Rabbit releases a promotional clip for Rabito!

Avex Network uploaded a promotional clip for Rabbit's upcoming debut album "Rabito". The clip is a kind of medley featuring all the previews of the album tracks which were already revealed on Rabbit's official site. What's interesting is the fact that the clip has a form of a PV with a very quirky plot... But this is something that you have to see yourself:

What do you think about the promo clip? Did you like the previews of the tracks? Pick your favourite and vote for it! :)

Mana-Mana torby

Rabbit's "Awa Garu" a theme song for an upcoming drama High School Drive!

Rabbit's song 泡ガール (Awa Girl - Bubble Girl) from their upcoming debut album "Rabito" will be featured in a new drama titled ハイスクールドライブ～ (High School Drive). The drama is going to be a mobile drama consisting of 10 episodes and it's going to be broadcast by BeeTV. You can view the trailer here:

High School Drive is going to be a teenage drama whose main themes will be friendship, love and obstacles. Two main characters are Sota (Horii Arata) and Kana (Kurumi Shimizu) whose hearts are inhabited by two 38-year-old spirits. This, obviously, will lead to problems and plot twists! :)

More info about the High School Drive - 1 | 2

I think that the song matches the drama perfectly :) I can't wait to hear its full version!

An article about Rabbit on Wikipedia

It was revealed on Rabbit's official Facebook that the band has their own article on Wikipedia :) Unfortunately for foreign fans, the article is only in Japanese and other language versions are not available (yet). Click the image below to be redirected to the page :)

Rabbit reveals previews of the tracks from their album

Are you curious what will Rabbit sound like? Their official website was updated with samples of the tracks from the upcoming album "Rabito". Click the image to be redirected to the page with previews:

Hmmm, today's day is full of attractions for Ai-chan's and Rabbit's fans :) The PV is out and so are the previews... Things just got very interesting :)

What do you think about Rabbit?

In the poll below, you can express your feelings about the whole project :) Let's see how many of you really like the new adventure of Ai-chin!

torebki handmade

Rabbit's debut album "Rabito" is selling out fast...

Even though the release date for "Rabito" is December 12, the copies of the album are selling out fast! At the moment, there are only 19 copies of limited version and 4 copies of the regular version left at CDJapan. It seems that Rabbit project gained some serious popularity in Japan :)

Pre-order your copy of Rabito! CDJapan | YesAsia | mu-mo

Ai Otsuka's sporting a new short hairstyle...

It seems that Ai-chan decided to begin her adventure with Rabbit with a new hairstyle :)

Personally, I think that short hair suits her very much. It reminds me a little of her hairdo from "Ren'ai Shashin" promotions back in 2007 :)

Do you like it? :)

Source: Channel-Ai

Rabbit online - Twitter, Facebook and the official site

Rabbit is currently beginning the promotions of their first album and they keep fans updated using social networking services and their official websites.

Rabbit's official site | Rabbit's Facebook | Rabbit's Twitter

Remember to follow Rabbit and Ai Otsuka Love Blog to keep up with updates! :)

See also:

• Ai Otsuka as a part of a new band - Rabbit
• Rabbit - Nikki (radio rip) - listen!
• Rabbit - Rabito album covers and promo

Rabbit - Rabito album covers and pre-order info

Covers for Rabbit's first album "Rabito" along with a promo picture have been revealed today!

 

Normal Edition

Limited Edition

Promo picture

 The album is slated for release for December 12, 2012. Normal edition will contain only the CD and the Limited edition will be CD + DVD with two videos.

Pre-order from mu-mo: CD | CD+DVD

What do you think about the covers? Do you like them? ;) Have you pre-ordered your copy of the album yet?

Rabbit - Nikki (radio rip) - listen!

Without further ado, check out the first song by Rabbit - Nikki! :) Click the image below to be redirected to the player.

The version above is a low-quality radio rip, but it sure gives you what you need to anticipate the whole album :) The song sounds like a garage rock composition, but I kinda like this raw arrangement - it's an interesting change in Ai's usual sound. I can't wait to hear the whole album!

Do you like the song? What do you think about it? :)

Ai Otsuka's a part of a new band - Rabbit!

According to recent news, Ai Otsuka has become a part of a new music band called Rabbit! The band has announced their first album entitled 裸人 (Rabito) which is slated for December 12, but the album is already available to pre-order at mu-mo.

The band's line-up:
Ai Otsuka - vocals
Minami Sasuga's Jagatara - backup vocal
Toshiyuki Mori - keyboard
Watusi - bass
Satou Taiji - guitar, backup vocals
Numazawa Takashi - drums

The upcoming album's covers:

Tracklist and credits:

01. ドーナツスポット words : AiO music : AiO & 森 俊之 arrangement : Rabbit
02. RUNWAY words : AiO music : Lori Fine arrangement : Rabbit
03. 泡ガール words : AiO music : AiO arrangement : Rabbit
04. Nikki words : 南流石 music : 佐藤タイジ arrangement : Rabbit
05. UNLOVE words : AiO music : 森 俊之 arrangement : Rabbit
06. 半熟たまご words : AiO music : AiO arrangement : Rabbit
07. MOONLIGHT words : LOVE music : LOVE arrangement : Rabbit
08. 時の彼方 words : 佐藤タイジ music : 佐藤タイジ arrangement : Rabbit
09. HoloHolo words : AiO music : Lori Fine arrangement : Rabbit
10. ローリン アース ストーン ～地球を転がせ～ words : 南流石 music : 佐藤タイジ arrangement : Rabbit

Rabbit is also planning to embark on a tour which is going to start in January 2013.

