My Top 10 Ballads

As you all know, I am not a huge fan of C-ute's cover of Kono Machi. I spent a whole PV review saying that I didn't like how the original Moritaka Chisato song was turned into a ballad and that I really thought it took away from the enjoyment of the song. The ballad cover sounded slow and plodding to me, and although it's not a bad song, it's definitely not one of my favorite ballads.

So then I started thinking, "Are there any good ballads I've heard lately?" I realized no, not really but then I started also thinking about what ballads did I like? After all, I don't dislike ballads; there are just a lot of ballads I dislike. Does that make sense? What I'm trying to say is I have a small amount of ballads that I like. I think the reason that I'm not a fan of a lot of ballads is simply because of my song taste in general. I like music that has energy. And by energy, I mean a song that is energetic, regardless of style. If I'm listening to a happy song, I want it to be the most energetic, over-the-top happy song I've ever heard. Almost any style of music that backs itself up with a high amount of energy, chances are I'll probably like it or at least commend the song for its energy. The things is... ballads aren't energetic. Well, most of them aren't with a few exceptions. And since they lack one of the key things I look for in a good song, naturally there aren't a lot of ballads I like. Because to me, what defines a good ballad is emotion. A ballad tends to rely more on the vocals and less the musical arrangement to carry the song and if that vocalist can't provide the emotion they're trying to convey in their song, the entire song falls flat for me.  When a ballad, can make me feel the same emotion the singer has, that's when I know I'm gonna love this ballad. What can I say? I'm very particular when it comes to what ballads I like. That brings me back to my original question: what ballads do I like anyways? Surely there's a small handful of ballads I find good, I know there are! I've decided to limit my list to only J-pop ballads, since hey, that's what I write about (although I will say there are a lot of Western ballads that I adore too). But I've managed to compile some of my favorite ballads by J-pop artists that I follow! Some of them I picked for their emotion, others I picked because they make me curl up in a ball and cry. But I love all of them!

So get out your tissues because we are diving into my top ten personal favorite J-pop ballads!

10. 575 - Perfume

Ah, what better way to start off the list than with Perfume? The reason I put 575 so low on the list is because it's kind of a borderline ballad. Then again, that's what makes it such an interesting song! In contrast to the highly bland and boring VOICE, I loved this B-side on its first listen because of it's interesting arrangement. The verses that are sung are done in a haiku style: 5 syllables, 7 syllables, and 5 syllables hence the title of the song. The song is pretty much about lining up verses in 5-7-5 to reach out to a person the narrator doesn't want to slip through of her fingers. 575 is kind of a "lost love" song only the love isn't quite lost yet and that provides the conflict in the lyrics. It's a pretty melancholic concept but the sung verses are absolutely beautiful in both sound and arrangement, especially with its slow tempo. And then the song transitions into the rapping part. Now you might be thinking "What the what? I thought you said this was a ballad! What the hell are you on, Nia?" I know it sounds crazy; you never really put Perfume and rapping together but in 575 it works really well! And the rapping is good, much better than I thought it would be. 575 may seem like a strange excuse for a ballad at first but the elements woven together into the song and the clever use of haiku verses are what make this an amazing ballad and one of my favorite Perfume songs in general.

9. Koi ING - Morning Musume

This is another one of those borderline ballads and I almost thought about not including it on the list. I say that because although the songs starts out much like a ballad with a really slow opening and slow-paced vocals from Miki, Ai and Eri (who all sound great in this song). But then the song gets a little bit more energetic leading up to the chorus and then it's like all this energy just came bursting out of a box! Does that even make sense? In context, going from such a slow pace to a high-energy level sounds like mood whiplash but for Koi ING, it works well. Even when the song goes back to that slow pace after the chorus and then goes right back up to having a boatload of energy and bubbly happiness, it still works. For two completely different styles to be seamlessly blended together is a pretty remarkable feat. As you can see, the fact that this song is like 60% ballad and 40% song made me hesitant to put it on this list. But there are just so many parts about this ballad that I love. Like that piano intro? I love piano intros, the #1 ballad on this list has an amazing piano intro and I love the piano intro on Koi ING. Actually, I really think that the instrumental of this song holds up just as well as the original. Koi ING perfectly combines slow and pretty with upbeat and happy and it's still one of Morning Musume's best songs.

