• nl Nederlands
  • en English
AVO Magazine - One click closer to Japan
  • AVO Magazine
    • AVO Magazine, who?
      • AVO Magazine presents
    • About us (日本語)
    • Join the AVO Magazine team
    • Submit News to AVO Magazine
    • AVO Magazine Podcast
    • Join AVO Magazine’s Discord Server
    • Support AVO Magazine
    • Colophon
    • Contact
  • Staff picks
  • Music
    • Music News
      • Concerts and festival news
      • Musical Snack
    • Curtain-raiser
    • Weekly MV Roundup
      • About: 7 New Music Videos You Need To Check Out
  • Events
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Reports
  • Colophon
No Result
View All Result
  • nl Nederlands
  • en English
No Result
View All Result
AVO Magazine - One click closer to Japan
Dutch language / Dutch language
Home Reviews Music Reviews

CD Review: AiRI – Mirage

Sakura by Sakura
21 December 2016
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A
0
CD Review: AiRI – Mirage
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on RedditShare on LINE

Some may recognise her from Abunai! 2016, where she performed for the first time in the Netherlands; AiRI. A Japanese rock singer who released her third album named Mirage in 2014. Others may even know her from her previous artists name, UR@N. She began her artist career in 2000 with that name and soon already sung a couple of title songs for several games and anime. She started using the name AiRI in 2011 and got a lot of success for singing the title song of the anime 30 Sai no Hokentaiku ED. Her debut album ‘Puzzle’ was released in 2012 and in that same year she performed her first ever live concert. In 2013, her second album ‘Color’ was released, of which the song ‘Dreamer’, the opening song of the anime Tari Tari, became very popular. After ‘Color’ the album I’ll be reviewing for you was released, ‘Mirage’. There are a lot of songs on this album AiRI sang for videogames and anime. In 2015 AiRI released her mini-album ‘Smash!!!’, which immediately reminds me of Super Smash Bros. However, in this mini-album there aren’t any songs used in videogames or anime, whereas her other albums all have songs destined for videogames or anime. In between all her albums she continued to sing songs for anime and games with her energetic and lively sound.

Tracklist:

01. Mind-set
02. And Jump!!
03. One Scene
04. Time has come
05. You’ll never walk alone
06. Baby
07. 送れないラブレター
08. Powdery Snow
09. MEMORIA
10.ウツクシセカイ
11.Good Job!
12. ミラクルハイプレッシャー
13. 深海
14. Imagination > Reality

The album ‘Mirage’ has a total of fourteen songs and begins with the song Mind-set, which I can immediately picture as a soundtrack for an anime. That isn’t the case however. It’s one of the seven songs that don’t appear in a videogame or anime. When I saw that I was fairly surprised. Mind-set has that anime vibe with the high tempo, guitar rock and bad-ass singing. AiRI also made a music video for this song. Time has come and Imagination > Reality fall under the same category as Mind-set. The drum and guitar are very present and the beat is nice and fast; perfect to go all out on at your own private dance party.

Number 10 on the album, ウツクシセカイ,is different than any other song on the album in a good way, in my opinion. She sings very cute without her voice being nasal. The tempo and melody are quite pleasant to dance on and therefore seems to me like the perfect song at a concert for the audience to get swept up in.

And Jump!! and Good Job! are both very upbeat and merry songs. The tempo is high and AiRI’s zinging sounds very flowing and alive. What’s different about Good Job! than any other song on the album are the singing voices of other people in the song. They repeat what AiRI is singing or they sing sentences themselves. If you’re like me and can’t or can barely sing along in Japanese, this’ll be a very good solution. The words/sentences those people sing are easy to understand and to reproduce, perfect at a concert!

As I said before, AiRI has already sung a lot of songs for videogames and this album is no exception. With a couple of songs destined for videogames I noticed an increase of nasality in her voice. This is the case with the songs Baby, 送れないラブレタ and ミラクルハイプレッシャ.Personally, I don’t really like that nasality. It sounds kind of like she’s trying too hard to be cute and I think that’s a shame, especially because I think it’s unnecessary. I’m not into Baby and 送れないラブレタ for that reason. I can appreciate the song ミラクルハイプレッシャ more, because there is a great use of different tempo’s and instruments. Because of that, the nasality disappears more.

