Singing Cosplayer Hikari Teams Up with French rapper, Suzuya!

Suzuya

Singing Cosplayer Hikari has been singing covers of anime and vocaloid songs, as well as cosplaying since the new year of 2021. Her 22 music videos of cover songs on YouTube have been viewed so far over 7 million times.
Her cover song of,  “Yume To Hazakura”, which was released on the 20th of April to music streaming and downloading services, was ranked highly on Apple Music J-Pop charts across 36 countries and became No.1 in 14 countries. She gained popularity especially in France and became No.1 5 times for the J-Pop Daily chart on Apple Music France. Also, she joined the event in the UK called, HYPER JAPAN ONLINE 2021, as a singer, cosplayer and model.

Hikari is going to join the album Là où les cœurs se pendent by French rapper Suzuya.This album will be released from E.47 Records today 3rd of December. Hikari voiced a Japanese female devil who, in disguise, tried to steal Suzuya’s soul. She was talking for 14 seconds at the beginning of the song “Voleuse d'âme” (soul thief) which is the 10th song of the album.

Suzuya has released many songs which were inspired by Japanese anime and games. The name Suzuya is taken from the character, Juuzou Suzuya, in the anime, “Tokyo Ghoul”. The album cover was done by illustrator Takato Yamamoto. His illustration is called “the Ukiyo-e Pop style” and “Heisei estheticism style” and he is well known worldwide. The 1st and 12th songs are created by Akira Yamaoka who created music for games such as, Silent Hill series. The female rapper from Kyoto, Edward(我), joined for the 5th song. And the 11th song was composed by Yow-Row. He is from the electro rock band GARI and he does vocals, programming, lyrics, composing, and arrangement. So many talented Japanese artists have got together for this amazing album.

Please check the album of Suzuya here and also check out Singing Cosplayer Hikari’s global success.

Nao Toyama & Kiyono Yasuno to Officially Form New Unit “Pokapoka Ion”

Popular voice actress Nao Toyama and Kiyono Yasuno, have officially formed a new special unit called “Pokapoka Ion.” They will be singing “Yajirushi,” the OP theme of the anime Slow Loop, which will air in January in Japan.

Nao Toyama and Kiyono Yasuno are also both members of the tactical music unit Walküre from Macross Delta. After performing together on a TV show in 2017, they hit it off and unofficially formed a unit in the hopes of one day singing as a duo. Now, five years later, the unit is official, and they will be singing the OP theme of Slow Loop. Pokapoka Ion, which was formed under the concept of “soothing people’s hearts and delivering vitality ‘vitamins’ for tomorrow,” seeks to deliver comfortable pop tunes that warm people’s hearts (“pokapoka” in Japanese) and shower them with negative ions!

The TV anime Slow Loop will be airing in January 2022 in Japan. Please look forward to the anime and the future activities of Pokapoka Ion! Be sure to check out their official website here along with a preview of their track “Yajirushi” below as well. 

Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu Looks to Make 'Suki' a Universal Language with Latest Music Video!

“Suki! ~Cho ver~”, the  hit from popular girl idol group Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu, is sweeping the world! 

While the song was first a smash hit in Japan, it recently took the No.1 spot on the TikTok chart in Korea – and now the buzz has spread to Indonesia, where the song hit No.1 on Spotify’s daily Indonesia Viral 50 chart (as of November 20, 2021). 

“Suki!”  has even busted out of Asia, becoming a hurricane of global proportions: The song has charted on Apple Music’s country by country charts, reaching No.2 in Azerbaijan, No.10 in Portugal, No.15 in Norway, No.19 in the Netherlands, No.30 in the United Arab Emirates, No.35 in South Africa, No.39 in Ecuador, No.40 in Poland, No.43 in Honduras and No. 50 in Sweden over the past month (to November 17). 

“Suki! ~Cho ver~” is a new version of “Suki!”, which was first released on the April 2018 album Tokiotome. The new version is performed by the group’s current lineup and was included on the mini-album Suki Suki Suki Suki Suki Suki!, released in September this year. The word “Suki!”, which means “I like you” or “I love you” in Japanese, is sung some 114 times on the song, and this lyric along with a cute dance that involves making a heart shape with your hands became one of this year’s biggest TikTok memes. The “Suki!” dance then leapt across the ocean, and in September, the official double-speed version of the song reached No.1 on the Korean TikTok weekly song chart. Views of the music video and live videos on YouTube continue to grow ever larger.

On hearing that the song was No.1 on Spotify’s Indonesia Viral 50 chart, the six members of Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu commented on their feelings of joy and surprise, which you can read below. Yoshikawa Hiyori represented the group’s feelings by saying, “Let’s make the word ‘Suki!’ a universal language! I hope that more and more people around Japan and the rest of the world can get to know Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu, and that we can perform live for our fans everywhere!! It was amazing to see TikTok users dancing to “Suki! ~Cho ver~” in Korea, and now I hope we can go on a tour of Asia!! I want to visit Korea and Indonesia!!”

The original version of “Suki!” is ranked at No.9 on the same chart, meaning that both versions are in the Top 10 simultaneously – an impressive achievement. Be sure to check out the music video of “Suki!~Cho ver” below!

Comments from the members of  Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu

Tsujino Kanami comment

“I’m so happy and excited to think that so many people in Indonesia are listening to ‘Suki!’ My heart is filled with happiness to know that this song has crossed the oceans to connect with people in other countries! We’ll continue to do our best to reach as many people as possible! And someday! I hope we can meet our fans in Indonesia on a tour of Asia!”

