%20Koda%20Kumi%20at%20FNS%202025.png "Koda Kumi performs classics from Final Fantasy X-2 and Akina Nakamori for the FNS Music Festival | Random J Pop")
Kumi performing “Real Emotion” got the Kumi fans who are also Final Fantasy X-2 fans in a tizzy. But despite some fans online acting like Kumi NEVER performs this song, she has performed “Real Emotion” numerous times throughout her career. It was part of her 2007 Black Cherry tour setlist, her 2008 Kingdom tour setlist, her Fantasia show setlist, her 2014 Bon Voyage Tour setlist, her 2016 Best Single Collection tour setlist, her 2020 Kumi Kovid tour setlist. Kumi even performed it at the Kaohsiung Sakura Festival in March of this year.
But I get it. “Real Emotion” holds a place in the hearts of many fans — both Japanese and non. And for many non-Japanese fans, Final Fantasy X-2 was their introduction to Koda Kumi. Despite the North American and European releases of Final Fantasy X-2 featuring a version of “Real Emotion” sung by another artist, we all knew of the original version and preferred it. There is even an English version of “Real Emotion” sung by Kumi floating around online — which she recorded in the hopes it would be used for the international release of the game. The English lyrics to this version are much closer to the original Japanese lyrics and I actually prefer them. I think they tie into Yuna and Lenne’s stories much better.
But Kumi performing “Real Emotion” live on TV is a big deal, because it is the first time we have gotten a televised performance of it, which is kinda crazy.
As a fan of “Real Emotion”, it sucks to say that I really didn’t like this performance. I didn’t like the arrangement. I didn’t like the lighting. I thought the choreography was terrible and really needed to be updated. Because from what I can see, it’s near enough the same as it was in 2005. But it worked better back then because of Kumi’s energy whenever she’d perform the song. I did like that Kumi’s outfit was a homage to one of her looks in the “Real Emotion” music video though. Still. Yuna and Lenne deserved better than this.
It’s a real shame that Japanese broadcast networks are still like ‘Fuck uploading televised performances’. Because had this performance been uploaded officially to YouTube, it would have created a much bigger moment for Kumi online and allowed it to get a nice amount of coverage on both music and gaming sites. But unfortunately, all it got was a lil’ moment on Twitter before fizzling out. The same goes for Kumi’s performance with Junki Kono and Takumi Kawanishi of JO1, where they covered Akina Nakamori — an iconic music act of the 80s and one of the best-selling acts in Japan, who had a soft return into the spotlight earlier this year. Akina is also an artist who has been experiencing a surge in popularity over the past few years alongside popular city pop acts such as Miki Matsubara and Mariya Takeuchi — the latter of whom wrote half of the songs for Akina’s 1986 album Crimson.As per Kumi’s performance of “Real Emotion”, her look here was another homage — this time, to what Akina wore on the single cover for “Desire” and the outfits she often wore for live performances of the song.
Kumi covering Akina feels so right, because she has the voice for it. I wish Kumi would lean more into how deep her voice is and embrace it more, because it is one of the coolest aspects of her voice which helps set it apart from everybody else’s.
Kumi has covered Akina Nakamori before. Back in 2023 she performed her 1988 number 1 hit “Tattoo” with the Japanese drag group Hoshikuzu Scat — the same drag group who would go on to cover “Tattoo” for an Akina Nakamori tribute album which was released by Warner earlier this year. Kumi had also performed a cover of “Tattoo” on FNS Summer Music Festival earlier this year with enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa. What’s the deal with this “Tattoo” song some of you may ask? Well, a cover of it featured on Kumi’s 2010 cover album Eternity ~Love & Songs~, which to this day is still one of her best albums.
It’s such a shame that two performances Kumi gave, which could have been really great press and PR moments for her, just came and went. Largely because we got no official uploads of either performance for fans to share and non-Japanese media to cover. And yet, Sakae Takaichi is out here talking about making Japanese music international. Girl. Tell the broadcasters to get their YouTube channels together first.
💿 Koda Kumi reviews: Affection | Secret | Grow into One | Feel My Mind | Black Cherry | Trick | Kingdom | Universe | Eternity ~Love & Songs~ | Dejavu | Japonesque | Color the Cover | Bon Voyage | Walk Of My Life | W Face | AND | DNA | re(CORD) | angeL + monsteR [My Name Is...] | Heart | Unicorn | De:Code
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