Nakagawa Shoko – Tsuzuku Sekai

Tsuzuku Sekai was Nakagawa Shoko’s 6th single. It was released September 10, 2008. It sold 32,906 copies in it’s first week, 43,363 overall and reached #5 on the charts. Tsuzuku Sekai was the theme song for the theatrical feature “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann”.

Tracklist

1. Tsuzuku Sekai

2. Through The Looking Glass

3. Tsuzuku Sekai -instrumental-

4. Sorairo Days feat. 8bit Project -spiral Chiptune Mix-

Tsuzuku Sekai begins with some pretty ethereal sounding instrumentals but that doesn’t last too long until some really heavy rock instruments kick in. I was glad that Shouko decided to release a rock song instead of a pop song as those are my favorite songs form her. Her vocals are pretty deep in the song and just sound really great form her earlier releases, she really has managed to improve. The instrumentals sound pretty American during the verses but during the chorus sound exactly like an anime opening. The song ends with the same ethereal instrumentals as it began with. I really enjoyed this song, not as memorable as Sorario Days, but still a memorable heavy rock track with great vocals.

The b-side to this single is the lighter toned pop track Through The Looking Glass. The beginning instrumentals are actually very positive sounding and put you in a good mood, which I enjoyed. Compared to the last track, Shouko’s vocals are a lot higher and cutesy, fitting the instrumental just right. The verses themselves aren’t really memorable but the chorus has a catchier melody that gives the song it’s necessary oomph factor. Overall, true b-side material.

I was excited to see a remix of Sorario Days on here but Sorairo Days feat. 8bit Project -spiral Chiptune Mix- was something I wasn’t expecting AT ALL. The original instrumental is COMPLETELY replaced by video game type sound effects and noises, creating an instrumental in itself. I was also surprised by Shouko’s vocals due to them being layered to exactly match the instrumental. I wouldn’t listen to this song much if it weren’t that the original was so good.

Tsuzuku Sekai proved to be one of Shouko’s better efforts yet. The a-side brought to us what she best releases, rock music, but while not on par with Sorario Days, it proves to be a great listen and is backed up with a solid pop b-side and an abnormal remix of Sorario Days. Even though it’s not my favorite a-side from hers, this is her best overall single yet.

♥Single Rating♥

Nakagawa Shoko – Shiny GATE

Shiny GATE was Nakagawa Shoko’s 5th single. It was released August 6, 2008. It sold 13,564 copies in it’s first week, 16,804 overall and reached #8 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. Shiny GATE

2. To Be Free

3. Sekidou Komachi DOKII

4. Shiny GATE -Instrumental-

Starting with the high impact chorus, Shiny GATE is an inspirational sounding pop song with traces of electric guitar and constant beeping sounds. This song is very fresh sounding with it’s hybrid of sounds and Shouko’s nice vocals(which have improved a lot since her first single). The chorus is easily the best part of the song mostly because of the way Shouko sings it. There’s also clapping after the chorus which was an interesting touch.

The first b-side is To Be Free, a light and easy pop song with light piano chords and simple vocals from Shouko. This song didn’t really manage to catch my attention and I thought it dragged on a bit too much at 5 minutes long. Not a bad song but a bit boring.

Sekidou Komachi DOKII manages to be a more interesting listen due to it’s more intense pop sound and faster pace. Shouko’s vocals were also a lot more interesting to listen to and the chorus had a lovely melody to it.

Shiny GATE made for an average post-album single. It’s another one of her pop songs but with a higher quality to it, although this time instead of having good b-sides, they were of a bit less quality. The title track is still enjoyable though.

♥Single Rating♥

Nakagawa Shoko – Big☆Bang!!!

Big☆Bang!!! was Nakagawa Shoko’s 1st album. It was released March 19, 2008. It sold 32,612 copies in it’s first week, sold 49,976 overall and reached #5 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. We can do it!!
2. Sorairo Days
3. Koi no Kioku
4. snow tears
5. Brilliant Dream -shoko☆planet mix-
6. Fruit Punch
7. Strawberry Melody
8. pretty please chocolate on top
9. calling location
10. happily ever after
11. starry pink
12. Sukashikashipan Sukoshi Hen?

