“Kosaka’s first album “every struggle” through avex entertainment features an impressive and promising solo effort that shows her depth as a J-Pop singer.”

ARTIST: Kosaka Riyu

ALBUM: every struggle

LABEL: avex entertainment

CATALOG #: AVCA-26652/B

DURATION: 50:42

RELEASE DATE: February 27, 2008

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

* Note: I make the distinction of CD singles released because avex entertainment inc. typically does not include indie releases as part of their official discography listing and tends to number the first official release for an artist on a major label as their first official release.

1. m.o.n.s.t.e.r
2. Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~ (third CD single, second through avex entertainment)
3. Hakushi
4. Dober Man (fourth CD single, third through avex entertainment)
5. Memory
6. 3D HEART
7. Platinum Smile (5th CD single, 4th through avex entertainment)
8. Kokoro no Ato
9. the eastern sky
10. Sunny the Ride
11. every struggle

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 16 minutes

1. Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~
2. Dober Man
3. Platinum Smile

Vocalist and member of BeForU, Kosaka Riyu releases her first major label album from avex entertainment titled “every struggle”.

The singer known for her musical work with the female idol group BeForU, known for their songs used on the Beat Mania (BEMANI) video game series “Dance Dance Revolution” and having collaborated with mystery producer Maeda Naoki has earned them a following worldwide.

But as much as I enjoy her work with BeForU, her latest works with collaborations with composer, LOVE & HATE is really working positively and her last three singles featured on this album, allows her to stand up and show that she is a diverse singer and that she can take on other genres.

As a matter of fact, “every struggle” shows a rock side of Kosaka Riyu that fans would probably cool with.

The first track m.o.n.s.t.e.r is an example of a song that is very rock in nature and while listening to this song many times, I can definitely see a similarity with another artist named Aikawa Nanase that had a similar style over a decade ago.

That is music that has a hard edge, electric guitar rock style combined with a pop image. In a way, Kosaka’s image works with the music. Unlike other female artists currently in Japan, who try to feature the rock side of their music but end up being not believable because they are too poppy or literally just doesn’t have that image which just doesn’t come over well on their music videos.

The second track “Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky~”, her second CD single through Avex, features Kosaka and composer LOVE & HATE. The song is another upbeat, rock track and a very cool track that is very catchy and enjoyable. The song was used as the ending theme for the anime series “Claymore”.

The third track “Hakushi” is a beautiful ballad. Seriously, I could have seen this coming as an A-side track and I’m pretty confident that when I see collaborations between Kosaka and composer, LOVE & HATE that the pairing is musically positive.

The fourth track “DOBER MAN” again features a collaboration with composer LOVE & HATE. Rock-based and driven by the churning of electric guitar and happens to be her third CD single through Avex.

Now, the whole album is not all J-rock. In fact, by the fifth track “Memory”, Kosaka shows her other poppy side to her music. In fact, “Memory” is more or less a straightforward, happy J-Pop song.

And not all tracks that she collaborated with LOVE & HATE are all rock. In fact, the song “Platinum Smile” features a beautiful ballad. The song is used on the sentai film “Kamen Rider Next”. Another musical example of not being rock is the ninth track “the eastern sky” featuring a dance pop inspired track that has that DDR musical style of feel.

And for those who miss that DDR surround, Kosaka joins Konami composer Maeda Naoki and songs such as “3D HEART” is a song that shows that the singer has not forgotten her DDR roots. The other collaboration track with Maeda on this album is “every struggle”. Surprisingly, this is not a DDR upbeat tempo track. It’s a beautiful ballad featuring Kosaka’s vocals and the piano.

As for the DVD, the DVD features a total of three music videos” “Danzai no Hana ~Guilty Sky~”, “Doberman” and “Platinum Smile”.

“Danzai no Hana~Guilty Sky” features a light and dark setting with the light, featuring the singer sporting a furry long glove, while meeting her doppelganger which is more or less , the singer in a dark robe in a cold, snow-like area.

“Doberman” featuring a shot of the city at night and Kosaka walking around the city.

