After a successful overseas tour in the main Asian countries that officially brought Perfume’s music outside Japan, more than an eyebrow lifted when the girls announced a collaboration with the popular cartoon character Doraemon for their next single under the Universal Music Japan label. Why? Because even though Doraemon is huge in Japan and known in many countries around the world, the fans were expecting something a bit different and more “open” than a song mainly aimed at japanese children after all the overseas success and the good expectations for a World Tour 2nd: It’s like taking two steps back after one forward.
But songs are the only thing that matter, and we know how Perfume can transform everything into magic and erase any little initial doubt. Will it be the same for Mirai no Museum?
[A-SIDE] Mirai no Museum
As we all know, the A-side of this single has been appositely written for the new upcoming Doraemon movie, and it can be briefly described with a single word: Perfect.
It’s adorable, cute and everything that a Doraemon song needs to be. The singing of the girls is melodic and clear, with a smart use of the back vocals that emphasizes the cute arrangement and mood of the track. It’s the perfect Doraemon song… which is a good thing, but also the real problem of this A-side at the same time.
Indeed, this song perfectly nails the Doraemon conceptbut totally fails on the Perfume sound side: Personally, I couldn’t listen to it more than 4 or 5 times, for the simple fact that it’s just not appealing for someone who discovered and love Perfume for their techno-pop and various sound. It’s not even catchy because there’s no melody that gets stuck in your mind, maybe a 5 or 6 years old child can find it, but not someone who still has the Spending all my Time or Hurly Burly synths stuck in his brain. Not to talk about the lyrics, which are basically identical besides a couple of almost unnoticeable differences and, of course, the always present lazy and totally uninspired Nakata bridge: poor guy can’t do a decent bridge since Spring of Life.
Mirai no Museum perfectly achieves the goal of tie-in song, but fails on satisfying the Perfume fandom. It’s a song that could have been understandable as B-side, but putting it as A-side it’s been pretty much a risky move, not for the sales (that will surely be high as usual) but for the Perfume fandom itself, and I can hardly imagine a Perfume fan looping a song that’s been created exclusively for Doraemon fans.
Forgettable.
[B-SIDE] Daijobanai
Everyone waited for this B-side for a long time, mainly expecting the savior of this single, the one that could have finally gave a bit of Perfume sound to a release that’s been created for Doraemon fans only, apparently. Everyone was expecting an heavy and/or electronic track… so is Daijobanai the song the fans wanted? Yes and no.
This song is electronic music for sure, better than the forgettable A-side and… it’s fast! The beat is fast, the melody is fast, the singing is fast (and heavily processed), and the sense of velocity and almost confusion is enhanced by the now usual glitchy voice effect we’ve heard on Nee, Laser Beam and other mixes: It’s hard not to get excited in front all of this… until you realize this is a Kyary Pamyu Pamyu song.
I know a lot of people, including you, hate this statement, but let’s be honest and face it: Imagine this song sang by Kyary and try not to think about her. Actually, it’s not even the first time we see something like this, and I’m starting to seriously wonder if Nakata is suffering from some sort of confusion crisis or something. Even the little things that may remember Perfume make this song a repetitive deja-vù, like the usual Nocchi back vocals at the end of every chorus phrase and the already mentioned glitchy voice effect. Not to talk about the little “WUB” effects, typical of the dubstep music, that everyone in the world is copying: Simply out of place.
Daijobanai is a funny song, but extremely short and, above all, it doesn’t represent Perfume in any way, either you care or not. But you’ll have fun with this song, and at least it’s still better than Mirai no Museum;If that’s enough for you, then you’ve found your savior.
Art Direction
Don’t worry, I won’t spit blood on the art direction. Disliking something created by Yusuke Tanaka is basically impossible, and his works prove it: Indeed, the art direction for Mirai no Museum is very good, even though not the best we’ve seen in the Perfume career. The PV is funny and entertaining, and technically well done, even though the black and white filter following the monochromatic trend of the Spring of Life and Spending all my Time PVs can be tiring after a little while. The various references to the old PVs of their last two singles are also very nice and funny, and make wonder if they’re connected in any way, leaving space to curious theories. A huge thumbs up goes to the outfits of the girls as well, looking original even if inspired from the Doraemon movie concept, and absolutely beautiful: It’s hard to ignore the girls’ beauty in those dresses, that expose their beauty and sexiness the way we love it.
The Verdict.
Mirai no Museum is a mediocre single and a weak release under every aspect (except for the art direction), from the children-ish A-side, to the upbeat and funny but badly recycled B-side. You’ll find yourself at the end of the barely six minutes of music asking yourself if this seven months waiting was worth it or not.
Sure, this single will sell a lot like every Perfume release, and Doraemon is a true national icon in Japan, so the success is basically sure, but the weakness behind these songs is just not ignorable and makes wonder what direction our girls will take in the future. And this can’t be justified with the “Variety of Perfume sound” excuse: Variety is creating something new for an artists (example: Spice), not recycling something from someone else because it’s easier and comfortable for a producer that is clearly lazy and doesn’t even want to put his effort in making songs for a group that has been with him for 10 years.
I don’t blame the girls for all of this: They’re doing their job greatly as usual, and I just love them too much even though I dislike this single. I blame it on Yasutaka Nakata, who should definitely start to put more effort in Perfume music at least as he does with her Fashion Monster friend, and start being less cold and more humble, because someone out there is doing way better than him in this moment.
If you don’t care about all of this, then you may enjoy this single until a better Perfume release will come out, but I don’t know how many of you will ignore the biggest fail of this single, which is the clear absence of the Perfume sound.
A real disappointment.
Vote 5.5/10
________________________________________________
Join the discussion and leave your impressions about Mirai no Museum (orbash me for this negative review) down here in the comments!
