J-Pop Sunday – Super Update Special!

Hello all! Welcome to a slightly different edition of J-Pop Sunday! Today, rather than introduce you to a new artist, we’re instead going to have a quick look back to some of the artists we’ve covered over the past six months and check out what they’ve been up to since they were featured. I swear, this is totally not like when the writing team of a sitcom have run out of ideas and decide to do a clip show episode. Honestly. And the editor lady said it was ok.

First up, remember Kyary Pamyu Pamyu? Of course you do, we mentioned her back in February. The young fashionista has continued her campaign towards global domination by hosting live performances around the world – including here in the UK –appearing in adverts for literally anything back home in Japan – including KFC, Suzuki, and most recently a part time work recruitment agency – and of course she’s still releasing music. A new album “Nanda Collection” was released in June and two singles from the album have also appeared. “Invader Invader” (which – I’ll be honest – I thought was a bit pants) and “Ninjyaribanban” which mixes together Kyary’s familiar style with an old timey Japan theme.

Ahhhh, LiSA. Gosh, she’s still pretty. She’s also released a new single since we last saw her. It’s called “Träumerei” (which translates from German as “Dreaming”) and yet again it’s being used to plug an anime series. Come on LiSA, you don’t need to do this anymore! You’re more than good enough to stand on your own two feet! All it leads to are weird NicoNico (a Japanese video sharing site; it’s like YouTube but full of Miku Hatsune videos) and YouTube comments…

Most surprisingly, BABYMETAL still exist. I wasn’t originally planning on including them in this update round-up…thing, but their newest single “Megitsune” (Female Fox) is actually pretty awesome. They also performed at Japan’s “Summer Sonic” rock festival earlier this month.

90’s throwbacks Access (or AXS if you prefer) have a new single and are on tour once again. Sadly, I haven’t been able to find the video for “JOY TRAIN” – yes ,that really is the name of the single – so we’re going to have to make do with the advert for it which – according to TBO Editor-in-Chief, Robyn – is “like the 80s vomited rainbows onto YouTube”.

In very slightly more sane news POLYSICS and the telephones join forces next month to embark on a joint European tour! (Get hype, people!) The bands will visit France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and the UK this September. POLYSICS’ official English language site had all the info for dates and venues. Under normal circumstances I would be very excited at the prospect of seeing my favourite band performing live, but, as current plans go, I will be out of the country when they are in the UK. This makes me rather angry at myself and at one git who is currently in Canada. As such I think we should leave it there for now.

I need a cup of tea to calm myself down. UNTIL NEXT TIME, PEOPLE! There will be new content. I swear.

J-Pop Sunday – LiSA

Singer/Songwriter LiSA is the focus of this week’s J-Pop Sunday. I’ll be honest; I had originally planned to fill this edition with nothing but photos of her, each coupled with the caption “Gosh she’s pretty…” However, I didn’t believe that my editor – who is also very pretty – would approve [Editor’s note: Flattery will get you nowhere, Kaito!], thus at the last minute I had to start again and make sure that I write something that mentions her music.

Gosh, she’s pretty…

Quick Guide:
Act Name: LiSA
Real Name: Risa Oribe (織部里沙)
Years Active: 2010 – Present
Genre: Pop Rock
Notable Tracks: Oath Sign (2011), Rock-Mode (2012), Jet Rocket (2012), Crossing Field (2012)

So, the music, we need to focus on the music, not mindless, uninteresting comments about how pretty she is, or how cool she is. A live performance of “Rock-Mode” from the 2012 album “Lover ‘S’ Mile” should be a nice way to kick things off.


Gosh, she- NO! FOCUS! LiSA performs “Rock-Mode” at the Hibya Outdoor Theatre in Tokyo.

LiSA’s solo debut is an interesting tale: It can be traced back to the 2010 anime series “Angel Beats”. In the series a fictional band called “Girls Dead Monster” exists and LiSA provided the voice for one of the vocalists in the fictional band, Yui – Although only when singing. As the series grew more popular CDs featuring the fictional band and LiSA’s character were released, one of which – an album called “Keep The Beats!” – even reached number 6 in Japan’s Oricon chart! With this success, LiSA took her opportunity at a solo career and in April 2011 LiSA released a mini-album: “Letters to U”.

The songs featured on “Letters to U” were composed by a mixture of major artists, independent composers and LiSA herself while LiSA wrote the lyrics for each song. “Letters to U” reached number 14 in the charts. The success of “Letters to U” lead to LiSA’s first solo single “Oath Sign” and her first international performance – at the Anime Festival Asia in Singapore – later that year. “Oath Sign” reached number 5 in the charts and was used as the opening these song to the 2011 anime series “Fate/Zero”.


LiSA performs “Oath Sign” in Singapore. Complete with adorable Engrish to warm up the crowd.

LiSA released her first full album “Lover ‘S’ Mile” in February 2012, which peaked at number 7. “Lover ‘S’ Mile” contained 13 tracks – including “Oath Sign”, “Rock-Mode” and my personal favourite “Jet Rocket” – with most of the tracks on the album written by LiSA herself. In August LiSA released a second single “Crossing Field” which peaked at number 5, went gold and was used as the opening to yet another anime series “Sword Art Online”. (She just can’t escape the world of anime, can she?)


A clip from the video for “Crossing Field”.

This month saw the release of LiSA’s third single. “Best Day, Best Way” which has yet again peaked at number 5. (I’m not making these numbers up, honest!) But it does seem as though she’s finally moving away from having to associate with popular anime franchises in order to sell her music. Personally, I’m predicting big things for LiSA. Why? Just a hunch to be honest. However, she has already struck a chord with certain portions of the market (even if it is just those who love to shop in Akihabara) and she has started to extend her audience towards a more mainstream market. And to be honest, I don’t see any reason for the mainstream market to not love her.

We’ll finish this week’s J-Pop Sunday with my favourite song from LiSA: “Jet Rocket”. It’s uplifting, catchy and you’ll want to sing along.


Gosh, she’s pretty…

And LiSA, if by some miracle you’re reading this, all I’m saying is that I’m single and I make a fantastic bacon sandwich. So…Yeah…Just putting that out there.

Until next time!