Big☆Bang!!! starts off with a bang(duh) with We can do it!!. Featuring a great mixture of pop and rock, this upbeat and fun track sets the general mood of the album perfectly and keeps you entertained throughout all of it’s almost 4 minutes, especially with it’s catchy and memorable hook, great chorus and happy lyrics.

Maintaining the momentum of the first track, Sorario Days is the next rock song to be featured and the first single song. I liked it’s placement in the album as it’s one of her better and more memorable songs.

The next track is the more calm and mellow rock song Koi no Kioku. It’s pretty easy on the instruments  and has pretty chill verses and a nice sounding chorus on Shouko’s part. I enjoyed her vocals in this song as well though it wasn’t one of the better new tracks.

I thought snow tears was placed well after the last track as the album takes a more slower tone. I still really love this song and is my favorite Shouko song by far. It’s a beautiful rock ballad with great vocals.

Brilliant Dream -shoko☆planet mix- is defiantly a step up from the original as it seems to blend in a lot better. The song itself is a lot more electropop than usual and features a different arrangement and sounds but the most noticeable difference is Shouko’s vocals which are heavily distorted to match the song type. I much enjoyed this over the original.

Up next is the brass heavy cute song Fruit Punch. This is a pretty standard song with Shouko’s common pop style and okay sounding verses. It does get better as the hook comes in and the happy chorus begins. Other than that, it’s not that great of a song, but not bad either.

Strawberry melody made a nice transition from the last track, keeping the cute pop style intact. This is a cute midtempo song and one of the longer tracks on the album at a little over 5 minutes.

The fast paced pretty please chocolate on top is up next with it’s silly sounding instrumentals and cutesy jazzy sound. The verses aren’t too special but the chorus is pretty nice due to Shouko’s fun and fast vocals. I also liked the part after the chorus. One of the better new songs.

Turning back into the rock sound, calling location is a rock heavy track with more mellow sounding vocals from Shouko. The song picks up once it reaches the chorus which is actually very pleasant to the ears and had a nice sound to it. I really do prefer Shouko’s rock songs to her pop ones and this track is only further proof of that.

If there were any of Shouko’s b-side that I would have liked to make it in the album, happily ever after would have been #1 on the list. It continues the rock sound from the next track but gives it a lighter tone. A nice addition to the album.

I was glad to see starry pink, a ballad, on the album. After snow tears, I had been really anxious to get another ballad from her. The song is mainly piano driven during the verses and the first chorus but once those are done, string instruments are added into the song, along with some slow, soft beats. It did take me a few listens to like the song but it really is a nice ballad.

The last track is the silly country sounding, acoustic guitar driven Sukashikashipan Sukoshi Hen? This truly is a silly song due to the silly vocals from Shouko that she sings alongside some male ones and the interesting guitars. This sure was an interesting way to end the album.

Big☆Bang!!! proved to be a very solid debut album from Nakagawa Shouko. Only 5/12 songs were older songs and one of them was a remix so that gave us 8 brand new songs. Honestly, some of the new songs could have been a bit more interesting but strong single songs and nice album arrangement make this a fun listen.

♣Album Rating♣

Nakagawa Shoko – snow tears

snow tears was Nakagawa Shoko’s 4th single. It was released January 30, 2008. It sold 26,068 copies in it’s first week, 43,450 overall and reached #2 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. snow tears

2. Kimi ni Meroron

3. Winter Wish

4. snow tears – TV Mix- (Limited Edition)

4. snow tears -Instrumental- (Regular Edition)

snow tears begins with some very pretty piano work and quickly reveals it’s true sound when drums and electric guitar all play next to a pretty string arrangement. Acoustic guitar accompanies Shouko during the verses, giving this power ballad a really great instrumental. And talk about improved vocals! Shouko’s singing sounds better than ever, I don’t know if it’s if she had more vocal training or that she just sounds better singing a ballad but either way, her voice is a lot more pleasant now. This is a great ballad(and the only so far from Shouko) that builds up nicely to the strong chorus and served great as a winter track. One of my favorite Shouko songs.