Stay tuned for every news about Perfume, and don’t forget to follow Perfume Disco on Twitter and Facebook!
In the last few weeks all the main infos about Mirai no Museum have been finally unveiled: We had the chance to listen to a short preview of the A-side, seen the amazing covers and gave a look at the tracklist. Basically, we only miss the most important part: the songs.
But so far, we at least had the chance to create some first opinionsabout the upcoming Perfume single: How will this single be? Will it be successful?
Let’s talk about it!
The Success
First of all, even though there’s still a month left before the release of the single, it’s pretty obvious that this single will be a success from a commercial point of view: As we all know, the A-side will be the theme song of the new Doraemon movie, and in case you don’t know, this anime/manga is a true classic in Japan, and it’s been appointed “anime ambassador in the world” by the Japan’s Foreign Ministry. Dude… No joke.
That said, we’re talking about an immortal brand that kids (and not only) love and will always grow up with, so from a commercial point of view this can be easily called a big hit. The girls are already anticipating the release of the single with a short commentary/song preview at the end of the weekly Doraemon TV episodes airing now, and advertisements on all the major music shops such as Tower Records are already popping up, waiting for the moment when the walls will be covered by promotional pics and poster as usual.
So, you get that Doraemon is really big in Japan, and I know what are you already thinking about… the question automatically comes to mind every time the release date of a new Perfume single comes near: Will it reach the top of the Oricon chart? It’s been a long time now… the last single that ranked #1 on the Oricon Weekly Chart was One Room Disco, about four years ago. It’s a lot of time, and even though the girls always got their #2 spot with every single (something that not every artist can claim) they didn’t have the chance to reach the top again. Will somethig change with Mirai no Museum? Maybe.
The collaboration with Doraemon might be the key for the top of the Oricon chart. While some overseas fans as me couldn’t feel the real excitement behind this collaboration, Japanese fans are probably going crazy over this. Why? Because they are always (fairly) proud of their brands, especially the very famous ones like Doraemon, and if you take all the Perfume and Doraemon fans in Japan, well… that’s quite a huge number of people. The Perfume fans will love the cuteness of the girls and this new style and type of collaboration, while the Doraemon fans, mainly composed by kids, will get the chance to know Perfume and may want their parents to buy them the single. The parents will know Perfume, and who knows, maybe become fans, to then spread the voice to their friends and so on… Doraemon may not be a tasteful can of beer, but it has way more possibilities to spread Perfume’s music among people of every age than Kirin.
Another reason that may lead the girls to conquer the top of the Oricon chart is the absence of huge artists releases on the week of February 27th: There’s no AKB or Johnny’s family group besides SMAP, so it’s still a better situation than usually is when a Perfume single gets released. These two things combined may lead our girls to finally reach the Top of the Oricon sinle chart after a long time: Let’s cross fingers for that!
The Songs
Now let’s talk about the most important thing about the single: The songs.
As well all know, the A-side Mirai no Museum is a cute song that perfectly fits the movie: cute, happy, with a sweet and melodic singing. While it won’t certainly be one of the best Perfume songs ever, it sounds just perfect for a Doraemon movie, and that’s all that matters in a collaboration of a brand of such dimensions.
But what about the B-side? Well, Daijobanai (literally “I’m not okay”) might be the other face of this single: when the tracklist was announced, it was said that this song would have been “cool” and different, which could be translated in a more mature and maybe darker song than the A-side. Many fans are waiting since a long time a more electronic and techno-ish song in pure Edge or GAME style… will this song finally cover that side of the Perfume sound again? Only time will tell… but one thing seems sure: Musically, this single will have two different kinds of sound.
The Art Direction
Historical Perfume art director Kazuaki Seki took care of the amazing covers for this single, and it’s probably gonna be the same for the Promotional Video that everyone is waiting for. Kashiyuka expressed her feelings about it on the latest issue of the SWITCH magazine saying:
“The MV we’re shooting now (Mirai no Museum) is so, so gorgeous. So, please look forward to it!”
The covers tend to grey/white colors, something that would follow the monochrome art direction that we have seen in the post Tokuma era single, from the white of Spring of Life and the dark green/blue tones of Spending all my Time. But knowing Seki-san’s creativity and talent, I wouldn’t be surprised if he will come up with something different for us… a VOICE like video would be amazing for the anime concept, but before start speculating, let’s wait for the preview that will surely arrive in the next weeks together with more informations about Mirai no Museum. I trust Yuka-chan’s words though… so it’s surely gonna be exciting.
That’s it for my impressions about the upcoming Perfume single! Don’t forget that Mirai no Museum will be on stores on Febraury 27th: Pre-order now if you haven’t yet!
And you? What are your expectations about the new single Mirai no Museum? Feel free to leave your opinions, and let’s discuss about it together in the comments down below!
Exactly a month before the official opening, tonight the registrations for the new Perfume WORLD FANCLUB have been opened!
From today, everyone will have the opportunity to join the WORLD FANCLUB and obtain online privileges such as Member Blogs, Videos, Pics, Exclusive media contents as well as the opportunity to take part of tickets lottery and TV/Radio shows and exclusive events (check out the list of privileges here).
Now, some fans were pretty confused about the pre-registration matter, but that was only to see how much people would have been interested in joining the Fanclub and to give anticipated informations and a wallpaper via email. So, from now on, anyone (pre-registered or not) can subscribe and pay for the WORLD FANCLUB. The price as we already know is 1.200yen, which is about $14 USD or 10€, and after completing the easy (and all english) registration process, you’ll get a member ID and a temporary password to use when the WORLD FANCLUB will officially open the gates on February 14th; Obviously, the membership lasts one year.
