Kikkawa Yuu goes Solo!

[momoirosaya]

Live performance from Uta no Rakuen

[BonkyuAsh]

Better than anything I've heard from Mano, but maybe I'm being biased because I don't care for Mano.

[Gerald]

I'm liking this girl, she has an attractive gawkiness to her and her voice is growing on me, I definitely prefer her to Mano.



I think I might invest in her single whenever the hell it comes out.

[eri]

She's pretty - I wish they didn't take her on the cutesy path though.



She sings great live.

[momoirosaya]

Kikka Channel 6 The making of her PV.

Kikka's so cute at the end when she's giving her impressions on the PV <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' />

[momoirosaya]

Previre of Kikkake wa YOU! The Movie

[momoirosaya]

Full PV of Kikkake wa YOU!.

And Kikka has debuted with #10 on the Oricon daily ranking.

I hope Kikka makes at least 10,000 sales. Seeing she's at 10 now it seems only a couple thousand have been sold.

[eri]

What does it mean that she's had her major debut? I guess this is the first day her single has officially gone on sale, right?



I already feel like she's been around for a while haha

[Shoujo Q]

[quote name='eri' timestamp='1305159825' post='98920']

What does it mean that she's had her major debut? I guess this is the first day her single has officially gone on sale, right?



I already feel like she's been around for a while haha

[/quote]



Blame the earthquake, she would have debuted sooner otherwise.

[strawberryjam]

Sad about the sales, but the A-side isn't good... I didn't even have the attention span to finish the PV. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' />



Sorry girl. I'm way more into the style Tomochin has.

[Pi Mako]

[quote name='strawberryjam' timestamp='1305188593' post='98960']

Sad about the sales, but the A-side isn't good... I didn't even have the attention span to finish the PV. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... hahaha.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':hahaha:' />



Sorry girl. I'm way more into the style Tomochin has.

[/quote]





Wah... I hate to admit it, but I agree 100%. I think Tomomi Itano's solo stuff (at least her a-side songs hahahaha)is pretty awesome. I already like the preview I heard from her second single.



...I want Kikkawa to do much better and get better songs. She's gorgeous, has a really solid voice and has so much potential. Sigh.

[momoirosaya]

^The full song is already out, I was looping it all day yesterday.



I love Tomochin's songs too <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /heart.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' /> Her new one is great. If I had to say which one I like more......I like them equally.



But Tomochin and Kikka are doing different styles of songs~ Tomochin is a "pop diva" and Kikka's got basic idol stuff. But I Kikka's songs~ and she just started so maybe Kikka will develop another style as she goes on. While Tomochin's song style just fit her perfectly, and as she's been in AKB forever, her character and style has already been well developed.

Kikka's songs are mostly sweet, and Tomochin's songs are mostly cool. Could also just depend on my mood when I say which song I prefer at the moment.



I like the lyrics for Kikkake wa YOU! though~ I love the song. And for Kikka they went with a basic idol A-side, and then the 3 B-sides, are more different in style. Maybe they want to see which one sells more and figure out what style the fans best like from Kikka.

Sayonara Namida - Sweet basic idol

Candy Pop - energetic, reminds me of Chieco Kawabe

Fuyuzora Hanabi - its a bit more dark and cool sounding I think, sounds like one of Tomochin's B-sides or Nana Mizuki?

[Melon]

AW HELL ONLY 10!? Only 1000?! Aw hell, I'm buying the single with Fuyuzora Hanabi. I love love love love that song so it's worth the purchase. I can put the trading cards with my other trading cards of yesteryear! (hello mkb,w,mm,lulz)



And..umm... if it's on itunes can someone post a link? I can't seem to find it, but I also suck at finding things in the itunes store. :(



edit - and yeah, title track is kinda lame. b-sides are the winners this time around

[tsukinobyouin]

I actually like the title track, but then again I've been a Kikka fan since she auditioned for MM so I'm a bit biased towards everything she does. She might have sold a little better if they'd used one of the less standard B-sides. I can see what they were going for with the song they chose though, with the movie and all.



I think what really hurt Kikka was the standard H!P promotion, and possibly the earthquake to an extent (her promotion was pretty interrupted). Instead of just doing the usual H!P handshake event circuit and performances on the H!P standard shows (Mujak, etc), they should have really gotten her out there. Have her perform on every show they can possibly book her on, get her out there handing out fliers S/milage and classic MM style. They didn't even promote her very well within H!P. She had a great start performing as the opening act, but that was waaay back in January. They should have had her along for MM's tour, or one of the other H!P acts. Have her on all the H!P radio shows, get her mentioned on more blogs. She's got talent and personality, there's just no chance for anyone to know who she is.



I know people are comparing her to that girl from AKB because Kikka herself brought it up, but it does seem a bit of a mismatch. Tomo-whoever didn't launch herself as a solo artist from the ground up, she had her group's fame and the whole AKB "industry" behind her to get her going.

[strawberryjam]

I know they're hard to compare and it's not fair because I like Tomochin's style a lot more by default. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' />



Kikkawa is so much more pretty. I just hope future singles have a more defined style instead of generic happy idol.

[Duncan]

I like Kikka, but when a song sucks, it sucks. (Alright, I'm exaggerating a bit here.) I still really dig the sound of Candy Pop.

[rob]

You do realize that it costs huge sums of money to put an artist on the more "popular" shows like Music Station.



In fact, I've heard rumors that the makers of Music Station would not charge certain artists because of the record label they are on, but would charge any H!P artist an insane amount to be on the show,

Not sure if that's true with all shows but I am 99% sure it's true for Music Station.

