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Even with my walk, I’m giving you hints
I’m not immodest
(Don’t Stop!) I’m not a child
°C-ute’s Tokaikko Junjou

I am not prudish but, seriously, °C-ute’s cover is a bit much. Isn’t it far more sexy than it is cute? The group’s name is °C-ute, so they should stick to being cute. When they get a bit older, they can change their name to °S-exy and sing things like, “Don’t stop! I’m not a child,” but until then they should avoid such inappropriateness.

You may think I’ve lost it, and that I’m really going too far when I label the cover inappropriate. They’re not showing any clevage; their expressions aren’t exceedingly sultry; they don’t have on a lot of makeup.

A combination of things (their ages, their clothes/makeup/poses, and their fanbase), not one thing, leads me to believe that this cover is inappropriate. The second girl from the left, the one rocking the lovely golden peep-toe heels, turned TWELVE last month. The others are a bit older, but they’re all under 17. What are pre-teens going to think, when they look at their role models and see them dressed like this?

Honestly, I don’t know if this group has a lot of young girl fans. They must have some fans their age and younger, but it’s hard to spot them at °C-ute events. What’s easy to spot? The hordes of older men.  Watch the first few seconds of this video and look at the crowd.

Their latest cover seems to discourage younger fans and  to encourage older men to join the already existent mob of older men fans. For various reasons, I’m not entirely comfortable with the group going more in that direction.

What do you think? Is the cover inappropriate?

Overall Rating:

Album Blurb

HEART is a double platinum album. It reached number one on the Oricon’s monthly rankings and was on the charts for more than ten weeks. This album is fantastic. It’s not perfect and some of its tracks are slightly annoying but, several of its songs are simply brilliant.

Worst Track/Album Weak Points: “Faith.” HEART has more than its fair share of ballads. “Faith” is just another ballad on the album. It’s boring and fails to add either diversity or quality to HEART.

Best Track: “Precious -wedding extended version-”

Artist Blurb

Something that sets Yuna Ito apart from other Japanese pop singers: her native language is English. She was born in California on September 20, 1983. Unfortunately, her fluency in English doesn’t keep Engrish out of her songs. It only means that her pronunciation of ungrammatical lines is perfect and that the amount of butchered English phrases in her songs is limited. Yuna debuted in 2005 in the film NANA as the band TRAPNEST’s lead singer. She’s won several awards including Best Hit Kayousai’s Best New Artist and MTV Video Music Awards Japan’s Best Artist from Japan. (Official site) (Wiki)

Track Listing:

1. WORKAHOLIC
2. ENDLESS STORY [Nana]
3. Losin’ [Lost Season 2 Ending Theme]
4. Know-how
5. Precious　[Limit of Love: Umizaru]
6. Tender is the Night
7. Fragile
8. Nobody Knows
9. Faith [Unfair]
10. Stay for Love
11. Truth [Nana2]
12. Perfume
13. Precious -wedding extended version-

WORKAHOLIC

As a workaholic, I love this song. It’s upbeat, full of life, and just plain fun. It’s about a girl who wants to enjoy everything that life has to offer her. She cherishes both her career-motivated dreams & her love life. Monday through Friday, she works as hard as she possibly can, busting her bum & pulling all-nighters. On the weekend, she’s devoted to spending time with her supportive significant other.

In a country in which the minister of health refers to women as “baby-making machines,” songs like this shouldn’t be labeled as anything less than empowering. rawr!

Best time to listen to “WORKAHOLIC”: when stressed/pulling an all-nighter.

Rating:

ENDLESS STORY

I’m addicted to “ENDLESS STORY.” It’s a song that I can listen to endlessly. It’s gorgeous, a great ballad. It’s so sweet and Yuna Ito’s vocals are amazing. “ENDLESS STORY” was also featured in the movie NANA.

“ENDLESS STORY” strikes me as a fun karaoke song. It’s a ballad and probably difficult to sing but, I think that it would be a fun one to do. It has proper lyrics for a very emotional and very entertaining performance. I would find a friend’s performance of it amusing, especially if they decided to make an attempt at belting the more sentimental lines. I don’t want to do this for just anyone, I want to do it for you!!! (誰かのためじゃなく あなたのために)… ;) I digress…

Rating: (watch PV?)

Losin’

“Losin’” has a nice and smooth pop/R&B sound. It’s catchy. Some of the lyrics aren’t great, though. The English bits need
work. Yuna’s pronunciation is flawless but, We’re losin’ truth…even if you’re by my side / We’re losin’ way…you’re far away/ We’re losin’ time…the two of us/ We’re losing dream… (we’re losin’truth…　そばにいても/ we’re losin’way…　遠くて/ we’re losin’time…　ふたり) sounds more like metaphorical poetry.