Now, It is important to know that, as specified by the website itself just before the subscription form, the WORLD FANCLUB webiste will completely be in Japanese, without a single word of english. This is a shame, cause from a general point of view, an international fanclub in japanese only is a bit of a nonsense, but at the same time it was predictable: Seeing how the subscription form itself is badly translated in english, it is clear that no one in the Perfume Staff can handle english pretty well.
But is that a real problem? Personally, I think that for 10 bucks per year it’s more than worth it, and not a problem at all: We still have many media privileges to enjoy without the need of knowing the language, not to talk about the various lotteries for TV/Radio shows, live performances and exclusive Fanclub events. And, as suggested by the website itself, we can have a rough translation of Blogs and Reports thanks to services like Google Translate: Don’t forget that the website will be the exact same as the Japanese P.T.A. one. And, really… 10 bucks are a couple of packs of cigarettes or two pints of beer in a year; It’s not a huge sacrifice! Yet, it’s still very important that everyone knows about the language matter before subscribing.
A video in which I explain everything about the Japanese P.T.A. Fanclub
But it’s not over yet, cause on February 13th a special P.T.A. WORLD FANCLUB 5 hours Live Special will broadcast online on the Fanclub website, but obviously, only those who registered before February 13th will have the chance to watch it. So if you haven’t subscribed to the WORLD FANCLUB yet, you’d better hurry up!
As always, for any update and info about the WORLD FANCLUB and Perfume, stay tuned on Perfume Disco!
Welcome guys to my article about… the Perfume World Tour 2nd!
You might probably say “What? An article about something that hasn’t even be announced yet?”. Yep. Because It’s basically sure that, this year, a second overseas tour for Perfume will happen, as the girls said in an article and in the last 2012 segment of their radio show Perfume LOCKS!, so I thought to write some theories and opinions about it. Please keep in my mind that these are personal opinions, you can feel free to discuss about it and leave your theories as well!
After the great success of the “World Tour 1st” that brought our girls in four different asian countries, a “World Tour 2nd” is probably the most ambitious, but absolutely possible target of this year. The overseas tour the girls held in 2012 was a confirmation of their success in the oriental continent, and a the ultimate conquest of their fandom in that part of the world. Now, a second world tour will probably bring the girls in Europe or America, which means that they will take their very first step in the western market, which is a huge and not easy at all goal. Also, we know that Perfume’s management and the girls themselves want to achieve their global goals slowly and carefully, avoiding the risk of a possible failure, so if there’s gonna be a Wolrd Tour 2nd this year it’ll be without a doubt in only one of these continents. So the question that pretty much everyone is asking is: Europe or America? Well, that’s hard to say. Both continents have high probabilities to be chosen as next overseas step by Perfume, due to their large number of supporters and Japan lovers.
The U.S., for example, have the largest Perfume fandom in the world after Japan: It’s been seen in some of my polls, I see it everyday in the views I get here on the blog, and it’s just obvious cause of the presence of many many fans on blogs, communities and social networks: America is a huge continent, so mathematically there are more fans. Not to forget that Perfume have already started to know their U.S. fans and walked in Los Angeles not one, but two times, and this is definitely an advantage in the choice of the place for the next World Tour.
On the other hand though, the American market is huge and the biggest in the world. There are many many artists of great success and well known internationally, despite if they’re talented or not: It’s an hard market to get in and be recognized. But is it a problem for Perfume? I’d say no. Why? Because Perfume aren’t running to be international superstars. They are doing all of this to spread their music to the whole world, to gain new fans really interested and open minded, not to create a viral (and bad) song to get super popular and get a billion views on YouTube and then be forgotten forever. Something like this would definitely hurt the entire Perfume fandom, and compromise the quality of their music and the image of the girls themselves: they just don’t want this.
Do you remember Spending all my Time? That was an experiment by Nakata, a song with clear western influences looking to the global audience. Result? The girls didn’t like it at all at first, pretty much forcing Nakata to insert japanese lyrics, or else they wouldn’t have wanted it as A-side. We shouldn’t forget that Perfume don’t only want to spread their music, but Japanese culture too, and offering a western sound just to get more fans doesn’t coincide with their clear philosophy: They want to expand their audience globally and keep their image and sound intact as always, trying to make the overseas audience appreciate Japanese music, and that’s why they’re never going to compete with extremely popular artists: Not because they miss talent, they probably have it more than most of the american acts… they just don’t care. They don’t even think about it, because they don’t need it. They only want their fans, and conquer more people that can appreciate their music and shows, creating their own personal niche in the market: Casual people searching for another viral hit, which sadly is the major part in this world, will never be interested in them. And that’s not a problem at all… Actually, I think it’s an advantage.
Perfume saluting their fans in Hollywood
So, what about Europe? Well, it might be an easier target, maybe. Many countries such as France, Spain, UK, and Italy are well known for the great love towards Japan and its culture, and some yearly expos are an absolute guarantee and confirmation of this thought. Just take the huge Japan Expo that takes place every year in Paris: Besides the great amount of events, shows and everything related to the japanese ancient and modern culture, music plays a huge role in this expo: Indeed, many big names of the Japanese music scene have been guests to perform in this event, such as Morning Musume, Momoiro Clover Z, AKB48, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, X Japan and so on. Long story short, this would be a great event and an excellent chance for Perfume to perform in Europe for the first time, and while the Old Continent surely has a smaller (but not less hardcore) fanbase than the U.S., obtaining a great success might be easy.
A-chan in her vacation in London
We also have to consider that the European music market is smaller if compared to America and Japan (which are the two biggest in the world), this means more space and possibilities for new artists coming from overseas to establish a niche and expand their fandom, and my personal impression is that people in general is slightly more open minded to accept artists that sing in a foreign language and offers a particular sound. The reason? The european music market, in its small dimensions, gathers many different languages, genres and kinds of artists, from the most commercial ones to the more (extremely) particular: In other words, there’s a basic variety that can be translated in an easier way to understand what Perfume can offer to the audience instead of “Ah, I can’t understand anything of what they say, so I don’t care”. A speech that personally I hear many times, and gets destroyed once viral songs from Korea, for example, get known in all the world… but that’s another matter.
