Crystal Kay to feature on the soundtrack of Kyoko Fukada’s Prime Video series, A2Z

As Amazon continue to expand the portfolio of Japanese content on their Prime Video service, a new series titled A2Z will release in February. And this is a bit of a big deal, as it marks the comeback of Kyoko Fukada, following a two year hiatus. Two years doesn’t sound long at all. But when you’re a somebody who was in a yearly string of Japanese dramas and films AND you’re a woman; two years is a long-ass time to be absent. Especially in an ageist industry.

Kyoko’s hiatus was a result of Adjustment Disorder, which is a stress related condition which overlaps a lot with depression - usually brought on by a significant change in your life. Kyoko must have been going THROUGH IT over the course of the pandemic, when it seemed like a combo of big life changes; during which it was reported that she caught COVID.

Po’ thing.

I had never heard of Adjustment Disorder before, until writing this post.

I really do wish that mental health was more of an open topic in Japan which didn’t lead with judgement, especially when it comes to women. Because I recall some of the stories and headlines around Erika Sawajiri when she was going through some shit, and it was very unsympathetic. This is not unique to Japan by any means. But this is a post concerning a Japanese woman, and women in Japan are continually getting the shorter end of sticks when it comes to mental health discussions, portrayals and options available to them in times of need.

There was a period when Kyoko Fukada was in every-damn-thing. Every commercial. Every variety show. Every J-drama. Every film. Every gay bar. (Hikaru Utada fans may recall Kyoko Fukada’s name popping up in a story years ago, when she and Hikaru Utada were spotted together in Tokyo’s gay district). But I feel the point at which her work started to slow down was when Japanese dramas saw this wave of newer and younger actors, and the likes of Kyoko Fukada effectively found themselves replaced with somebody younger; who would then go on to be the flavour of the moment. And I feel like this went on for years. But there is always a period when an actor comes back following a hiatus and it’s a huge success, and then there’s this domino effect of Japanese dramas casting once popular actors into roles following a hiatus, and then they’re career gets a second wind. Ryoko Shinohara went through the exact same thing.

But this comeback isn’t just big news for Kyoko fans, but Crystal Kay fans. As the soundtrack to A2Z will feature four songs from CK; one of which can be heard in one of the trailers.

A2Z’s original soundtrack is composed by Akihiro Manabe, with Crystal Kay’s songs being the only ones on the soundtrack to feature vocals.

Crystal’s four songs on the soundtrack are “Start Again”, “How You Feel”, “Spark” and “One Flight Down” - each of which is sung entirely in English. “One Flight Down” is a cover, the original of which is by Norah Jones, lifted from her 2002 debut album Come Away with Me/

Once again, Crystal Kay is giving us covers, and there is no cross promotion with I Sing, a re-release of that damn album, or just a whole new album of covers.

And whilst Crystal did post up a story about her involvement in this show, there is nothing on her Instagram grid about it.

Four songs featuring in a Prime Video series. A show which is on the same streaming service as The Masked Singer, which you were a runner up on. And not so much as an Instagram post?

It’s truly wild to me that LDH keep attaching Crystal to shows and films via songs, yet won’t actually get her booked to feature in any of them. Crystal is out here in auditions and acting workshops, and doing Broadway, and yet you can’t book a bitch to star in a Japanese drama!?

Girl. Fire the whole management and marketing team.

I’ve liked Kyoko Fukada in the shows of hers that I’ve seen (Remote was a delight). And Kei Tanaka is great in everything he’s in. But he was especially great in the shockingly progressive queer love story, Ossan’s Love. So I might check this A2Z show out for more than just hearing Crystal’s songs.

A2Z releases on Prime Video on February 3rd, 2023. With the full soundtrack releasing on March 1st, 2023. A2Z is a 10 episode series, but it’ll drop Netflix style, with every episode being made available from day one. So we’ll get to hear these Crystal Kay songs long before the soundtrack releases.

A2Z will more than likely be a Japan exclusive release. Hopefully not though. With Netflix putting good money into Japanese shows for their service, making this show available worldwide would make sense in the on-going streaming wars.

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Crystal Kay to feature on the soundtrack of Kyoko Fukada’s Prime Video series, A2Z

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