Thanks Tako for the request!

愛のメリークリスマス (Ai no Merii Kurisumasu; Love’s Merry Christmas)　by ハロー！プロジェクト (Hello! Project)

髮を飾る小雪を　そっと指ではらって
Kami wo kazaru koyuki wo sotto yubi de haratte
The light snow decorates my hair; I gently brush it with my fingers
夜になればもっと降るね　朝は白くなるね
Yoru ni nareba motto furu ne asa wa shiroku naru ne
Once it becomes night, it will fall more. The morning will become white.
やせた肩を引き寄せ　きつくきつく抱きしめ
Yaseta kata wo hiki yose kitsuku kitsuku dakishime
Pull my thin shoulders together, tightly, tightly, hold me
二分待てば　ふるえないね　胸も熱くなるね
Nifun mate ba furuenai ne mune mo atsuku naru ne
If you wait two minutes, I won’t shiver, my chest, too, will become hot

メリー　メリークリスマス
Merii merii kurisumasu
Merry merry Christmas
メリー　メリークリスマス　今夜逢えてよかった
Merii merii kurisumasu konya aete yokatta
Merry merry Christmas, I’m glad we met tonight
人は愛のためにいきて　愛は人を生かす
Hito wa ai no tame ni ikite ai wa hito wo ikasu
People live for the sake of love, love stays alive through people

過去をつつむ　雪の街を
Kako wo tsutsumu yuki no machi wo
The town of snow that covers the past
踊るように　歩きながら
Odoru you ni aruki nagara
In order to dance while walking
逢えた時が聖夜なのと　ともに信じた
Aeta toki ga seiya nano to tomo ni shinjita
Together we believed on that holy night we met

笑いそうなくちびる　しゃべりそうな瞳は
Warai sou na kuchibiru shaberi sou na hitomi wa
Like laughing lips, like talking eyes
若い時の君のままで　とてもうれしかった
Wakai toki no kimi no mama de totemo ureshikatta
I was really happy with the youthful you

メリー　メリークリスマス
Merii merii kurisumasu
Merry merry Christmas
メリー　メリークリスマス　今夜逢えてよかった
Merii merii kurisumasu konya aete yokatta
Merry merry Christmas, I’m glad we met tonight
人は愛のためにいきて　愛は人を生かす
Hito wa ai no tame ni ikite ai wa hito wo ikasu
People live for the sake of love, love stays alive through people

過去をつつむ　雪の街を
Kako wo tsutsumu yuki no machi wo
The town of snow that covers the past
踊るように　歩きつづけ
Odoru you ni aruki tsuzuke
In order to dance, continue walking
逢えた時が聖夜なのと　ともに信じた
Aeta toki ga seiya nano to tomo ni shinjita
Together we believed on that holy night we met

メリー　メリークリスマス
Merii merii kurisumasu
Merry merry Christmas
メリー　メリークリスマス　今夜逢えてよかった
Merii merii kurisumasu konya aete yokatta
Merry merry Christmas, I’m glad we met tonight
人は愛のためにいきて　愛は人を生かす
Hito wa ai no tame ni ikite ai wa hito wo ikasu
People live for the sake of love, love stays alive through people

Also, that one Christmas song I’m translating; I’m really sorry Tako! I planned on finishing and posting it before Christmas but things got too busy. I have only one or two lines in the song that I’m still not clear about, but I will get my butt to finishing it soon.

TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO, released on 12.7.11, is Akanishi’s first mini-album. The title track was released previously on November 8th as his debut in the USA.

「TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO (7th Heaven Mix)」 starts off with a dramatic electronica/synthesizer instrumental as a voice says, “It’s Jin… Jason Derulo.” The song then goes into a techno-like electronica instrumental as Jin sings about taking a girl for a ride (cough, I really think this has sexual undertones to it. Is it just me?) By the chorus, Jin’s vocals get buried under the instrumental before it goes into the second verse which Jason Derulo sings in.