8. My alright sky - Suzuki Airi

Let me go ahead and say that My alright sky was the only saving grace of the Partenza album. In the middle of the electropop mess that was this mini album was a little R&B-influenced song sung by Suzuki Airi, one of it not the best singer in Hello! Project. Up until My alright sky, I hadn't listened to any of Airi's other solo songs. I mean, I knew she was a good singer and everything, I just didn't really pay attention to any of the album songs, B-sides, and the digital singles she'd released. My alright sky was the first time I realized just how talented Airi is as a vocalist; every note she hits in this ballad is perfect. She makes it sound so effortless too; one of the most difficult things for a singer to accomplish is making the song she's singing sound easy. It's extremely challenging and Airi makes this song sound like a piece of cake even. Airi's vocals are my favorite part about this song and I think it's what separates it from other ballads in that same R&B vein of music. And the song has a really good flow; it just seems to float along with Airi's vocals and it's a great song to listen to whenever I want to chill out. I actually love playing it while I'm driving considering driving in itself is extremely stressful. Funny thing is, when I first heard this song, I was like "WOW, Airi speaks really good English!" Then I found out it's not her... oh well! Airi sounds great in this ballad and that's why I love it!

7. Knight Flight - Kikkawa Yuu

I like Knight Flight for the same reason that I love My alright sky: the singer. I've always loved Kikkawa Yuu's voice (well... when it's not Vocoded and Autotuned to hell) and a ballad is the perfect opportunity for Kikka to really sing. And she hits a lot of different ranges, going from high to low then low to high and even doing a key change right in the middle of a flipping chorus! Kikka's voice is what essentially carries the song and the vocal arrangement is definitely the most interesting aspect of this ballad. I think my favorite part is the chorus and when Kikka goes partway into her head voice; usually head voice doesn't work as well on a recording as it does live, but in Knight Flight, her head voice fits with the song. And I really can't emphasize just how beautiful this chorus sounds; I wasn't expecting it when I first heard the song. Because while the verses are kind of soft, they're also pretty safe in terms of vocal range but then out of nowhere Kikka just starts hitting these high notes left and right and it works so amazingly. I actually looked up the live to this song to see if she could pull it off as well as she did in the recording and... yeah, she does. Knight Flight is a ballad that makes me appreciate Kikka's vocal abilities and it's a beautiful song. It's just one of those soothing songs that always calms me down when I play it!

6. For you... - Linlin

I think my first thought when I heard this song was, "Oh my god Linlin can sing." Something to note about Linlin was that she graduated just after I'd gotten into Morning Musume so her time in Morning Musume was an era I was never really present for. I never really got attached to her because why should I? She graduated! I'd looked into the group's past singles and I noticed she didn't even get a lot of lines or screen time so my interest in her remained low. Then I listened to For you, her solo on one of those H!P compilation albums and ever since then I've been scratching my head as to why in the hell UFP let her amazing voice got to waste. All right, I'm fairly certain it was her Chinese nationality that ever prevented Linlin from having real success in Momusu, but that's still a shitty reason to shaft her! I'm serious, Linlin's voice completely blew my mind when I heard this ballad; I had no idea she was such an amazing singer because I heard her so little in Morning Musume's songs. Linlin's voice is what makes For you such a perfect ballad; in the beginning, she sings very softly and delicate and her voice grows louder and stronger until she hits the chorus and it sounds absolutely beautiful. The minimal instrumentals only highlight how wonderful Linlin's voice is and it's a shame that I didn't hear her voice more in Morning Musume.

