Heya, and welcome to our nommy roundup of the Oricon Chart! We’ll be showing you some of the most popular new songs in Japan this week.
太陽ノック – 乃木坂46
There’s a new number one this week: Nogizaka46 with their new single “Sun Knock”. Nogizaka46, founded in 2011, is the “official” rival to AKB48, with the 46 in the name chosen a a direct challenge to AKB48 (according to their producer, Yasushi Akimoto). Rivalries aside, they can still sing just as well as AKB48, maybe even a bit better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAUSdF9tGPk
七転び八起き/臥薪嘗胆/魔法使いサリー – アンジュルム
At number two on the singles chart, there’s ANGERME with “Ups and Downs / Extreme Hardships / Sally the Witch” (the video below is for Ups and Downs). A group part of the Hello! project, they won the 2010 Japan Record Award for Best New Artist back when they were called S/mileage. However, since this is effectively a new group with a revised membership and a release schedule under the new name, the group known as S/mileage effectively ceased to exist from that date. Not that that makes the music any worse though.
DUGOUT ACCIDENT – UNISON SQUARE GARDEN
Number two on the album charts is occupied this week by Unison Square Garden’s new album, Dugout Accident. Known by some anime fans for the first opening of Soul Eater‘s rebroadcast and the ending theme for the more recent Kekkai Sensen, this new release has plenty of other great tracks. Their recent single Sugar Song to Bitter Step does happen to be a personal favourite of mine, though.
Exterminate – 水樹奈々
Going back in the singles chart, we find Nana Mizuki in the third spot. She’s a well known voice actor, having voiced characters for anime such as Naruto, Fullmetal Alchemist, Claymore, Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic and many more. Seriously, go take a look at her Wikipedia page; you’ll probably find something you’ve watched. Alongside a fairly impressive list of voice actor roles, she has managed to release 10 albums and plenty of singles.
Don’t Stop the Music – EXILE SHOKICHI
Number four in the singles chart is taken by Shokichi, with “Don’t Stop The Music”. Shokichi, part of the Exile Tribe group of musical talent, was a second generation J Soul Brother (who had a number one single two weeks ago). Since then he has joined several Exile tribe groups and has also done a couple of singles as a solo artist. It’s interesting to see how these big groups like Exile Tribe work, with their members divided into groups, but not seemingly bound to them.
Stamp! – SCANDAL
Swiftly moving along to number five, we find SCANDAL with “Stamp”. SCANDAL, an all-female rock band, rose to fame by playing live street performances until indie label Kitty Records scouted them. Anime fans, however, will most likely know them from their theme song work, which includes songs for Bleach and Fullmetal Alchemist.
THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE -04 High×Joker(HIGH JUMP NO LIMIT) – High×Joker
At number six, there’s a slightly odd single. This IDOLM@STER single actually contains some songs from the recently released THE IDOLM@STER: SideM video game, plus some extra songs, all sung by the High x Joker unit. I honestly know very little about these games, but the songs sound nice, and that’s all I care about.
カレンダーガール – 愛乙女★DOLL
Number seven on the chart is taken by Lovely Doll, and their new single “Calender Girl”. It’s a simple, cheerful song, and the video enhances that with simple backgrounds. Another thing of note is that Lovely Doll regularly does a ton of live performances, sometimes even 3 per day.
THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE -03 Beit(スマイル・エンゲージ) – Beit
At number eight there’s a second single from THE IDOLM@STER: SideM game, this time featuring Beit. Again, just as with the single at number six it contains several songs featured in the game, all sung by the group Beit.
two of us – F.CUZ
Number nine on the singles chart is none other than F.CUZ, with “two of us”. F.CUZ is actually a Korean group, who moved to Taiwan once and to Japan several times trying to break through, but they have always come back to Korea. They never gave up on Japan, however, and they seem to have gained a decent following there, releasing eight singles in total in Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rToZ3R4LhY4
恋するスイーツレシピ4 ～君が恋に落ちる一つの方法～(情熱マンゴーセニョリータ/君に贈るSpecial Cake/月宵桜-sakuramochi-) – 小林豊
And finally, at number ten in the singles chart is Yutaka Kobayashi. Well-known for his role of Kaito Kumon/Kamen Rider Baron in the Kamen Rider series Kamen Rider Gaim, a tokusatsu style live-action series. He is also part of the male group Boys and Men, but has been releasing several singles on his own over the years.
That’s it for this week! I hope you had your fill of nommy songs, and I’ll see you next week for another roundup of the Oricon Chart!
The full charts can be found at oricon.co.jp
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