I’m assuming 「TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO (Main Mix)」 is the original song. Instead of the techno-ish instrumental, this time the instrumental has a constant electronica/drum beat beating along with the light electronica affects. The chorus also has a different instrumental which is lighter and sounds slightly pipe organ-ish and doesn’t bury Jin’s vocals as much as the last mix did.

This 「TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO (Funkystepz Mix)」 is definitely completely techno this time. It manipulates the voice recordings to fit the techno of the song with the instrumental being very prominent over Jin’s vocals.

「MY MP3」 has a quirky electronica instrumental as Jin comes in with slightly autotuned vocals. The bridge before the second chorus has Jin singing in a really high key which totally surprised me at first. So this song is basically about Jin describing a girl as his mp3 or a song. That’s kinda sweet in a way, haha. Although I didn’t really like the way this song is arranged.

Next up is 「PAPARATS」 which starts off with a quiet guitar instrumental with the percussion as Jin sings as if we’re hearing him through the radio (that’s how his voice is edited). The bridge has him going breathy with light vocals followed by a completely rock instrumental in the chorus as Jin’s hoarse vocals sing against the instrumental. This song is about the paparazzi, but I really like how emotional the lyrics are and the song itself is really nicely done.

Last is 「TIPSY LOVE」 which is a sweet sugar-y song about Jin being totally tipsy over a girl. The song is really a weird mix of different styles as he starts off really sweet in the beginning chorus, followed by a rap, then an autotuned bridge before he goes back into the sweet chorus.

There should be a MV for TEST DRIVE somewhere, but I really did not like the song nor the MV when it first came out, so please watch it for yourself LOL.

With this single, Jin is turning fully into American music influences which is understandable since TEST DRIVE was his debut single in the USA. A song I really like is PAPARATS. I would’ve liked TIPSY LOVE a lot if it wasn’t so bi-polar and without autotune.

Milestone, released on 12.7.11, is BoA’s 32nd single. Milestone was used as the CM song for audio-technica and I SEE ME was also a audio-technica cm song. This is her 10th anniversary single.

「Milestone」 begins with a classic piano and BoA’s lone vocals in a winter-y ballad. Once the chorus comes around, the instrumental is joined by orchestra as BoA sings with greater strength in her vocals. The song is a short three minutes, but it is a very simple, yet compelling song.

This was BoA’s first digital single; 「I SEE ME」 uses a mixture of piano and electronica as BoA sings in continuous rhythm. The chorus is sung with BoA singing with her own recorded vocals supporting/overlapping her lines. The third verse has various ad-libs in it that bring great emotion to this song. The song ends as it fades out from her ad-libs.

「メリクリ ～BEST & USA Version～ (Merikuri)」 is a revamped, re-recorded version of the song of the same name released in 2004. As said in the title, this is the version released in her BEST & USA album. It’s the same song albeit with a quieter piano instrumental and BoA’s own vocals being more subdued into the background. Her vocals slowly build up as the song goes on with the addition of orchestra. The original song used a lower piano key and instruments that created the “twinkling” feel of the song.

A PV was made for Milestone. It features BoA being driven around a city as well as on a building rooftop in the sunlight. There are scenes of her standing in an empty performance hall as she sings along to the song. There’s also a PV for I SEE ME which you can check out.

As usual of BoA’s Christmas singles, she brings a very pretty ballad along with a re-recorded version of Meri Kuri, which is a song that I love from when she first released it in 2004.

Trouble Maker, released on 12.01.11, is Trouble Maker’s (consisting of B2ST’s Hyunseung and 4minute’s HyunA) first mini-album.

「Trouble Maker」, the album’s namesake, starts off with whistling, grunting, and snapping. It has this somewhat classy mood to the song coupled with a snobby edge to it. The song is very easy to get into to but the song itself is relatively short and goes by really quickly. I wish there was no rap; while it does fit into the song, the way HyunA is “rapping” does not fit into the song at all. Love all of Hyunseung’s lines, though. At first this song gave me a Michael Jackson vibe, but after listening to it again, I agree with a comment I saw that it gives off that Justin Timberlake-like feel to it.