---

An Juria comment

“Crossing language barriers and borders, the idea that so many people ‘suki’ (love) our song ‘Suki!’ is a wonderful feeling! And I’m also truly grateful that so many people are following us on social media and checking us out!”

---

Sakai Hitoka comment

“I’m thrilled and surprised, because I never imagined we’d hit No.1 on a chart in a country outside of Japan! I guess that means people have been listening to ‘Suki!’ a lot, so we’ll do our best to reach even more people and make them ‘suki’ us too!”

---

Koizumi Haruka comment

“Fans in Indonesia, thanks so much for listening to our song ‘Suki!’! We made it out of Japan! And now we’ll work hard to become even more worldly!”

---

Suda Aki comment

“Thank you so much for your support of Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu! We’ll do our best to deliver even more ‘tokimeki♡’ (joy) to Indonesia, and to make the world overflow with tokimeki! Please keep supporting us!”

---

Yoshikawa Hiyori comment

“Let’s make the word ‘Suki!’ a universal language! I hope that more and more people around Japan and the rest of the world can get to know Cho Tokimeki♡Sendenbu, and that we can perform live for our fans everywhere!! It was amazing to see TikTok users dancing to ‘Suki! ~Cho ver~’ in Korea, and now I hope we can go on a tour of Asia!! I want to visit Korea and Indonesia!!”

BALLISTIK BOYZ Aims for World Domination with Latest Music Video!

PASS THE MIC Jacket Cover

Ever since they formed in April 2018, Japanese boyband BALLISTIK BOYZ from EXILE TRIBE have had their sights set on global stardom. Each of the group’s seven talented members perform flawlessly with mic in hand, with the physical ability of an acrobat. So far, they have been mostly focused on activity within Japan, but as a world-class group with several bilingual members, they have also conducted successful promotional tours across Southeast Asia.

Released on November 22 across all digital music streaming platforms, BALLISTIK BOYZ’s new single “All Around The World” carries a message infused with their ambition to reach a truly global audience. The release is accompanied by a music video.

“All Around The World” is the lead track from BALLISTIK BOYZ’s second album, PASS THE MIC, which will be released on November 24. The song tells of their commitment to their fans, known as BBZ Family, with whom they search for a new stage that transgresses national borders. It’s a song that pledges BALLISTIK BOYZ’s determination to give it their all, while keeping their eyes on international success.

The song was written by Xansei – who has worked with top-grade rappers from Japan and overseas such as NLE Choppa and JP THE WAVY – along with Marcus Munroe. As the lead track from the album, it expresses the attitude of the seven members, brimming with their enthusiasm for music and entertainment, and their hunger for the next phase of BALLISTIK BOYZ. Check it out on your favorite download or streaming service, or on YouTube.

Lead track “All Around The World” is one of three brand-new songs on the album, along with “Day Dreaming”, which offers a glimpse into how the boys spend their free time; and “In My Eyes”, an emotional mid-tempo love song with an unmissable vocal performance from four of the BALLISTIK BOYZ members. The Blu-ray and DVD sets include six music videos as well as footage from their recent tour, titled BALLISTIK BOYZ PROLOGUE LIVE TOUR 2021 “PASS THE MIC” ~WAY TO THE GLORY~, available in full for the first time.

Be sure to check out the music video for “All Around The World” below along with the streaming link for the track here!

NHK Announces Artist Line Up for This Years Kohaku Uta Gakusen

NHK has announced the initial artist list for Red Vs White Kohaku Uta Gakusen. This years line up will have 22 Red Artists and 21 White Artists with one special artist for a total of 44 acts. Awesome City Club, Mone Kamishirai, BiSH, and millennium parade X Bell (Kaho Nakamura) are the new artists on the Red side, with KAT-TUN, Snow Man, DISH//, Dai Hirai, Tomoyasu Hotei, Maru Maru on the White side. Special guest and actor Ken Matsudaira will be performing “Matsuken Sabo II” as an extra act. 

Below is the entire artist list and we at OTY can’t wait to see the amazing acts that will perform at this years Kohaku Uta Kakusen!

72nd NHK Kohaku Uta Gakusen Artist List (Amount of Performance)

Red Artist

AI（4）
Aimyon（3）
Sayuri Ishikawa（44）
Awesome City Club（First）
Mone Kamishiraishi (First）
Fuyumi Sakamoto（33）
Sakurazaka46（2）
Yoshimi Tendo（26）
Tokyo Jihen（2）
NiziU（2）
Nogizaka46（7）
Perfume（14）
BiSH（First）
Hinatazaka46（3）
Seiko Matsuda（25）
MISIA（6）
Kaori Mizumori（19）
milet（2）
millennium parade×Bell（Kaho Nakamura）（First）
Hiroko Yakushimaru（2）
YOASOBI（2）
LiSA（3）

White Artist

KAT-TUN（First）
Kanjani8（10）
King & Prince（4）
Hiromi Go（34）
GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE（3）
Jyunretsu（4）
Masayuki Suzuki（4)
SixTONES（2）
Snow Man（First）
DISH//（First）
BUMP OF CHICKEN（2）
Kiyoshi Hikawa（22）
Dai Hirai（First）
Masaharu Fukuyama（14）
Gen Hoshino（7）
Hotei Tomoyasu（First）
Mafu Mafu（First）
Hiroshi Miyama（7）
Hiroji Miyamoto（2）
Kesuki Yamauchi（7）
Yuzu（12）

Colorful Special Performance 

Ken Matsudaira「Matsuken Sabo II」