Oricon Announces 2022 Half Year Rankings!

With the end of June upon us, Oricon has finally released their half year rankings for 2022. Surprising no one, popular nine-member Johnny’s boy group Snow Man took the top spot with hitting number one on both the Singles and Album ranking. Their single “Brother Beat” took number one by selling over 850,000 copies. This is continuing from last year’s successful number one hit Grandeur, which also took first place in the first half of 2021. Because of this success, Snow Man has became the first group since their older brother group ARASHI to have done so in consecutive years. They are also the fifth artist to have all five of their releases sell over 500,000 copies consecutively. Boys group INI with their single “I”, and Snow Man’s younger brother group Naniwa Danshi with their single “The Answer/ Schiare”, took second and third respectively.

Johnny’s domination didn’t stop with just Snow Man, as their brother group SixTONES has also took the number one spot in top seller with their album CITY for the first six months of 2022 by selling over 560,000 copies. Like Snow Man, this is continuing from their last year successful hit 1ST and are the fifth artist to have done so. Korean group SEVENTEEN with their album Face the Sun, along with popular girl idol group Nogizaka 46, with their album Time flies took second and third respectively.

On the digital side, anime songs took over the singles with vocalist Aimer taking number one with their song “Sankyo Sanaka”, the theme song for the popular Demon Slayer series. With King Gnu taking both second and third with Sakayume and Ichizu respectively, Ichizu was used as the theme song for the popular Jijitsu Kaisen Zero movie. Ado with her first album Kyougen also took the top spot for the digital album side and became the first female solo artist to do so.

We at OTY like to congratulate all the artists for a successful 2022 so far and hope for them to finish out the year strong!

Luna's Ongaku Go For June 2022!

We are halfway through the year with summer just beginning, which means it’s time for the June Ongaku Go! We at OTY would like our readers to know what was filling our ears for the past month. Each track is available across all digital music streaming platforms, with Apple Music featured on this site.

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Semi-Double” by CIMBA feat. CREAM

CIMBA released his newest album Good Love Bad Love on May 25 and I couldn’t have been more excited. Semi-Double Bed has been a favorite since I saw the music video, this song having a digital release has made it even better. CIMBA’s smooth vocals mixed with Staxx-T’s rap and Minami’s sweet vocals is so fitting. The beat in this track immediately caught me and pulled me into the song. The beat has the perfect summer vibe and got me in the mood to just chill. CIMBA has a soulfully smooth voice that encompasses R&B perfectly; when listening to him you cannot help but melt. “Semi-Double Bed” makes me melt and sing-a-long with it everytime it comes on. CREAM put that cherry on top as they fit in like that perfect puzzle piece.

Check out “Semi-Double” here and the music video below!

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“Moshi Moshi” by EMI MARIA

My excitement hearing EMI MARIA’s newest digital single was worth the wait. EMI MARIA is back and in her element still with the soulful smokey voice and R&B flavor she showcases. “Moshi Moshi” composition is a chill track with a head bopping beat which matches perfectly with EMI MARIA’s vocals. The lyrics are befitting of her style and the track; they give off late 90s Western R&B vibes, which I love. EMI MARIA also delivers a mixture of Japanese and English, sliding between both languages like butter.

Check out “Moshi Moshi” here and the lyric video below!

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“Tsubasa” by Awich feat. Yomi Jah

“Tsubasa” blew me away as this is Awich’s first full ballad and her vocals are absolutely goregous! Hearing Awich sing “Tsubasa” with its absolutely beautiful composition pulls at my emotions, from the piano to Awich’s vocals and the meaningful lyrics. There is so much to love about “Tsubasa”. The featuring rapper, Yomi Jah, is fantastic and fits into “Tsubasa” perfectly and the rap lyrics themselves. Awich showing off her vocals for most of the track was just amazing, I love that she changed it up with her signature rap at the very end, leading to a perfect ending for the track.

Check out “Tsubasa” here and the music video below!

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“HOPE” by HIRAIDAI

HIRAIDAI released his latest album HOPE/WISH on May 9 and I have been addicted to the track “HOPE”. This track means exactly what the title says, “HOPE”, its a song that gives you the feeling of “HOPE” and uplifts your spirits. HIRAIDAI’s vocals are beautiful and soulful as usual and bring you deep into the song. The composition has the upbeat melody that fits with the meaning of this song and HIRAIDAI’s vocals. The piano is the perfect piece to this track and I love the little bits of guitar you get, every piece of music flows together and gives you the feeling of “HOPE”.

Check out “HOPE” here and the lyric video below!

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“The Greatest” by BoA

I was so excited to see BoA celebrating her 20th Anniversary in the music industry with her release of “The Greatest”, a self cover album with two new tracks. The lead song and title, “The Greatest”, is the best way to start off the album and is such a fantastic new track from BoA. It’s an upbeat dance track and is what you would expect from BoA and more. Its catchy chorus is easy to sing-a-long to, the composition is perfect to dance to or also just sit and enjoy, and BoA’s lyrics shine in many parts of the song. “The Greatest” is a track that reminds me of the reason why I still love BoA and always go back to her music; she is a talented artist and this shows she’s still got it.

Check out “The Greatest” here and the music video below!

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Kairiki Bear Launches “Retbear”! Chosen to Sing Opening Theme for Black Summoner!