[tsukinobyouin]

Rob - can you verify that? It's an interesting point, but only if it's actually true and not just a rumor.



Either way, as much as I would have loved to see her on Music Station, I had more realistic expectations for her first single. It would have been nice to see her on a barrage of shows, rather than one or two and a little afternoon program. That works for established groups like MM, but not for a new artist. If they don't make somewhat of a financial investment in her, they're not going to get anything out of her.

[Melon]

Now that it's simmered for a day...



I really love her voice.

01. Fuyuzora Hanabi - let's face it - I would listen to the mic recording posted forever ago once or twice a week. I love this song. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... >/rofl.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='' />

02. Candy Pop - This song is also better than the A-side. sigh I wish they could've done something non traditional as an A side to help her stand out.

03. Sayonara Namida - I like this song, but I don't think I'm going to be flocking to put it on playlists anytime soon.

04. Kikkake wa YOU! - Eh, it's not like it's a bad song, but it's not a great song either. There's too much competition out there to put out an average song.

[rob]

By verify as i give you a source then no,



I've read various things over time, plus I met one guy who involved with this American singer who was invited to sing on Music Station but the invite came with a price tag, that guy basically told me that the owners of music station literally choose who they want via how much they charge.



Avex artists / Johnny's - No Charge.



New "Hot" artists - Minimum Charge.



Competitor / Rival of any Avex artist = Charge as much as you like to force them not to appear.



My wife has also confirmed she has heard these rumors on Japanese sites but Japanese people assume it's just the way it is

[EmEl]

In the end, whether it's because of fees or not, Music Station will choose the artists that get them the most ratings. M-Sta is one of the most popular shows with the kids, though, so one appearance could certainly be worth what they're asking, assuming the public doesn't space out in front of the screen until SNSD comes on.



Anyway, this thread is about Kikka! I got around to listening to these. In the end, I'm pretty happy that we got four different songs to start us off, rather than having the standard two to hold us over until some nebulous second single (or, god forbid, an indie debut that gives us a mere one song to hold us over). Especially since the songs all have different feels.



The generic A-side is sad, but the PV was sort of fun and colorful to look at, yet I only had the attention span to watch through part of it. Though I like the swift poppy melody of the verses that establishes itself in the chorus. I somehow like the remix better though.



"Sayonara Namida" is the perfect B-side. That's all I can really think to say about it.



"Candy Pop" is amazing. Her deep voice resonates throughout it. This should have been the A-side. Easily. I wanna be happy.



I'm not sure why Petit values "Fuyuzora" so highly, except that Kikka's lovely deep voice is far more apparent in this song than "Sayonara Namida". Actually, now that I listen to it more, I can feel the song's changes moving me through a nice little story. I really do like the synth or whatever that comes through during the chorus.

[surasshu]

I think it was due to the delays for a large part as well. Although I do have to agree that the song is quite mediocre, especially compared to Fuyuzora, which is really wonderful (I said as much when the live recordings came out, but it really reminds me of a Key game opening, like Air or Kanon or Clannad, and I absolutely love those).



I just hope they won't give up on her right away, and perhaps she'll have a lot of staying power, but it certainly doesn't look too good.



And, yeah I have to admit it, the comparison to Tomochin is a bit unfortunate.

[Melon]

Going by play counts, I do about a 2:1.5 ratio of Fuyuzora to Candy Pop/Sayonara Namida. The A-side...is.....3. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... deways.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':sideways:' /> Anyway, this poor poor single is marred by the mediocre A-side. It's rather sad because the B-sides are so strong.



My ideal single would've been Candy Pop as A-side and the other two as B-sides. Kikkake wa YOU! should've been regulated as an album track...<img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... stling.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':whistling:' />

[Shoujo Q]

I kinda like the A-side the most. But then again I'm odd so what I say should never count because I like everything. <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /ph34r.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':ph34r:' />

[showraniy]

petit just drew my attention to the fact that a studio version of Fuyuzora had leaked at all. Love, love, love that song so hard, if it's not on her debut album, I'm gonna have a fit in my corner of the internet. I've never made it through the PV for the A-side, so I think that says enough about that, but I'm hoping every single B-side makes it on the album. Yes, even at the expense of very few new songs on the album itself.

[momoirosaya]

[quote name='showraniy' timestamp='1305506894' post='99204']

petit just drew my attention to the fact that a studio version of Fuyuzora had leaked at all.[/quote]

I think she was talking about listening to the concert recording.

Or if you're talking about the other post, it was already officially released like 5 days ago~

[eri]

I absolutely love her voice (of course I love Mano but her voice is pretty thin). I get the feeling the debut song of an idol is meant to be tepid so she can test out the waters and be as harmless as possible. This doesn't mean they won't waste her talents, as we've seen with Goto Maki and stuff. But, I mean, a genuinely talented and pretty idol is rare these days <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... /laugh.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':lol:' /> I haven't heard the solo music of the AKB girl so can't compare.



Anyway, this single is great. She kind up went up and down in the daily rankings (latest I saw was #8) but thats pretty good for someone with messed up promotion and without the juggernaut of AKB behind her. Also, the A-side isn't "weak" at all, but a little generic. My favorite is also Fuyuzora Hanabi.

[momoirosaya]

I like the A-side a lot. It's unique and cute~



I was watching the recording of Kikka's Ustream and she said her favorite song she did was the ballad "Sayonara Namida" and she liked Jacket B the best.

[eri]

According to the blog, she hit #9 for weekly Oricon. That's pretty good <img src='http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... nceman.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':danceman:' />

[Anderei]

Total Sales: 15,456



That's not bad at all.