For Europe, being the second biggest Perfume overseas fanbase in the world is a great thing as well and a good starting point, and I’m more than sure that our girls can make venues full packed and sold out in short time. The Japan Expo can be a good beginning, and moving to countries such as UK, Spain and Italy and others might be a great success as well. Other artsits have done this in the past with huge success (Miyavi, Dir en Gray, Versailles, Moi dix Mois etc.) and more of them will (Kyary Pamyu Pamyu), so I’m more than sure that Perfume can conquer their fandom here without too many problems and make happy all the fans waiting for them since forever.
When will it happen?
This is surely the hardest question to answer. My opinion is that the “World Tour 2nd” will probably be related to the next Perfume album that will surely come out this year. JPN came out on November 2011, so after almost two years and three (including the upcoming Mirai no Museum) singles, the probability to see a new album this year are very high. So I think the new overseas tour will be about the promotion for the next big Perfume release, but the time is really hard to predict: It might be during the release period, or maybe after the release and a Japanese tour, like happened with JPN. Also, making a World Tour and a nationwide tour in Japan pretty close in time is not that impossible, knowing that a World Tour 2nd will probaby have 4 dates or slightly more, not a hard schedule to follow for a group that can held a thousand things at the same time.
But my expectation is to see the new tour towards the end of the year like happened with the World Tour 1st, after the release of the new album and after the usual nationwide Japanese tour. But who knows… only time will tell!
Final Comments
Perfume already visited US twice in the past, and their fandom in that part of the world is the biggest in the west and seriously hardcore, so the possibilities are high. On the other hand, Europe has a smaller audience, but a more open market and thousands and thousands of very passionate fans, not only of Perfume, but also of Japanese culture in general, something that can make it easier to get them into the European market and conquer their fanbase, attracting curious people that wants to know more about this amazing group as well.
So in the end, it’s really hard to guess what they’re going to do on the World Tour 2nd, but one thing is for sure: They will perform amazing shows and full pack very single venue like happened in Asia.
And you? What are your expectations for the World Tour 2nd? Do you have any place in particular you’d like to see them perform?
Looking forward to conquer the world!
Leave a comment down below and let me know what you think about it!
______________________________________________________________
Stay tuned for every news about Perfume, and don’t forget to follow Perfume Disco on Twitter and Facebook!
Hi everybody guys, and welcome to my article about Perfume’s 2012, an year that has been a turning point for many reason and of vital importance for our girls thanks to many events and surprises that we had in these exciting twelve months.
So, why this year has been so important? Let’s analyze it together!
After the release of their 4th studio album JPN back at the end of 2011, the only big thing that fans were looking forward to was the upcoming JPN Nationwide Tour to promote Perfume’s album. The tour finally started, showing a bigger stage and even more effects and lasers than ever, especially if compared to the previous Triangle tour, with absolutely stunning shows that no one could ever ignore for their spectacularity and usual professionality of the girls in entertaining the audience with perfect performances enriched by their impressive dancing skills: It’s pure fun and visual spectacle.
And it was right in the middle of the JPN Tour at the end of February that the news that stunned every Perfume fan in the world arrived: Perfume left Tokuma Japan Communications, their historical label that made them enter in the Major scene of the japanese music, to join the famous and definitely more global Universal Music. A huge change in their career and history that will leave an indelibile mark and signed a turning point, with many surprises and activities following the announcement.
Indeed, a new Global Website designed by Rhizomatiks and powered by the music of Perfume’s historical producer Yasutaka Nakata was open, as well as new Facebook, Twitter and YouTube accounts created to keep in touch with the fans in all the world. Another great thing is the international release of the JPN album on iTunes, a formula that will be used for all their future releases and also the very first way to buy Perfume music from all the world without using import websites. Overseas activities were announced too, and a brand new single under Universal Music Japan was set to be released during spring: Literally an overload of news that made every single Perfume fan in the world go insane.
After years and years of “prisony” in the hands of Tokuma, were the word “Global” was almost prohibited, this has been a true blessing for everyone, especially for the girls: It was their first overseas step after the realization of having many fans in all the world thanks to their visit in Hollywood at the Cars 2 World Premiere. Universal saw in these girls the potential to conquer the global audience and saved them from a stagnant situation were the only chance was to keep on going on the usual routine that could have dangerously brought them into the shadow of monotony.
On April 11th, right in the middle of the strict schedule of the JPN Tour, our girls finally release their first single under the Universal Music label and sub-label Perfume Records: The joyful and upbeat Spring of Life. An energetic A-side powered by the classic yet fresh Perfume Techno-pop sound, with a valid structure, catchy melodies and verses, and a B-side that finds place in their cutest side with a catchy melody and cute mood influenced by the new collaboration with Kanro, the first new CM contract in a long time (excluding Kirin, which they continued to support with the A-side and two CMs shot in Hollywood).
The single is a success, with 93,881 copies sold in the first week and a well deserved 2nd place in the Oricon Weekly Chart.
Happily continuing their successful JPN Tour in all the major venues of Japan, with sold out shows and additional dates at the Nippon Budoukan and in Okinawa, our girls reach the end of this successful tour surely tired, but extremely happy and satisfied, with a beautiful smile and tears running down their faces as they watch the fireworks in the Okinawa night that marked the end of the JPN Tour.
The 3rd Nationwide Tour is over, the girls finally have some well deserved rest after a long time, but another great event happens: Perfume have been chosen to host the Video Music Awards Japan 2012!