“Atamannaka DEAD END” Jacket Cover

Kairiki Bear, a popular vocaloid producer who is known for hits such as “Venom” (44 million views on YouTube) and “Darling Dance” (22 million views), launched a new project called Retbear in June 2022. Retbear is an “anonymous” unit that combines Kairiki Bear with a different unknown vocalist for each song. The guest vocalist performs under a different name from usual. Retbear’s debut song will be “Atamannaka DEAD END” (unknown Vo: 10fu), the opening theme of the TV anime Black Summoner. The new opening theme was recently revealed in the anime’s second official trailer.

Black Summoner, which will be broadcast from July 2022 in Japan, is an adaptation of a popular isekai series about a battle junkie published by Overlap Bunko, which has sold more than 1.4 million copies and has over 280 million views on the novel posting website Shōsetsuka ni Narō. In addition to the information on the opening song, it was also announced that the ending theme will be sung by Minori Suzuki, who plays the role of Sera in the anime.

Be sure to check out the trailer for Black Summoner below!

PIKOTARO and his wife TAMI deliver smiles to children around the world, with new English-language puppetry YouTube series ‘PIKO ST KIDS’!

Singer-songwriter and ‘PPAP’ star PIKOTARO has launched a new series titled ‘PIKO ST KIDS’ on his YouTube channel. The series ‘PIKO ST KIDS’ is a puppet show created by PIKOTARO and his wife TAMI, delivering fun songs, games and chat in English with the aim of bringing smiles to children all over the world. 

In the wake of the ongoing pandemic, parents have more time to interact at home with their children. However, as many of us continue to deal with working from home, there are times when we cannot spend quality time with the kids, and they in turn are spending more and more time enjoying video content on their tablets. PIKOTARO and TAMI hope to help out mums and dads around the world by offering fun, safe videos for their kids to enjoy via ‘PIKO ST KIDS’.

For example, episodes of the show will feature traditional Japanese nursery rhymes such as ‘Tulip’ and ‘Kisha Poppo’ sung by children in kindergarten, hand-gesture based rhymes like ‘Ookiku Nattara Nanni Narou’ (‘What Shall We Become When We Grow Up’), and games where kids raise red and white flags to learn their left and right – all of which can be enjoyed by children and their parents.

Just as PIKOTARO’s song ‘PPAP’ has been viewed all over the world on YouTube, his channel also delivers other videos featuring songs and conversation in English and Japanese that are suitable for children to enjoy.

On the launch of this new series, PIKOTARO commented, “Anytime, anywhere, I’ll be happy if this channel makes you smile.” Be sure to check it out below!

WITHDOM Drops The Pieces with Latest Release!

“Tetris” is the lead single of WITHDOM’s new mini album called, “JUK3BOX”. This album was released on the 27th of April this year. This song has trendy rhythm and style which is composed with a limited number of sounds. This edgy, cool and minimalist sound is perfect for dancing. Also, the lyrics of the song paint a unique portrait of human beings and the listeners loved it. This song was chosen as a song for official playlists on major streaming sites including Spotify and Apple Music in Japan and is getting so much attention.

The song “Tetris” is now popular worldwide and the song has been playing on an Indonesian FM station called DJFM as a “J-POP power play song” everyday. DJFM is the FM radio station in Surabaya Indonesia and the song is featured on the program “JK-POP” which introduces popular J-POP and K-POP specially. WITHDOM’s “Tetris” has ranked at 10th place on the DJFM J-POP weekly charts on Saturday the 11th of June. WITHDOM was lined up alongside other popular Japanese artists including GENERATIONS from EXILE TRIBE, Kenshi Yonezu, Fujii Kaze and Aimer.

A song from their full album called “Synergy”, which was released digitally in 2021, won No.1 in 18 categories on the iTunes Store. This mega album became the talk of the town and they were invited to many TV programs including popular music programs which aired all over Japan. Their song was appointed as a weather theme song for a news program. They also achieved No.1 on music video rankings of a popular music program as well. They have been enjoying the songs’ popularity across various media in Japan. Their success started when Boyz II Men introduced WITHDOM’s cover of “On Bended Knee'' to the world on their Instagram page. Boyz II Men is a worldwide band who have won Grammy Awards. It had a huge impact on them when Boyz II Men recognized their talent.

They released a cover of “Gunjo” by YOASOBI officially last November. YOASOBI is a Japanese music duo who have been enjoying their popularity worldwide. This exciting news of their cover has been buzzing around the world including Southeast Asia, China, Brazil and the States. WITHDOM has been getting more attention from all over the world. WITHDOM has been recognized for their excellent vocal talent not only inside Japan but also from artists from around the world. That led them to a successful result as getting onto the top 10 on J-POP charts at Indonesian FM radio station.

The music video of their latest song “Tetris” creates a unique world which is almost like scenes from a movie. The members of WITHDOM showed their excellent acting skills in the video. They showed the collapse, struggle and pain that can come with relationships. Every member successfully showed their feelings with their facial expressions and acting and it matched the feeling of the song perfectly. The theme of the song was expressed well and the video received huge applause for its quality as a work of art.

The Music Video of “Tetris” has subtitles in languages including Indonesian, Javanese, French, Portuguese, Thai and this song has been shared to the world besides Japan. WITHDOM are good at making magnificent ballads and love songs as a vocal group and they have many fans. With this new song “Tetris,” they demonstrate a totally different approach compared to the songs they have done in the past. Both the lyrics and the music video are so different. Especially for their music video they concentrated on transforming a world of lyrics into a work of art.

Be sure to check out the music video in question below, along with the streaming link for Apple Music and Spotify here!