Beyond the Sea ~ The Style. Edition

The cover of the CD+calendar edition

Moshimo Negai ga… (もしも願いが・・・) is Nami Tamaki’s 18th single and it was released on October 14, 2009. The single reached #20 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 3,408 copies. The title track was used as the theme song for the video game Valhalla Knights: Eldar Saga.

I like all of the covers but the CD+calendar edition’s is my favorite. Looking good, Nami! ♥

♦ ♦ ♦

I’m glad that Nami Tamaki’s music has been improving little by little since the label switch. It’s safe to say that Moshimo Negai ga… is her best A-side so far too. I’ve gotten over the fact that she’s not doing the dance oriented stuff anymore so I’m trying to approach her “new style” with an open mind now. As for this song, it has a nice production value that features a mid-tempo arrangement done with piano and light beats. There’s also some synth in the background as well.

The single includes 2 B-sides. The first one is Sukiya de ~Itoshii Hito e~ and it appears on all the editions. I thought this song was pretty good and it elaborates on the fluffy pop sound heard on some of the tracks from the Friends! single. I was a little turned off by the male vocals that show up during the chorus but they’re not too distracting.

The CD only edition has an exclusive track and it’s a cover of the song MAGIC (originally performed by Tina in 1999). It’s an upbeat track and has a lot of synth and beats. Like the first B-side, it has a polished sound that I thought was great.

Pros: Overall, her best Universal single yet.
Cons: Minor stuff. Don’t falter now, Nami!

BASICALLY…she’s off my shitlist! XD

Overall Rating

4 stars

Tracklisting

1. Moshimo Negai ga… (もしも願いが・・・)
2. Sukiya de ~Itoshii Hito e~ (好きやで～愛しい人へ～)
3. MAGIC [CD only]
    Moshimo Negai ga… (Instrumental) [CD+calendar & CD+DVD]

The cover of the CD only edition

Friends! is Nami Tamaki’s 17th single and it was released on July 29, 2009. The single reached #25 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 3,632 copies.

I liked the cover of the CD only edition the most since the other 2 are hot messes. She looks cute on this one. CD+DVD Type A’s cover just screams “These are my boobs! Boom boom!” while CD+DVD Type B’s has a cameo by Dogzilla.

♦ ♦ ♦

I officially added Nami Tamaki to my shitlist after the atrocity that was GIVE ME UP, which was undoubtedly one of the worst singles of 2009 so far. It was such a huge downgrade from her awesome dance oriented songs prior to the label change and it just left me asking “What in the world happened?”. So you could easily tell how apprehensive I was when she released Friends!, ANOTHER cute pop tune.

Luckily, Friends! is not a rehash of GIVE ME UP, but more like an improved version of it. The song is bouncy synth pop but without being too annoying so that’s a plus. However, I thought it was one of the weaker songs on the single at the same time. That’s right…the B-sides are better! =O

There are 3 B-sides but they’re set up so that only one song is exclusive to each edition. I think that’s a terrible gimmick and it obviously didn’t work because this single flopped.
Anywho, the CD+DVD Type A edition includes Negai Hoshi, an upbeat song with some nice programming. I honestly liked 8-bit sound going on in the music but the song tends to drag near the end. My two personal favorite songs are found on the CD+DVD Type B and CD only editions. Happy Forever is an uplifting and catchy track while Mata ne is a mellow ballad. They are both quite nice and show that there is some hope if Tamaki is going to continue on with her current musical direction.

Pros: As a whole, this single is a hell of a lot better than GIVE ME UP. She’s improving!
Cons: Enough of the cutesy stuff already! It’s time for something more aggressive.

BASICALLY…approach the A-side with caution. The B-sides make up for it though.

Overall Rating

 3½ stars

Tracklisting

1. Friends!
2. Negai Hoshi (願い星) [CD+DVD Type A]
    Happy Forever [CD+DVD Type B]
    Mata ne (またね) [CD only]
3. Friends! (Instrumental)

Tracklisting
1. GIVE ME UP
2. Ichizu na Negai (イチズナネガイ)
3. in my life [Limited edition B]
    Kanojo (彼女) [Regular edition]
4. GIVE ME UP (Instrumental)

This is Nami Tamaki’s 16th single and it was released on March 25, 2009. The single reached #18 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 7,221 copies.

After the release of her last album Don’t Stay, Nami Tamaki parted with Sony and switched to Universal, prompting this question in my head: was this label change beneficial like it was for BENI? In this case, it’s a big fat NO. Honestly, GIVE ME UP is a total dud. Trading in her signature upbeat techno sound for something far more generic, this song includes a sample of the popular 80s track of the same name by Michael Fortunati. Minus the catchy and BORROWED chorus, the only part of the song that I liked, the rest of the song is entirely original.