Leaving a couple of teaser trailers showing beautiful traditional japanese dresses, our girls acts as hosts and stars of the night with their presence and performance, win two awards, and stun the entire audience full of international artists that didn’t miss the opportunity to show their positive reactions towards the three beautiful girls.
The summer finally arrives, and while keeping up with their normal routine between a segment of Perfume LOCKS! and another, finally the new Live DVD Perfume 3rd Tour JPN is announced and set to be released on August 1st, featuring the performance already partially broadcasted by WOWOW at the Hiroshima Green Arena, Perfume’s hometown. A Limited Edition is available with an extra DVD including fragments of other performances held at the Saitama Super Arena and Budoukan venue. The DVD is another huge success, reaching the first position in the Oricon Weekly DVD Chart. Only one thing is missing: A Blu-Ray HD release, which is more than legit in 2012 from a group that makes a huge use of visual effects and motion graphics in their performances: Yet, the show is excellent and the DVD another great piece of Perfume’s videography.
But it’s not over here cause August is also the month of the second single under the Universal Music label, called Spending all my Time, and here we have another great surprise: The A-side sounds anything but a Perfume song, with a very western-ish sound that raised more than one doubt, extremely repetitive english lyrics, and a monotone structure. Between fans that love it instantly and those who hate it at first listen, this track has a huge impact on the Perfume fandom. The coupling songs Point and Hurly Burly, highly anticipated by the Kirin CMs shot in Hollywood, are something pretty different (but very good) too, that still find a space in the Perfume sound variety that we’ve learned to understand and accept in time. This is also the first Perfume single to feature three songs instead of two since Linear Motor Girl.
In the end, from a general point of view, this single is a very solid release and includes valuable songs that try to expand the Perfume sound more than ever. Even the controversial A-side has its meaning despite the quality can’t reach most of the songs of the Perfume’s discography. Obviously, the single is another success, with the usual 2nd spot on the Oricon Weekly Chart and 84,607 copies sold, confirming how the Perfume fandom is alive and excited as always despite the new sound offered by this release.
September arrives, and the very first step towards overseas countries finally arrived: The girls release, under the previous label Tokuma Japan Communications, a compilation of their best songs from Complete Best to JPN, including a couple of new mixes, called Perfume Global Compilation: Love the World. Even though it’s just a compilation album, this release will play an important role in their next step, which is the Asia “World Tour 1st” that will bring Perfume’s music in four different asian countries, in order to promote the new compilation and to finally confirm their success in the Asian market, with four sold out shows and lots of fans cheering the girls with surprises during the performances, and frantically waiting for them in every airport.
And it’s during the “World Tour 1st” that we have the last two surprises of this 2012: The International P.T.A. World Fanclub that will open the gates next year on February 14th, something that was unbelievable until a couple of months ago, and the third single under Universal Musiccalled Mirai no Museum, set to be released on spring 2013, also theme song for the new Doraemon movie that will hit japanese theaters on March 9th 2013. The new song will feature a cute yet very appropriated (for the movie) sound that made all the Perfume fans curious to see how this new single will be structured and, simply, how it will sound, leaving good expectations for the year to come.
In Conclusion, 2012 has been a very important year for the girls, exactly as 2008 was when their success started to rule Japan. The change of label, the first concrete step to the global audience and fans, and the new singles that kept the quality of their songs on good levels, open many possibilites for a new exciting year for Perfume.
Should we expect more from Perfume’s 2013? I say “Definitely yes”. I’m pretty optimistic, sure that our girls won’t disappoint us, but only time will tell, and I’ll talk about all the possible events that may happen in the Perfume world in the new upcoming article about Perfume’s 2013!
Looking forward to conquer the world!
________________________________________________
Stay tuned as always for every news and article about Perfume and don’t forget to follow Perfume Disco on Twitter and Facebook!
See you soon with the new article about Perfume’s 2013! I hope you have a nice holiday season! \ (^o^) /
As announced in their World Tour 1st show in Taiwan, the P.T.A. is becoming global with the birth of the P.T.A. World Fanclub, for all the overseas fans that want to support the girls even more and have exclusive contents about their activities!
The first registration period expired yesterday, and everyone that submitted the form to subscribe the fanclub received an email with the promised “special gift” which is a wallpaper of the P.T.A. World Website background, that pretty much everyone already had. xD
I don’t know. I was expecting something like a Nakata Action Figure, or similar. But one does never refuse a gift, right?
Though, the most important thing is that finally all the details that everyone wanted to know have been finally revealed. You can read everything on the official P.T.A. World Fanclubwebsite, and down here in a brief list I’ve written.
________________________________________________
P.T.A. World Fanclub details
- Yearly Membership Fee: 1.200 Yen (Around 15 bucks)
- Physical mailed goods (PTA DVDs, etc.) are NOT included
- The website will be the SAME as the japanese one, so we’ll have all the blogs, the news, the videos, the downloadable goods and so on.
- Exclusive P.T.A. goods purchasable on Asmart.
- Exclusive Ticket pre sales.
- Participation in P.T.A. exclusive events, TV and Radio shows.
- The registration to the website Fanclub will open again on January 14th 2013.
________________________________________________
First Impressions
The first thing that catches the eye is the price, which is really cheap considering that we will get pretty much everything from the Japanese P.T.A. except for the physical goods (PTA DVDs, magazines and so on) that can be still purchased separately (probably from Asmart).
So it’s essentially your choice to spend more for those goods, or just be ok with the in-site privileges such as blogs, exclusive news, pics, videos, and downloadable contents. I gotta say that this is a nice decision that allows more people that can’t afford too much expensive fees to join the World Fanclub. There’s no information yet about when and where to pay the Membership fee, but they will probably let us know with another email in the next weeks.
