Watch Hikaru Utada's Live Top Fan Picks before the shit gets 'archived'

Last week Hikaru Utada aired Live Top Fan Picks, which was a collection of her live performances as chosen by fans.

There was no introduction from Hikaru Utada herself, and nothing from her on each performance, which is unfortunate. It would've been nice for her to recall each performance and give us some insight into each of them. But, OH WELL.

The format of the rundown was nice though, as it ran from present to past from her latest tour Laughter in the Dark all the way back to her first ever tour Luv live. And with the exception of Luv live, we got 2 performances from each tour; so shit was fair. The top fan picks were a mix of what I expected, but there are some surprises. I did not expect to see "Anata", "Kremlin Dusk" nor "Time Limit". And I'm also surprised that we didn't get anything from In The Flesh.

Laughter in the Dark (2018)
Anata
Too Proud

Wild Life (2010)
Goodbye Happiness
Stay Gold

Utada United (2006)
This is Love
Kremlin Dusk

Hikaru Utada in Budokan (2004)
Traveling
Deep River

Bohemian Summer (2000)
Time Limit
In My Room

Luv Live (2001)
Automatic

"Time Limit" is my jam. But sweet Jebus, was that performance awkward to watch, between Hikaru playing hype man during the intro and the breakdown, and that outfit. I can't watch that ever again.

It is great seeing the evolution of Hikaru Utada as an artist in one video. She still has that awkward and nervous energy about her that she's always had, but you can see how she becomes far more comfortable with poise and stillness on stage by Wild Life and how she really owns that by Laughter in the Dark.

What would eventually be nice would be for each of these performances to be uploaded individually, but we know it ain't gon' happen. For us to even get this is a type of miracle in light of Hikaru Utada's once region locked music videos and how Japan generally hates YouTube and online, digital anything. And because Japan hates YouTube, this video will be archived eventually. So watch it as many times as you can, save the bitch down, do whatever-the-fuck.

🎧 Playlists: Slaykaru Queentada | Hikaru Utada: R&B | Hikaru Utada: Ballads
💿 Single reviews: Time | Dare ni mo Iwanai
💿 Album reviews: Hatsukoi | Fantôme | This is the One | Heart Station | Ultra Blue | Exodus | Deep River | Distance
🎤 About the gig: Laughter in the Dark