/...ukoi_promo.jpg

NEW STUDIO ALBUM「Hatsukoi (First Love)」will be released on June 27, 2018!


ʕ•̫͡•ʔ About Hikki


ʕ•̫͡•ʔ Discography

ʕ•̫͡•ʔ US Discography (as Utada)


Credits:
The Previous Thread
The Official Site
Official Twitter
Generasia
Official Instagram
Official YouTube

She looks beautiful in that photo.

Didn't she get platinum for over 1 m sold copies? Digital and regular?

I don't think Oricon does physical+digital sales certifications, right? I thought it was a special cert for digital sales. Because for Nishino Kana, she's always had separate RIAJ certifications for physical and digital sales. And I can't really think of anyone else who sells as much as she does digitally.

Thank goodness there’s a new thread, hopefully people stay on topic on this one.

I’m excited about the new album and concert, I extremely regret not seeing her live when
she came to NYC.

Is she only touring in Japan?

^Most probably. Hikki has always been very specific on her tours. So, since she didn't anything about going anywhere outside Japan, I'd think it's just there.

Utada’s discography minus 2016-onwards is now on US Spotify!! Finally I can listen to the tracks on SINGLES VOL. 2 and I can listen to the strings mix of First Love for the rest of eternity ugh yaaaas queen

I just wish they've uploaded her post-Fantome singles. urgh

I'll take what I can get. Thanks for the news!

I'm happy that almost all of her discography is on Spotify now! I illegally downloaded all of her Japanese material back in the mid 2000s because that was my only means of getting it (reasonably, anyway - wasn't spending $40+ dollars on importing one CD), so it's nice to be able to listen to her older stuff in a way that will support her!

^the illegal downloading thing is debatable. i download almost everything that is not on apple music illegal, but they way you put it is also wrong. Depending on how you see it, do you really need each and everything you download? I have trillions of songs I never listen to - if I would buy music physically I would have much less but prioritize my listening habits. Maybe that is why everyone (including me) is out of touch with what they own and demand new music every week after a new release.

I kind of get it and agree. And TBH, streaming services are not really supporting the artist similar to buying the actual CD. In most cases, ripping an illegal copy and streaming an entire album once are effectively putting the same amount of money in an artist's pocket. (And that's why Adele and Taylor Swift keep their new albums off streaming services for at least a month after release.)

Streaming services don't have to pay a per-play standard fee. They actually allocate a proportion of revenue to royalties then divide the total cumulative plays for all tracks by that amount and then pay royalties based on the per play estimate. So it kind of looks like this:

$255,000,000 Revenue -> 70% to Royalties

$178,500,000 Royalty Bucket.
~31,000,000,000 streams for January 2018

Per stream royalty: $.005758
Utada gets 1,000,000 streams in a month: $5,758 royalty sent to her label. Her label will take at least 80% of that, and Utada will get: $1,151.
Utada's manager then takes their 20%, and her agent gets their 15%, which leaves Utada with: $748.

Effectively, you stream her entire discography this month and she makes maybe 7 cents. You buy her entire discography and she maybe gets $1 per single and maybe $2-3 per album, so she takes home $60-100.

I agree on the "needing everything" thing. It's a lot better for you personally to spend money on the albums you really like and plan to hold on to for a long time. I wish more artists did special packaging for collector's editions. Like, Bjork's new Utopia album: If it came in a metal case with a photobook, I would easily drop $100 on it. The best edition I could find cost me $18 and it's still a very minimal looking package that will fall apart over the years. But I have it sitting on my desk because it's such a big record to me. I also plan on buying aMEI's last three albums off eBay as soon as I save the money for them.

So, my attitude with this is that streaming services should be like a trial of the music. You either get a maximum number of streams every month, or you get a maximum number of streams per song or per album. If you truly love the song, you need to buy the CD. Spotify is just Napster with a paywall.

For me, I wish things like the mixes on YouTube from Fluidified and Ambient could be bought. I would totally spend the money to hold onto all of the Ambient channel's Ambient mixes. But I think I should also clean out my media drive and delete things like Ayu's old tours and TV shows that I don't have on actual disks. And then just buy the discs if I really really want to hang onto it. The more crap you own, the less you value any one piece of it.