As for “Platinum Smile”, the music video features Erika Mori (who plays the character of Kazami Chiharu from the film “Kamen Rider the Next”), as she puts on headphones and watches the television featuring Kosaka Riyu singing “Platinum Smile” passionately and dressed all in black (and in slow motion). The music video also shows clips from the film.

The CD insert features lyrics and photos of Kosaka.

I have been noticing Kosaka’s popularity starting to grow and I think that “every struggle” will definitely appeal to her fans and show that she can do the music that they have been accustomed to by listening to BeForU. But also, that her voice and certain collaborations can work positively for other musical genres.

The only negative that I can think of, for this album, are those who want the Maeda Naoki style of music that they enjoy from the BEMANI video games. There are two tracks that do feature him but the majority of the musical collaborations featured on this album are with composer LOVE+HATE.

And I think that with that latter collaboration, it gave her the freedom to go that rock route and I think it works rather nicely for her.

All in all, “every struggle” is a pretty cool album and I have no doubt the fans will enjoy it.

every struggle [CD+DVD]

Riyu Kosaka

ARTIST: Kosaka Riyu

CD SINGLE: Platinum Smile

LABEL: avex entertainment

CATALOG #: AVCA-26522/B

DURATION: 34:04

RELEASED ON October 24, 2007

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. Platinum Smile
2. Platinum Smile (Rock Edit.)
3. TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY
4. Platinum Smile (instrumental)
5. Platinum Smile (Rock Edit.)(instrumental)
6. TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 5:35

1. Platinum Smile Music Video

A beautiful ballad and the fourth CD single solo release for BeForU member Kosaka Riyu.

For those not familiar with BeForU, back in 2000, KONAMI and then TOSHIBA-EMI held an audition for a female unit. Kosaka Riyu was among the four original girls selected to be part of the group and the group went on to make music for the popular Beat Mania (Bemani) series especially with “Dance Dance Revolution”.

In 2004, Kosaka released her first album and has since released several CD singles.

On October 2007, Kosaka released “Platinum Smile” which was a song that is used as an insert song for the film “Kamen Rider the Next”. Although she has had several solo songs, her label Avex Entertainment indicates “Platinum Smile” to be her fourth CD single.

“Platinum Smile” is a beautiful ballad featuring two versions on the CD single. The first is a love ballad that is beautiful and definitely showcases Kosaka’s vocals and very touching. The “Rock Edit.” version is not a ballad and is actually a fast, uptempo song and is actually a very cool fast song for the young artist.

What I found so cool about this song is typically when redone on a CD single, you get a typical remix which is either good or bad and nowhere in between. For “Platinum Smile”, it’s pretty cool to see how the song can sound like an emotional ballad and the other, a kick ass song with atmospheric chiming of electric guitar and thought that was very cool to hear two different versions.

The song is written by Kosaka and composed by LOVE+HATE.

The other track is “TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY” which is a Japanese pop song which is nicely done. It has an Earthy sound to it and all in all, a very cool coupling song.

Now one thing I do have to add is that for the sixth track “TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY (instrumental), the duration time is 10:40. The song ends at 4:21 but around 10:31, the “Platinum Smile” song comes on and Kosaka says something right at the end of the track.

As for the DVD, the music video features Erika Mori (who plays the character of Kazami Chiharu from the film “Kamen Rider the Next”), as she puts on headphones and watches the television featuring Kosaka Riyu singing “Platinum Smile” passionately and dressed all in black (and in slow motion).  The music video also shows clips from the film.

As for the CD insert, pretty much a tri-fold which features Kosaka Riyu standing and the lyrics utilizing each fold and the credits for the CD single.

All in all, a very big contrast from the music that I have reviewed for BeForU and I have not listened to her previous CD singles before.

I was pretty impressed by the CD single title track and the rock edit and the two differing versions and it was a pretty solid single from Kosaka Riyu.

All in all, it’s a very cool CD single that I definitely recommend to fans of hers, BeForU, Kamen Rider fans and fans wanting to check out other female artists in the J-Pop realm.