5. hitoribochi - BiS

Can I just take this moment to say that once again, the Brand-new Idol Society's music is totally awesome and you are really missing out if you're too stubborn to look past their weird image. I could probably make an entire list of my favorite BiS songs and Hitoribochi would definitely be high up on that list! Not only is it a great ballad, Hitoribochi is just a great song. This is a rock ballad and pretty much the only one on my list (unless you consider #2 a rock ballad). Honestly, this song feels more like a blend of rock and alternative; the opening especially reminds me something a jangly 80s band like R.E.M. or even The Cure would do. But then the chorus uses a lot of heavy guitars so I think Hitoribochi can be called an alt-rock ballad. And it's such a good song and it has everything I like in a ballad. The vocals are extremely emotional and hit their high point in the chorus and you can just hear the emotion behind the voices of BiS. The members of BiS also composed the lyrics for this song and I think that only makes the singing more genuine; the girls are singing what they wrote, not some producer, their own personal feelings and thoughts translated into music and lyrics. I would love to read an English translation of this song if I could find one someday, because I'll bet the lyrics are pretty thoughtful and carry as much emotion as the song does.

4. Sakura no Ki ni Narou - AKB48

Fun fact: Sakura no Ki ni Narou was the song that convinced me to give AKB48 another chance. At first, I just liked this song; I didn't ever expect myself to love it the same way I do now but things happen. Like graduations. Sakura no Ki ni Narou is one of AKB48's "Sakura songs" aka their graduation songs and any AKB fan knows that these songs tend to focus on growing up, graduating school, becoming adults, moving on, like a teen 80s movie only it's about Japanese idols! This is a very pretty ballad with a nice piano, soothing vocals and nostalgic lyrics. So why do I rank it so high on the list? Well... I think it has to do with the loudness of the song. The song starts out soft, really soft. But then the chorus is a bit louder. Then the following verses are a bit louder. And then the final chorus is when the song hits its peak both in volume and in emotion. Sakura no Ki ni Narou is like one giant emotional crescendo and it works beautifully. The lyrics are also beautiful, albeit somewhat abstract. What I gathered from the song is that the narrator was someone who was parting ways with the friends she'd grown close to, so Sakura no Ki ni Narou is not only a reflection of the friendships she had but a promise to remain true to those friends regardless of their obstacles. In the PV, that concept is really brought into the light and let me tell you right now, it's sad. Anyone who watches the PV knows it's essentially about a dead friend watching over her other friends as they grow up and move on with their lives while she's forever looking over them from the great beyond and it only adds to the moving nature of the song.

3. Shin'ai - Mizuki Nana

Oh hey, it's Mizuki Nana, that artist I kind-sorta bring up from time to time even though she has nothing to do with the material I review on this blog! Yeah, this is the only non-idol ballad I felt that I had to put on here simply because I really love this ballad. I've praised Mizuki Nana for her amazing voice again and again and for Shin'ai, her voice is once again one of the reasons it's such an amazing song. I think what makes a great ballad is if the singer can convey the emotions of the song through her voice and Nana does a great job at that. There are so many emotional highs and lows in this song from the soft and delicate verses to the emotionally passionate chorus. Nana wrote this song based around not romantic love but deep love (which is the English translation of the song title), like the bond you'd have between a family member or a friend or someone else you felt really close to. Nana herself wrote this song after the passing of her father, who was pretty much the person who pushed her so hard into having a singing career. Shin'ai is completely and utterly beautiful, a perfect combination of beautiful vocals and an even more beautiful instrumental. Seriously, the harpist in this song has some skills along with all the other instruments in this song. I always get teary-eyed when listening to Shin'ai and for that reason I decided to include it in my list.

2. secret base ~Kimi ga Kureta Mono~ - Zone

Ah, Secret Base. Isn't this song pretty well-known now? I know it's been covered by Scandal and used for two different animes and I'm certain that this amazing ballad has been covered by a bunch of other different artists. But of all the covers, the original has always been my favorite. This is one of those J-pop songs where knowing the English translation actually gives me a better appreciation of the song. Secret Base is essentially about a goodbye to friend after a long summer of laughing, crying, fighting and just living out their summer in their little "secret base." It's a simple enough message but sometimes simple messages are the best to reach out to listeners. Secret Base relies on nostalgia to pull the listener in, and that message of a summer friendship and the parting of two friends really reaches out to me because it's so relatable. I can't even count the number of friends I've made over the summer and the number I've never seen again. But I remember the summers we shared together and all the amazing memories that I've kept all these years after those summers have long flown by. There were happy times, sad times, and everything in-between but I really cherish the nostalgia of my past summers so a song about that reaches out to me. And I can hear those same feelings in the sheer vocals the song; the girls of Zone sound so expressive and emotional in Secret Base and combined with the nostalgic lyrics, I absolutely love this ballad. 

