Sakamoto Maaya: Follow Me Up (LE) + First Bress/External Bonus (09/30/15)

AFFILIATE, PURCHASED

2015 has been a busy year for Sakamoto Maaya - her 20th anniversary - and between my last Sakamoto-related post and now, she's had 3 new releases, Follow Me Up being the most recent. Released just over a month ago on September 30th, 2015, it's touted as Sakamoto's ninth studio album - yes, not a single collection - though I've seen a lot of split responses towards this album over that fact, amongst others. 

***Fast-forward to 2016.***

Yup, I didn't finish this post the day I started it. Now that so much time has passed since the release of this album, however, I can say that I've formed definite opinions of the album's 15 tracks. Some have become favorites, and others are songs I oftentimes forget exist. I think that's the average outcome for Sakamoto releases - and that's not to say Sakamoto is failing as an artist to me. She's still my favorite singer and I have doubts that that will ever change. I just have so many songs I rotate through on a daily basis, haha - the result is inevitable.

Anyway, I received my limited edition copy of Follow Me Up not even a week after its release in September, as is typical for me, and received (also typical) my copy of the first press/external bonus as well. So if you're curious to see pictures of everything, or simply want to know my thoughts on this 'studio album,' then stay tuned.

Sakamoto Maaya: Shiawase Ni Tsuite Watashi Ga Shitteiru 5-Tsu No Hoho/Shikisai (LE) + First Press/External Bonus (01/28/15)

AFFILIATE, PURCHASED

Okay everyone, say it with me: Shiawase Ni Tsuite Watashi Ga Shitteiru 5-Tsu No Hoho -

/ Shikisai. God damn.

That mouthful up there, out just over a month ago on 01/28/15, is Sakamoto Maaya's first release for the year of her 20th anniversary, and currently her most recent single. I preordered my limited edition copy back in November and received my precious package the first week of February. As such, I've been listening to this single for a generous month. I should have published this review a long time ago, clearly.

Due to the enormous delay, I'll be publishing only one post for this single, as it would be embarrassing to delay the full review further by splitting it into two parts. Today, then, we will be admiring the limited edition copy with its first press/external bonuses, and I will share my thoughts on that which matters most: the single's content, some of Sakamoto's latest work.

Ready?!

Tag: One Lovely Blog Award

Hello everyone! Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I never get tagged for anything, mainly because I'm usually just the follower that's lost in a group of hundreds of others, but Mel from I'm Not a Beauty Guru was sweet enough to think of my blog and tag me. Thank you again, and for those reading, do check out her blog. :)

I would explain the tag more but there is a set of guidelines already in place that does the explaining, so here are said guidelines as follows, albeit slightly modified:

1) You must display the award logo at the top of the post! 
2) You must thank the person who nominated you.
3) You must add this set of rules to your post so that your nominees will know what to do.
4) You must add 7 facts about yourself into the post.
5) You must nominate other blogs and leave links to each of them in your post! 
6) You must let the people who you have nominated know that they've been nominated!

There was a seventh rule about following the person who nominates you, but I deleted it because I could never, ever expect that of anyone. I don't even really advertise my blog because...I don't know...I feel like people who find pleasure in reading it will come of their own will. It has to do with how I am personally. Maybe because I'm a loner, and used to not having friends, but I feel like a bother asking anything of anyone, lol.

...Should that count as a fact?! Sure, why not. That's fact (1). Now for the rest!

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 2 of 2: Replica (LE) Commentary

PURCHASED

Hello, hello. Right now I'm not home, and will in fact be out most of the day, but I've taken with me my wonderful laptop and pre-uploaded pictures for two posts. While I'm not sure if I'll be getting to the other one, at least I know that this one will be up shortly and my review of Replica complete.

Sakamoto Maaya's newest single, Replica, was released a week ago and I posted Part 1 - with pictures of and details regarding the limited edition packaging and first press bonus - of a 2-part review this past Sunday. Today I'm ready to get to the heart of my review in Part 2, where I'll be sharing my thoughts on the songs themselves - both the songs of the actual single and the songs from the limited edition mini live album.

Yes, I'll be reviewing all 8 songs.* Brace yourself.

*Don't worry, 2 of them are instrumentals. It'll still be long, just not that long!

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 1 of 2: Replica (LE) + External Bonus (08/20/14)

PURCHASED/AFFILIATE

It's that time again when I have a new release from Sakamoto Maaya, and I'm both extremely excited and once again anticipating the next one. The never-ending cycle...

