Hikaru Utada teases their song "Kimi ni Muchuu", and gets more Kingdom Hearts money

Hikaru Utada is rude. Making me sit and watch through a whole episode of this dry ass J-drama, just to hear their song. Y'all. The song doesn't drop until 45 minutes in. And this episode has so much music in it that stands out and sounds like it's gonna be THE song, that by the time Hikaru's shit came around I was so over it all, that I almost missed the song completely.

Seriously though. What is it with Hikaru Utada's songs featuring in raggedy J-dramas?! Hana Yori Dango 2 was fucking awful. The only good thing about it was how it used "Flavor of Life". Last Friends had Masami Nagasawa in it, who is annoying in every damn thing she stars in, so I already couldn't stand it before I even watched it. A real shame, because it dealt with topics that J-dramas always tend to shy away from, and "Prisoner of Love" fit the story in the show so perfectly. And then there's Majo no Jōken, which was problematic as hell. A school student and a teacher falling in love and fucking!? Mess. And I hate how well "First Love" song fits.

HENNYWAY.

Here's a first listen of Hikaru Utada's new song as featured in the TBS drama Saiai, which is titled "Kimi ni Muchuu".

I'm not totally sure what to make of this song. I like the familiarity of it, and how it feels like it's in this tug of war between serenity and tension. It was like listening to a fusion of "Stay Gold" and "Prisoner of Love". You may hear other songs, as my initial reaction was 'This sounds like a bunch of different Hikaru Utada songs blended together'. But some of the musical, structural and production choices feel a little off to me, which is honestly how I've felt about all of the songs Hikaru has released since from "Time" onward. But maybe it'll grow on me. Hikaru's stuff usually does. I wasn't keen on "Be My Last" initially, and then further down the line I grew to really adore it. "Heart Station" did nothing for me when it was released as a single. Then the album dropped and it wound up being one of my favourites on it. Exodus didn't really hit for me until years after it released. You catch my drift. Hikaru's music just be like that sometimes. But I'll reserve judgement until I hear the fill thing. One thing I will say now though is that I like how Hikaru's flow switches up in the song. Flow is something that I feel Hikaru is experimenting with in their songs lately.

There's no word at time of posting if "Kimi ni Muchuu" will get a digital or a physical release. It's highly likely it will release in some form, given that the song is tied to a J-drama, and that Hikaru Utada has a history of always releasing their J-drama tie-in's as singles, and EVERY artist does. And IF it happens to be a physical release maybe we'll get "Finding Love" as a B-Side, but I doubt it. And I also hope not. I'm honestly fine with "Find Love" just being a tease and something we only get to hear in full when the inevitable Hatsukoi follow-up drops.

Going by what we've heard so far, it seems like Hikaru is 'bout to give us an album of depressing love songs with beats that make the cheeks shake, and I'm here for it. I am partial to a song which will put me in my feelings and make me feel like shit, whilst making me squat and buss' it open.

Earlier in the month Nintendo dropped a trailer for the final guest character for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and who turned up? None other than Sora from Kingdom Hearts. And of course the trailer featured "Hikari" / "Simple & Clean", so Hikaru Utada got paid. AGAIN. Square Enix could release a Kingdom Hearts game every 4 years, with each one featuring a new song from Hikaru Utada, but they will STILL put "Hikari" / "Simple & Clean" in every trailer and every single one of those games. And Hikaru won't ever play a Kingdom Hearts game, EVER, and I wouldn't blame them. The Kingdom Hearts games are a mess. I don't know how anybody could say that third game was good. It was fucking awful. The only good thing about it was the orchestrated version of "Chikai" / "Don't Think Twice".

So. Let's talk about this upcoming album. On one hand I feel like we could get an album in December. But on the other, I feel that maybe we won't get one until Spring 2022. I'd honestly be cool with Hikaru just feeling their way through the music and just dropping singles. I really do wish more J-artists would play with their release strategies a little more. Namie shook the table with _genic, saying 'Fuck dem singles'. And even Perfume are fucking around, releasing a digital single, then releasing that single physically with a remix and a variant version of the song, and then dropping the video after the release. It's refreshing. But at least Hikaru's singles feel like they're all sharing a vibe and tone. It's easy to hear how how "Time", "Dare ni mo Iwanai", "One Last Kiss", "Pink Blood", "Find Love" and "Kimi ni Muchuu" would sit together on an album, which can be rare for singles from J-Pop artists released over a period of time.

I'm honestly just glad Hikaru is still doing music, because I always feel like they could just wave goodbye and peace out at any moment.

💿 Singletada Reviewtada: Pink Blood | One Last Kiss | Dare ni mo Iwanai | Time

🎧 Spotifykaru Playlistada: Slaykaru Queentada | Hikaru Utada: R&B | Hikaru Utada: Ballads | Hikaru Utada: Bops | Hikaru Utada: Remixes