Utada couldn't be getting any better
 

Seriously, I've just watched her new PV, "Keep Tryin'", and not only the PV was very well done and excellent but the song is awesome, unique and flawless. It's hard to believe her popularity has declined in Japan since I think her recent releases have all been top notch, I love Be My Last, passion and Keep Tryin' very much and I'm just anxious for her next releases, if it is an album it's probably going to rock. :)
She's so cute in the Keep Tryin' PV, I love her attitude and stereotyped walking ahaha :laugh
Anyone else have high hopes for her next releases?

Me too! I think Hikki is doing a really good job. I LOVE all 3 of the singles she has released so far. I just REALLY wish that, if she were to make a new album she would release it in the US. ;_; If it had the songs Be my last, Passion, and Keep Tryin... and maybe somethin like CD-DVD I would buy it so fast. I have her Exodus album.*sigh* Well yeah enough of my dreaming but I agree with her things being top-notch, and yes I hope her next releases are really good. ^_^

I don't like her recent stuff. I think it's worst then her previous material. But then again, I never really liked her older stuff either. Not my style.

I totally agree with you ImpactBreaker. Utada is so "underrated" ever since she released her exodus album, which is great also. I am definitely picking up her new album in the future. Keep Tryin' is my fav new song so far.

As soon as I read this I had to check it out at youtube XD. I L<3ve when she makes these type of pv's. Great director :) She is sooo cute!(her haircut is nice ;)) I liked the song before... but the pv just makes me LOVE it more :)
Dang she hit the spot for me XD This vid/song is the exact thing I need for my daily life happenings right now.

Hikki is a genius. :D Her music has been so good since the release of EXODUS. I didn't really enjoy EXODUS that much at first, but it grew on me. I'm expecting an album in 2006, hopefully CD+DVD. I want the Keep Tryin' PV in DVD quality! It's so BRILLIANT. <3

I wonder if her husband directed the PV?

I have to say I like Hikki very much! I haven't seen "Keep Tryin'" PV yet but I can say that I liked Be my last and the PV was cool too, I can't understand why the sales haven't been higher. Anyway, I hope she'll keep this way!

you know...sales for j-artists in general have been on the low side. not only hikki. but i do hope for high sales soon!

I hope this single does well. I've never been addicted to her in the same manner as Ayu but I've always considered her really good. Keep tryin' is cute and has an interesting concept. All her recent promotional videos have been brilliant though I'm a bit disappointed with the song itself.

havent heard any of her recent stuff :'(

yes, those are exactly my feeling towards it.

you should try listening to "noissap" :P That song has some cool backwards pronounced english phrases that makes it sound pretty weird !

I didn't really like the lyrics to Keep Tryin' -- I found them a bit unoriginal. The PV was okay, but very traveling-esque. Regardless, I like all of her new singles. She could get much better, IMO. She's not quite up to par with her DISTANCE/DEEP RIVER days.

you should listen to keep tryin' and passion!

the only song I haven't enjoyed from her lastest three is passion, though I did like the vid, I think her next album is gonna be a big seller, or at least hope so :p

Everything since the 'DEEP RIVER' singles, besides the 'DEEP RIVER' (But I loved the title track!) album has been really good. 'EXODUS' had some duds, but was pretty good overall. Her last three singles have been very good, and I can't wait for her new album.

'Keep Tryin'' is awesome and I love the artsiness, spunkiness and clunkiness of the new PV. It's so fun and makes me want to prance around my neighborhood with a big grin on my face. ^_^

IMO, her last four singles beat all her old stuffs. I think her first two albums are pretty dull. I hate R&B stuff and I hate when she tries rock. But I love her experimental/weird stuff.