Anyway, not even a month ago I wrote this post sharing some information regarding Sakamoto's newest single, Replica. This past Wednesday, 08/20/14, it was released, and my copy ~that I preordered a long, long time ago~ (not really - the end of June) arrived from CDJapan on Friday.

I've thought about it, and even though my last Sakamoto review - Be Mine!/SAVED - was a single post, I've decided to break this one up into two parts. The first - which you're reading right now - is about the limited edition single's packaging and any first press/external bonus(es), and the second will be my actual review of the songs on the single. I'm going to try to get Part 2 up later this week,  but for now let's enjoy some pretty pictures!

Coming Soon: Sakamoto Maaya's Replica

AFFILIATE

Hi everyone! In honor of today being the first of August, I've decided to write a short post to amp up the excitement for Sakamoto Maaya's newest single, Replica, scheduled to release later this month - the 20th, to be exact.

This isn't really news, as most fans have seen information about this single circulating around the internet. The CD itself, both regular and limited editions, has been available for preorder from CDJapan since the end of June, too. I mainly wanted to document the information here on my blog for two reasons.

Cover: Sakamoto Maaya's "Saved"

Hello again! I just wanted to write up a quick post regarding a vocal cover I've been working on. One of my top hobbies since as long as I can remember has been singing, and although I didn't follow through with my original intentions of pursuing a music degree in college, I still take my singing seriously.

...That's not to say that it's any good, but I do try to improve on it and I hold myself to high standards, as is true for everything that I do.

Sakamoto Maaya: Be mine!/SAVED (LE) + External Bonus (02/05/14)

AFFILIATE, PURCHASED

Last Wednesday, February 5, 2014, Sakamoto Maaya released her newest single(s), yay! Not surprisingly, I preordered my limited edition copy back in, oh I don't know, December or so, and I finally picked it up from the post office this past Saturday. I had it shipped to California, since I was there during the release and didn't want to wait 'til I got home to open it, haha.

You might be wondering why I say newest "single(s)," and I'll clarify that now: technically speaking, Sakamoto released two singles last Wednesday. But, when it boils down to it, the only difference between the singles is the official single title - Be mine!/SAVED for one, and SAVED/Be mine! for the other - the arrangement of the tracks, and the anime artwork sleeves. Otherwise they're identical, down to the limited edition extras.

You do not need to own both, content-wise. The only reason to order both is to own both sets of anime artwork, as the two main tracks are from different anime. But that is wasteful in my opinion, hence why I only purchased one.

The differences could have been slightly more interesting, but whatever. I can only see one logical point as to why this decision was made - and I'll get into that briefly later - but, besides that, I'll never understand the marketing behind it.

Anyway, so the copy I decided to pick up was Be mine!/SAVED, purely because "Be mine!" is the opening song for an anime and "SAVED" is the closing song for another anime. It chronologically fit.

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 2 of 2: Countdown Live 2012-2013 - Tour "Mitsubachi" Final (DVD) Commentary

From the Mitsubachi Diary.

To view Part 1, where I go over the packaging and first press bonus details, click here.

Hi all. Ten billion years (3 months) ago I wrote about Sakamoto Maaya's latest concert DVD release, Countdown Live 2012-2013 - Tour "Mitsubachi" Final. A link to that post is above.

Today I am here to finally share my thoughts on the performances with you.

As much time has passed, I contemplated whether or not there was a purpose to following through with this post. I wrote notes on the performances as I watched the DVD. It seemed appropriate to share what I thought about each performance. But then a month passed, then two and three, and I was stuck wondering what the point was. Who cares what I thought about the performances? The songs are songs we know already, there's nothing new, so why?

Well a friend convinced me to do it anyway (shout out to you dear Maxi) so here it is. But this will be briefer than originally planned because, again, why?

Sakamoto Maaya: Hajimari No Umi (LE) + First Press Bonus Details (07/31/13)

**I am a CDJapan affiliate and this post contains affiliate links.**

Hi all! Hooray for Sakamoto Maaya's newest single, Hajimari No Umi, which I would've reviewed sooner except its release date was 07/31/13, and I didn't get my copy of it in the mail until 08/01/13. Super quick delivery as usual, but I was leaving for California the day after! I literally snapped some pictures of the sealed album in crappy lighting the same day so I could open it, and then transferred the songs to my computer. As for the DVD, I watched it at the last minute - probably 2 A.M. or so.