「듣기 싫은 말 (The Words I Don’t Want to Hear)」 starts with some ad-libs done by Hyunseung in a soft acoustic guitar instrumental combined with some garage drums. When HyunA comes in, some supporting vocals back her vocals. The song has a nice mood to it, matching nicely to its title as a melancholic song.

Next is 「Time (feat. 라도)」, which is a ballad-like song with a soft electronica instrumental. I’m assuming that this is a HyunA solo with Rado as the male vocals instead of Hyunseung.

Ending the mini-album is 「아무렇지 않니 (Don’t You Mind?)」, which also follows the last song with an R&B ballad that has an electronica/synthesizer instrumental. Also assuming this is Hyunseung’s solo song. I kinda wish that his vocals were more pronounced instead of being background vocals when he emphasizes his lines in the chorus. Also wish the instrumental was a little different. Besides that, the song itself is nicely done and is pretty a basic within kpop imho.

I honestly really liked Trouble Maker the first time I listened to it. It was classy and well executed with the exception of the rap. Though the MV I could do without, mainly because of how fail the sexy was (imo, Cube tries to sell HyunA’s “sex” concept way too much to the point where she’s starting to be trying too hard to be sexy now to me). HyunA’s vocals still leave much to be desired, but for the songs they did, I have nothing to complain about quite yet.

BIRTH, released on 11.30.11, is KAT-TUN’s 17th single. The title track was used as the theme song for the drama Youkai Ningen Bem, which member Kamenashi Kazuya stars in.

「BIRTH」 is an upbeat rock track that is pretty fast paced. The boys do a great job harmonizing with one another; they’re kinda adopting Arashi’s way of singing songs (going in pairs/trios) instead of just having solo lines, though I would prefer if someone other than Kame had a lot of solo lines. Anyway, with how fast the song is, it is a bit difficult to keep up with it.

Following after is 「STAR RIDER」 with a constant synthesizer as Kame starts things off with a dark tone to his vocals. And… the re-introduction of autotune. Dang, almost avoided it. The chorus is really heavy with the synthesizer/techno as they sing, “I’m just a rider” (I think, I can’t make out their Engrish). After a while, the pattern of the song gets a bit aggravating, BUT it is a bit tolerable.

「ACT ON EMOTION」 gradually builds up into a electronica instrumental that unfortunately starts off with… autotune. Darn that autotune. The chorus starts off as they say, “And one. two. three.” and whatever Engrish they just spoke… The song is relatively okay, it feels energetic but it is a bit basic.

Last up is 「BABY B MINE」, which starts off with some electronica/techno beats as the boys sing, “B-B-B-Baby be mine” (either that or “They be mine”). The rock then comes in after the introduction, with a dark tone to their vocals. The chorus is a bit more upbeat as they sing “B-B-B-Baby be mine”. It sounds a bit dark for a song asking for a girl to be theirs, haha. It’s really repetitive however.

A PV was made for both BIRTH and STAR RIDER. BIRTH’s PV has them in a monochrome world… just lying around. That is, until they get up and start singing to the song, rofl. The PV mainly consists of their faces being put all over the city and them running around the city. There are also a few scenes in a room with lights flashing. Oh, and they dance! That’s about it. Oh, and can’t forget that Hime (Ueda) shaved his head for his drama. Bald Tatchan </3.
STAR RIDER's PV is also monochromatic and just a dance PV basically. Also, Ueda is wearing a wig, which is why he has a head full of hair in this PV LOL. Nothing else that interesting about the PV.

So this single is basically pure rock/electronica/as well as autotune. Oi. I did like the songs a bit, but it also was a bit… much. There's something about Johnny's songs that irk me for some reason. I guess it's from the way the members sound when they sing together. Although a bit harmonized, it sounds really jarring.

