Sunday, January 31, 2010

Japanese Music

So, for January, tanabata from In Spring It Is The Dawn asked us to listen to Japanese music and talk a bit about it.

For some reason, I was a bit reluctant at first. I had listened to Japanese music in the past - in a rather obsessive way, even, compared to my usual music-listening self. In general, I switch the type of music I listen to several times throughout the day. The louder music to wake up, to get my brain running - then some background noise while I'm at work, to shut out the other sounds in our building (it really distracts me to hear loud steps or phones ringing all the time).

But when a friend of mine first introduced me to Japanese music (through a Japanese TV series, Hanazakari no kimitachi e (you really should watch the first few episodes at least, if you haven't already!), I listened to Japanese music exclusively for a few months. Nothing else, not my usual changes throughout the day, just the few CDs I could get a hold of.

Which leads me to the first music video I'd like to share with you:



This is the theme song for Hanazakari no kimitachi e: Peach, performed by Ai Otsuka. And the video should show a lot about the quirky-crazy characters in this show!

Some more of the old favorites I re-visited in January were Arashi, for which I'll give you their music video for their song We Can Make It!:



This song is one I play twice during the last 15 minutes when I'm out running on my own. I'm not good at balancing my running, so I end up tired way before I'm back home *sigh* And the video makes me smile. Why is it that Japanese boy bands always look so funny in their MVs?

The next one is I'll Be With You by KAT-TUN. One of these young men also played in a TV series. Japanese artists can do a lot of things, not just sing and dance.


And here's a song that is so different from the first few, but I still really love it - I am Fantasy by Hakuei!



And one last video before I go to bed. This is probably the first song after Peach that I listened on repeat, because I enjoyed it so much and it was so different from what I knew before. It is Orenji no tayou by Gackt and Hyde. unfortunately, it is not the entire song (it's over 5 minutes and I couldn't find a good video with them both in it):


If you would like to listen to the song in full, here's a Final Fantasy X video with the song:


Have fun listening and a big thanks to tanabata for getting me to listen to Japanese music again!


4 comments:

  1. Hana Kimi! I have yet to watch the TV Series (I tried the Korean Series, but it wasn't right for me), but the Manga is adorable. I spent 23 volumes in love with every character.

    I used to have a huge crush on Gackt, five years ago, and I feel like I'm reliving some of my favorite moments in high school through your post :)

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  2. Thanks for sharing some of your old favourites. To be honest I don't really listen to a lot of Japanese music these days but it's been fun to read everyone's posts and indirectly relive a few old memories. :)
    BTW, I'd hoped to take part in your Mystery Read-a-thon earlier in January but it just didn't work out. Hopefully I'll be able to take part in the next one.

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  3. How fun! I hadn't heard of the ones you mentioned here, but I had fun listening to all the songs. I too was listening to J-music obsessively at certain phases of my life. I stopped years ago, but because of Hello Japan, I started reliving it again recently.

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  4. misskindle, I watched both the Taiwanese and the Japanese versions and I enjoyed them both. They're different, so you might want to check them both out. And I think I have to watch at least part of the Korean series, as I haven't seen even a glimpse of it...
    Also, I'm glad you could relive some high school moments through my post. Gackt sure has a certain something about him... :-P

    tanabata, my pleasure! I enjoyed this one. As for the read-a-thon, check back for the summer edition :-) We'd love to have you participate!

    mee, glad I could introduce you to some new music! And I agree, because of Hello Japan, I am reliving part of my life as it once was... It is sooo much fun!

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