Bringing blogging to a close - August 2012

I am sorry to announce that I will be ending the updates to this blog and effectively closing it down.

This blog has been running since 2008 and has been lucky to have had four successful years of posting Maaya Sakamoto news and translations. I originally started the blog because it was often difficult for English-speaking fans to find Maaya Sakamoto translations that weren't lyrics. Radio show transcripts, interview translations - I wanted to translate things which foreign fans found difficult to obtain and would offer new insight into Maaya's world. And around the time You Can't Catch Me came out I was also able to update it with news at a fairly good pace which increased the readership no end.

However, I don't have the time to post here anymore as my work and other activities keep me busy. I can only say that rather than let it continue in a half-hearted way, I would like to give this site the closure it deserves with this post and a thank you to everyone who has visited and commented until now.

By using the links to the right of this page, you can access Maaya news and translations from a variety of sources. The Maaya international community is the most warm-hearted and kind internet community I know, and the online forums where the fans gather provide more news and information than was ever posted here.You can keep updated and connected using these links. The fan community always welcomes new people and their posts so feel free to join the discussion elsewhere on the net and support Maaya Sakamoto's activities.

The translations which this site has up will be kept here as an archive, as I am sure new fans will stumble across them and find them interesting to read. However, there will be no new updates. I will also continue to moderate the site every once in a while to make sure it is not invaded by spambots.

Thank you for coming back each week, and apologies for the sudden announcement. Goodbye and good luck with everything wherever you are. I look forward to meeting you somewhere in the Maaya fan community someday.

And thank you to Maaya Sakamoto for making it all possible in the first place.

Cheers!

2012.08.27

Single Collection + Mitsubachi

Well, since someone let the cat out of the bag online Maaya's official website has confirmed the rumours and updated with news of Maaya's 3rd single collection, due to be released on November 14th 2012. The title is: Single Collection + Mitsubachi. What you may have noticed is that instead of a CD/DVD edition, the first press is coming with a Blu-Ray of all Maaya's music videos from 'Universe' up to her newest single 'More Than Words'.

Once again, this means that her old videos for 'Feel Myself', 'Loop' and 'Honey Come' still aren't available for collectors to own (at least in high quality.) I wonder if this is because Maaya herself doesn't think they would be worth putting on a release?...Or perhaps the quality is so poor that they cannot be upgraded - especially if this format is Blu-Ray only.

CD + Blu-Ray is going to be a first press edition priced at 6,300 yen while the CD only version is a fraction of the price at 2,625yen.

01. Loop
02. Kazemachi JET (Mitsubachi edition)
03. Spica
04. action!
05. Saigo no Kajitsu
06. Triangler
07. Ame ga Furu
08. Praline
09. Magic Number
10. Private Sky
11. DOWN TOWN
12. Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta nara
13. Buddy
14. Okaerinasai
15. More Than Words
16. April Fool (Tomita Lab feat. Maaya Sakamoto)
17. Nekoze

The last song is a new track with music by Yoko Kanno and lyrics by Yuho Iwasato. So...out of 17 songs I need...five for my collection. Uggghhhh. And seven of them are already on albums. I should have just waited for this CD to come out rather than buying every single since Loop. My wallet is crying salty tears.

Also, predictably, the tour's title has been updated to reflect the single collection's title: 'Mitsubachi'. I imagine the setlist is going to be focused on the songs above, although they might tweak the order a bit.

New single collection?...

A few sources on the internet are reporting a new Maaya Sakamoto single collection to be released in November to coincide with the first date of Maaya's new tour. On Maayas.net we had speculated that instead of a new album the tour might be a theme e.g. single collection tour, it is nice to know that it might be a possibility!

At the moment Maaya's official page has not announced anything but I hope it is true! At the moment it looks like the actual information was uploaded then deleted (a mistake by someone?...) but according to Japanese fansites the single collection is called 'Single Collection + Mitsubachi' and the singles run from Loop onwards.

The only thing is, a lot of Maaya's singles from Loop are already on an album CD somewhere. Maybe a b-side collection would have been better in my opinion.

When the CD is officially announced (or if it turns out to be false) I will update again.

Toho uploads new audio from 'Daddy Long Legs' musical

We're only a few weeks away from Maaya's new stage show 'Daddy Long Legs' and to wet your appetites the production company has uploaded a duet from the musical to Youtube on their official channel here. The track is a duet with Yoshio Inoue called 'Graduation Day'.



It sounds like a lovely musical! Enjoy the song!

EDIT: speaking of which, today Oricon posted up an article which photos from the musical's press conference. Maaya looks pretty! Take a look here.

Piano Cover of 'More Than Words'

Don't usually post things like this but I was just browsing Youtube when I stumbled across this (in between my shots of Kpop boybands) and what a gem. While a little rough around the edges, what a lovely cover!! Well done to the pianist. It's the weekend, have a good one everyone!

I.D Monthly Message August 2012

August 2012.

Summer! August!
Thanks to everyone who's listening to 'More Than Words'
I'm looking forward to my national tour!
I'm now in rehearsals for my stage show in September.

Maaya

From Maaya's official site.

'More Than Words' clocks in at no.16 on Oricon Weekly

Unsurprising for a single featuring a title song which even its creators have labelled an 'unusual choice for a single', Maaya's latest CD 'More The Words' wasn't able to enter the Japanese top ten but sat at no.15 on its first day before dropping to come in at no.16 on the weekly chart. In total it sold 10,722 copies in the seven days following its release. Click here to go to the chart. However, some good news is that Maaya has announced a concert tour for the winter! Hurrah!