Winter ~Winter Rose / Duet -Winter Version~, released on 11.30.11, is Tohoshinki’s 33rd single.

The single starts off with the first A-side, 「Winter Rose」, which has a classic winter instrumental with the piano, bells, and snapping. Changmin starts things off first with low, soft vocals followed by Yunho. The choruses has a bit more tempo than the verses along with a stronger stress on their vocals against the instrumental. The song has such a classic Christmas/winter feel to it, that it feels really familiar and the boys do a good job singing it.

Next is, as the title describes, 「Duet -winter ver.-」. It’s basically a Christmas version of the same song from the TONE album, with a combination of keyboard, some electronica, and occasionally orchestra and bells in the beginning.

I have no idea what was different about 「Winter Rose -reversible ver.-」 until I looked it up. Apparently the regular version is from the man’s point of view. This version is from the woman’s point of view, so the lyrics are slightly different. Besides that, it sounds exactly the same.

A PV was made for Winter Rose. The PV features two young children (a boy and girl) looking out the window at the snow and decorating the Christmas tree respectively. Changmin and Yunho sing inside the building as well as out in the snow in their scenes; their outfits are nice for once! Near the end, the boy gives the girl a present and the PV ends with the message “Merry Christmas”.

This single definitely screams winter and Christmas. Not that that is a bad thing. The songs are nicely done and the winter version of Duet is MUCH better than the original IMHO.

Love Me Back, released on 11.30.11, is Koda Kumi’s 52nd single. The title track is used as the theme song for the drama Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de.

「Love Me Back」 is an upbeat song as Koda Kumi sings with a slightly sultry tone. She starts off with “diamonds! and sapphires! and you, oh my!” which I can imagine is to match the drama since it is about a rich girl and her butler. The chorus is more busy with louder instruments and Koda’s vocals slightly getting muffled by the instruments. The instrument is just a hot electrica instrumental during the verses, which play along nicely with the mood she’s trying to make. I really like the song’s verses, but the chorus is a bit too busy for my liking.

Contrasting with the title track is 「Say Her Name」 which is a medium tempo R&B-like track with a light electronica instrumental. It’s a fairly short song, so it goes by really fast. One line she repeats the most is, “Oh say her name to my face oh~” This song was pretty plain.

A PV was made for Love Me Back. Koda starts as a policewoman. Can someone please tell her to stop doing the duck lips? It’s irritating. Anyway, they bump into a guy while driving the police car and they start.. dancing in scanty outfits. After that, they dance in a prison cell. Yup. They then change into nurse outfits; for what reason, I have no idea.

Uhh, I liked Love Me Back at first, but the PV just kinda makes me roll my eyes. Though it is a nice song by itself, but I wish the chorus was a bit softer. Say Her Name is nice, but there’s something about it that I don’t like but I can’t quite place my finger on it. It might be the instrumental or just the overall impression the song gave me.

Heartful Voice, released on 11.23.11, is Tackey & Tsubasa’s 13th single.

「Heartful Voice」 is a melodic piece with piano and orchestra making up the instrumental. The boys sing together as usual, but once the first verse finally comes around around the minute mark, the guys get their own solo lines while backing each other. It’s relatively sweet sounding with the boys’ smooth vocals filling the song and the overall rhythm and sound of the song really pulls off the “heartful voice”.

Things get more energetic with 「Our Song」 as they sing, “Rairairairai~ bokutachi no melody” to start off. The verses seem a bit fragmented with how they’re singing, but it’s nothing too bad. This is an upbeat song, but off the bat it sounds kinda messy, but I can see a lot of people liking this song.

A PV was made for Heartful Voice. The PV uses Christmas and snow to their advantage, creating a monochromatic winter video with some footages of couples shopping in between. I really like the setting they used for the duo shots, haha. Besides that, the PV is really cute with all the random couple shots, giving off a very happy, festive mood to the video.