If you’d like to hear her singing potential at its best in this album the songs You’ll Never Walk Alone and Powdery Snow will be perfect for that. She’s able to go from a sweet and loveable voice to a very powerful voice where she holds her tones fantastic without me noticing she has to put in an effort. That alternation from sweet to cool is pleasantly incorporated in the songs. Powdery Snow is mostly very harmonious, whereby her voice is presented well.

One Scene and MEMORIA are both songs I don’t find special. MEMORIA is just a normal rock song and not really much more and One Scene is more a pop song than a rock song, but is also not really special in my opinion. The guitar however is nicely processed in One Scene and is presented well in the bridge and at the end of the song.

My personal favourite of the album is the song 深海. It’s a mysterious song with a slow tempo paired with a dreamy voice that’s varied with emotional singing and a higher tempo that fits the emotional singing well. She renders the emotions beautifully in her voice. The mysteriousness is mostly a kind of flute instrument that reminds me of music from the Middle Ages. It sound sort of like a mix between the Middle Ages and our time, which I find very unusual, but also very fitting for this song and it definitely makes it unique.

All in all, I find this album to be a good one. I only find a couple of songs kind of mediocre, but those where compensated by unique and well produced songs. If you don’t know yet who AiRI is or if you want to discover her again, Mirage is certainly a good album to begin with!

Score: 90/100

Tags: 2014albumalbum
ADVERTISEMENT
Sakura

Sakura

Former film and J-dorama reviewer.

Related Posts

Product Review: Heart – Sumikko Gurashi Fluffy Pancakes
Product Reviews

Product Review: Heart – Sumikko Gurashi Fluffy Pancakes

by Yuki
10 August 2022
0

Heart - Sumikko Gurashi Fluffy Pancakes - Simple Price: ± €6 Extra supplies: Microwave, Bowl or Cup, Spoon, Cocktail pick or Toothpick...

Read more
Cover for Survive's Live From Death Valley live album

CD Review: Survive – Live At Death Valley

17 July 2022
Product Review: LOTTE – Crunky Milk Chocolate Bar, Pretzel & Puffs Chocolate Bar, Crunky Balls Milk Chocolate & Cookie Ball

Product Review: LOTTE – Crunky Milk Chocolate Bar, Pretzel & Puffs Chocolate Bar, Crunky Balls Milk Chocolate & Cookie Ball

15 July 2022
Product Review: Heart – Sumikko Gurashi Purunchuchu Jelly

Product Review: Heart – Sumikko Gurashi Purunchuchu Jelly

6 July 2022
Kyoto Garden (Holland Park, London) | Photo by Henry Kellner via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

A walk in the Japanese Garden: Kyoto Garden (Holland Park, London)

4 July 2022
Next Post
Anime Review: Gakuen Handsome

Anime Review: Gakuen Handsome

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Donate a digital coffee to keep AVO Magazine online
ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Soundcloud Discord


Online magazine since 2012. AVO Magazine is a Japan-related entertainment website with information about events in especially The Netherlands, Belgium and the rest of Europe. There is a big focus on Japanese music. Other contents we publish are reports, reviews, informative articles, and interviews. AVO Magazine originated from AVO Forum, started on 16 May 2003.

Contact (Francisca Hagen): info[@]avo-magazine.nl

Please do not use text and photos made by AVO Magazine without permission. An email is easily created. Let's support each other!

Affiliates

JPU Records

1_General CDJapan

Featured on

HYPER JAPAN TV logo Lucydafirst - Crate Culture logo

AVO Magazine Approved

  • Arlequin Photography
  • Get Your Genki
  • Idol is SHiT
  • J-POP streaming
  • Japan Jams
  • Japone Artists
  • The Sushi Times

Join our Discord Server

©2003 - 2022 AVO Magazine - One Click Closer to Japan!
*Donate to keep AVO Magazine online *

No Result
View All Result
  • Events
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • Reports
  • Colophon
  • Keep AVO Magazine Online
©2003 - 2022 AVO Magazine - One Click Closer to Japan!
  • nl Nederlands
  • en English
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.