音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

April 12-15, 2010

KOKIA, REAL WORLD, released on March 31, 2010.

Comparing to the two "balance" albums, which were her new (full length) albums in the last year, "REAL WORLD" is obviously more excellent and adorable. I don't want to skip any songs when I start to play it, although there are songs that are not very impressive. Her three iTunes singles were included in this album too; this is very valuable because there's nowhere to find the lossless version of those iTunes releases!

The theme of "REAL WORLD" is "life and death". A pretty large topic, isn't it? I loved its jacket first. The background was the Sahara Desert. Sky and sand, blue and gold; there is almost no life, yet there is life. Desert is kind of a boundary between "life" and "death" on our planet; and derived from there, what kind of music KOKIA will bring to us this time?

I like large topic, I like to think about life and death, I like KOKIA's music. I believe this album would be very nice; that's why I preordered it soon after its release was announced.

Now, it's free time to talk about the album itself!

First, I want to say something about my favorite song in this album: "Road to Glory～for Dragon Nest". I have much to say, but I don’t know where I should begin… I loved it even before one time of complete listening, and soon after, I made 200 consecutive plays of it. People were saying that I was listening to that song like crazy ^^; but… everything is so nice in this song: the introduction, the arrangement, the harmony, the lyrics, and, of course, KOKIA's voice. One point I have to mention here is, in the very beginning, when the introduction just ends, KOKIA sings in some self-made language: "Sakkati busueiwou Krazare immunerume". Oh my god!! I was like, "what? Am I listening to a new Akiko Shikata song?" Although this feeling only stayed for a bit while, I still insist to say this song is pretty Akiko Shikata like, no matter how many I listen to it! Then, after I listened to it for more times, I found there were something very familiar: Hikaru Nanase's arrangement! I have become a Hikaru Nanase fan since I've watched the anime "Phantom". I especially love her way of arranging. Talk more about music theory isn't my strong point; it's difficult to describe exactly the special charm from her arrangements. I just love and can (sometimes) recognize it. So did that time. That was Hikaru Nanase's arrangement! Waaaaah~~~ I really think Hikaru Nanase is good at making music with a fantastic theme; KOKIA is always good at singing with ANY kinds of music. The two have excellently made singles like "KARMA" and "Transparent". Later, I believe lots of people have also listened to songs made by the two from "Ar Tonelico Hymmnos III -Side Blue". What an unbelievable combination!! This song is incredibly epic!

The song "最終上映 (Saishou Jouei / Final Screening)" attracted me and made me to make 50+ plays within 2 days. I even drew an image picture for it! The ambience of this song is a bit weird (?). I mean, it gives you a feeling of being in an imaged world. Sounds from a winding-up music box are firstly brought out, and then, the background sound effects (some specially made sounds, uneven drum beats, the "sound-of-coin", etc.) were introduced to make out this imaged world. Similar hint is also in the lyrics: "Welcome to the magic world" is its first sentence. XD In the lyrics, things like "a world under the magic which won't disappear, no seed, no proof; I was from a giant's dream, small and fragile…" What I feel was like time has gone back to the beginning of 20 century, and we are watching an old silent film (sounds weird? ^^). By the way, although not exactly, of the ambience, this song is a bit like her "Pinku no Zou (ピンクの象 / Pink Elephant)"… hmm, don't ask me why, I just think so!!! Also, KOKIA sings in the song for many times of "Pappadiya." I wan to know what it means!!!! That must be KOKIA's special spell, isn't it?

"U-cha-cha" is also kind of special. Many people would think it's a new song. But you know? This song was firstly performed in (as far as I know) in 2002 on her live, "That's why I was born"! – On that live, a stream of drum beats introduced that song, on the dark stage. KOKIA was dancing with the beat; her shadow was the only thing you could see at that time. Then, the drum stopped suddenly, her shadow lay down as well. Then, the drum beats came back, with a brighter feeling. "U-cha-cha" was sung by her, with a gentle and slight voice. Finally, here came KOKIA's singing. The melody flowed out at a rather free pace; the ambience was like what you would feel from a night of darkness to a dawn of lightness. On that live, her voice was a bit unstable (being tired after dancing? ^^;), yet I like that style of singing. XD However, in the "REAL WORLD" version of "U-cha-cha", KOKIA's voice sounds more stable and strong and mature. With a different arrangement, the feeling of dawn was not in the new version anymore, but the new version does sound like an even brighter early morning. Dark – light – even brighter, that's what I felt from listening to two versions of "U-cha-cha". This is really a nice song can make you feel comfortable. (you may watch that live here, starts from 1:40)

