#2020.12.02

[volanstars]

🎂（2020.12.02）

#illustration #splatoon

[putschki1969]

Hi putschki! Now that all the girls have released their first album, it could be interesting to compare their respective 1st album in terms of style, lyrics maturity, publication period in their career, etc. What do you think?

Great question! Thank you!

Forgive me for taking so long to reply but I really wanted to do this justice with a thorough analysis and of course I thought it would be nice to include the Oricon weekly chart results for Hikaru's album (~930 copies sold within the first week). Please note that this is not really a professional analysis. I’ve tried to provide all the key data in an objective manner but at the end of the day, these are just my personal opinions.Without further ado, let’s get to it〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Wakana - 1st Album "Wakana"

Label: Victor Entertainment 2019.03.20 RELEASE [~1 month after her major solo debut] 11 tracks (9 previously unreleased; lyrics provided for 6 tracks) RE ¥3,300 | LE-A ￥3,850 | LE-B ￥5,280

Discussion: Wakana and her team really did not waste any time which was definitely a good idea since they were able to make use of a lot of the left-over Kalafina momentum. There was a ton of media coverage with all sorts of appearances which helped promote the release. The ensuing VOICE tour was also a great incentive to make people buy more copies. It’s a ballad-heavy album with little to no experimental or challenging stuff and as such quite homogeneous but that’s not necessarily a bad thing since people already associated her with this sort of music. Not straying too far from people’s expectations with your first few solo releases is actually a really smart move if you wanna keep your loyal fans happy and continue to sell copies. Despite the arguably overwhelming amount of slow songs, the album has some really solid tracks and is surprisingly well-balanced with a variety of styles that all suit Wakana’s voice very well. Overall, I would say that it is pretty reminiscent of “Kalafina’s Wakana, i.e. ballad queen” and as such has made it relatively easy to slowly ease her fans into her solo work. My only nit-pick, I probably would have replaced “Toki no Ne” with “Ato Hitotsu” which is a much superior song. As far as bonus content is concerned, this is a very good release since it includes a PV, a making-of, instrumentals as well as gorgeous photo booklets/books. No matter which version you go for, you get your money’s worth and in this case it actually pays off to buy all three versions because the RE contains some of the prettiest pictures in its lyric photo booklet. I do not presume to be an expert when it comes to lyric writing but I think for a first attempt, the lyrics are pretty good and she did more than half of the songs herself which I find impressive. They are unpretentious (dare I say simple?) and mostly coherent but at the same time quite poetic so what’s not to like?

1. 約束の夜明け (4/5) 2. 翼 (4/5) 3. 瑠璃色の空 (1/5) 4. 流れ星 (2/5) 5. 記憶の人 (4/5) 6. 時を越える夜に (5/5) 7. Hard Rain (3/5) 8. 金木犀 (5/5) 9. 僕の心の時計 (4/5) 10. 時の音 (1/5) 11. 愛の花 (5/5)

Keiko - 1st Album "Lantana"

Label: Avex Trax 2020.12.02 RELEASE [~6 months after her major solo debut] 11 tracks (7 previously unreleased; lyrics provided for 3 tracks) RE ¥3,300 | LE-A ￥4,950 | LE-B ￥9,020

Discussion: Keiko’s timing was a little unfortunate since she started her solo activities at the height of the pandemic which may or may not have affected sales negatively. There was a considerable amount of media appearances, an online release event and a small live but COVID regulations most likely stopped them from doing even more. Among the three of them, Keiko had the most traditional release schedule. First she released two singles to whet everyone’s appetite and then after a reasonable amount of time, she dropped her album. Not sure if this was such a good idea since the style of her singles felt a bit jarring to long-time fans, it definitely wasn’t what fans were hoping for. Which I guess is the running theme for her entire album. The whole thing feels like a mixture of randomly thrown-together mediocre tracks, no overarching theme, no structure, no personality, nothing that screams “Keiko” to me. For the most part the music doesn’t do anything to highlight Keiko’s vocals, quite the contrary actually, the key of some of these songs is outright unflattering. Having Yuki Kajiura attached to the project helped a bit in terms of promotion but even her song wasn’t outstanding so it didn’t do much to increase the overall quality of the album. It also felt like a cop-out to include an acoustic version of “Akane” just to get to 11 tracks. The bonus content (including a PV, some live footage as well as a mini LP) is pretty good but I am not sure it justifies the rather steep price for the limited editions, especially since they don’t even come with different fancy photo booklets. There is literally no point in getting the regular edition or even the LE-A if you want all the juicy content. It’s a shame that Keiko only did the lyrics for three songs. Again, I wouldn’t wanna judge her skills but one thing is for sure, I have a very hard time translating her lyrics because they are often a bit too vague. Make of that whatever you will.

