The official "Seara Ko-jo" & "Shion Miyawaki" Thread - a.k.a The Rival
 

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/6...valcopymd9.jpg
http://www.the-rival.net.

We dont have one yet or? I decided to put them together becase it seems like that they are going to relese in "the Rival2 way until her debut album (or futher????) XD anyways. I really like the both first tracks of them, I prefer JOY from Seara because I like her voice much more. What about you?

Discographie:

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/5057/joycdmp0.jpg http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/6083/joycddvdtv4.jpg
Debut Single (#159 ~ 613 copies sold)
デビューシングル「JOY」
2007.7.25

CD
1. JOY　
2. Angel　
3. JOY (instrumental)
4. Angel (instrumental)

DVD
1.「JOY」 PV
2.「JOY」 Making Clip
3.「ザ・ライバルTV.」Promotion Clip



http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/3361/boycdav0.jpg http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/5231/boycddvdce2.jpg
Debut Single (#182 ~ 507 copies sold)
デビューシングル「BOY」
2007.7.25

CD
1. BOY　
2. Bluff　
3. BOY （instrumental）
4. Bluff（instrumental）

DVD
1.「BOY」 PV
2.「BOY」 Making Clip
3.「ザ・ライバルTV」Promotion Clip


WINNER

1. ROUND: BOY vs. JOY

*Seara Ko-jo (JOY): #159 ~ 613 copies sold
*Shion Miyawaki (BOY): #182 ~ 507 copies sold

WINNER - Seara Ko-jo!

I really like Seara's B-side, and Shion's A-side. but their upbeat songs kinda suck imo.

yesasia doesnt even have their CDs XD

Those sales suck. =x

I hope their next single(s) do better.

Of course Seara wins! Sheis better than Shion... at this time anyway she's my fav xD. I loved JOY a lot more than BOYS...

r u kiddin??
i hate joy!!
OMG

JOY is actually hatable? x_x

JOY is very generic, BOY is a little less generic. I hope their next singles will truly sound unique.

I'm pissed off that JOY sold more than BOY. :( I like Shion better.

^It can be generic but if it sounds good that's what matters XD.

^ true, true :)

JOY gets not as bring as BPY...their new singles will be out in September!

Lmao, I really hate Joy too. Boy is the much better song.

:o So I guess that only I will go along with Seara

no no no me too

so sad =(
i thought Shion won =|

I like Shion's voice better, but I like Seara's songs better. I think. I could be confusing myself.

i liked boy much better.

seara's voice annoyed me. :/ shion has a better voice.

i wonder what their next singles will be like.
if theyll keep doing the 'same melody different producers' thing. or maybe if theyll do something else like 'same lyrics - different songwriters and producers'
that could be pretty neat.

I kinda like BOY more than JOY too, although in reality I like both songs just fine. Nothing to write home about, but they're decent.

I really hope they continue the "same/different" pattern as well. It intrigues me XD;

Shion has the better voice, I'm sad to see that she didn't do better.

I'm happy Seara did better, she deserves this xD.
Not that any of them has a good sales >.<

Wait, you mean avex pitted them against each other as some sort of a marketing gimmick? So they're both going to do simultaneous releases with slight variations in titles and see who wins?

I think Ko-jo did better because she has a much nicer cover and also seems to be more blessed in the looks department.

After watching those preview clips on the website, I think both of them need a WHOLE LOT of polishing. Especially Ko-jo. Her photos look nice but she looks animated and artificial in her PV.

any news on new singles?

Time to bum this thread up again! I recently got into them again, because well, I just think the whole rival thing is worth our attention! Yup, the whole project has taken a twist.

Updates

1. 1000 CDs Project
In mid July, Rhythm Zone released the debut singles of performing hopefuls Seara Ko-Jo(”JOY”) and Shion Miyawaki(”BOY”) under the premise of “The Rival”, pitting the former music school friends agaisnt each other in musical debut battle. The results of the first challege officially declared Seara Ko-jo as the debut winner and she was given the opening performance spot at the final date of the A-Nation 07 concert. Given the overall results of the project, the girls fate has been revealed…

1. Due to poor sales of both debut singles, both respective 2nd singles were cancelled.
2. Instead, they will release the singles under an independent label (suspected to be “Rhythm Republic”).
3. Both singles will include 1 song for 500 yen. Only 1,000 copies will be printed of each.
4. The singles will not be sold in stores.
5. They will sell them through their own means.
6. They will be re-signed to Rhythm Zone once all copies are sold.
7. There is no time limit.
8. It is no longer considered a “rival” project.
9. Each has a budget of 300,000 yen.

Source: ikimasshoi.com

2. PVs of their Debut Singles
And for those who haven't checked their PVs out yet:

Seara Kojo's JOY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFALwCJwHMY
Shion Miyawaki's BOY: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFALwCJwHMY

3. Reality TV Show
With the 1000 sales project, a new The Rival reality show has been released on MTV Japan. You can watch the first 3 episodes here including past episodes.

http://www.mtvjapan.com/music/feature/the-rival/

I just feel really sad for them. Why can't they have it the easy way like other artistes? I mean they're seriously doing this whole thing in the most extreme sense of being an "indie", it's just really tough. Considering Seara is 19 years old and Shion is only 17 years old.

^wow..so interesting...

Interesting indeed. I like them both but i prefer Seara-kojo because her name is awesome XD!

Shion seems to be putting in more effort. She's playing the piano and her new single, Shinin' Star is composed and written by herself. That's a lot more effort. I think she's more talented too, since her voice isn't as scratchy as Seara. Although she isn't as pretty as Seara, I think she deserves it much more.