1. Seventh Heaven - Perfume

I have cried many tears to this song. I think my love for Seventh Heaven has really shot up in the past year mainly due to personal events that have given the song a lot of sentimental value to me. Around October 2012, a relative I'm very close to was in the hospital for critical pneumonia and it really hit me hard when I heard the news. I remember driving to class and crying my eyes out but trying to focus on the road and not think about the possibility that someone I loved so much could die. I even ended up skipping my first class because I was too much of a wreak to make it through an hour of material I didn't even care about. So there I was sitting in my car in the school parking lot with mascara running down my face and just trying to pull myself together to get to my next class. I pulled out my iPod and put Perfume on shuffle because it's Perfume; they've always been able to lift my spirits when I'm down. I just needed something to take my mind off things and their music really does that for me. On the shuffle list, I reached Seventh Heaven and this... feeling just overcame me. It was like this combination of melancholy, hope, sadness, happiness, I don't even know how to describe it. I'd always liked Seventh Heaven but this time listening to it was different. So I listened to it again. And again. To this day, I haven't ever felt a song that gripped me so emotionally since Seventh Heaven and I knew when I started writing this list, that Seventh Heaven is my absolute favorite ballad of all time. Even without my little sob story, it's a beautiful ballad with a lot of emotion and power in it. The lyrics are incredibly melancholic and the instrumental is absolutely amazing. If you need a song that'll give you waterworks, I'd listen to Seventh Heaven. I know it has me crying every time I listen to it.

So with that sappy story out of the way, I've only got one question for you guys: what are your favorite ballads? Which ones make you feel good? Which ones make you cry? Which ones make you cry even though you're too tough to tell anyone?

Enjoy Some Lovely Fruit in Mizuki Nana’s PV!

Wow. The lack of stuff I have to review is... nice! I just have two other PV reviews to finish! Most of the groups I write about have already released everything they're releasing for 2012 and right now I'm compiling those songs into my year-end post! Other than that I'm pretty much done with all my stuff for 2012. It's nice having so little to do! Well... I admit I feel a little empty with pretty much nothing to review. I guess I've gotten in the habit of always being ready to jump on whatever this idol or that idol is releasing next week so with nothing to look at I feel a little unproductive! So in this relatively uneventful month of December, I've decided to branch out and review an artist that I normally wouldn't write about. That artist in question? Mizuki Nana. 

Yep, the PV I'm reviewing today is not by an idol but an actual artist over the age of 25! While Nana definitely isn't an idol, I think if she had the chance to be one, she would jump on it in a heartbeat. A little background info on Nana: she's been in the entertainment business for over ten years as both a singer and a seiyuu. In fact, in 2010 and 2011 she was ranked as the top selling voice actress in Japan; she's also one of the few seiyuus to have a really successful music career. She's also the only seiyuu to have a single and an album top the Oricon charts and her singles tend to sell pretty decently. They're not AKB48 numbers or anything but the sales are usually around 60,000-80,000 copies; her highest selling-single sold around 103,000 copies! I have to say Mizuki Nana has become an artist that I follow almost as much as Perfume. Almost. Actually, I found out about Nana after I'd been listening to Perfume for a year or two but also before I'd really gotten into idols. It was around eighth grade and I came across one of her music videos on Youtube when copyright wasn't so heavily enforced on that website. The music video was Crystal Letter and its visuals were what really drew me in along with the song. But the best part was Nana's voice; to me, Mizuki Nana has one of the most beautiful voices in the J-pop industry. There's a reason I mentioned her voice in my post about lip-syncing; her voice just blows my mind it's so amazing. I think the reason I'm such a nitpick when it comes to vocal ability is because I was spoiled so early on with Nana's voice. I've been working hard to curve that habit but even now when I hear new idols sing I can't help but compare them to Nana. Anyways, I enjoy a lot of her music (especially her last album, Impact Exciter) and I've been waiting for Rockbound Neighbors even more eagerly than I waited for JPN back in 2011. What I've always loved about Nana is that she's very versatile when it comes to her music; she can pull off dark songs, electronic songs, idol-y songs, she has this impressive range of genres and an even more impressive voice to cover them with!