1. Be Yourself (3/5) 2. 七色のフィナーレ (5/5) 3. 始まりは (3/5) 4. 茜 (3/5) 5. 溜め息の消える街 (1/5) 6. Ray (3/5) 7. 夕顔 (4/5) 8. エンドロール (3/5) 9. Change The World's Color (1/5) 10. 命の花 (4/5) 11. 茜 -acoustic ver.-(2/5)

Hikaru - 1st Album "Kaihōku"

Label: NBC Universal Entertainment 2022.06.29 RELEASE [~2 years after her major solo debut] 12 tracks (5 previously unreleased; 4 tie-ins; lyrics provided for 7 tracks) RE ¥3,300 | LE-A ￥4,950

Discussion: This album is long-overdue and I fear Hikaru has lost a lot of her momentum throughout the years. They probably wanted to wait until she had collected a bunch of anime tie-ins but I am afraid that backfired a little bit. Despite three of her four anisongs being pretty solid, they were sadly all used in mediocre shows so it’s not like they were any good for proper promotion. Speaking of promotion, as of the time I am writing this, there has been zero substantial media coverage of her album release, no media appearances whatsoever. At least they organised release events as well as an online sign event so kudos to her promotion team for that! Regarding the album as a whole, I am quite satisfied with the outcome. A majority of the tracks have had time to marinate so the release feels more earned and personal I guess? The album is not as edgy or daring as its title would suggest though which is a wasted opportunity. Still, there is a decent variety and some cool new styles. However, I am low-key offended that they didn’t include her best B-side, “Determination”, in the album. While I don’t mind “landscape”, it’s slightly boring compared to the epicness of “Determination”. Or they could have just dropped “Pulsation”? I understand the wish to include her unofficial debut song in her first official full album but let’s be real here, the song isn’t anything to write home about. The bonus content on the LE is neat but the RE is absolutely useless. Again, no fancy photo booklets. Why? Hikaru is probably the most skilled when it comes to lyric writing and story-telling or at the very least, the most devoted? This is another reason why this album feels very much like it is representative of the current “Hikaru”. It’s just a shame that she didn’t write the lyrics for any of the new songs.

1. Altern-ate-(4/5) 2. 螺旋の繭 (2/5) 3. The Sacred Torch (1/5) 4. Ambient Border (4/5) 5. イエスノウ (3/5) 6. カナシイケダモノ (5/5) 7. かわいそうだよ (5/5) 8. disclose (5/5) 9. clea-rly- (3/5) 10. JUST DO IT (3/5) 11. landscape (2/5) 12. pulsation Eng. Ver. (1/5)

Everyone, feel free to chime in! 🤗

#kalafina #wakana #keiko #hikaru #reply #wakana solo album #keiko solo album #hikaru solo album #keiko 1st album #wakana 1st album #hikaru 1st full album #lantana #Kaihōku #oricon #oricon charts #long text post

[martuwucrossing]

2020.12.02

🍎🍊🍅

#ketchup acnh #acnh blog #acnh island #acnh #animal crossing #animal crossing new horizons #december 2020 #martuwu #acnh pics

[optogeneticist-sketchbook]

2020.12.02

#msp

[bvidzsoo]

As The Wise Mr. Alexander Albon once said:

"GEOOOOOOOOOOOORGE"

Thank you.

#just bvidzsoo things #alex albon #george russell #f1 #mark the date 2020.12.02.