But in my defense in wanting more new music, it depends on the artist. With aMEI, I am still listening to Story Thief as much as I did when it first came out back on December 12. I am still listening to Bjork's Utopia as often as I did when it came out back in November. I think music itself is just oversaturated and the people who are releasing music aren't doing anything attention-grabbing with it. I love Taylor Swift's Reputation, but I just can't bring myself to buy it.

I have scattered thoughts on this stuff. But I do hope Utada's next album is available for purchase outside of Japan without a bunch of obstacles. I've always wanted to buy her records directly, but I am not going to spend another $40 for shipping after already spending $40 on the CD... unless it's packaged in a way that will keep it intact for a long time, or unless I find myself listening to it a lot for months.

But you guys are talking about a model that doesn't work in the XXI century anymore. We are in the digital era and information from all sources and stuff. Why would be different with music? Personally I don't think Utada would receive so little money from her label (either from streaming services nor physical/digital sales) because she basically owns her songs (she has written her lyrics and composed most of her material), so I guess that'd be true to more produced artists, but not for her. But I also am realistic and know she doesn't make money out of it hahaha but she is Utada Hikaru, once the richest personality in Japan. That money was basically from her CDs and concerts, because Utada has never done so many ads like ayu, namie, BoA and stuff, has she? Haha

She had pretty big tie-ins over the years, especially with Sony products I believe. In general, artists earn more from touring and goods than they do from the music itself - that part has not changed over the years.

That said, I'm pretty sure artists are paid differently in most Japanese contracts. For many it is more of a salary-based system, from what I understand. I think it is also common practice for labels to own the music (even if the artist wrote, composed, etc.). Though I could be mistaken in some of that.

I'll be blunt - by reasonable, I meant reasonable for me. I in no way will ever spend $40 on a music CD, unless like orbitalaspect said, it was a collector's edition with special packaging and the like.

And the problem in regards to Utada is, I've loved each album of hers. I love her entire discography, hard as that may be to believe. I bought Exodus legally, and I bought TITO legally. But I was not going to buy her older material for ridiculous prices, especially seeing as most of it isn't money that benefits her and her artistry.

And so, streaming is a more supportive thing to do than downloading illegally. Streams may not make massive amounts of money per play, but in their argument, fans do tend to stream the same song (and in my case, every song) many times. If all of her material were available at standard CD prices in my country (back then - again, I know they're on Itunes now, but I'm speaking to the 2001-2009 timeframe), I would not have illegally downloaded them.

^oh don't get me wrong, it was not to attack you. i can totally relate. Since I'm going to Japan more frequently now I distanced myself from buying CDs online. I also know that streaming services don't provide money to the artists, but better than nothing. i still buy CDs from smaller artist, artists I love and Vinyls.

What i wanted to say was more of a general thought I had and I just happens to speak it out loud. I guess we are just all losing touch of what we love. When you watch these shows on TV that talk about old music, there are so many live-changing albums. same with TV shows that talk about music - yet I feel very little of what I listen to is like "OMG I need this track forever". i overplay what I like and 90% of my music just sits there because I have no time left.

I sometimes feel sorry for myself that I just don't bond with an album that much anymore, but like someone said, it is not the century anymore to value that kind of approach. If I could change something up (meaning my choices in life) I would love to have more albums in my living room where friends who visit just grab one and I have a story to it. Currently I have Namies discography on my shelf. And while I have an overall story to it, there is not that much of variety. Like "I have this album because it is the bets pop-rock-after-grunge-hip-hop sound on the entire planet" and so on.

I may sound crazy but especially these comments in forums that call for new music and trash everything new into a bin after two weeks make me somewhat sad and angry (just like every other comment in the Koda Kumi thread).

I think Utada is an good example. She has a pretty long-lasting career, and for that a pretty small amount of albums that have , of course debatable, some kind of story and quality. Even though I love so many Ayumi and Koda songs, on the other hand, I can see why people make these comments in their threads - they just get more and there was rarely room to breath.

Since they added her discography to Spotify, I've been listening to Play Ball incessantly, tbh. This whole album is fantastic, and while I love Distance, Deep River has aged better than just about anything she's done.