So far, the only thing that “disappoints” a little bit is the Pre-sale tickets matter: As you all probably know, P.T.A. members get the chance to buy tickets for Perfume shows prior to the normal date, and World Fanclub subscribers will have this privilege as well, but only AFTER the Japanese P.T.A. members, which is kind of annoying in a way. But I guess this won’t be much of a big problem if the girls will perform in overseas countries such as Europe and US… we’ll see how this goes. Also, there has been no word for a Membership Card like the one the Japanese members receive once they subscribe the fanclub.
But generally, I am more than satisfied with the service they’re gonna offer, especially for the very low price they’re asking. I can’t wait to look at all the girls’ blogs and videos, and to all the exclusive contents.
A video I’ve made last year, with a full description of the Japanese P.T.A. website.
What about you guys? Are you satisfied with the service/price the Fanclub is gonna offer? Did you already subscribe to it, or will you wait for the next registration period that will start on January 14?
As always, feel free to leave your opinions down here in the comments, and follow Perfume Disco for any update!
Third success in a row for our girls, that brought their successful World Tour 1st in the South Korean capital, rocking the AX-KOREA venue full packed of excited Perfume fans waiting for them to spread their music and choreographies with a professional and entertaining performance as usual.
The girls arrived a couple of days ago at the Gimpo International Airport in Seoul where many fans were waiting for them in line, cheering the girls and giving them flowers as usual, receiving huge smiles and thankful words in return, in a more reserved yet very happy atmosphere. There was a lot of security at the airport, probably due to the actual tensions caused by the Island dispute matter between Korea and Japan, but everything went fine and nothing interrupted what it’s been a warm and happy welcome.
Also, the announced anti-Japan protest that should have taken place the same day in front of the AX-KOREA (Source: lovetheperfume tumblr) apparently didn’t take place, and in the end the only persons that crowded the place where the happy Perfume fans frantically waiting for the show to start. I gotta say I’m very glad everything went great and without any problem, and all the worries about an eventual cancelation of a World Tour 1st date are now gone.
Perfume fans crowding the AX-KOREA venue in Seoul.
Talking about the show, the girls did great as always in performing all the best songs from their discography, including old masterpieces and new songs from their latest releases. The opening of the concert has been very exciting too, but that’s a surprise… be patient, once the tour will be over in ten days you’ll know everything about the setlist!
Of course korean fans couldn’t miss the opportunity to reserve the girls a surprise, so if we had a Dream Fighter chant in Taiwan and gloves in Hong Kong, the Seoul audience decided to sing some verses from the touching wonder2, and apparently everything went well, with thankful words from the girls in the backstage. Well done guys!
Perfume will leave South Korea soon, leaving behind the sign of an unforgettable night made of happiness, fun and joy, for a crowd made of both japanese and korean fans, all together singing and jumping to the songs of their favorite group, without any useless tension or conflict for a piece of earth in the middle of the ocean: Perfume’s music is magic, and for one night the only thing connecting Japan and Korea was the sound of three beautiful girls spreading happiness, love and hope.
During their arrival the girls have been cheered by many fans waiting for them at the Terminal, exactly as happened in Taiwan, with composure and without problems or “scandals” about A-chan’s hair being touched.
The show went great at the Rotunda 3 venue, and the fans that fully crowded the place were really satisfied with the quality of the performance! Apparently the tracklist remained the same (which I’m not gonna post here as decided before the beginning of the Tour), between new songs and immortal classics taken from their entire discography.
Also, exactly as happened in Taiwan, the Hong Kong fans planned a surprise for the girls, wearing some gloves to show during the MY COLOR performance (known for the hands movement and the involvement of the audience), but unfortunately some fan wore the gloves before the time was right, and the girls noticed it… but they really appreciated it anyway!
Also, it seems like A-chan asked to some fans in the front row to translate from Japanese her feelings for the audience, proving that there’s still no translator system for their shows. We hope to see a better way to translate their speeches in future overseas dates!
That said, yesterday our girls already left Hong Kong to come back to Japan, and many fans went to the airport once again to salute them. The girls and the entire staff expressed their gratitude through Twitter and Facebook, and everyone is looking forward to the second half of the successful Perfume World Tour 1st: next step, Korea!
Stay tuned on Perfume Disco for every update and info about Perfume!
Are you planning to go to Japan? Very well, cause you will have the best time of your life! And since you’re going to the country of our beloved girls, you may want to buy many Perfume releases and items as possible that you can’t get from your country cause of the excessive overseas prices, right?
Perfect, cause this guide has been just created for you!
________________________________________________
The Music Paradise
Japan is one of the most beautiful and particular countries in the world, if not THE most particular: In the majority of cases, if you love japanese music you love Japan, since the musical market itself is a mirror of their society and modern culture.
The concept of downloading illegally isnot really diffused as it is in the western countries of Europe and America, and the fans regularly buy their favorite artists’ releases such as albums, DVDs and singles, literally supporting them in any way they can: They are loyal to the artists they love until the end, and this is very admirable. As consequence, of course, the reperibility of every release and item is way more diffused compared to the western part of the planet. To make it brief, this means that if we overseas fans go to Japan for a vacation, what we will find is simply a paradise.
A Spice / JPN Tour promotional wall poster, inside the Shibuya station.
You can find your favorite artist easily, in Japan: in the giant and shiny music stores, in the malls, in a private shop in some lost district far from the centre of Tokyo, on the skyscrapers, in the stations, on the trains, on the trucks passing by the streets with the speakers blasting the music all around… In Japan, music is everywhere.
But once you reach this Wonderland, where do you have to go to buy what you need? Japanese cities, especially Tokyo, are seriously huge and getting lost in malls or buying something at a good price just to find out that a shop just near sells the same product at a cheaper price is easy.
