[Kacku]

I've listened to Hatsukoi for a few times now and so far I think it's a pretty ok album but has nothing on her best work. Overall, it just has too few songs that I feel really hit their mark, and more duds and fillers than most of her albums. However, reading the translations brought out whole new dimensions in many of the songs, and I can definitely see that someone who actually understands Japanese properly would get a lot more out of this album right off the bat.

Some thoughts on the songs:

Spoiler:

01. Play A Love Song: This song is one of my favourites. It is just so damn catchy! But beyond that, the lyrics are lovely, describing relationship tension in an insightful and mature way, and I feel like the warm, flighty arrangement manages to evoke those feelings of fondness and frustration and just wanting not to overthink everything for a moment. However, the production is also my one problem with the song: people have rightfully pointed out that it's a bit on the cheap side, and I fear that might make the song age badly and grow tiresome too soon (which unfortunately ended up happening to me with Michi). But for now, I still greatly enjoy playing this love song!

02. Anata: Anata is a good four-star song, but feels a bit safe and unexciting. However, that seems actually very fitting when reading the lyrics: they get a bit close to generic love song territory, but the real meat of the song seems to be about wanting to feel safe and reassured and unexcited for once. The song's arrangement does a good job of giving me that feeling with the warm, full, organic instrumentation. My favourite part of the song is the bridge from chorus to verse, so catchy.

03. Hatsukoi: This song seems to grow on me a little more every time I play it. At first, I wasn't really feeling the melody of the verses and I felt like the big strings arrangement was almost disconnected from the rest of the song, but now, those problems have been smoothed away and I'm enjoying the song a lot. The lyrics get downright cinematic at times and the grandiose, dramatic strings are great at evoking that feeling. Also, I love the I need you chants, they are such a necessary part of the drama of it all, this song would be nothing without them. My problem with this song is Hikki's old habit of writing songs at the edge of her register: it certainly also adds to the drama when she sounds like she's struggling to sing, but it can also make parts like the intro and the chants a bit cringe-y to hear.

04. Chikai: I don't really get this song. It seems a bit too dark and big and dramatic for what's essentially a wedding song, but also not epic enough for the successor to Passion, and it seems like it intends to go bigger but doesn't really go that much bigger. I'm also not completely in love with the production, I feel like the piano and strings are a bit stifling for most of the song when I want more space (if that makes sense). It's still a pretty cool song with good elements (the vocal arrangements, the ending, the drums, the fast speak-singing bridge), but it just never seems to satisfy me fully.

05. Forevermore: I've always found this song a bore, and it unfortunately doesn't get any new life from being in the context of the album.

06. Too Proud featuring Jevon: I really don't like the production of this song, and nothing really elevates it above its worst elements.

07. Good Night: This song doesn't have a lot going on lyrically, but that doesn't matter because it's gorgeous. One of my favourites.

08. Pak Chi no Uta: I prefer Boku no Kuma.

09. Nokoriga: This song got the biggest boost from getting to read the lyrics. They are lovely, and somehow they made the cheap-sounding arrangement click for me, the cheapness and simplicity works for this song about drunken, regretful longing. Hikki also really sells the story with her vocals.

10. Oozora de Dakishimete: This song is cute, but it's felt like filler since day 1.

11. Yuunagi: My favourite of the album. It sounds magnificent and unusual, the arrangement is flawless, Hikki sounds beautiful (god I love all the chants), and the lyrics are beyond beautiful (she is SO GOOD at writing about grief, and as someone who's lost a close family member, I've been really touched by her ability to describe the many feelings and experiences associated with grief honestly and poetically). Among her all-time best songs.

12. Shitto Sareru Beki Jinsei: Another favourite. Definitely the most experimental-sounding song on the album. There's something intriguingly fatalistic about both the sound and the lyrics.