I think Passion is her best song ever. So I'm really looking forward to each new release :)

i'll have to respectfully disagree with keep tryin'... i heard it and...well, it's a lot of like the material on exodus, which was different (not in a good or bad way... i did enjoy a good amount of the tracks on exodus, but all together it seemed very...homogenous, and so as a package was not something i liked...but i swear, i have ADD, so that would explain it!). I have enjoyed her previous releases until this one... be my last, passion... even back to dareka no negai wo kanau koro (and of course stuff before that). keep tryin' is just slightly bland for my tastes... but it might grow on me. i definately think she could be doing a lot better, but i don't think she's really fallen that much. i'll continue to support her of course, because i do think she's talented! i'll just skip over this single! : o




edit: the pv, however, is the cutest thing ever

Her new stuff ROCKS. I mean, it's AMAZING...
I love her, but I am really fearing for Ayu, now...
Not like i'm going to start a big fight about how she's going to fail, but i sure hope she'll soon put out a record selling single..
Hmm... I cease to DL the Keep Tryin' PV... -dls-

...and i like her single covers that she has released recently, including the UK releases~!

rofl Can't believe I actually had to think about that one for a second XD

her single sales seems to be dropping

Actually this pv connects to most of her pvs that are directed by kiriya. You can see similarities with traveling, FINAL DISTANCE, Sakura DOROPPUSU, Passion. (I read the explanation from a hikki forum :P)

For example, the jogging scene in the cafe, and the group of 5 people passing by while she is biking are copied from traveling pv.

The background in the tv store scene are similar to the background from FINAL DISTANCE (just look at the wall behind the tvs). You can even see a kid "touching" a white statue (but they're separated by the shopping glass) in that scene. It resembles the white and black hikki's in FINAL DISTANCE pv.

The scene where the hikki walking while lots of workers dressing the same suit/doing the same thing... it resembles Passion (where hikki walks and the purple people drumming).

for sakura doroppusu... well if you look at the window of the botique, you can see two dresses... these are hikki's outfits in sakura pv :D.

I agree, she's just awesome lately. I loved Keep Tryin' after the HQ rip was released and the PV got out. Before I was a little bored by the repetition, but the PV changed everything! I loved the scenes from her previous PVs! Examples..

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/9679/untitled2qd.png
*credits to amorphose*

i totally agree with you about how the pv changes my feel towards the repetitive ending. Before watching the pv I didn't really like the ending of the song... too much okasan, odosan, oniichan blah blah.. but now it's like an essential part :D It's like we keep calling people to keep tryin' ;).

I liked Be My Last, and I love Keep Tryin', but Passion didn't actually do that much for me. I actually like Hikki's previous stuff better. *dodges the fruit being thrown at me*

yeah out of the three recent releases I like Passion the least (still lovin' it tho). why you dodge when you're saying the right thing? :D. Recent releases are excellent, but it doesn't mean that the old ones are not as good as the new ones. Some are actually better (well everyone has own taste :P)

i agree, i'm totally digging her new material, but i always dig her material.

I love this song to pieces, omg. Upbeat and refreshing. The trancey sound effects in the background sound neat to me too. :yes

Oh, and as far as spoofing her own material, did anyone else notice this one as well? (Made by me, _CREA_, rather crappily. XD)

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/9...inuh3019wk.png

I loved when she gave the car a ticket^_^
and I love the trance effect too!!!

OMG anyone knows where can I download all of her vids, I only have the new ones :( and they all look amazing :p

I am going to start a thread:P I need those vids too:D

I'm excited already, lol. :yes

I agree as well. Her past three singles have been amazing. I didn't really like Keep Tryin' either until I saw the PV...it's so different for her! I adore her schoolgirl outfit...I want one!

I'm really excited about a new album. Then again I got excited about DEEP RIVER too and then was pretty disappointed. But if Hikki continues going in this direction then I think it'll be her best yet. (Note: I'm not a huge fan of her old stuff...her new stuff is more my style)

Really?? :( I think DEEP RIVER is her best J-album... but oh well if you dun like this one I'm sure you will like the other hikki songs :D

DISTANCE is good too!!! its such an experimental, but fun album. more like her new songs

I used not to like DEEP RIVER much other than the single songs. At first I thought the album tracks were mediocre. After a very long time, I realized some of those album tracks were some of the best japanese songs i had listened to, one of them being "Play Ball". Now DEEP RIVER is the best Hikki album so far in my opinion (Distance and First Love have way too many forgettable tracks). That became one of the greatest reasons why I never judge songs by a very few listens, some of the best songs that never get old to me tend to be songs I'm not that amazed at first listen.

theres always been a debate between Distance vs. Deep river.

i myself like deep river, just cause the songs flow together more. distance has more variety and no doubt each song is top notch quality, but i always feel like listening to "this song" or "that song" on there. when i pop in Deep River, i can listen through it straight.

thats very true. deep river is catchy from beginning to end. its a very outrageous album. distance is more versatile

For me, Distance has some great songs (Time Limit, For You, Distance, Sunglass, Kotobani Naranai Kimochi), but some of the songs I really don't like, and skip over almost every time I put in the disc (Wait and See~Risk, Can You Keep a Secret?, Eternally, Addicted to You).