Now something that Nana always does for her albums is that she has a promotional song for it that usually gets a PV and is used to advertise the album. Impact Exciter had Mysterion, Ultimate Diamond has Etsuraku Camellia, Great Activity had Orchestral Fantasia, and Hybrid Universe had Zankou no Gaia. For Rockbound Neighbors the promotional song is Lovely Fruit. So to celebrate the album reaching such good first week sales on the chart, I decided to review the song in question! Lovely Fruit was actually one of the first new songs previewed from the album, being the ending to some television show in Japan. So does the song sound as fruity as the title suggests? No idea! I'm not sure how a "fruity" song sounds anyways! But this song does have the sound of Nana's cuter-type songs such as Discotheque, Cosmic Love, Party! Party! and the likes of that. Now Nana's "cute" songs have always been really hit or miss for me; I enjoy Cosmic Love but I'm not the hugest fan of Discotheque. I just really think that "epic" type songs where Nana can really show off her amazing voice are more impressive than cutesy songs that feel more like album filler. When I first heard the preview for Lovely Fruit, I wasn't that excited; I didn't hate the song or anything but there were other tracks I was waiting for previews to. Nana was using her higher-pitched, slightly squeakier voice in the snippet I heard and the tune was bouncy but overall I wasn't feeling it. So after I obtained the album and got to listen to the whole song, after several listens the song really grew on me! It's such a peppy song that I can't help but start feeling really happy when I listen to it! That's what I like about Nana's song; she has this way of making the listener feel a certain way depending on the tone of her voice. When she wants to make her listener happy, she sings in a happy voice; when she wants them to feel awe-inspired, she uses her epic voice. Nana has a lot of range and Lovely Fruit is just one of the many types of song styles that she can pull off effortlessly. Is Lovely Fruit the best she can do? No, but nevertheless it is an enjoyable song with a catchy chorus that puts me in a really good mood!

So would I have wanted another song from the Rockbound Neighbors album to be the promo song? Well, originally I would have said yes but I'd only heard the songs at that time. Watching the Lovely Fruit PV is what makes me happy that it was used to be the promo song!

So the video opens with Nana getting ready for... work? I thought she was a singer, not a waitress!

Oh god, I love retro electronics so much even though half the ones I find don't work.

Snazzy!

Nana, can you even roller skate?

This Lovely Diner better serve some Lovely Fruit or I want my money back!

And after a bunch of adorable body shots we finally see our heroine...

...Nana the Waitress!!! Oh yeah, and the title.

Poor Nana. Roller skating is really hard by the way!

Nana, did you really expect your plan of taking a job as a roller-skating waitress would go swimmingly?

Nothing like some snazzy saxophone guys to spice up the already fun set!

Stay, burger. Don't you dare grow arms and legs and run away like the last three did!

Oh, I just know this is going to end in disaster...

Whoa kid! Watch where you put those hands!

And this is why waitresses don't wear roller skates anymore.

Oh, Nana, I forgive you for dropping the food and pulling a Kyary face!

Seriously, that's totally a Kyary face!

Ooh, Nana's in trouble...

GAH! I guess I'd be pretty scared too if that guy was my boss!

Look! He towers over her! Then again, Nana's pretty short but still! That's got to be intimidating!

I know, Nana! He didn't even give you a "You tried" sticker!

Hello, obligatory backup dancers! I actually think I like what they're wearing more than Nana's outfit...

So that's what Lovely Fruit is! Funny, I was thinking it would be actual fruit.

Ooh, is Nana going to eat the Lovely Fruit That Isn't Really Fruit and transform like Perfume did in Spice!?

Hey guys, if we have any of these left, you wanna just send them to some random artist who likes candy?

Nana's transforming with sparkles!? Oh no! Please don't let this turn into a sparklefest overload like One Two Three!!!

Just to give you a visual idea of how versatile Nana can be, here's a screenshot from her last album PV:

Pretty hardcore, huh?