Kimi ni Meroron begins with what sounds like a lounge type beating next to a pretty piano and some light chimes. Shouko begins with the repetitive chorus repeating “MeroMero” and isn’t really too nice to hear. This is a safe, light and relaxing song. The instrumental break was pretty nice for it’s French sounding instruments.

Being another ballad, Winter Wish is not as rock as the a-side and really not as powerful. The verses were pretty boring but the chorus was a nice listen as Shouko’s vocals got a lot more interesting to listen to and the instruments stood out more. This is an interesting ballad but it does sound like b-side material. Compared to snow tears, it lacks anything that makes it really stand out and I thought it dragged on a bit too much, being 6:33 in length.

Shouko’s 5th single served as a really great winter single. The tracks managed to stay in the same zone of feeling, relaxing and light. It was refreshing ot hear a ballad form her and she really managed to execute it well. The b-side material was also okay but it was the a-side that shined most from Shouko’s other releases.

♥Single Rating♥

Nakagawa Shoko – Shokotan☆Cover x2 ~Anisong ni Ai wo Komete!!~

Shokotan☆Cover x2 ~Anisong ni Ai wo Komete!!~ was Nakagawa Shoko’s 2nd mini-album. It was released September 19, 2007. It sold 17,836 copies in it’s first week and sold 23,964 overall. Shouko covers some of her favorite anime songs in this mini-album.

Tracklist

1. 1/2

2. Rinbu -REVOLUTION

3. Catch You Catch Me

4. Teleportation -Koi no Mikakunin-

5. ETERNAL WIND~Hohoemi wa Hikaru Kaze no Naka~

First up is 1/2, the second opening to the anime “Rurouni Kenshin”. Similar to her last single, this song is very rock filled and is very fast paced upon reaching it’s first verse. This is a great rock song that gets more pop during it’s catchy chorus and never gets boring.

Rinbu -REVOLUTION serves as the opening theme for the “Revolutionary Girl Utena” anime. Beginning with the typical anime sound, it begins with it’s pop/rock chorus and it actually sounds pretty good due to the background vocals that cut in between each of Shouko’s lines. The verses are lighter in instruments and pretty standard. It’s nice that they don’t drag out too much either.

Next up is the opening theme for the “Card Captor Sakura” anime, Catch You Catch Me. A Cliche anime instrumental brings us into this happy pop track. The verses are quite simple, as is Shouko’s vocals, which sound really controlled and kinda shy. The chorus is actually really nice on the ears as it sounds pretty silly, even though the first one lasts than 20 seconds.

“ESPer Mami”’s opening theme, Teleportation -Koi no Mikakunin-, is the next track. It begins with some semi-funky beats and finger snapping but this songs maintains a pop sound overall as the finger snapping isn’t present during the verses. This was a pretty standard song but didn’t manage to shine above the other tracks in any way.

Finishing up the mini-album is the “Gundam F91″ ending theme ETERNAL WIND~Hohoemi wa Hikaru Kaze no Naka~. This is definitely the slowest song on the album and makes a good last track. I liked the combination of instruments of instruments in this song that kind of give it a winter feeling. Shouko managed to sing this song pretty well.

Compared to her first mini-album, Shokotan☆Cover x2 ~Anisong ni Ai wo Komete!!~ did a lot better in delivering higher quality, more memorable songs, even though I didn’t recognize any of them. There was also more variety in genres this time around. If your looking for a mini-album to listen to from Shouko, I recommend this one.