Deep River on the other hand only houses one song that I skip (but not that often actually) - A.S.A.P.
Deep River has such a better flow than Distance. Each song fits neatly into a perfect little nook between the others - but you can listen to it on random if you want and it still freakin' rocks! Not to mention, I like the style of music more.

As far as her latest releases though, I am completely in love. Everything she's come out with lately has been breathtaking for one reason or another. Be My Last is just gorgeous, heartfelt acoustic work; Passion is epic and sweepingly beautiful, a real step forward in her evolution as an artist; Keep Tryin' is lite, sweet, fun and catchy.
I can't wait to see what her next release will be like. It'll surely be phenomenal, whatever it is.

I dunno tho but it seems like most of you dun really like First Love album. Probly it is a pure rnb album with not much variety, but it flows like DEEP RIVER and that's the only album that I don't skip any track. Even I love DEEP RIVER the best I still skip some songs such as PLAY BALL (I dunno why.. many people like it, but I feel that's an ok song) and ASAP.

Distance... hmmn... dunno. I won't say it's the worst album cuz it does have lots of great tracks: Risuku, Addicted To You (although I love UNDERWATER MIX more), Time Limit, For You, DISTANCE, Kettobase!. Other tracks like CYKAS?, Sunglass, Parody, and that second last track are really good... It's just I dun often pick up this album and put it into my stereo.

I love the Video I think it soo cute. And I love Hikki as a Student ^_^. I wonder how tired she got from changing in all those outfits? As for the song I love it and I hope Hikaru drops a new album soon. Im soo excited about it

I'm not a huge fan of hers but I've always kept up with her music. "Keep Tryin'" is totally awesome. "Be My Last" and "Passion" were also great. My fave CD would have to be DISTANCE. It's a solid album, start to finish.

True, it all flows together perfectly. I even love A.S.A.P a lot, just despise Uso Mitaina I Love You's opening guitars.. Best album in JPOP history/.

I like her old stuff a lot, but Passion blew me out of the water. I love it XD Keep Tryin' is great as well. For some reason Be My Last didn't really impress me. I don't like it very much.

let's see here...

COLORS
Darekoro
Be My Last
Passion
Keep Tryin'

Yup, seems like this next album's gonna be damn good. Oh and not sure if you guys knew, but Keep Tryin's the last song that her husband, Kiriya, directed the PV for. She said she wants to try new styles for her PVs...

I have a mixed feeling about COLORS being put in the 4th album.. It's on SINGLE COLLECTION already. Of course, if hikki wanna put COLORS in, I will be fine.. as long as the album has at least 6 new tracks inside (excluding interlude) :D.

Wow~ I'm just so in love with Hikki lately.... I really like her, but I didn't care much for her older songs... they all kind of sounded the same to me. But now~ Wow, I just love her songs.... You Make Me Want to be a Man was really good, but Be My Last, Passion, and now Keep Tryin'.... I just keep listening to these songs over and over~~ I think when she does release an album, I'm going to buy it ^^;;

I also still love Hikari and Simple and Clean very much... I can't wait for Sanctuary... ^^;

sorry... double post... delete this ^__^;

Utada Hikaru is kickass lately. Ever since the disaster of EXODUS she's been working really hard on these songs and it shows. The melodies are incredibly catchy and SO easy to sing after the first listen.

I still can't remember how Startin' plays, and I accidentally let the video play during work the entire day.

Utada Hikaru > Ayumi Hamasaki

All I've got to say is that I'm really impressed by her latest works. Looks like Exodus was just a minor blip, as she really looks back in top form.

Ya'll people hatin' on First Love. <3 First Love

She needs a new album NOW.

I like Be My Last & Keep Tryin' both , Passion is okay too. but I still think none of these new singles surpasses her singles from First Love & Distance. I like those two albums better than Deep River , eventho Travelling is the best single by her yet.

'keep tryin' PV is really cool , nice colours and I love all the references to her older PVs :D

Yup, that she does!

And thank you everyone for not throwing fruit at me.