I haven’t really been a big fan of Tackey & Tsubasa, but they still do sound really nice. Heartful Voice is really great for the upcoming Christmas season while Our Song has a more upbeat, hyper feel to it. I prefer Heartful Voice over Our Song.

HOW CRAZY YOUR LOVE, released on 11.02.11, is YUI’s 5th album.

Starting off cheerfully with 「HELLO」, and its honestly what you could describe as a preppy song with the tone that the percussion makes. YUI’s vocals are a bit breathy as she sings “Hello~” in the beginning a few times before going into the actual first verse. The chorus is also energetic and happy, which I think matches the impression I get from the Paradise Kiss as well. It’s a cute song, though it goes by fairly quickly.

「Separation」 starts off immediately as YUI “yells” into the song, starting off the song with a chipper beat. The combo of light electric guitar with acoustic sounds quite nice together with YUI’s smooth vocals. The chorus is nicely done as YUI does a bit of a “breathy”ness with her vocals.

YUI slows things down with 「Get Back Home」, this time taking a piano and orchestra ballad to illustrate the feelings in this song. The chorus brings in the airiness of the acoustic guitar as she sings with a delicate, breathy-ness.

「Lock On」 is the theme song for the drama Kaito Royale. It has a delicate sound to it with only the keyboard accompanying YUI’s vocals followed by violins later. Things change drastically in the chorus as the electric guitar and percussion speeds things up and energizes the song. I’m a bit confused with the direction of this song because it keeps switching between a calming instrumental to a rock song.

「U-niform」 immediately reminds me of something playing in a highschool drama or something, haha. It’s a peaceful acoustic guitar instrumental mixed with percussion and a little bit of added electric guitar later on. It reminds me a bit of the overall mood behind Hello.

Continuing the peaceful mood is 「Cooking」, which is a cute song about cooking at home. The instrumental is a mix of acoustic guitar, percussion, and orchestra. I feel like there’s a little bit of a melancholic undertone to this song, but maybe that’s just me. It’s a really cute song, though.

「Rain」 begins strongly with electric guitars that continue in the background as YUI comes in with confident vocals. The guitars are very strong and blend together with her vocals, so it’s like her vocals and the instrumental is battling for dominance. It’s a neat kind of balance and I like how even though at times, YUI’s vocals are muffled a little by the instrumental, they are still the main point that stand out amongst the loud instrumentation. The parts where the instrumental quiets down for YUI to sing quietly are great as well.

Going along befittingly with the title 「Good night」 is an interlude before the last five songs of the album. I wish it was an actual song though; it would’ve been great to hear YUI sing something like this.

「YOU」 is a bit of a mid-tempo ballad-ish song with an acoustic guitar backing up the sweet sound. It has a bit of a sad undertone to it, but it’s overall a very sweet song, though a bit bittersweet as well.

「It’s My Life」 is an upbeat acoustic guitar song as YUI begins the song with her happy, bright voice singing, “it’s my life!” The song is very fresh and upbeat, the bright instrumental and YUI’s equally bright vocals make the mood all the more happier and upbeat.

「no Reason」 is an upbeat mix of guitars and percussion. It follows the usual YUI title song patterns; I even thought this was really familiar so I checked if it was released before and it wasn’t. Huh. Nothing much to say about this.

Second to the last is 「Nobody Knows」, driven by the electric guitar and percussion. There’s something about YUI’s vocals that sound almost calming in this rock song. She’s taking the notes easy and not stressing her notes along with the instrumental of the song, except for maybe during the chorus and third verse, which is nice.

Ending the album quite nicely is 「Green a.live」, which was written for the March 11 tsunami victims. It’s a mixture of orchestra, acoustic guitar, and percussion as YUI sings with calm vocals. I really like how the orchestra really emphasizes the gentleness this song was written to bring to its listeners.

Another awesome album from YUI. I more or less enjoyed the album, especially songs like Get Back Home, U-niform, and Cooking were great. It seems like YUI is experimenting with her sound a little bit, but I do wish she could’ve done something with Good night.