Play Ball is a great song!

^ It really is! I can't say I really dislike anything on Deep River, but when it came out I was all about Traveling, Sakura Drops, Final Distance and Hikari that I probably did not appreciate the other songs enough.

It was always one of my most favourite songs of Deep River album!

That BASS in the chorus though.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

Favorite part.

Play Ball is my least favorite Utada song (Boku wa Kuma haters send your hate mail) but I agree that the bass in the chorus is sexy.

^ REALLY?? Of all songs to hate. I'd say most of anything Ultra Blue or Heart Station - not even half of those albums was remotely good. Flavor of Life...gag me.

Play Ball is amazing. There are so many other songs to hate on her discography.

How can someone hate Play Ball? :laugh I'm biased because I don't actually hate any of her songs, but my least favorites are definitely Flavor Of Life, Kiss & Cry, and Poppin'

Also as an unpopular opinion, I'm not in love with Beautiful World at all. The melody is really nice, but I just hate her voice in it. It's when she was losing it and you can definitely tell.

I also don't hate Boku wa Kuma because, for what it's intended to be, it's really well done. It's a children's song, and that was always what it was supposed to be. I don't believe it belonged on HS, but that's a different story lol.

I never realized how unpopular Kiss & Cry and Beautiful World were! I feel like I've seen a lot of hate for them lately. They were some of the only redeeming factors about Heart Station for me!

Seriously? :tired:OMG

Beautiful World is terrible.

I absolutely LOVE beautiful world and Kiss&Cry, for someone who loves Hotel Lobby, is a must hahaha

Playball was always one of my favorite Utada songs along with Tokyo Nights. I don't hate anything on her discography and my least favorite track is actually... I don't have one? Hahaha I couldn't think of anything.

Oh, wait, there is one. I remembered. I actually forgot this song because I always skip it: that song in Fantôme with the rapper. Gosh, I hate it.

Oh God... So much bad taste :P

Letters, Playball, and, 嘘みたいな I Love You are my favorite album tracks from Deep River. But I still love the entire album anyway. Not long ago I was obsessed with 嘘みたいな I Love You, listening to it very often. But in all these years I have never heard another Utada fan mention it.:tipsy
Also, the first time I heard Kiss & Cry I was pretty confused and did NOT like it. But eventually it has become one of the best tracks on Heart Station for me. That may be funny to some but oh well.:laugh

Beautiful World is a good song completely ruined by terrible vocals. She should re-record it nowadays.

As another unpopular opinion, Distance is one of my favorite albums by her, which almost everybody seems to rank as her worst for some reason.

Is that for me? (8)

Distance is one of my favorite albums too. It's million times better than Fantome and most of Heart Station imo.

For everyone bashing those gems :P

Distance was always my favorite album, though as things have aged I can say Deep River definitely is my favorite these days, and the last album that I completely enjoyed.

You lil pretentious pretty pony~pretty pony~pretty pony~pretty pony~ hauehauhe <3

HAHAHA lol I'd never written c unt here before lol

I love Playball! That guitar solo!

Glad to see this. I always felt like an alien for loving Distance as much as I do :laugh

<3
I'm not even mad, as I am all of those. Mostly a pretty pony though.

Heart Station still is my favorite album.

Nowadays my ranking would be something like:
HEART STATION
Exodus
Deep River
Ultra Blue
This Is The One
Fantôme
First Love
Distance

But I don't think any of her albums are bad.

I can't even make a list, seriously. And if I did it would be all for albums 1st place and TITO 2nd, even though I love TITO

If someone had me at gunpoint and told me to pick (lol), I guess it'd be something like this:

Fantome
Exodus
Distance
Deep River
Heart Station
Ultra Blue
First Love
This Is The One

Man, that was hard. Like Andrenekoi said, though, I don't think any are bad - I love them all.

The reason for me considering Distance as my least favourite hikki album because its vibe is close to First Love's. Of course Distance is more dynamic, at the same time the flow of the album is less unified than of First Love. Also, I was already a fan since First Love, so when she released Distance, I just felt the album was lacking. Also, Distance was (unfortunately) followed by DEEP RIVER, which was considered her peak by most fans during that period (I think you've been her fans so long, so probably you've witnessed this as well :P).