Another very beautiful song, "ジュゴンの空 (Dugong no Sora / Dugong's Sky)", is what I'm going to talk about. At my first time of listening, I didn't find out how special it was, but after a few times, I suddenly realized it's a very delicately written work. The "ha-ah-ah" part in the introduction, together with the dugong voice (although I think that sounds like a dolphin's lol), was extremely beautiful! The introduction gives its listeners a scene of a sea under a stretch of orange twilight. The melody is peacefully and a bit sadly flowing. The lyrics alone are very "environment friendly," because – it mentioned things like "save the species in danger" and "we human have to save them," and so on. What does the sky being seen in a dugon's eyes look like? It must the same peaceful and vast like their home, the sea. The blue sky, the blue sea, and the blue planet, we are all living there, we're seeing them everyday, and we really have to protect them from being erased by human activity. In this song, KOKIA's gentleness has introduced all of us to a place of absolute beauty and naivety. Every time when you listen to this song, stop all things you're considering; just relax your mind, and feel the sweet breeze of her voice.

Now, I want to switch to her iTunes releases. The three "main" songs were included in this album, although others are very good too, I have to talk only about the ones in this album.

"君をさがして (Kimi wo Sagashite / looking for you)" is in typical Jpop style. But since the singer is KOKIA, this song isn't just as ordinary as most Jpop songs. Everything in this song is gentle like a breeze. Softly, KOKIA's voice echoes around everywhere. Although this isn't a song I especially love, I can still loop it for tens of times!

"single mother". I have to say this one is a song from the real heart. As soon as I heard the piano in the introduction, I believed that would be a very nice song – and I was right. Like others' comments, the song itself is like a story; the lyrics is so touching that I even tried to translate it with my crappy translation skill ^^; But anyways, I really love this warm, gentle, delicate and beautiful song.

"孤独な生きもの (Kodokuna Ikimono / we are all lonely)". This song is very encouraging and adorable. We are lonely, yet we're not all alone. The song itself is still in standard Jpop style, but also, it's full of hope. When you're lost, listen to it; no matter what happens, there is always someone beside you, supporting the lonely you. Just keep going, keep chasing your dream. Then, you're not alone anymore; you will become the "someone" who supports others…

"音の旅人 (Oto no Tabibito / Traveler of Sound) " is a song full of ethnic influences. I love its arrangement (OMG Hikaru Nanase must be the person who arranged it! I can't tell now, because I haven't received my ordered CD ^^;). This is a beautiful song, and it fits the ambience of the album jacket – the Sahara Desert – very much.

"REAL WORLD" would be the most special felt song among all songs in the album. As a song has the same title to the album, it has a very effervescent ambience, and thus gives the album a lively impression (because other songs are rather gentle and even a bit sad). However, personally, I prefer KOKIA's not-so-lively songs. ^^;

Overall, this album is really, really nice, beautiful and impressive. Other songs so far I haven't mentioned, including "Birth", "Love is us, Love is Earth", "私が見たもの (Watashi ga Mita Mono / Things I Saw)", and "この地球がまるいお陰で (Kono Chikyuu ga Marui Okagede / Because the Earth is Round) " are all typical KOKIA-ish songs. Now, however, I'll just stop commenting on the rest ones, but that "Birth" fits the feeling of an opening song very well; either its title or its whole feeling.

Finally, I'm at the very last song.
"the woman".
Before the official release of "REAL WORLD", the promotion video "the woman" had already been available on youtube (unfortunately that video is time limited). As the last song, "the woman" is a very good choice. I can't stop remembering the scenes in that video… *__* but, even without the video, only the music can get you into a world of gentleness. The melody is so calm – the song relaxes our minds, introduces us to the vast world, where we can see the blue sky, the golden ground, and the endless horizon. Feel the breeze, feel the air, and feel our existence.

Real world, it's in our eyes, it's in our hearts. We embrace this world, and this world embraces us. Everything in our life isn’t a dream; even though it may have gone away, it's still in our memory.

We're here, in this real world.

—What are needed in this world, include water, air, and this "voice."—