[bugiardellospiritoso]

Il Gazzettino Friuli (2020.12.02)

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#Il Gazzettino Friuli (2020.12.02)

[yunwooz]

seonghwa - double happiness global music festival 2020.12.02

#ateez #seonghwa #park seonghwa #ateezedit #ateez gifs #ateez gif #him! #one day at a time #lunagifs #luna.gifs

[nunukim-182]

Space traveling Craig and Kevin 2019.4.20~2020.12.02

I wrote at my twitter like I will draw the sequel of the third one and I did it today. Craig and Kevin went to travel space, but Kevin got lost and met alien Red. Craig rides his rocket and finds Kevin with Alien Tweek. At first I didn’t think of making this as a series so it’s kinda messed up a little

#south park #space #Craig Tucker #Kevin Stoley #Tweek Tweak #Red Tucker #red mcauthur #Creek #Revin #sp Craig #sp Kevin #sp Red #sp Tweek #sp creek #sp revin #craig x tweek #kevin x red

[buttertartz]

/2020.12.02/

I can't stop drawing him . . . o_o

#bigmanbee #ranboo #ranboo fanart #mcyt #mcyt fanart #digital art #medibang paint #medibang #medibang paint pro

[kyokosdog]

Sugai Yuuka 菅井友香, Shonen Magazine 2020.12.02 No.51

#sugai yuuka #菅井友香 #shonen magazine #sakurazaka46 #cover #2020

[martuwucrossing]

2020.12.02

is this merengue calling henry plain

#merengue acnh #henry acnh #villager dialogue #acnh blog #acnh #animal crossing #animal crossing new horizons #december 2020 #martuwu

[drarryspecificrecsdaily]

2020.12.02

Complete fics posted on AO3 this day

1. All I Want for Christmas is You, No Really. by @sczrhead [G, 1k]

►Prompt: I drew your name for Secret Santa and I have no idea what to get you because we don't really know each other very well. On the day of the gift exchange, I pull you aside and ask you want you want and that I'm sorry that I didn't get you anything. You pull me under the mistletoe and now we're kissing?

2. Bring the trauma tomorrow by tothetardisandbeyond [T, 2k]

►Harry propositions Malfoy (with the help of some Firewhiskey), he forgets, and Malfoy won't tell him what he said.

---

Fest/Exchange

1. Feathers, Fire & Fate by Anonymous [T, 25k]

►Harry Potter ignites the Veela’s Curse and gets an unwitting Draco Malfoy bonded to him as his executioner… and soulmate. They’ll need to break it quickly, before it takes over, but Potter isn’t the only one running out of time. The sand in the hourglass has nearly fallen, and whichever way this ends, Draco is doomed. ★ H/D Erised 2020 | @hd-erised

2. Litany by Anonymous [M, 7k]

►With the wizarding world on lockdown due to a magic-draining pandemic, Harry is stuck in Grimmauld Place, bored and alone—until the ghost of Draco Malfoy shows up to haunt him. ★ H/D Erised 2020 | @hd-erised

3. Lonely this Christmas by iero0 [M, 5k]

►Whatever it was that kept him going after war – be it the prospect of a better future, hope for an autonomous life, or be it just sodding Draco – Harry is done with having dreams now. ★ Wireless Festive Minifest 2020 | @wireless-festive-minifest

4. Quicksilver and Phoenix Fire by @the-sinking-ship [M, 4k]

►A wizard’s wand is a delicate thing, precisely suited to their magic. To wield another’s wand isn’t just intimate, it’s exceedingly rare. So what does it mean that Harry’s wand responds so beautifully in Draco’s hand? ★ Drarropoly '20: Founders Edition | @gameofdrarry

#drarry #drarry fanfic #drarry fic rec #harry potter #draco malfoy #daily list #2020 #2020.12

[kyotakumrau]

Co-yomi twitter 2020.12.02

【Shinya Channel】

Vol.173を配信しました。

co-yomi.com/shinya/

ここ最近はDIR EN GREYとしてのアレがあり、ヤバいアレも！？その中で切ない瞬間が…… (STAFF)

Recently there was that thing with DIR EN GREY, and that too!? And among that the painful moment... (staff)

#dir en grey #shinya

[sakamichibeeldarchief]

鈴木愛理 on Instagram 2020.12.02

#鈴木愛理

[bvidzsoo]

If you think, that I'll shut up, about GEORGE RUSSELL DRIVING FOR MERCEDES THIS WEEKEND then you are very very wrong.

#just bvidzsoo things #f1 #george russell #lewis hamilton #i hope lewis has a speedy recovery but when i tell you I cried seeing the announcement #i am not joking #i have just woken up and I was like... oh shit OH SHIT #a dream come true #mark the date 2020.12.02.

[bugiardellospiritoso]

Il Piccolo di Trieste (2020.12.02)

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#Il Piccolo di Trieste (2020.12.02)