Distance is my favorite album of hers. I think it's the easiest one to relate to the lyrics. All the love themes she deals there are very universal, and I love that.

That actually makes a lot of sense when you put it like that! When you look at it's place between First Love (her massive debut) and DR (her magnum opus according to many), it definitely does look a lot less impressive by comparison.

I admit my love is partially nostalgia-based, too. While I genuinely love every song, I listened to it a LOT as a young kid/early teen, and so it has more than just good music for me.

Distance was the right album for her to release at the time. The 2nd album tends to on the safer side most of the times because it can literally end a career

I don't know how I feel about Distance to be honest.. On one hand I really love and on the other hand I am like "it's good but that's it"... Although that might change with time, it feels like Distance is personally an album I can only listen to when I 100% feel like doing so... Not sure whether my favourite is Heart Station or Deep River though... For me, there's no "bad" Hikki album anyway. There are some tracks I dislike but that would be it.

Distance has great singles, but I can't get into the album as a whole.

Deep River on the other hand has a great flow. My favorite album is still Heart Station.

Distance's singles were good... somehow they don't really stand the test of time (at least to me). I still listen to First Love's singles (and album songs as well) from time to time, but I don't listen to Distance's single songs that often.

I guess that probably applies to hikki, as her debut album was too massive. Ayu's 2nd album was way more risky than the first one (at least her cover lol). Still, when I got the album, I felt the album was a bit boring. Probably that feeling affected how I view the album. Also, A BEST was more... exciting (I listened to A BEST more than Distance during that time... lol).

DR was the moment she took the risk. She ditched R&B and ventured into different areas. The result was so "colourful" (yet the cover was monochromatic lol). I think DR also gave hikki encouragement to keep searching for new sounds.


Distance does sound more complex than First Love. She didn't jump away from R&B (of course, R&B was pretty massive during that moment, and it's hikki's signature sound. It would be weird if she changed the genre :/). I suppose she wanted to level up her game, but in the end the album sounds so forced. I wish I would love the album more, but I was so in love with First Love and I had too high anticipation/expectation for Distance (and also the hype created by Toshiba and avex lol). It was pretty much an anticlimax to me :P.

My ranking of her albums would be:

DEEP RIVER
Distance
Ultra Blue
Exodus
First Love
Precious ( :D )
This Is The One
Heart Station
Fantome

I would rank the albums:

Deep River
Distance
First Love
This is the One
Ultra Blue
Fantome
Exodus
Heart Station

Distance felt more like a collection of songs than an album to me and I was disappointed on my first listen. I was very hyped to finally listen to it but it wasn't as great as I had assumed it would be. I don't listen to it very often but I still consider it a great album.
Drama and Kettobase felt very out of place mixed in with all the pop/r&b songs. And when she starts singing " I want your baby" in Kettobase, it felt weird to me.:roflmao
I think my list would be:
Heart Station
Ultra Blue
First Love
Exodus
Deep River
This Is the One
Distance
Fantome

My ranking (excluding the English releases)

1.) HEART STATION
2.) Fantôme
3.) DEEP RIVER
4.) ULTRA BLUE
5.) First Love
6.) Distance

Although tbh each album has high highs and low lows. So I enjoy all her albums equally (although I do slightly prefer Fantôme as a whole).

Image-wise Ayu was always more of a risk taker than Hikki (or anyone that got as big as them). As a company, Avex was right on trying to release big acts durig Ayu peak because there was always a chance some risk Ayu took could backfire (and it did, several times). But I also believe a lot of that had to do with what they expected of their careers at the moment: Hikki is the daughter of a producer and a music legend, they most likely planned a long term career for her. Ayu was pretty sure it wouldn't last that long, considering Duty and A Best, so it really feels like she was doing everything she wanted to do before it was all over.

Funny enough Hikki went from safe popstar to a very experiemental musician for pop music standarts and Ayu still is around 18 years after she released an album about her career falling short.

I've always wondered how much of a role Utada's status as the daughter of a famous producer and a former idol singer from the 70s played in her success. Hearing stories about people like Taylor Swift, whose father had some connections to Big Machine financially, and knowing that played a massive role in launching her career, I've always wondered about Utada.

