Got around to listen to De:CODE expecting a mess but I really enjoyed it! CUBE is a bunch of noise that I desperately wish she would just stop doing (I also really hate how she uses her voice in these type of songs) but the rest were great! CELESTIA is gorgeous and such a highlight in this part of her career. I didn't think she still had it in her but it's easily one of my faves from her in a while. I love it so much 

On 8/4/2025 at 4:19 AM, Suilen said:

Thanks to everyone who has sent their scores and participated in the reveals. I'm glad we had a chance to celebrate these women.

 

The second Showa rate, tentatively titled 'The Showa era singer-songwriters' is coming next year, January or February. Some many find the term 'a city pop rate' more accurate, and while all of them definitely dabbled in city pop, not all their songs are going to be that, and we're going to have some synthpop, funk and even folk. The Japanese term 'new music' covers all of them, and it's basically synonymous with city pop there, but it's unknown in the West, so using that will only confuse people. So it's singer-songwriters for now, and it's true: all of them wrote for themselves and for other people, as we saw with Shizuka and Miyuki here. Some took time to get there, like ANRI and even Mariya, but they got a hang of it.

 

The line-up will probably look like this:

 

Yumi Matsutoya
Mariya Takeuchi
Tomoko Aran
Meiko Nakahara
Junko Yagami
Taeko Ohnuki
ANRI
Miyuki Nakajima (not on Spotify for now, but we'll find a way)

 

Misc

 

Saki Kubota
Kaoru Akimoto
Miki Matsubara
Mari Ijima

 

I hope to see all of you there. I'll try pitching it as a general rate because it has a lot of potential to resonate with non-jpop audience, but if I get ignored, then it's going to happen here as usual.

 

Only Dress Down and 異邦人 will be making the misc section, I think. The other two ladies could be saved for a theoretical third part that would include artists who were neither idols nor singer-songwriters. There's also more stuff missing on Spotify than I thought, so I'll be using shady websites generously.

Lovely instrumentals 

Perfume stuns in their popbase debut

 

 

Progress is removed from the English version of Tales of Xillia Remastered...

16 hours ago, Suilen said:

Progress is removed from the English version of Tales of Xillia Remastered...

They will pay for this... run her her check!

 

 

Instantly snatched up every single one without a second though

 

Trying to save money… but it's Ayu…

 

I guess I can buy a sneaky copy of Loveppears.

 

Is it finally happening....cause where did this come from

 

Edited August 22, 20251 yr by Ghibli

2 hours ago, Ghibli said:

Is it finally happening....cause where did this come from

 

mother wanted to bless the Ultimate Diva rate

dddfd; not Namie back on streaming but only Uncontrolled... what kind of monkey paw wish

24 hours later and it's still not been taken down, oh wow.

 

On 8/23/2025 at 7:18 PM, Ghibli said:

24 hours later and it's still not been taken down, oh wow.

 

is it actually a fan upload?

 

4 minutes ago, getinthezone said:

is it actually a fan upload?

 

The account is verified, all the OG streaming numbers are attached to it....I don't wanna get my hopes up though

 

42 minutes ago, Ghibli said:

The account is verified, all the OG streaming numbers are attached to it....I don't wanna get my hopes up though

 

Writing credits seem… off

 

 

That new Namie profile now linking to her official This Is... playlist

 

Ahhhhhhh I wish I could be at the Crystal Kay show tonight in Chicago

 

 If only I had become a stan a couple months earlier. I usually don't get FOMO but omg... 

Well that was a lovely 4 days on Uncontrolled.

2 hours ago, Ghibli said:

Well that was a lovely 4 days on Uncontrolled.

nnn what in the world I wonder if it really was a fan upload or what...

 

Edited August 27, 20251 yr by Curaga

This godly fan remix of Ayu's from your letter is still my fave version of the song EVER. The creator really put his everything into it and turned an above mediocre track into one of my absolute favourites. To think this was all for some little forum contest on AHS back in the day 

 

 

Maybe she should go back to streaming Monster Hunter as her full-time job...

 

 

OMFG my package from Suruga-ya just arrived  I bought a bunch of used CDs from them, basically any Ayu/Kuu album I could find and so many them were only, like, 4 USD a pop!! I'm buzzing lol. It's so crazy to actually have the physical CDs; they're, like, mythical to me 

 

Edit:

My haul! The A Song for ×× cover is SO COOL irl

 

Edited September 6, 20251 yr by Curaga

Done with Meiko Nakahara's discography and her selections. A lot of her stuff isn't instant, but once it hits, it hits. The cover of her final album really belies the quality, she went out with a bang.

 

Revisiting this king's discography, forgot how much I love this man

 

 

Cannot believe this album was released 14 years ago today. Truly underrated, no skips, a flop masterpiece.