So what I’m going to analyze are the most famous and, according to my experiences, best places where to buy Perfume CDsand items of every genre, shops that I’ve found during my two weeks trip in Tokyo on November 2011, during the promotion of the Spice single.
The one and the only, the most famous music chain in all Japan and not only: Tower Records.
Despite its american origins, Tower Records has its biggest and most furnished stores in Japan, where the music market is the most alive in the world. There are around 83 stores in all Japan, but the most famous one, also considered as the main Tower Records shop in all the world, is the huge Tower Records Shibuya.
The biggest music store in the world? Probably.
With 8 (EIGHT) giant floors of shelves full of all genres of music, this shop is the main place where to buy all the Perfume releases you want: singles, albums, DVDs, recent magazines and all you need to satisfy your musical hunger. If you want to start supporting Perfume in Japan, this is the absolute place where to begin.
Above: Me and my friend buying the Spice single at Tower Records Shibuya
During the release periods, outside the store you can see huge posters(walls) withpromotional pics and videosof the upcoming Perfume release, which is definitely a very nice sight. You can also find the famous handwritten notebooks: always during the release period of a new single, there is a table just near the entrance on the right where you can find many books where to write your own personal handwritten message to Perfume! This year they even set up an entire wall to write the messages for the Spending all my Time release… so you can imagine how amazing and exciting it can be!
Tower Records Shibuya entrance.
Video promotion for the Spice single, just outside the store.
Notebooks for the Spending all my Time promotion.
Above: Me leaving a message to Perfume in Tower Records Shibuya during the Spice promotion.
The Tower Records store in Shinjuku is seriously huge too, but less eye-catching: It’s just inside a building near the South exit of the Shinjuku station. Not easy to explain by words, but you’ll find the Tower Records logo for sure, and it’s still 7 heavenly floors of music, so it’s definitely worth visiting.
Do you already have all the common Perfume releases you need? It doesn’t matter. Go there, it’s a duty to visit these shops if you came all the way from your home to Tokyo.
The most famous retail chain of all Japan, and the most known alternative to Tower Records (even if it’s a completely different type of chain). The main shop is in the famous and giant Shibuya crossing, just in front of the JR Station and two steps away from the Hachiko statue.
Tsutaya is the absolute leader of the rental market in Japan, taking care of CDs, movies, videogames and books. Their concept is different from the Tower Records philosophy: Instead of having giant stores in the main districts, they have small ones but pretty much everywhere: Infact, there are more than 1.000 Tsutaya retailers in all Japan.
Here you can find new but mostly used Perfume CDs in very good conditions, many of them almost new (we’re in Japan after all), and prices are pretty good. Though, in the stores I’ve visited (the Roppongi and Meguro ones) I couldn’t find many Perfume CDs: As usual with rental shops though, this merely depends on the period and on your luck: In some days, you may find some very good deals.
Tsutaya Roppongi. Credits to shibuya246.com
In the end, this is without a doubt one of the best stores where to go, but as this chain is mainly about used items, I feel like suggesting it only to those searching for old singles or releases not easy to find in brand new conditions in other stores. Plus, Tsutaya stores are usually inside malls or small complexes which makes them easier to reach and comfortable to visit, due to their small dimensions and the presence of cafes where you can have a nice break.
I gave Tsutaya the precedence due to its importance and dimensions, but I can tell you guys that my favorite used and rental chain in Japan is definitely Book Off. With almost 900 stores in all Japan, this chain is well known for its great success and order of their stores, and in my opinion it’s better than the more famous Tsutaya I’ve talked about a few moments ago… Here’s why.
Book Off Shibuya is just ahead.
I didn’t know anything about Book Off until I reached Japan, but once I found about it, I couldn’t make less of visiting every store that I met during my long walks around the Japanese capital. It’s the number one rental chain for books, but it also has videogames, music, dvds, blu ray discs, manga and so on.
So why do I love it? First of all, the stores are really well organized, brightened by many white lights and making every research extremely easy, perfect to find everything you need in just a few minutes. While the other stores sometimes have a confused order of musical genres, here everything is well organized with an alphabetical order that makes everything really fast
Order and organization are what make the difference in this stores.
Other main reasons are surely the prices and the availability of items you can find: An example? I had the chance to find the very rare GAME album Limited Edition at the incredible price of less than 6.000 Yen, which absolutely blows away all the prices you can find on the web and in other stores (if you can find it).
Other examples are the limited editions of Fushizen na Girl, Dream Fighter and One Room Disco, not very rare but also not easy to find, at a very good price too. Many other old releases were available other than the new ones, which definitely makes Book Off the best chain where to find old and used releases in good conditions at reasonable prices. Same philosophy as Tsutaya and any other rental chain… but in a better way.
GAME Limited Edition at a very good price.
If you happen to find a Book Off on your way, which is easy, you should definitely enter to give a look at what they have: You will surely find something for you.
Most of the people that want to make Otaku purchases and buy tons of stuff about their passions such as music, anime, manga and so on, take the first train to Akihabara and wander all day in what is definitely japan lover’s heaven, and that’s perfectly fine: I personally love to do it too. But some of them ignore the fact that there are many other places outside that wonderful district that can offer a lot in terms of purchases, and one of these is definitely Nakano Broadway.
Entrance to Nakano Broadway, that leads to another branch of the mall full of the stuff we love.
I’ve found this pretty big mall randomly to be honest: I was in the train with a japanese friend of mine, and we were heading to Ginza (which I suggest to visit if you are with a girl, if you know what I mean). But when we reached Nakano’s station, we’ve seen this big mall entrance from the train and said “Ok, we gotta go there absolutely”, and left the Ginza visit to another day.
