Cherry Blossom Music Monthly Report (August 2025)

Summer vacation is the entertainment season for me.

I've encountered many wonderful songs this month as well.

Please stay with me until the end for the August edition of the 'Cherry Blossom Music Monthly Report'.

CDs I'm listening to a lot

Vivid BAD SQUAD 'Fuel / Haven'

The latest single from Vivid BAD SQUAD (Vivid BAD), the street unit from the rhythm game 'Project Sekai'.

As the title suggests, it includes two tracks: 'Fuel,' which is passionate and combative as if endlessly adding fuel, and 'Haven,' which makes you feel a refreshing breeze and the pristine morning sunlight.

Both are songs that sing of the dazzling light beyond overcoming a past where you almost gave up or things didn't go as planned. In 'Fuel,' Akito Shinonome's sharp, inciting singing voice shines, while in 'Haven,' Toya Aoyagi's soft and expansive singing voice stands out, and that contrast is a highlight to listen for.

The two of them are partners who respect each other and think, 'I want to stay by this guy's side forever,' and it seems I won't be able to take my eyes off their relationship from here on out.

Fragaria Memories 'WISHES'

Sanrio's first full-scale fantasy project, 'Fragaria Memories'.

I was finally able to welcome as an album the songs that the knights, who serve popular Sanrio characters as their Lords, sing about their respective feelings. Since they are all songs directed at their Lords, listening to them makes me feel warm inside.

Personally, my favorite is the song 'I'm Stitch Dot,' which sings of feelings for Maron Cream.

While it has a classical atmosphere, it is also scattered with lyrics that convey deep love and resolve, such as 'I won't let the falling dot patterns touch your cheeks,' and the elegant, slightly melancholic tone of the song is wonderful.

It is an album I want to continue listening to on repeat.

Songs I'm listening to a lot

SixTONES 'Stargaze'

SixTONES' 'Stargaze,' whose music video I analyzed in detail in an article the other day.

After writing that article, I learned that 'stargaze' can be slang for 'someone who is indifferent to the dizzying world'.

While this is just my own interpretation, I think this term is the highest compliment from the perspective of 'someone who expresses and conveys something'.

Someone who is not intimidated by the rapidly changing aspects of the world, someone who does not try to force themselves to adapt to it, someone with a core. Someone who possesses a charm that is not swayed by the times. Aren't these words reminiscent of such a person?

I think it is precisely because there is something so absorbing that one doesn't even have time to worry about the dizzying world that one can retort with a powerful voice, "So what?"

I am already very much looking forward to the CD release at the beginning of September.

HANA "Tiger" (from 1st FANMEETING 'HANA with HONEYs')

This is the kind of HANA I have wanted to see for a long time.

I thought that a performance using a stand microphone, captivating with just a singing voice and presence, would absolutely look stunning. (Though I never imagined I would see it in "Tiger".)

Originally a song written by Chanmina for the audition, and previous performances followed the staging from the audition, but I feel that this is truly "HANA's 'Tiger'."

A tiger that had been sleeping slowly opens its eyes, stands up, and bares its fangs... a composition that overlaps with that sequence of movements.
A seven-colored singing voice that allows you to catch a glimpse of a somewhat elegant and supple impression amidst the ferocity.

Even though I deeply feel the strength of the "individual," when I see the members look at each other and smile in a sudden moment, I still think, "Thank you so much for working hard until you became HANA."

While "blooming where you are planted" is certainly wonderful, I feel that there is a different, radiant brilliance in the figure of someone who "strives to bloom in a place they found after searching thoroughly."

Narumiya "Lead Control"

I happened to hear it in a YouTube Short, and I was captivated by the gap between the sweet, coaxing singing voice and the sultry lyrics in "Lead Control."

Narumiya's voice itself has an addictive quality like sweet juice, and I find myself playing it over and over. It is also dramatic when it occasionally rasps or includes a breath.

If you read only the lyrics, it looks like the girl has the upper hand, but if you look closely at the MV, in reality, the girl seems to be the one strongly seeking the other person, saying "I want love." The shadows of loneliness and sadness, and a codependent relationship of "I can't live without you" also flicker in and out.

It is a bewitching song, like putting a chocolate that gives off a suffocatingly sweet scent into your mouth, only to find it is actually bitter chocolate.

Kayoko Yoshizawa "Hell Taxi"

A song I happened to know after seeing Kayoko Yoshizawa's live footage in a YouTube Short. (I'm happy that my YouTube has been doing a good job lately.)

A retro and dark worldview.
A somewhat fantastic musical style that seems to go back and forth between the boundary of dreams and reality, or perhaps between this world and the next.
A number of lyrics that make your heart skip a beat.

It is a song that is just like a musical film or a novel.

It is fascinating how the voice singing the wife's emotions, the voice singing the husband's monologue, the singing voice overlapping with the taxi driver's lip movements, and the voice singing the other 'narrations' all sound like distinct individuals.

I am instantly captivated by a singing voice that is both expansive and possesses a certain roughness that lingers in the ears.

Joruzin 'Last Pharaoh'

Perhaps it is because of the anecdotes I read in biographies when I was in elementary school, but whenever I hear the name Cleopatra, I have an image of a queen with a bold personality and peerless beauty.

However, this 'Last Pharaoh' depicts the fragile parts of Cleopatra's heart.

What is expressed through the song and the music video is not the beauty of her appearance, but the beauty of a heart that always tried to be strong for the sake of the country and for someone other than herself.

Joruzin is a Vocaloid producer who works under the concept of 'taking fairy tales, myths, and anecdotes and dyeing them black to turn them into songs,' but I feel that his gaze toward Cleopatra is both calm and warm.

The newly spun story of Cleopatra is wrapped in sorrow and a dignified brilliance. I believe that the fact that she possesses a charm that captivates people's hearts is something that remains unchanged regardless of the interpretation of the era.

Runrun Cover 'Hadaka no Yuusha'

In 'Hadaka no Yuusha,' it is sung that when 'malice' is 'accompanied by power,' the thing that is 'enough to protect all the feelings I have fallen in love with' is 'light.'

What becomes a weapon to protect what is precious is not power, but a light that embraces everything completely.

That message fits so perfectly with the many gentle words and generous way of thinking that Runrun, also known as 'Run-choma,' conveys in her streams, and I felt what a wonderful song choice it was.

Every time I listen to it, a warmth wells up as if my heart is being supported in a mysterious way; it is a cover that wears a one-of-a-kind, pure light.

Summary

I feel like I was drawn to story-driven songs a lot this month.

The hot days are still continuing, but these days I can also feel a slight hint of autumn in the evenings.

I want to continue to spend my days lightly while borrowing the power of music.