This song also features a segment in which the lines, “Why don’t you notice? / Why don’t you know this?” are repeated far too many times.

Rating: (PV with okay subtitles)

Know-how

“Know-how” reminds me of anime ending themes: it sounds like something that was meant to accompany scrolling credits. That’s not to say that it’s bad. It’s just not energetic; it’s not a gorgeously crafted ballad, either. There’s nothing exciting or particularly interesting about this song but, it’s okay. Its lyrics are sweet and optimistic. It also has a pretty sound.

Rating:

Precious

In a word: beautiful. This song is fabulous; I love it. Hopeless romantics should enjoy “Precious.” It’s a love song, a beautiful ballad complete with sugary sweet lyrics. It has English bits too & they aren’t painful to hear because, they’re pronounced correctly and actually make sense in the context of the song! Amazing much?

Best Place for This Song: in a film. Every love story needs its power ballad.

Rating: (watch PV with good subtitles?)

Tender is the Night

“Tender is the Night” inspires serenity. The verses are soft, sweet, and tinged with jazz. The chorus is just as sweet but, features a slightly quicker tempo and more instruments. “Tender is the Night” is what I want to listen to while it rains. It’s not quite a sad love song but it has those sorts of lyrics and is really just a sweet tune. It’s basically a song about loneliness.

Despite being a slow song, the chorus is rather catchy. It’s nice.

Rating:

Fragile

Despite its title, “Fragile’s” chorus is overflowing with attitude. -snap- My favorite line: get away 泣いても no way (get away even if you cry no way). The song doesn’t have as much attitude as a lot of American break-up songs but, it has a similar sound and a similar message. “Fragile’s” attitude breaks down during the verses - there, it’s dangerously close to entering the territory of sad love songs.

It’s a fun song. It’s good but it’s just not that great. Its problem: its generic and easily forgettable sound.

Rating:

Nobody Knows

Nobody knows what’s up with this song. I hesitate to say that it’s bad because it isn’t but, it sounds like something that was added to lengthen the album. I seriously doubt that a lot of effort was put into this track.

The song has decent lyrics. Yuna Ito can sing well. There really shouldn’t be a problem but, the vocals aren’t good. “Nobody Knows” is a love song. It’s emotional; it’s passionate; it’s about being madly in love and the feelings that come with it. And yet, Yuna Ito sings without emotion.

This song also has a techno vibe which for the most part is cool. The high-pitched computerized instrumental squealing/.midi file throwback that goes on incessantly in the background isn’t cool though.

Rating:

Faith

“Faith” is the dullest track on the album. Still, it’s not annoying and it’s not bad. It’s actually very pretty but- it’s just so terribly boring… It’s another slow-paced run-of-the-mill love song. It’s about being in love with someone after a break-up, living without regrets, trying to move on, and as a line from the chorus says, “having faith in the future.”

Rating:

Stay for Love

I like it! A remixed version would make a fabulous club song. As it is, it has a strong back beat- it’s a little slow but, it’s still amazingly danceable for Japanese pop.

The English phrases uttered at the very beginning of “Stay for Love” are corny and painful to hear but, aside from those the lyrics aren’t bad (they’re sweet!). As for the song’s meaning, the title sums it up. “Stay for Love” is about convincing someone to stay and to believe in the one who is in love with him.

Rating:

Truth

“Truth” is pretty. It’s a slow-paced and well sung ballad. The lyrics are sweet, sentimental, and all about being completely committed to a loved one. I like it. Yuna Ito’s vocals sound really nice.

“Truth” was featured in the film Nana 2. “ENDLESS STORY” was featured in Nana. While Truth is good, it’s not an improvement on “ENDLESS STORY.” It’s not even as good.

Rating:

Perfume

The album closes with a winner. “Perfume” is an elegantly paced ballad about the lingering scent of a lover. I adore this song. It just works for me. The lyrics are beautiful and Yuna Ito’s vocals are more than pleasing. The pizzicato musical interlude is also a plus and works well with this song. “Perfume” is one of the most original tracks on HEART.

Rating:

Precious -extended wedding version-

The best song on HEART is this one, the bonus track. The gospel choir’s opening starts everything off right by creating an atmosphere of blitheness. Amazingly enough, Yuna Ito’s vocals sound better here than they do in the original due to the trumping up of the background strings and the disposal of everything else.

Rating: