J-Rock – touki REVIEWS

Tommy heavenly6 | Lollipop Candy♥BAD♥girl

Are you ready to say trick or treat?

It’s Halloween! Woo! Spooky day. It’s also the big day for the Tommy series! The third single in the promotion of her second album, Heavy Starry Heavenly, ‘Lollipop Candy♥BAD♥girl’ is the actual Halloween single, with promotional art, its music video, and the track itself being all forms related to Halloween. If you thought she was Halloween from her previous efforts a la ‘I’m Gonna SCREAM+’ and ‘Pray’, you haven’t come across this.

It’s a creepy night, but here’s hoping we’ve got some good music by the lollipop candy bad girl herself to comfort us. Let’s check it out… enter if you dare…

Tommy heavenly6 | Pray

Second up on the artist spotlight series for Tommy heavenly6 is the second single from her second album, Heavy Starry Heavenly, which Gintama fans may be very familiar with!

Pray is the title of the next single, tied-in with popular anime series Gintama as its very first anime opening in 2006. It continues on the Halloween theme that many of the singles from Heavy Starry Heavenly follow, but this time opting for a more humorous vibe but with some ghostly samurais!

Pray is one of Tommy’s well-known singles, but is this prayer worth chanting with or is it just going to be left unanswered? Click on to read more…

Tommy heavenly6 | I’m Gonna SCREAM+

Speaking of Halloween… let’s do an artist spotlight, also!

When you think of Halloween and J-pop, you might think of a few artists. Does Tommy heavenly6 cross your mind? She should! Having released many Halloween-related releases as of recent, Tommy (or Kawase Tomoko) started out with an Avril Lavigne aesthetic, but upon prepping for her second album, Tommy tackled on a new style: Halloween aesthetic. The very first of these singles (and eventually album) is ‘I’m Gonna SCREAM+’.

With this single, she set up the standard of being an artist devoted to Halloween and all the spooky things around it, but is this single worthy of a scream or is it just a slight mumble? The doors to the dark side have opened… you may enter…

the peggies | アネモネEP

If you have been following my blog for some time, you may be familiar with this trio! Having covered their contribution to the anime, Sarazanmai, the three-member pop-rock group, the peggies, are back with their first release in 2020. Known as Anemone EP, this release contains five new songs for your listening pleasure. While none of the songs have any anime tie-ins, the title track is the theme song for the live-action movie “Justice of the Alps Stand”.

Does this next release from the group have any of the strength from their last release, Stand By Me, or is this anemone just a home-flop for the fish in the sea of releases in 2020?

Anison Corner #1 | 銀魂’ OP1: 桃源郷エイリアン

In the very first of my new review series, Anison Corner, I’ll be taking a look into what makes an anime song and its counterpart visual so good (or so bad). From its relation to the anime’s story, to its technical aspects such as the song, the animation, and how it translates to the viewer, Anison Corner will take all these details and score them up just like any of my regular reviews, and I’ll give you my recommendations for each anison on this site! Whether it’s openings or endings, or even inserts and OST tracks, you’re guaranteed to see a variety of anison moving forward.

First up is an opening from a series that doesn’t seem to drop in score on MAL, and it’s a series that just almost seemed to never see its end in sight, with its various anime and live-action films, and its various title changes… you know I’m talking about Gintama! For the first review, I’ll be taking a look at the alien-like world of Gintama’, the series’ second ‘season’, and its first opening. Read on!

東京事変 | 選ばれざる国民

Speaking of something new, did you hear the news that Tokyo Jihen is reuniting? Um… excuse me! This is amazing!

Tokyo Jihen is a five-piece rock/jazz band consisting of five incredible talents, including rock soloist Shiina Ringo, whose music carries a distinct but artfully crafted sound. However, in 2012, Tokyo Jihen decided to part ways and proceeded to do their own individual endeavors. Color-bar me surprised when I find out that they’re reuniting with a new song and a tour! Is this a miracle after nearly 8 good long years? Perhaps. That being said, is their new song of a lower class than some of their greatest hits, or will it reach first class status? Read on!

女王蜂 | 火炎

If you’re not familiar with Ziyoou-vachi, otherwise known in international waters as QUEEN BEE, then here’s one way to get introduced to them. The rock quartet, known for their eccentric yet ever-changing musical styles and image (which they themselves call “fashion punk”), had already marked 2019 as their biggest year, entering the mainstream in the forms of anime music (notably as an ED for Tokyo Ghoul:re).

In their most recent effort, they tackle anime once again with a fiery title track, one that introduces every episode of the anime ‘Dororo’ for its Winter 2019 season. With Dororo having been one of the more popular anime of the year, this single has propelled Ziyoou-vachi to newer heights; this begs the question then: is this single actually fire or is it a burn-out?

the peggies | スタンドバイミー

Do you like anime? Do you like girl bands? If so, the peggies is right up your alley. As of recently, the pop-rock trio have dabbled into anime territory, with many familiar with songs in works such as BORUTO NEXT GENERATIONS and Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. Their most recent effort, that I know of, is an ending track for a fairly recent and slightly popular anime known as Sarazanmai. With this ending, the peggies look to stand by you, but will the single stand to be good or bad overall?

フレデリック | OTOTUNE

For my first post as part of the site’s revival, I’ll be taking a look into a mini-album released by J-rock band, Frederic, who burst into the mainstream with “Kanashii Ureshii” from the anime series, Koi to Uso. One of their older mini-albums, “OTOTUNE” may share its name with the musical alteration device in pronunciation, but will it be like Auto-tune: at times grating, at times unnecessary? Perhaps, but it’s best to take a good listen.