LOVE PUNCH - Review

‘LOVE PUNCH’ was my first encounter with Ai Otsuka’s music. And, yes, it was a punch :) However, before I played this album, I learnt some things about the artist to know what to expect. I learned that Ai likes to mix various genres of music, but generally she creates very enthusiastic, positive and happy music. So, I expected ‘LOVE PUNCH’ to be something like the first album of Britney Spears (‘Baby One More Time’). If you, dear reader, think the same as I used to, then I have to warn you. If you think that ‘Soda Pop’ is an unlistenable, pink bubble gum pop song, then you do not know that there might be even more cute and extremely upbeat song. Moreover, not only one, but at least five of them. All included on one album. And far, far, farther than you imagine, better than any American pop, conceived and written by a professional think tank and performed (only!) by an adorable cutie ;)

First of all – a few words about the booklet. And the cover, of course, which is definitely sweet. Have a look and see by yourself – it is kawaii. It is just Ai being Ai – naturally pretty, flirtatious and absolutely girlish. She is a living proof that you don’t have to wear heavy make-up to look just fine... However, the cover itself isn’t much except of its cuteness. Much better things to see are inside the booklet... and there is Ai-chin playing various sports: basketball, volleyball, baseball, tennis... Nothing particularly strange, however, look at the ‘balls’ that she uses. It can be an onion, a cabbage, an orange, whatever. Moreover, she has such a serious face on these photos, like she really was convinced that it is possible to play with vegetables and there’s nothing odd about this! Well, at least it is original. Do you usually expect a CD booklet of a sweet debuting starlet to be something like cabbage bowling? No, you don’t. Does it draw your attention? Yes, it does. And that’s the point :)

Ai-chin playing volleyball with a watermelon... 

When it comes to music, I admit that the whole impression about ‘LOVE PUNCH’ is mostly created by the very first track – ‘pretty voice’ (no, I have no idea why the title is always in lower case). The song is extremely energetic, fast and hilarious – perfect as the alarm clock tune (when I get bored of ‘MAGIC’, I will switch to this one). Every time I start my day with ‘pretty voice’, it turns out to be somehow more successful, brighter, the weather is always nicer and the people smile wider... I love this song. I really do.

However, there are more songs more or less like this. We can mention ‘GIRLY’ (more moderate, but with repeatable catchy chorus), or ‘Ishigawa Osaka...’ (kinda funky, yet... well, irksome). There is also, of course, both famous and infamous, loved and hated, known and wish-not-to-know... 「さくらんぼ」(‘Sakuranbo’). Some say that this is Ai’s greatest success, when it comes to sales and other very commercial things. The truth is that almost every young person in Japan who was interested in J-pop music circa 2003/2004 knows the tune of this song and at least once tried to get it out of their head. This song, being nearly annoyingly catchy, funny and cosmically upbeat, may serve as Otsuka’s trademark. It was her first song in this characteristic for her style, then there are ‘Happy Days’ or ‘SMILY’ (more insane is only ‘Pon Pon’, but it never was a single, so not everyone knows it). Even though Ai has matured a lot since then and already in ‘Love Jam’ era she began writing touching and deep ballads, people still associate her with the image of big, dark, sweet, innocent eyes and small lips holding a pair of red cherries (above). Think whatever you want about ‘Sakuranbo’, but it’s good to remember that if it hadn’t been a single, Ai might have not fully developed her promising career. The fact is that Japan (and then a quite big part of the world) discovered Ai and fell in love with her just because of this song. Her previous single (‘Momo no Hanabira’) wasn’t regarded as a big success. Despite the fact that it survived (on low positions, but still) on charts for quite a couple of weeks, it was rather not popular. What’s curious, it’s what Ai herself thinks about her first musical break-out. Well, she once described ‘Sakuranbo’ and ‘Happy Days’ as her ‘schoolmates’. A lot of things and assumptions were made up after these words, because Ai didn’t really explain what she meant. According to the fans speculating on this matter on Channel-Ai, she could have had in mind that she kinda liked those songs, however, she treated them as a certain level in her career progress; something that must have been created and performed. Maybe Ai-chin didn’t expect those pieces to be so successful and she was confused that the songs which weren’t her best, became so easily recognisable? Well, any interpretation may be the right one. Read the discussion on Channel-Ai here.

As we mentioned ‘Momo no Hanabira’ earlier, it’s the moment to say some words about the ballads on ‘LOVE PUNCH’, because they play a very important role in Ai’s music career. Her first attempts in writing slower and more meaningful songs are especially interesting for us, because while listening to them chronologically, we can follow her artistic development and, sometimes, try to predict where she is going now. The first album includes 4 ballads, from which 2 of them were released as singles (‘Momo no Hanabira’ and ‘Amaenbo’). The rest are ‘Ame no Naka no Melody’ and ‘Shabondama’. I like all of them, but especially ‘Amaenbo’. For me, this song reveals Otsuka’s true talent and gives us a clue that she hasn’t shown the best of her yet. It’s easy to guess why Ai returned to this song while preparing the material for ‘LOVE IS BEST’ – this piece is simply beautiful, both music and lyrics. ‘I had always searched for this great loving feel, I'm surrounded by it, in your arms.I want you to hold me tighter and never let go’ – yes, every single girl dreams about it deep in her heart :)

To take it all over and summarize... hmm, it’s not as easy as it seems to be. In isolation, with no knowledge about Ai-chin and her next albums, ‘Love Punch’ is a light, cool and generally entertaining album which is perfect for a party or simple jumping in pure happiness on the bed. Or if you want to improve your mood, of course. However, when you are already familiar with Ai’s music, this album may not fully satisfy you. Yes, it is good and very Ai Otsuka, but there is something missing... There is too much immaturity and playing just for playing, no further message included. But as for a debut album, it couldn’t be better, either. It’s a common fact that the first release of any artist is only a foreword to their real artistic possibilities. Think about any artist you admire – even Michael Jackson’s first solo CD sucked at times ;) Since ‘Love Punch’ got generally good marks in reviews everywhere, it seems that Ai made a very good start. She created a solid base for her further artistic achievements. The very next album which includes such outstanding pieces as ‘Kingyo Hanabi’ or ‘Daisuki dayo’ is an ideal proof of this statement.

Happy-go-lucky Ai from 'LOVE PUNCH' era... :D