[Koda Kumi] 202nd Thread - Celebrating her 20th year

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

I don't think she was 100% comfortable with dancing at that time. She was still so green in the early days of her career.

[thinkingoutloud89]

Trust your Love, So into you and Color of Soul are my jams.

[Darkifrit]

I think she looked kinda cool in TAKE BACK but Trust your love is much more embarrassing. The song is great though.

Glad she made How to Dance for ECSTASY. I love the PV!

Btw guys, let’s share our Top 5 for concerts. It will be interesting to see which concerts are the most loved here!

[Gustavopc]

Oh my god only 5? lol

Well, I should say UNIVERSE, JAPONESQUE and WOML Tour surely are my top 3, they were really entertaning, gorgeous outfits, cool stages and props, great setlist and even the merch was so cool. I'm also a big big fan of BEST SINGLE COLLECTION and The Artist... I feel like Premium Night should be included as well but I can't remove any of those I said before, so it's an honorable mention

[Darkifrit]

Originally Posted by Gustavopc

Oh my god only 5? lol

Well, I should say UNIVERSE, JAPONESQUE and WOML Tour surely are my top 3, they were really entertaning, gorgeous outfits, cool stages and props, great setlist and even the merch was so cool. I'm also a big big fan of BEST SINGLE COLLECTION and The Artist... I feel like Premium Night should be included as well but I can't remove any of those I said before, so it's an honorable mention

Interesting Top!
It was really nice to watch all her concerts. I have only watched her recent concerts 1 time so for some, it was a discovery.

The exercise is not easy indeed.
Here is mine :

1. UNIVERSE/DREAM MUSIC PARK
Definitely her best and most creative tour.

2. THE ARTIST
I love the new arrangements in the performances. She was also freaking gorgeous.
Too bad the interludes videos are boring.

3. Second session
Well the nostalgic factor. The Setlist is great and she was so pretty.
Love goes like... is still one of the most fierce performance she has ever done.

4. Black Cherry
Iconic live. Iconic intro.
The encore is just way too long.

5. WALK OF MY LIFE
I don’t really like album but the concert is definitely one of the best.
Her energy is amazing and I like the fact she played instruments during the live.
Dance in the rain performance is so amazing.

[lovethatkuu&ayu]

For me...

UNIVERSE
Black Cherry
Dejavu
Bon Voyage
TRICK

Kumi has never had a truly "bad" tour (thank goodness!) Some have been better than others, but all of them have been unique and standout in different ways.

I think her most underrated tours are probably Kingdom, JAPONESQUE, and DNA on just the technical level alone.

[Corvina]

I can't rank her tours and concerts.
I can only part them in ones I like more and ones I like less.
The ones I like less are Premium Night (it's pretty much all over the place), Bon Voyage (such great ideas, but somehow I can't really feel the execution) and secret live (I dislike her vocals except for some of the ballads - that high pitched shriek she uses throughout the whole thing is horrible, lol).
But honestly I watched all of them pretty often and you can't go wrong with any them imo, always just depending on what someone prefers.

Something interesting is that DNA is the most watched from her current tours since 2015 uploaded on youtube.
And there are a bunch of comments under it saying that this was the first Kuu tour those people attended, being new fans. You can see the influence of her going viral in 2018 I guess. Well, and it was popular among her fanbase as well as a shorter tour, so less fans were able to go.

[Darkifrit]

Originally Posted by lovethatkuu&ayu

Kumi has never had a truly "bad" tour (thank goodness!) Some have been better than others, but all of them have been unique and standout in different ways.

I agree
All her tour are really different with their own theme and specificities. She almost never recycle her ideas from previous tour, this is a great accomplishment when you are touring for 15 years!

Originally Posted by lovethatkuu&ayu

I think her most underrated tours are probably Kingdom, JAPONESQUE, and DNA on just the technical level alone.

I need to rewatch JAPONESQUE, I adored the relive but I just watched the original tour 1 time.

Well for Kingdom, I guess the scandal had big impact in the final product. The idea and scene were great but you could see she was not as comfortable as usually during the whole show. What annoyed me in the tour was the long ballad section and the lack of Aisho (the last one is also a reason why I was a bit disappointed by JAPONESQUE too).

Funny thing, I assisted to Bon Voyage and found it really nice to attend to (especially the hall was really small). Rewatching it though YouTube had a different impact... I found it not as interesting as the others one to watch via screen. Still a great memory

[Evolution7/4]

Anyone else watching Kumi sing Chances All on her insta live rn she is taking requests for karaoke

[kaled kalil]

She sang CHANCES ALL, Kiseki, Taisetu na Kimi e, TABOO, Joyful, Kimi Omoi, INSANE, NEVER ENOUGH, Come Over and Comes Up. It was cute . She also tried Shhh! but she doesn't know the lyrics at all lol. There were some dancing bits, like UNIVERSE, PARTY, OMG and others.