♥Album Rating♥

Nakagawa Shoko – Sorairo Days

Sorairo Days was Nakagawa Shoko’s 3rd single. It was released June 27, 2007. It sold 30,517 copies in it’s first week, 67,453 overall and reached #3 on the charts. Sorairo Days was used as the opening theme song for the anime “Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” while happily ever after was used as an insert song.

Tracklist

1. Sorairo Days

2. happily ever after

3. Mitsubachi no Sasayaki

4. Sorairo Days -Instrumental-

Beginning with some hard guitar rifts and than drums, Sorairo Days is the first true rock/pop song we hear from Shouko and honestly, it sounds really good. It begins with the non-stop verse straight into the first pumped up chorus. The energy throughout the song never ends and really sets a great mood to the song. Shouko’s vocals also seem to sound better singing with a rock type of instrumental. One of my favorite Shouko songs.

Keeping up with the rock genre, happily ever after has a bit more of a pop sound to it but is really an all rock instrumental. It starts off sounding quite strong and I liked the way the way everything quiets down when Shouko sings and than immediately comes right back up. It’s not as good as the a-side but still a great listen.

Mitsubachi no Sasayaki stands out in the single due to it being the only non-rock sounding track and instead, being all cutsey pop. It begins with some typical anime-ish sounding sounds and some male vocals that remind me of Tsunku. The verses are pretty straightforward, as is the chorus. This song wasn’t really to my taste after having heard the last two tracks and was a bit disappointing, really.

Sorairo Days was a nice change from Shouko’s normal releases(minus Mitsubachi no Sasayaki). I enjoyed the fresh pop/rock sound the first two tracks had and really show a possibly new genre for Shouko to focus on. The a-side is a really strong song that I recommend to anyone looking for anime based rock music.

♦Single Rating♦

Nakagawa Shoko – Shokotan☆Cover ~Anisong ni Koi wo Shite.~

Shokotan☆Cover ~Anisong ni Koi wo Shite.~ was Nakagawa Shoko’s 1st mini-album. It was released May 2, 2007. It sold 12,579 copies in it’s first week and sold 31,501 overall. Shouko covers some of her favorite anime songs in this mini-album.

Tracklist

1. Romantic Ageru yo

2. Otome no Policy

3. BIN.KAN Rouge

4. Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis

5. Seishun

Romantic Ageru yo has a pretty interesting sound to it. It’s basically anime sounding J-pop but what I really liked about it was Shouko’s vocal performance. I enjoyed the was she made her voice sound during the verses and the chorus was interesting and memorable. I liked how the electric guitar played after the first chorus instead of leading directly into the next verse. This is a pretty nice pop song with both rock and orchestra sounds in some parts of the song. It was the ending theme to “Dragonball”.

I’m surprised I never heard Otome no Policy before as it’s the “Sailor Moon R” ending and I claim to be a big Sailor Moon fan(show’s how much I know). This song has that Sailor Moon flare to it but really doesn’t prove to be all that interesting. I thought Shouko’s vocals sounded a bit strange here, kinda like if she were trying to sing more quietly.

BIN.KAN Rouge is an insert song to the “Creamy Mami” anime. It starts with some piano and than is joined by drums and typical anime strings and electric guitar. Once again, this song didn’t appeal to me much. I enjoyed the verses more to the chorus, which was pretty plain and honestly, boring.

Yay! A song I recognize! I don’t think anyone hasn’t heard Zankoku na Tenshi no Thesis before. It’s the opening to the popular anime “Evangelion”. I was a fan of the original, so having Shouko sing it was even better. It starts with her singing the chorus without any instruments and than she begins the first verse with soft rock and nice background vocals accompanying her. My favorite track from the album.

Last up is the second ending theme to the anime “Touch”, Seishun. It begins with some pretty jazzy piano and background vocals, followed by the first verse. It’s a slow pop song, on the verge of being a ballad and one of the better tracks on the album. I enjoyed the chorus in this song as well.