Gosh, she's so adorable with her pigtails and waitress outfit and everything!

Wow, these two are a shockingly accurate portrayal of my own grandparents at dinner!

You! You pushed Nana and caused her to get in trouble!

You little brat! You won't even listen to your mom!? Shame on you! I hope you find a cockroach in your food!

So... did Nana just toss the Lovely Fruit and hope that it landed in their mouths and not on their foreheads or something?

Oh well, now they're all happy-go-lucky with creepy heart eyes! Yay!

Man, it's hard to believe she's 32 years old...

Sleeping on the job, huh? Well, I hope Nana replace you as manager!

[insert your Grease/West Side Story/Rebel Without a Cause reference here]

Away she goes to roller skate like a boss!

Am I the only one bothered that the Lovely Fruit is candy (that's probably not very healthy)?

Oh well, healthy or unhealthy I'd love candy that solves all my problems!

Remember: if you're having relationships problems, candy solves EVERYTHING!

Okay, kid, just because you add a carrot to your bowl of candy does not mean that'll make it healthy.

Maybe it's sugar free candy...

This is why I love Nana; she has such a likable on-screen presence!

I find small satisfaction that the mean boss doesn't get any Lovely Fruit... though that might put him in a better mood!

So the reason I decided to review Lovely Fruit's PV (besides having not much to review) is because there are a lot of elements in it that I can talk about! That's usually not the case with Nana's PVs. There's usually not much to talk about in her PVs other than the fact that they look pretty but Lovely Fruit is one of her few PVs to have a clear and definite storyline! And it's a pretty cute and fun little storyline too! Nana works as a waitress in the Lovely Diner but she's completely inept at her job. She falls down on her roller skates, is slow, drops stuff, you can't help but wonder where the other waitresses are to help her out! After dropping another person's food for what must be the tenth time that day, her scary boss berates her for being clumsy. So she eats some "Lovely Fruit" (aka candy) which turns her into the super-waitress via lots of sparkles! She then proceeds to make all the previously unhappy customers extremely happy by feeding them Lovely Fruit and they all live happily ever after at the retro Lovely Diner. Except the mean boss man. So yeah, the PV won't exactly win any awards but it still has a fun little story that matches the lighthearted fun the song has! What I like a lot about this PV is that it has a lot of different people and personalities in it from the old arguing couple to the bratty little kid to the love birds to Nana herself! It's fun to see everyone's interactions with each other intertwined into this odd and wacky little story about eating candy! And the set itself is so much fun to look at! I have a soft spot for retro things and I'm such a sucker for a fifties-style cafe it's not even funny! The PV is styled to be so cute but also really sleek and eye-catching through the use of bright girlish colors and retro-style costuming. Something that's always nice about Nana's PVs that they tend to have a good amount of budget put into them; they're not multi-million dollar extravaganzas but as someone who constantly screencaps and review PVs by UFP a PV with some budget is a refreshing thing to review!

Of course, Nana herself is what really makes the PV entertaining. Again, I really think that if Nana had the chance to become an idol, she would totally do it and I think she'd be totally successful at it! What I look for in idol PVs is an entertaining personality that keeps me interested in the singer; even if a PV has a cheap budget, it can still get brownie points from me if the idols in it have captivating personalities! Then again, she's been doing this for over ten years so performing is nothing new to her. This is also another reason why I like it when her happier songs get PVs; Cosmic Love and Discotheque are two of her happiest songs and they also got two of the best PVs she's done! There's always more charm and personality in Nana's fun PVs and Lovely Fruit definitely has a lot of charm and personality! I think Nana having fun is when she seems to sparkle the most and you get a lot of really entertaining facials and gestures from her that are absent in her more serious/artsy styled PVs. She does a great job playing a clumsy waitress and the reactions to everything else that happens around her are great! Happier-styled PVs are what Nana thrives on (although she does a great job in other styles too!). She looks like she's genuinely having a fun time making the PV and she looks adorable throughout it!

I'll give Lovely Fruit four out of five apples! The song isn't the best I've heard from Nana but it's enjoyable and the PV has a lot of character to it! And it was fun reviewing an artist I like that I don't really get the chance to talk about much on a blog that's focused on idols!