As per the title and some details above, I bought the limited edition version of this single, which differs from the regular edition in the fact that it comes with a second CD: a DVD with the PV for the single's main track, "Hajimari No Umi," and footage from her Countdown Live 2012-2013 - Tour "Mitsubachi" Final (CDJapan refers to it as a "digest" on their website). And, as usual, because I preordered the single when it initially became available for preorder on the CDJapan website, I received the first press bonus.

This post will include pictures of the single itself and the first press bonus, as well as my thoughts on both the songs in the single and the content of the DVD. So, if you're interested, you know what to do. =P

My Favorites From: Sakamoto Maaya's Singles

Hi all! I hope you're enjoying your weekend thus far - I had a packed day today, actually, as my mom and I went to the Aquarium (and saw African penguins *heart*) as well as the beach by Coney Island. I also finally got my ride on a carousel, which I've been wanting to do again for years but felt slightly embarrassed about considering the fact that I'm 22 and all. But, you know what? It was FUN so eff caring about what other people think even more!

Anyways, onto the point of this post: first off, I've been wanting to write a post like this since my dear online friend - who I met through this blog ^_^ (hello Maxi :D )- showed me some videos he made as a fellow Sakamoto Maaya fan. He does a lot of lovely images and videos inspired by Sakamoto, and for the purpose of this post I will be referencing the following video here. It's essentially a collection of snippets from her singles released between the years 1995 and 2012.

I not only own a ton of songs by Sakamoto, but I also have other artists I listen to on a daily basis, so I find myself inevitably slipping away from some of her songs as a result. Hearing the clips in this video inspired me to make this post because it reminded me of gems in her career that I've lost count of, and I thought it would be nice to share them with you. :) So, in a nutshell, this post will be a list of Sakamoto's singles (at least those from the linked video) and my favorite track from each one!

The Bird

It's hard for me to write this, because this post is about a sound and it's a sound that I can only clearly hear from the bathroom, where we have a window facing the yard of the house and, in turn, facing the backs and trees of many others.

This sound is that of a bird, and it's a sound I discovered this summer. We had one of our summer storms one evening and when it finally cleared up and I was getting ready to wash my face, I heard this sound. This bird. It was so strange after the busy noise of thunder and heavy rain. What should have been post-storm quiet was instead a bird reciting sounds.

I thought it was a pet that escaped its house, and I felt awful. I had to force myself away from the window. But I've heard it countless nights since, rain or not. I only hear it at night - I don't know if that's coincidence or if this particular bird is nocturnal.

But it's so relaxing to hear this bit of life that takes me away from where I am. As much as I detest New York City I will admit that where I live is comfortable. Like most cities, NYC has varying degrees of noise pollution depending on where you happen to be situated within it, and I'm glad that we are in a rather quiet area (though not so nervously quiet as can be some suburban areas to those, such as myself, that are much too accustomed to urban life). At night there is the distant sound of cars, planes whispering to and from JFK, wind, the occasional firecracker, and human voice. That small group of sounds makes up quiet for me. This new, small sound from a mysterious bird, mixed with the familiar, reminds me of that quiet. It emphasizes it.

It makes me want to sit outside all night long, now that it's warm enough to be comfortable without sun, and listen. To imagine this small bird and its intentions. I wonder what it sings about, what it recites, and why.

It adds more to the quiet than any absence of sound ever could.

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 1 of 2: Countdown Live 2012-2013 - Tour "Mitsubachi" Final (DVD) + First Press Bonus

To read Part 2, my thoughts regarding the performances of this DVD, click here.

Hi everyone. :) Here is my pretty timely post on Sakamoto Maaya's most recent concert DVD, Countdown Live 2012-2013 - Tour "Mitsubachi" Final (release date: 06/13/13) - a recording of the last tour date of her holiday tour back in December 2012. Before I get into anything, I want to say that this post is going to follow the same format as my Singer-Songwriter review: that is, it is going to be split into two parts. The first, which you're reading right now, is going to focus on the first press bonus details and have a lot of pictures. The second, which I will link here when it's up, is going to focus on my opinions/reactions to the performances/other features of the DVD.

Anyway, I am still basking in the natural high that I get every time a Sakamoto package finally arrives in the mail (lol). The time between preordering and actually receiving feels like forever sometimes! But this past Sunday, I finally got the much-anticipated email saying my package was shipped out (again, I love how early CDJapan sometimes sends out preordered products in relation to their actual release dates - this one was shipped out on 06/10 when the release date wasn't until 06/13). And then, when I was ready to go walking yesterday, I saw this...