I can honestly say I wasn’t very impressed with Shouko’s first mini-album. Being made up of covers, it had the potential to have a lot of great songs(which this album only had one of) but it could also have been a lot worse. Either way, Shouko’s vocals have definitely seen an improvement from her first single and were getting to see her sing in different types of genres.

♣Album Rating♣

Nakagawa Shoko – Strawberry melody

Strawberry melody was Nakagawa Shoko’s 2nd single. It was released February 14, 2007. It sold 10,023 copies in it’s first week, 15,784 overall and reached #15 on the charts. Strawberry melody was used as the “Pokemon Sandee” and “TBS’ Wanagona” theme song.

Tracklist

1. Strawberry melody

2. Pokemon Nari Kiri Sandee

3. Dear my saint-girl

4. Strawberry melody (Original Karaoke)

Compared to her first single, Strawberry melody is a step in a different direction. It’s free of any dance sounding instrumental and is a more light pop sounding song. It’s actually quite refreshing and simply cute. It’s full of light melodies and beats and has better sounding vocals from Shouko. The verses are pretty listenable and the chorus is quite charming. This is a pretty basic and simple song that was executed well.

Pokemon Nari Kiri Sandee is indeed quite interesting… It has a strange combination of instruments, ranging from some brass to come 8-bit sounding noises. You’ll constantly hear Pokemon related lyrics such as “Pikachu” and such. It’s difficult to categorize this song but it can be related to pop at the most. I didn’t really enjoy this song and found it hard to listen to.

Dear my saint-girl is a cover of the original song by Matsuda Kiyoko. It’s a positive sounding, piano driven slow pop song. It’s pretty relaxed and a different sound from Shouko.

Strawberry melody brought to us a different sound from Shouko and was an improvement from her first single. However, it was still a safe release and none of the tracks were very impressive, they weren’t bad, however, minus Pokemon Nari Kiri Sandee.

♣Single Rating♣

Nakagawa Shoko – Brilliant Dream

Brillliant Dream was Nakagawa Shoko’s 1st single. It was released July 5, 2006. It sold 6,313 copies in it’s first week, 10,459 overall and reached #29 on the charts.

Tracklist

1. Brilliant Dream

2. CAT LIFE

3. Brilliant Dream -Original Karaoke-

4. O Edo ha Kaanibaru!

5. O Edo ha Kaanibaru! -Original Karaoke-

Immediately beginning with the chorus, Brilliant Dream is your common dance based anime sounding song. This is definitely one of the more sugar filled songs I’ve heard from an artist before, with it’s cute vocals and upbeat, sparkly synth. Shouko’s vocals sound pretty normal, she hasn’t the best singing voice ever but it’s more than listenable. The song is pretty standard, the music is pretty good but the song didn’t prove to be too memorable or catchy to me. The instrumental break after the second chorus was pretty nice though.

CAT LIFE proved to be a much more enjoyable listen than the a-side. There are indeed references of cats throughout this dance based song(with Shouko even saying “Meow!” during the instrumental break), though it has a more pop sound and the synth is more in the background next to an electric guitar. It begins with the pretty catchy chorus and leads right into the first verse. The song maintains a high energy throughout it’s whole 3 and a half minute length and was a lot more memorable than Brilliant Dream.

O Edo ha Kaanibaru! is a really interesting listen… It begins with some edo sounding instrumentals that actually sound pretty good and are quite fun to listen to, but than the vocals kicked in. This isn’t Shouko, instead it’s a man! This just totally killed the song for me. Really, this song has a great instrumental track and the vocals aren’t bad, I’m sure anyoen would enjoy because it really is a good song, it’s just that the voice didn’t at all suite my taste.

Shouko’s debut single proved to be a pretty safe release. Brilliant Dream and CAT LIFE were dance based pop songs but weren’t particularly awesome in any way. O Edo ha Kaanibaru! is just kinda there for me, I would have enjoyed it if Shouko had sang it. Not one of the best debut singles I’ve seen from an artist but it gives Shouko a lot of room for improvement.

♣Single Rating♣