What I have found is a big (but not dispersive) mall full of every type of things, from restaurants, traditional shops and many other things, including a second and third floor FULL of Otaku shops like videogames, animes, actions figures and a shop of the famous Mandarake chain: this is literally what I call The Little Akihabara.
A video montage I’ve made about Nakano Broadway, for a better look at this mall.
So where do you exactly find Perfume stuff in this beautiful mall? Just take the escalator that will lead you to the third floor, and exactly on your right you will find a shop with ALL the things you can find about japanese artists, including Perfume.
Posters, Magazines, Merchandise, Trading cards: Basically everything you need to frame your Perfume CD collection with beautiful and very typical items. This is also the best place (for now) where to find pretty rare stuff: I’ve seen many rare posters, such as the rigid cardboard posters which are absolutely beautiful and huge, so huge that it’s basically impossible to bring them outside of Japan cause they’re bigger than your suitcase. Also, many old magazines with various prices depending on the year and on the rarity.
Rare and huge Kirin cardboard posters: Very beautiful!
The magazines I’ve bought in Nakano Broadway
If you’re searching something in particular, I’d suggest to ask the employee without feeling ashamed: everything they have is not there on the shelves, so no matter if you don’t speak japanese, just tell them “Perfume!” and they’ll understand that they have to bring out everything they have about the girls. A reader of this blog, leobiwan, found the extremely rare Perfume Fan Service: Sweet box for only 5.000 yen or so. Just to make you understand that in these shops, not only you have to dig to find what you need, but you also have to ask.
The pretty big Mandarake shop I’ve talked about before is in the same floor too, and you should definitely check out the glass showcases they have outside to find something interesting, like old P.T.A. exclusive items and live only merchandise, which are definitely nice and worth a purchase. There is also another shop on the same floor of which I can’t honestly remember the name, that sells some pretty rare stuff too: For example, I’ve found the Capsule album Killer Wave, commercialized as World of Fantasy, which is not really easy to find cause of the change of name it had. I couldn’t find anything about Perfume, but just to tell you guys that this shop is definitely worth a check once you’re there: If you’re lucky, you could find some cool Perfume release you miss.
Some P.T.A. and Live only merchandises just outside Mandarake.
In conclusion, if in your trip in Tokyo you’re going to visit Nakano, which I highly suggestcause it’s a lovely place (and they make some killer Okonomiyaki), you should really visit this extremely nice mall cause it’s worth more than a walk.
It’s just in front of the Nakano station, so you can’t possibly miss it!
Is there really any need of presentations? Any Japan lover knows what is Akihabara, and without a doubt is one of the main destinations in a vacation in Tokyo. Akihabara is all you need when it comes to Idols, Music, Videogames, Anime, Manga and cute girls better known as maids.
The famous Akihabara Bridge, symbol of the district.
I’ll be completely honest: besides some probably fanmade trading cards and pictures, I haven’t found many things about Perfume here, but this is probably because I haven’t searched in any single shop of the district. Why? Because it’s impossible. Or rather, it’s possible, but you should take a couple of days off if not more to search in every shop of this huge place, which is something I couldn’t possibly do in a two weeks vacation.
So, my suggestion is to take your day off from your schedule if you have a lot of time and start searching in any single shop and hole of the district, leaving behind AKB48 ads, theatres, shops, sexy shops and so on, and search everywhere you can: This district is huge, and you will surely find something you need. If you happen to find (or if you already know) some cool shop where to find Perfume stuff, feel free to send me a message and I’ll be glad to insert it in this list.
Perfume propaganda in Akihabara.
Oh, all of this just after a break in the amazing Gundam Café, of course.
Search! Search as much as you can if you have the time, in the giant shops, in the malls, in the giant musical chains, in the little shops in some lost district outside the Yamanote line, in other cities… in Japan you can find some very good shops and surprises everywhere, even where you can’t imagine.
If you’re planning to make a two weeks vacation in the Tokyo area (which includes Yokohama and all the bay area), you will surely have long walks that will make you feel free as you’ve never been in your life. So between a little break in a café or in a Family Mart, if you find a curious shop that might have what you’re interested in, just stop there instead of passing by: surprises are in every corner in a city full of surprises like Tokyo.
Explore everything with passion, you won’t regret it!
Don’t laugh! You’ll have the same face once you’ll be there xD
That’s it guys, this was my guide to the most famous and better places where to buy all you need about Perfume. Searching stuff around shops is really funny, and I think you should definitely dedicate some time to this activity!
For now I will upload this guide as a normal post, but soon it will be included in the new section I’m working on about Perfume and Japan, so stay tuned for more articles and guides in the next days!
Feel free to leave a comment and feedback to this guide, and if you have any other shop to suggest, leave a comment or send me a message on Twitter or Facebook!
Hope you enjoyed this guide, and stay tuned on Perfume Disco for everything about our girls!
Today September 20th is the birthday of Omoto Ayano, our beloved Nocchi!
From the early debut of Perfume in 2001 to now, Ayano grew up a lot and developed some impressive dance skills, exactly as the other members of Perfume. She became more adult and mature, without losing her funny, energetic yet shy personality. And, of course, she gets more and more beautiful the more the years go by.
We want to wish to Nocchi the best for all the years to come, and thank her to be one of the sides of Perfume’s Triangle that make this group so special and unique in the world.
After a successful overseas tour in the main Asian countries that officially brought Perfume’s music outside Japan, more than an eyebrow lifted when the girls announced a collaboration with the popular cartoon character Doraemon for their next single under the Universal Music Japan label. Why? Because even though Doraemon is huge in Japan and known in many countries around the world, the fans were expecting something a bit different and more “open” than a song mainly aimed at japanese children after all the overseas success and the good expectations for a World Tour 2nd: It’s like taking two steps back after one forward.