It just gets worse with the B-sides. Appearing on all editions of the single is Ichizu na Negai, an uninspired pop song. There’s too much going on in the arrangement and it’s pretty sloppy, especially with the random brass. I felt that the song was just one big repetitive chorus and all I heard was Tamaki repeating the same phrases over and over again too.

The downward spiral continues with in my life, which only appears on limited edition B. I’ll just get to the point and say that this song is really bad. It’s an R&B tinged ballad…or something. I don’t know; I was too distracted by the awful vocals in the chorus. The verses are okay though.

There are may still be some hope left for this single with the regular edition bonus track. Kanojo is an improvement and it elaborates on that R&B pop sound, but with better vocals and far less annoying misshaps like in the previous tracks. I think that this is the best track on the single as well since it didn’t make me want to pull my hair out.

Overall Rating

2 stars

Tracklisting
1. Promise
2. Christmas Time
3. winter fall
4. Promise -Instrumental-

This is Nami Tamaki’s 15th single and it was released on December 26, 2007. The single reached #19 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 6,978 copies.

Nami Tamaki steps up to the plate and proves herself as more than “that girl who sings the anime theme songs”. Winter Ballades is a collection of 3 winter themed ballads, something she has never done before and it’s quite daring for an artist such as herself. The single’s lead track, Promise, is a medium tempo song that’s pretty different from the few ballads she has performed in the past. Utilizing somber strings and gentle percussion, the music is a pleasant listen. What stood out the most were definitely Tamaki’s vocals. Singing at a lower register, she presents her vocal capabilities and range in a whole new light, which impressed me in the end.

The next track is the more upbeat Christmas Time. Opening with flowing strings, piano, and chimes, the song later unfolds into a sophisticated ballad. The music maintains a calm atmosphere that gradually speeds up when the bridge arrives, but it sounds so pretty throughout. Tamaki’s vocals are once again very good, especially during the chorus.

The 3rd track is a calmer and slower cover version of L’Arc~en~Ciel’s 1998 hit winter fall. Tamaki’s take of the song is piano and string based and sung at a much slower pace. The high notes she hits are great too. It’s a great cover of the original and I thought she performed the song very well. I’m not a fan of L’Arc~en~Ciel so what do you guys think?

Overall Rating

4 stars

Tracklisting
1. Brightdown
2. Anata Iro no Namida (あなた色の涙)
3. Endless dream
4. Brightdown -Instrumental-

This is Nami Tamaki’s 14th single and it was released on August 29, 2007. The single reached #8 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 24,404 copies. The title track was used as the 2nd opening theme song for the anime D.Gray-man.

Brightdown shows a new, more edgier side of Nami Tamaki that’s devoid of her known techno-pop sound of the past. The electric guitar riffs in this song are furious and constant, and Tamaki’s strong vocals are really great. I like it when Tamaki sings in a more aggressive tone because it shows that she is more capable as a pop artist.

The B-side is something you don’t hear everyday from Tamaki. Anata Iro no Namida is an uplifting ballad, something that she doesn’t do very often. However, when she does attempt at this kind of music, it’s fantastic. This a very pretty song with nice strings and piano, and Tamaki’s toned down vocals really compliment them well.

The next B-side is another high quality track. Endless dream follows the same electronica style of her previous songs, but in more sophisticated fashion. Sure, the song still has a ‘pop’ sound to it, but the way it’s executed gives it a more mature sound. This track is almost like a more upbeat version of last single CROSS SEASON.

Overall Rating

4½ stars

Tracklisting
1. CROSS SEASON
2. i CAN FLY
3. Lost and Found
4. CROSS SEASON -Instrumental-

This is Nami Tamaki’s 13th single and it was released on March 14, 2007. The single reached #23 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and sold 6,404 copies.

With a scary looking cover like that, I expected CROSS SEASON to be something extremely different from Nami Tamaki, but it’s not. It still sounds similar to her past techno-pop material, but I do give it credit for having a more ‘mature’ sound (the lyrics are about graduation and moving on as well). The simple piano arrangement plus the underlying electronica loop sounds really good actually. I can’t say the same about Tamaki’s vocals though because they don’t sound as energetic as before, but I suppose they are like that to match the mid-tempo pace of the music.

Now onto the B-sides. I thought i CAN FLY was really annoying because it features the sounds of Tamaki yelling and screaming. The rockish sound of the song is nice but I didn’t like Tamaki’s overly cutesy vocals.

Lost and Found is probably her most rock inspired song to date. The electric guitar riffs are fantastic and this time, I really liked Tamaki’s vocals. They matched very well with the music and this B-side is way better than i CAN FLY.

Overall Rating 

3½ stars