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 2 of 2: Singer-Songwriter (03/27/13)

Haha...Part 1 of 2 for this topic, found here, was posted a month after the album release date...and now my thoughts on the songs are being released more than a month after that...oh dear.

Anyway, this is the second post dedicated to Sakamoto Maaya's latest album, Singer-Songwriter, known best as the first album written and composed by her. I did purchase the LE/First Press edition of this album, so if you're interested in more pictures of the special casing/extras, again, all of that information is in Part 1. Otherwise, this post, scarce in pictures, will discuss each of the tracks on this album, as well as my thoughts on Sakamoto's progression (IN MY OPINION) regarding her musical compositions.

Sakamoto Maaya, Part 1 of 2: Singer-Songwriter (LE) + First Press Bonus Details (03/27/13)

So my last post was a break from the ordinary - serious, untidy, picture-less - and I thought I'd lighten the mood with something fun and way more carefree: Sakamoto Maaya's newest album, Singer-Songwriter!

I've decided that, because I have so many pictures pertaining to the limited edition and first press bonuses, I would do my review on her newest album in two parts: one on the bonuses only (which is this one and is picture-heavy), and one discussing the actual songs on the album (which will be linked here when it's up and is text-heavy). But I'll give some background on the album in both posts regardless, so there may be some repetition in that aspect.

Late Night Alumni: The Beat Becomes a Sound

On January 29, 2013, Late Night Alumni released their newest album, The Beat Becomes A Sound, on iTunes. It's the album featuring the track from their latest single, "Shine," which is why I ultimately held off from purchasing the single. I was anticipating my purchase of the album instead. [[ Look for the red text if you want to skip my small rant/problem with this album and get straight to the review itself. ]]

Sakamoto Maaya: Single Collection + Mitsubachi

I imagine Sakamoto fans are all smiles today, the release date of Sakamoto Maaya's third single collection, Mitsubachi. It may seem odd to purchase a single collection if you already own the actual singles that the compiled tracks were taken from. Or it may not, because why would someone who adores Sakamoto not want to have a copy of yet another of the singer's milestones? And then there's the other reason: that this particular collection includes a previously-spoken-about track, "April Fool," and a brand new track composed by (yes!) Kanno Yoko, "Nekoze." I happen to have purchased this single collection for both of those reasons.

Late Night Alumni: Haunted

Haunted is the album last published by Late Night Alumni over a year and a half ago, February 2011. This is my first album from Late Night Alumni and I decided to purchase it after hearing the 11th track, "Spin," on a YouTube video back in June, hence why I'm so late reviewing the album in relation to its release date. I actually purchased the album after  hearing only "Spin" because I loved the song so much. At first, after listening to some of the other tracks on YouTube while waiting for my copy to arrive in the mail, I wasn't too thrilled about the other tracks. But now, nearly four months later, I am in love with this album and look forward to future releases by the band. 

Sakamoto Maaya: More Than Words (LE) + First Press Bonus

I intended to review this newest single from Sakamoto Maaya back when it was just released and arrived at my house from CDJapan (07/25/12), but never got to it. So here, finally, is my full-of-praise review. What a surprise right?

Because I love all things Maaya and have very few songs that I don't care for from her. I thought the secondary track on this single was one of those songs but, like many others that did not stand out to me right away, it grew on me with time.

Sakamoto Maaya: Live2011 In the Silence DVD + First Press Bonus (05/30/12)

Perhaps the biggest highlight of this past week was Wednesday the 25th, when my much anticipated package from CDJapan arrived: the DVD of Sakamoto Maaya's live 2011 concert "In the Silence" and her most recent single, More than Words. My life momentarily felt complete as it always does when I receive a Sakamoto-related package (lol!). This review is dedicated solely to the DVD, which I've watched in its entirety twice since then.

Sakamoto Maaya has been my favorite singer since I was about 10 years old. Her albums, singles, and DVDs are the only luxury items I really don't mind spending what others most likely consider 'too much' money on. Her music has been an important part of my life thus far, and I've attached a great deal of memories to nearly every song I have of hers. That may very well be the reason why this DVD is my absolute favorite of the three I own with live concerts she's held ("We Are Kazeyomi" and "Gift" being the other two).