Seara has her strong points too, but I think her fashion still needs a slight update. Her new single "1 to 3" has really good lyrics, because it's something about falling down and coming back up again on your feet, which is totally apt for her situation. But I think she easily comes as being a generic pop girl who in any instance, will fail to capture public attention.

Oh, and you can check out the sales of their CDs at http://www.the-rival.net/index.html Currently Seara's leading with 157 CDs sold while Shion with 130 CDs.

^ Shion is actually 10x better than Seara, but I don't think she's going to win, unfortunatly. :|

Were can I hear the new singles? And would there be anyway I could buy them?

Wow, it kind of reminds me of how Morning Musume had to sell Ai no Tane...

Wow, this must be really hard for them. >.<

Yar exactly! But they had 5 people and ASAYAN was widely publicised, so it was easier. This is like NO PROMOTION, and if you don't watch the reality TV show, you wouldn't even know about them! Well, we know how disgusting avex can be with their marketing strategies all the time.

^but at least is a chance...if they are clever it shoudl work...they could have dropped them out just by that

It seems like they were poorly promoted by avex/Ryhthm zone so they want to see if they can sell even 1,000 that they can re-sign them and make some money with them I guess.
The singles were nice but they did sell horribly >_<.

lol, If I were them I would start dancing and singing in the street. :innocent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvcPtN5S1cY

Seara is 50 copies ahead @ 259. :grumpy It's cool how they gained almost 100 copies in a day!

Omg, Shion is better! =|

Shion has a much better voice than Seara. And she seems to have a better attitude too! But then I guess the looks seem to matter much more eh? Though I don't think Seara's like anymore prettier. I wonder why other artistes who sell equally poor or worse don't also get the boot camp like these two do.

Anyway, either way, after this 1000 CD project is over, I bet their sales are still gonna flop anyway since they don't have widespread support. Unless they revamp their images and avex starts seriously promoting them!

^haahahahahaaha...NEVER

I didn't want to start a thread in the requests section, but could someone pleasepleaseplease upload their debut singles for me? I had them, but somehow the files were deleted. Thanks in advance <3

Ko-jo Seara - JOY (Single)
Miyawaki Shion - BOY (Single)

^ Thank you! <3

I wonder what's going on with them?

Me too, doesn't looked like the numbers have changed since the last time I checked their official site which was a while back... e.e

^maybe they really doesn't sell at all

Shion is now in the lead, with 825 copies sold to Seara's 780.

Anyone have their second single @.@?

from what happen to them, i think ayu is still really strong, they can't even sell a 1000 copies after a long time

^but their new singles are not in normal stores

^really? so they distribute it by themselves?

^ Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what they've got to do.

^wow...its tough
anyway anybody has a rip of their self-distributed single?i want to hear it

All right everyone!!!!

We have a winner...[drum roll]...Shion!!!!!

She has hit 1000 copies which makes her the winner. I hope this isn't the end of Seara - I was rooting for her!!!

Wow... YAY Shion! lol ^_^

congrats to shion
i really want to hear their self distribute single song

I know!!! What exactly did Shion win? She won like a performance spot at something for avex that is big...Anyway, Seara won the first single competition thing so thats gotta count for something.

They're on avex - they should be getting MAD promotion with these singles instead of this lame crap...

By the way, can anyone upload "Angel" by Seara Kojo onto youtube / dailymotion / imeem? It sounds SO pretty and I really wanna hear it.

These girls really work their butts off! I mean, c'mon, NO PROMOTION? They really have to go all the way down to the grassroots level and on a 1 to 1 basis to garner fans! I'm sure after this, when the real promotion comes, they'll be able to obtain a sustainable fanbase. I mean, like they can release digital singles and get more money from there!

Why is avex even not allowing chaku-uta downloads? It would really help to get their promotion going! But yup, I admire their fighting spirit!

Shion seems more clear headed though. I just watched the most recent episode and Seara seems slightly more confused and emotional. Shion's just firm and stable all the way! I'm glad Shion won this 2nd challenge! She's got 1000 CDs sold already! Seara's still a long way behind though, hope she catches up soon!

I hope they'll be able to excel from now on! Geez, this sure is a difficult period for them.

Yay! I like Shion.

Shion was better at singing and she actually composes and writes her works so I think it's safe to say the better person won. :P

Shion is releasing a mini-album on August 6th, titled "Dear." it'll include five tracks, including "Touch Me," and is produced by MAKAI.

^Thanks!

What about Seara? I liked her song JOY way more than BOYS T_T.

Seara doesn't have a release as far as I know.

Shion won the indies challenge, anyway, so the reward was that she got to go back to being on rhythm zone. I guess Seara is still on the indies label.

That's lame!!
I want Seara to get something too!

SHION <3333

Oh, I just watched a bit of the show they had of Shion of Seara about them selling their songs, and I have to say: Shion is so cute!!!! I think she's prettier than Seara, actually. XD

Shion is releasing an EP

Track Listing

1： Flavor Windows Media player
2： You’re Buttefly -MAKAI exclusive mix-
3： STORY
4： そばにいたい　※10月公開映画「僕らの方程式」挿入歌
5： Touch me
6： Flavor feat.BABE.RYOTA（0SOUL7） -Longest Summer Groove mix-

You can listen to samples here

oh and do you guys think we should make a Shion thread? I'll make it :)

Well now that she is sorting of branching off to do her own thing, I think a thread would be nice for her :)
I'll keep an eye out although I was not too impressed with the previews for her new mini-album...truthfully I prefer Seara so I hope we see more from her...

Seara annoyed me but Joy was catchy. Is she releasing anything?

I'll make one for Shion tonight :)

As far as I know, no news about her :(
Angel sounds really pretty so I hope it makes it onto a future album of some sort...

OMG I lost the b-sides to BOY & JOY
does someone have them?