--

Of all her concerts I would choose:

- reLIVE Black Cherry: I like the original, but this is a whole another level.
- UNIVERSE/Dream Music Park: I mean... You can't deny the star power with this one.
- First Things Tour: My second concert from her and I just love it. I think she wanted to tour so much since the beginning that it really showed her passion for the stage. Not to mention that awesome performance of Crazy 4 U....
- Dejavu Tour: I'm a sucker for cute Kumi and the stage was beautiful with the whole candy factory theme.
- Kingdom Tour: Her best stage, no doubt. To me this concert was her peak vocal wise. Even the long ballad section I love because of the different arrangements, Taisetsu na Kimi e from the Song Menu is sooooo beautiful.

But it changes from time to time, so... haha

Honorable mentions:
- A-nation 15th Anniversary Premium Live: Great concert, also adding all the collaborations is the cherry on top for me. It was a whole a-nation concert for her, it doesn't get any better than that.
- Let's Party Vol. 2: Saigo no Ame ♥♥

As for the one that I watch the least is First Class 2nd LIMITED LIVE. I know it was a gift for the fans and all, but when you start to enjoy the song... it's over.

[Katsuyuki012]

My favourites are probably The Artist, UNIVERSE, Premium Night, Bon Voyage & Blacky Cherry. Dream Music Park is up there too but I agree with everyone that Kuu doesn't really have any truly bad concert. There's always something to like. Also, some of my favourites tend to change (constant battle between The Artist & WOML to be in my top 5), so yea. There are instances where I find a show's concept not too interesting or sometimes her voice isn't as good as it usually is but that's it. I think she has a really strong 'live catalogue'.

My mom* decided that she wants to watch a Kuu concert so I was thinking about which one I should show her. I personally find The Artist, WOML or UNIVERSE to be the best choices? Not sure which one I should go with, it's so hard to decide. In the end, they're all good so that's that. I also love Premium Night but don't think it's the best introduction to Kuu (+ I think I'm more in the minority with loving it). What do you guys think, UNIVERSE, WOML or The Artist?

*Finally, my mom starts to appreciate Kuu. I don't know what made her change her mind but I'm happy.

[Toniayu123]

I don’t think I’ve watched a kuu’s concert from beginning to end after 12 years of fandom lol But I love WOML and Trick a lot. Bon voyage was really well executed as well.
Now that I think about it, I’ve not seen anything from the 2017 and 2018 tours. I’ll have to check.

[Darkifrit]

Originally Posted by kaled kalil

- First Things Tour: My second concert from her and I just love it. I think she wanted to tour so much since the beginning that it really showed her passion for the stage. Not to mention that awesome performance of Crazy 4 U....

Agree! You could feel how she was excited to have a first national tour!
I haven’t watched it in the while and took the opportunity to rewatch it with YouTube update. I love her energy in it! It was such a great show!
And yeah Crazy 4 U performance is amazing!

Originally Posted by Katsuyuki012

UNIVERSE, WOML or The Artist?

All of them are in my Top 5 so first of all, good choice

I would think UNIVERSE has more first listener friendly songs and a diversity that will probably help your mom to enjoy the 2 hours show.

I think THE ARTIST is a good choice too! The way the concert is built really show the skills of Kumi as an artist.

WOML is great but her way to sing in that period is a bit particular, I wouldn’t try this one first even if it’s probably her most complete arena tour so far!

This make me think, her 15th anniversary was such an event! She was on fire. As much as her 10th anniversary.

[kaled kalil]

The official Tokyo Government Youtube account upload a Kumi message about social distancing and the stay home movement.



She also sang You're So Beautiful.

[minkAYuko]

^ queen of politics and fights against pandemics <3


Ku should become a gamer! haha she's streamin' rn and singing her songs, she sounds so good. she's the cutest!!

[kaled kalil]

She's coming for Maki Goto's YT channel gig. haha

Kumi was playing with LiSA! https://www.instagram.com/p/CAAmLtKAFzI/

[Gustavopc]

Nintendo please hire Kuu to make some AC CMs!

[minkAYuko]

^ omg she should do something for bayonetta 3!!!! T_T it would be the hottest thing!

[Darkifrit]

I finished watching the last tours I missed.
I confirm BSC is my least favorite one. Nothing really outstanding.

I liked DNA Tour, even if I don’t have big affect with the album. I think W FACE Tour was a better hall tour but some performances were nice to see (I Scream, Haircut and NEVER ENOUGH)

[Gustavopc]

So, on DNA Tour, I now think my issue was more the filming and editing than the tour itself. I felt that a lot during HAIRCUT, cause it's a great performance but some shots make no sense, the part where she rips her extensions looks odd and a bit after you can see the begining of her wig change so it takes a bit of the magic out. And overall in some shots there seems to be a lot of empty space. It's weird saying that cause I never felt bothered by a tour shooting of hers before, but in comparison BSC had a simpler stage but there it didn't feel like an empty stage. And by the way there's a part where's she's performing Crazy 4 U and the camera starts in the middle of the audience and then goes down towards her in the stage and it's SUCH A COOL SHOT! You can see the audience and how close to everyone Kuu is, it almost felt like being in the crowd.