Track Listing
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Arienai!!
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don’t cry anymore
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friend ~Kimi ga Waraeba~
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Haru ni Nattara
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hys-
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Otoshimono
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Dear days
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Samenai Yume
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chAngE
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Megurogawa <strings version>
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Hatsu Natsu
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Little Girl
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Bokura no Mirai
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Tsuyoku Naritai
1. Arienai!!
Starting the album off, Arienai!! kicks the album already with an upbeat kind of guitar-ladened pop/rock style. While there’s not much difference to really feel for this against “chAngE”, Arienai!! was appropriate as the album’s kick. miwa sounds more or less better than she was in her last single (which wasn’t that long ago). It’s a good track, let’s just go with that for right now.
2. don’t cry anymore
I found it nice that the first old track that shows up is miwa’s major label debut. It is a slight change from “Arienai!!’s” more electric guitar assortment to a more acoustic-based sound. It’s pretty sad that the only reason I remembered this song is because of said chorus hahaha. It made for a good debut to the overground, but she had other songs that stood out since then.
3. friend ~Kimi ga Waraeba~
As the album’s first ballad, friend sounds radically different amongst the previous ballads she’s released because instead of those songs having acoustic guitar at the forefront, it seems that piano leads it while the acoustics seem to be support. I did enjoy that miwa toned her vocals down to a more relaxing tone…I must say, this song is nice to listen to.
4. Haru ni Nattara
As the 5th A-side and final of the era, Haru ni Nattara still has a great feel-good kind of theme going on even with the springtime kind of shtick going on. miwa does go back to her kind of YUI-ish vocals here, but it’s still a nice song even with the short time I had to listen to the song.
5. hys-
Odd title aside, hys- sounds different from the normality of what majority has been heard by miwa so far. It feels a bit more darker than a good portion of her songs and that’s a good enough change for me. I do like the addition of some synthetic elements like some filters and light synth beats. It’s actually an interesting song that doesn’t find itself falling into some already known category with her.
6. Otoshimono
If “Haru ni Nattara” represented Spring, Otoshimono definitely represents the time of Autumn (and that’s not adding in the seasonal cover for said single). As it’s the only A-side ballad to represent the album, Otoshimono stood out to me amongst her upbeat tracks. I do still stand on my opinion from the single review where I said it’s her best A-side because her vocals seem so much stronger than they have been. Good track!
7. Dear days
Out of the songs on the album, Dear days was probably my least favorite of the new songs since it’s kind the long-winded mid-tempo song that lacks interest. It just seems so vanilla compared to most of the previous songs and all the songs after that…it just seems like filler material.
8. Samenai Yume
However, I might keep saying some of the new songs feel a little bit of filler material since Samenai Yume is like the more upbeat tracks found on miwa’s singles. I mean there’s little things that pop on my radar, but otherwise I feel a lot of dejavu from this song when compared to “chAngE” and “Little Girl”.
9. chAngE
Speaking of chAngE, it appears next and it still is one of her hardest songs on the album…then again the tie-in to BLEACH doesn’t really allow upbeat songs to not be hard-hitting. I like the song no doubt, but she’s got “Otoshimono” that beats it out. The energy is great and miwa shows just as much in the song…I think it should’ve ranked higher on ORICON, but either way, great tune.
10. Megurogawa <strings version>
Of all the B-sides she had a choice to add on the album, it was a little weird seeing Megurogawa (B-side from “don’t say goodbye”) making the cut and getting a new version out of it all. Adding a minute and slightly slowing the song further down, the new version of Megurogawa feels really weird. I felt her vocals sounded more nasally here and kind of took away from the flow of the strings that replaced the acoustic guitar as the melody…it’s not too good of a touch-up for me.
11. Hatsu Natsu
Seeing natsu in the title, I definitely thought that this was the Summer song to fit against “Haru ni Nattara” and “Otoshimono”. It sounds good enough and the arrangement sounds nice enough to make it stand out…but I felt like this was more Spring-like than “Haru ni Nattara” to be honest hahaha. It’s a good song, but not really summery.
12. Little Girl
If it was bad that I remembered so little of “don’t say goodbye”, I couldn’t remember her second A-side period! Then when I started to listen to it again I remembered the song fully and oddly enough it’s the cutest song on the album, but it’s vocally the ickiest of the A-sides since miwa kind of tried to fit the cuter vibe as well. Oh well…
13. Bokura no Mirai
Why does Bokura no Mirai remind me of another one of miwa’s songs? It’s a bit like “don’t cry anymore” in the tempo and mood setting which does kind of make this song a little underwhelming but it isn’t as bothersome as “Dear days” and “Samenai Yume” were. It’s pretty nice of a song, but it doesn’t have the backbone like some of the other songs do.
14. Tsuyoku Naritai
Closing the album out, Tsuyoku Naritai is not so much a surprise given that the song is another ballad and has similar elements like “Otoshimono” with a piano/strings/acoustic guitar based arrangement (but mostly the latter). It’s a nice way to close the album out, but in the long run…ehhhh.
Tracks Recommended
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Otoshimono
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hys-
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chAngE
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friend ~Kimi ga Waraeba~
Song of Avoidance
Of the guitar-playing gals out there that has debuted after YUI, I’d say miwa has a bigger change to stand out since most of her A-sides were pretty damn strong and so was the first half of the album. However, the second half was where things quickly dissolved and just kind of started to feel effortless. I think maybe a little more oomph to her songs and maybe the album would’ve been great, but to me this album is just OK and it shows that she has the ability to become better!
Kurayami Monogatari 