And I think it's also a testament to Utada playing her cards right. She's never done anything scandalous or shameful to the public. And she evolved. I think because every release is "fresh", it's been hard to fall out with Utada. She won't be selling 3X Platinum forever, but that's a pretty big feat for a comeback these days.

And Ayu, well... I mean, she was just massive. She blew up and became so big, so quickly that I think she honestly thought she was going to be a 2- or 3-album music wonder. Luckily, she evolved enough to keep it going for another decade, but just keep in mind that by 2008, Ayu was selling half as many records as Utada. And she had ended up behind the curve on things like digital singles. Utada launched Flavor of Life and pretty much made the case for a digital music market with that single. Ayu followed it up with Together When... a year later, which is still her best-selling song in numbers ever.

But still, I wonder so hard whether Utada's parents had a lot to do with connecting her to the right people and practically guaranteeing her the successful career...?

OMG !!
Kingdom Hearts III theme song preview
Chikai (JP Version)


Don't Think Twice (Eng. version)

She's also making another song for KH3 called Oath

Hmm...not writing the song off, but it doesn't give me the same hype as "Simple & Clean" and "Passion". I'll wait and see.

It's not another song, it's the translation of the Japanese name of the song, 誓い Chikai.

My ranking:

Deep River
Fantome
Ultra Blue
Exodus
Distance
Heart Station
First Love
This Is The One

OMG I can't believe we finally have the Kingdom Hearts song!!

I feel the same way. I was a little disappointed, maybe the longer version will be epic

Great song. Completely different feel from the last two songs. Her voice sounds much fuller than the Hikari and Passion. Hikari was very pop. Passion was very theatrical. Oath sounds much mature and emotional. Can't wait to hear the full version. I love the evolution of the KH theme songs.

^ yeah! I felt the same way. Personally loved the preview in both languages and it really evolved as a trilogy of songs along with the three main games: the first one was fun and colorful and pop, the second one was still a lil bit frantic, but more realized and cautious, slowing coming to a climax, and this last one really sounds like one lost its faith, and it's recovering little by little, as the song moves to its climax, just like KHIII promises to be, right? (the closing, I guess. At least of Sora's arc)

I'm really looking forward to listen to it whole, and finally play the effing game hahaha

I think there is also something to be said about her fanbase, and her overall personality here. She was (and is) allowed to exist as both an insider and and outsider in Japan, since she was raised in the US. She was foreign enough to be interesting, while still being Japanese (and, as mentioned, coming from good lineage). Hikki's overall approach/personality has never been "celebrity" - I think she is seen as more of a famous, talent singer than a personality or celebrity (funny enough, I think this is exactly what Namie wanted to be).

But I digress. :) Hikki did marry a man older than her, and ultimately divorce him. She has now re-married, had a kid, and lives abroad. These are very similar things to what Ayu did that caused her fanbase (and the general public) to abandon her. Is it because with Ayu it was a foreigner? It is because Ayu is more "celebrity" and therefore a bigger target? Is it because Ayu is Japanese born and raised? Who knows, but I do think it also highlights the difference in their respective images and fan-bases.

Finally, it's over. The new KH themes are here.:laugh
I feel pretty much the same towards this song as the last few releases. It's good and enjoyable but doesn't have any special impact on me. It's a good quality dramatic ballad.
But nothing matters really. The KH fan base will freak out and praise the song to high heaven.:tipsy
I'll be surprised if the reception is less than sensational.

I do think their parents connections and know how had a huge influence on her longevity. Not to dismiss her talent or hard work, but a lot of what make a popstar career is meeting te right people and doing the right moves, and she had experient people to make sure she would do it right. Her music being fucking good didn't hurt either, so she had the artistic and the business side of her stuff done right

About Ayu... I do think her ballsy choices is an integral part of her charm, and this may be a unpopular opinion, but I do think this lead her to have a kind of cultural impact none of her peers did. IMO Ayu"s presence will be way more felt on the jpop world through other artists than Namie's for example. I still feel in the end of the day the girls are still kinda trying to sound like Hikki, but also to look like Ayu.

I also believe people go hard on her because she is too compared to Hikki or Namie who have completely strange runs during their careers. For someone who peaked more than 15 years ago in the jpop world she actually sells pretty well, has a back catalogue that keeps her selling digital songs yearly and has a impressive ability to sell concert tickets.

Thirteen years too long for KH3 to come out but damn I love that song preview!

I think it may didn't backfire as much as with ayu, but at the time Utada released an statement about her wedding to a foreigner there was plenty of commentaries about how the guy she was going to marry was aiming at her money and how he was less successful as she was and all - maybe because Japanese media/society still doesn't see in good eyes a woman being the one who sustains a family? But she never made her life the center of the stage at any point, she was always very reserved, less opened than ayu, but that's what gave Japanese media the feeling they could diss ayu more than Utada? I don't know haha

I really dislike the piano in the track. It just leads nowhere. I'm hoping the actual song changes it up.

I really dislike the song. Such a disappointment.

Yeah, don't like the song either :/

I don't know how I feel about KH3 song. It's not bad, but not what I imagine a KH song would be :P. I kinda expected it could be something similar to her current style (raw, stripped down arrangement, etc :yes).

I think other artists have experienced people around as well. What makes hikki different is that having a parent as her manager means she has 100% power to control what she wants to do. Of course if her dad was an a**hole and just used hikki as a milking machine, her career would have ended already. Luckily her dad is not a**hole, and I gotta admit that Teruzane does an excellent job as hikki's manager.

I'm glad that ayu has a back catalogue to support her financially (?), at the same time I'm sad that the current ayu is not relevant at all. When she was at her peak, I prayed that she would not end up as Seiko no. 2, but I kinda think she ends up worse. At least Seiko bounced back a bit when she's older (like, after she's 50?). I don't really know if one day ayu will bounce back again, but right now I really can't see her having a second peak like namie (when she released 60s70s80s and BEST FICTION), or having a constant success like hikki.

Yeah I remember those commentaries, but it wasn't that bad when she wedded. They were more negative about two years later or so, when they said that her husband didn't have job (or lost his job?), and that she was the financial support of the family. Hikki even commented once during that period (which is considered rare). I agree that hikki is more reserved about her private life, so the public only knows that she has two boyfriends after the divorcing Kiriya (and one became her husband eventually). Also, hikki's life style is not glamorous compared to ayu's. I believe Japanese think ayu is living like a diva, which is so distant from normal people's life styles.

Agreed. But I also thought the same thing about Sanctuary. It'll grow on me the same way, I'm sure. As just another song, I enjoy it. Just dunno if it's theme material. At least not to me.

@bluegie The difference between your parent maneging your career and a total stranger it's the commitment when things get hard. As a father Teruzane most likely wished for Hikki to be around since the begining, while a stranger is most likely ok in leaving the boat once the shelf life of the artist is gone.

About Ayu, I wouldn't call her totally irrelevant as she still able to sell tickets and shit she does hits the news. Even having haters as vicious as hers are a proof she isn't dead.

I don't know if she can put off a Namie-like 2nd peak, but I'm shure she will have stuff getting on the radar from times to times, as she still does.

Out of all the 3 songs (still to early to judge Oath), Oath is much more grounded and has this humanistic emotional feel. If this is the direction she is going for, I am quite impressed with her capacity to evolve and change not just as an artist but also as an person. The piano totally reminds me of that broken toy piano she used in "Keep Tryin'". It adds a great effect and reminds me that not every song has to be so epic and grandeur.

But I mean who defines what a KH theme song is supposed to be?

I liked the song... Hikari and Passion sound nothing alike too.

The preview sounds nice. I may like the song more as a theme than something to listen to by itself. But it depends on the direction it takes in full as well as how the franchise will use it.

It definitely wasn't what I was expecting but in the end, I think it's interesting and can still work well with the series in a different way. It's hard to put into words

I quite didn’t like the preview at first but when i tried to listen to it using my earphones i liked it. It sounds really sad for me specially the strings in the intro.

The song could definitely fit in Fantôme.
I did not like it at first but i had it in mind on my sleep. I woke up by liking it.
As for Passion/Sanctuary, the japanese version is much better IMO.

I can't wait to play the game.

I like the preview ... Not good as passion but nice ...

+1!

I re-listen to the song, this time without watching the video. The song is much better (which means... the video distracted me in the beginning lol).

It's a great song, but nothing like Passion...

Now that we already have a new song, I hope that she anounces the album soon!

Simple and Clean and Passion came out about 16 years ago (O.o time flies!) so of course the new song is not going to sound like them.

Do people not like the song because it doesn’t compare or because is a bad song?
I cherish her old music but I’m glad that her new music sounds different and honestly
people were going to complain either way that it sounds the same.

OMG i love the Ultra Blue Era. For me its her best Album. (This is Love, Passion, Wings, Blue :blove)

I only whish there would be some nice remixes for her Songs. :(

I just really hate the piano in the track. I'm sure it'll grow on me when I hear the proper version.

I think it's because most people expecting the new song would follow the feeling of Hikari or Passion (strong beats, fast, drums, etc.). I wondered about what she would do with KH3 theme after she released Fantôme, and I half expected that it might be something similar to her current state lol.

Now that we heard Chikai. I wonder what she will do with Eva's last song hehe. This one is harder to predict because the first two songs are so different from each other. This get me excited when I don't know what she'll do with the eva theme (and admittedly I love eva songs more than KH songs :P).

It doesn’t feel surreal enough. KH has a very surreal atmosphere and storyline, and both of the previous tracks in all their versions captured that to some extent. The new theme, by its preview, sounds a little out of place in that respect. It’s almost so distracting to the point that it takes you out of the KH world, rather than draws you in.

It’s too “real” sounding. I can’t imagine the vision board that might go along with it, in the context of KH. What I see is someone sitting in their damp dark studio apartment in New York thinking “well here I am 10 years on in NYC, still stuck in this shitty apartment hanging onto a dream that’s rapidly fading away.” That type of “depressing reality is sinking in” aura, without any sort of spark in sound or sight.

I find Chikai to be both forgettable and melodically confusing as fuck. The beginning of the song just sounds...off. To the point that it stresses me out to listen to it. Things get a little better when the chorus kicks in and the time signature becomes clearer but this song gets a hard pass from me.

^the beginning is my favorite part lol I guess this song will be 4~5min long, so there's a lot more to listen to haha

I find the intro very very confusing at first too. Like, i couldn’t grasp the rythm of it. But when hikki starts to sing i was like “ooohh that’s how it is.”

And now after too many time hearing the preview i already hear that imaginary beat so i wont be confused anymore

I think it's a gorgeous sounding song, but idk how I feel about it as the KH theme. i didn't want the theme to be a rehash of the last two at all, but I just don't think it's catchy enough to be a theme song for a game like that.

I'm kind of surprised. I was expecting sensational news from the gaming media about this because it's Kingdom Hearts related but there isn't that much buzz going on. I was expecting like this huge celebration.

The time for hype around this game would have been approximately ten years ago lol

Well I know the game has been a long time coming but there are still a lot of people begging for this release no? The gaming world has been clamoring for the theme song for a while. Sometimes polluting Utada's youtube videos with KH comments. I thought the hype has never died for 10 years.:laugh

My hype died for KH ten years ago... but I’m still hype for Utada doing the theme song. Sucks because I really liked KH... didn’t care for KHII though :/

Chikai seems good? It's hard to know because her songs usually build up to something great and we've only heard the start. Doesn't help that Passion is just one of her best songs anyway.

The English version sounds so awkward and jumpy.

I really think it's too early to judge the new songs yet. I also felt like it didn't really feel like a KH theme, but it's too short of a preview. It cuts out right as it feels like it's about to build up. I hope there is a remixed version like there was with the last two, as well.

As far as actually caring about the game itself, I could care less if it ever comes out. It's been nearly a decade and a half since the second one came out and I've lost all interest in it. I was 10 years old when I played the first one... I'll be 26 this year. lmao A new Utada song is the only thing that makes KHIII even worth mentioning in my eyes.

Agreed lmao. Literally the only hype I have about KH is hoping/knowing there will be a new Utada song, too.