UPDATE 1: The album's title 裸人 (romanized as: Rabito) literally means "naked people" and as you probably noticed, it sounds very similar to the bands' name. Isn't it clever? Many thanks to すんすけ for this information :)

UPDATE 2: Listen to Nikki!

UPDATE 3: Covers and a promo picture

UPDATE 4: Rabbit's official website, Twitter and Facebook

What do you think about all this Rabbit project and Ai Otsuka in it? Honestly, I was very surprised to hear about it, but I'm looking forward to hear their songs! ;) I wonder what the album's general theme will be about - I'm sensing something... really peculiar :D

Also... what do you think about the band's logo? I can't even... :D

More info: Channel-Ai

LOVE is BORN ~9th Anniversary 2012~ - photos from Excite Music!

Now that LOVE is BORN concerts are over, music sites publish more information and photos from the events. Here you can admire a collection of 10 photos from LOVE is BORN ~9th Anniversary 2012~ published by Excite Music :)

You can read the whole article here.

Which photo is your favourite? I think that all of them are my favourites :)

More about LOVE is BORN ~9th Anniversary 2012~: dates, goods and ticket info | the setlist | the stage, the venue and goods - photos | pamphlet and calendar photos | fancams

Fancams from LOVE is BORN ~9th Anniversary 2012~!

Ai Otsuka during LOVE is BORN ~9th Anniversary~

Yay! A couple of audio clips from LOVE is BORN concerts in Kobe and Osaka were recorded and uploaded online by LittleBigHeart. Without further ado, check them out below!

Hikari

Action 10.5 - click here (embedding disabled)

Planetarium - click here (embedding disabled)

Talking part - click here (you can see a bit of Ai there!)

Haneari Tamago / Momo no Hanabira (from Kobe)

Well, my dear Readers, did you like the videos? What do you say? Would you like to see Ai-chan live? :)

Thank you, LittleBigHeart, for bringing LiB9 to the western world :)

SOURCES: Channel-Ai

TOP TEN OF AI OTSUKA - Set 2: Ai-chan's rock songs

In this ranking, I'm presenting you ten rockish songs from Ai Otsuka's discography. She's got quite a lot of rock songs, but I chose those which I like the most.

For genre purists out there: some of the songs listed below are pop rather than rock, so you can treat "rock" here as this kind of music which uses more guitar :D

Here we go~

"Happy Days" is Ai's fourth single. I placed it at the bottom of this ranking, because... I don't like it as much as others ;)

This song is one crazy song. It's one of funniest moments on "LOVE LETTER" ;) Even though it's crazy and sometimes kind of annoying, it's still enjoyable and has a hilarious choreography~

"Superman" opens Ai-chan's second album "LOVE JAM". I like it better than "Happy Days" and I always enjoy this "wonderful" Engrish line "I sing love you" :D ("I think I love you", in fact...)

"Pon Pon" is always a fantastic mess during each Ai's concert ;) This song is so heavy and so senseless that it makes it a perfect song for goofing around ;)

This song comes from "LOVE PiECE" album and it's a fun pop-rockish song with a nice flow. It always cheers me up... especially when I see its nonsense Engrish title :D

"Bye Bye" was a re-cut single from "LOVE LETTER" - it was released after the album. I like its catchy melody and its very simple yet pretty PV.

I prefer this version better over "Kuroge Wagyuu Joshio Tanyaki 735 Yen". I like such seductive and sensual Ai-chin~

This song was used in Ai-chan's "Tokyo Friends". I think this version is better than "Friends" released as the last track of "LOVE JAM". The rock feeling and stronger guitars just fit the song better. I'm so happy that it was added to "Daisuki dayo" single as the B-side ;)

I simply love "Yumekui"! It's one of my favourite songs from Ai Otsuka. It's just so catchy, easy to sing along to and has awesome the lyrics about pursuing your dreams. What else would you want from a single? Well... A slightly better PV. I admit that the PV is cute, but I'd rather see Ai-chan herself in it... I'm not really digging her animated alter-ego...

I really don't know why this song didn't become an official single. It had so much potential! I bet this is one of the most loved songs by Ai Otsuka. I know it had a PV and was somewhat promoted, but it's not the kind of promotion this song obviously deserves... It's definitely one of the best songs Ai has ever released and I think you'll all agree.

How much do you know about Ai Otsuka? - take a quiz!

In this quiz you can check your knowledge about Ai Otsuka. Are you curious how much you know about Ai? Do you think you deserve to be called a true fan? There's only one way - solve the quiz and you'll know your status. Are you ready?

Attention - some of the questions might be quite tricky!

Click the photo below to be redirected to the quiz~

Good luck, Ai-holics! :)

You're welcome to share your comments about the quiz. You can also rate it after finishing. Feel free to post your results here! ;)

Ai Otsuka tweets about LOVE is BORN concert in Tokyo / Caring Ai-chan

In a recent tweet, Ai Otsuka thanked everyone for a successful concert in Tokyo, lots of presents and wishes and the birthday party. She mentioned that her daughter danced in a "LUCKY STAR" outfit in the dressing room :)

Moreover, Ai wrote that someone had collapsed during the concert which made her very worried. She hopes that everyone could come back home safely. It seems that our dear Ai-chin truly cares about her fans :)

I also hope that everyone attending LOVE is BORN concerts are fine and all their memories from the events will be precious and cherished! :)

Ai Otsuka's timeline - past & present

Ai Otsuka is already 30 years old. But in her case, the time seems to have stopped somewhere her early-mid  twenties, don't you agree? :)

In this post, I gathered a small collection of her past photos - since her childhood till the present time. Let's see how she has changed (or... hasn't)!

EARLY CHILDHOOD

PRIMARY / MIDDLE SCHOOL

HIGH SCHOOL

DEBUT: 2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

So, has Ai changed or not? :)