Mirai no Museum

"Mirai no Museum"
Single by Perfume
from the album LEVEL3
B-side だいじょばない (Daijobanai)
Released February 27, 2013
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2013
Genre Dance-pop, electropop
Label Universal J
Writer(s) Yasutaka Nakata
Producer(s) Yasutaka Nakata
Perfume singles chronology
"Spending All My Time"
(2012)		 "Mirai no Museum"
(2013)		 "Magic of Love"
(2013)

"Mirai no Museum" is a song by Japanese girl group Perfume from her fourth studio album Level 3 (2013). The song was released as the album's third single on 27 February 2013. It was written, composed and produced by Yasutaka Nakata. The song is a dance pop track, which features instrumentation of synthesizers and keyboards. The track is translated to "Future Museum" and was used as the theme song for the Doraemon film, Nobita no Himitsu Dougu Museum.

"Mirai no Museum" received negative reviews from music critics, who felt it was childish and interrupted the composition sequence of the album. The song became their eighth consecutive single to stall at number two in Japan. The track became their first charting single in Korea since their 2011 single "Laser Beam/Kasuka na Kaori". Yusuke Tanaka commissioned the accompanying music video for the single, which shows Perfume inside a comic book-style world. Perfume have performed the song through live performances throughout Japan.

Background and composition

Japanese girl group Perfume have released three studio albums. All three albums, Game (2008), Triangle (2009) and JPN peaked at number one in Japan.[1] The albums were certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) with shipments of 250,000 units; the first was awarded double platinum.[2][3][4] While working on their third album, Perfume departed from Tokuma Japan Communications and signed a deal with Universal Music Japan in order to release their work through global markets.[5] They begun work on their fourth studio album shortly after and pre-promoted it with two singles; "Spring of Life" and "Spending All My Time". Both singles were certified gold by RIAJ.[6][7]

As with the rest of Level 3, Japanese producer and Capsule musician Yasutaka Nakata had written, arranged and composed the song.[8] Nakata has collaborated with all of Perfume's records and songs from 2003 onwards.[9] It was recorded in Tokyo, Japan and was mixed and mastered by Nakata.[8] It is a dance and electro-pop song,[10][11] and incorporates instrumentation of a drum machine, synthesizer and keyboards.[8]

Reception

"Mirai no Museum" received negative reviews from most music critics. Writing for Land of Rising, Alex Shenmue said the song was one to skip. He felt that while the song was sung and produced well and catchy, "it doesn't fit the role of middle-section track in this album," and "breaks the musical delivery."[11] He labelled it the "one true issue on the album."[11] Patrick St. Michael, writing for The Japan Times, said it was his least favorite single from the album and said it was "painfully out of place."[10] Selective Hearings writer Nia labelled it a "dud" and "childish." She said the song was the weakest and prefered their track "Hurly Burly" to replace the song, which did not feature on the album.[12] A writer from CDJournal praised the "dreamy" and catchy production, but criticized the composition.[13] Ian Martin, who had written their extended biography at Allmusic, had highlighted the song as an album standout and career standout.[14]

The song charted in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Reaching number two on the Oricon Singles Chart,[1] it became the groups eighth consecutive single to stall at number two. It was the groups last single to reach number two until their 2014 single "Cling Cling" reached the position and is their eleventh best-selling single there.[15] The track also peaked at two on Japan's Hot 100 chart.[16] The song reached number twenty-three and thirteen in South Korea and Taiwan Overseas chart.[17][18][upper-alpha 1] The song was certified gold by RIAJ for shipments of 100,000 units in Japan.[19]

Release and promotion

Selected as the third single of Level 3, the song was released as an extended play digital download on 27 February of that year.[20] Universal Music then released the single in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the US.[21][22][23][24][25] Two CD singles were issued; a standalone CD with all four songs, and a digipak that included a bonus DVD, a lyric sheet and a music video comic book.[8]

"Mirai no Museum" was used as the ending theme song for the film Doraemon: Nobita no Himitsu Dōgu Museum. Perfume debuted the track on Music Japan TV, where they sported the same outfit on the CD cover and performed the track through live performance.[26] The group shot a promotional video for the films release.[27] The official music video was directed by Japanese director Yusuke Tanaka and premiered on Perfume's youtube channel in June 2013. It depicts Perfume inside a comic book-theme world, trying to defeat the heavily armored warrior from the comic world. They are accompanied by a mysterious mascot man, who trys to hide away from the warrior when it attacks.[28] The video is the groups twelfth highest viewed music video on Youtube as of April 2015.[29]

Credits and personnel

Details adapted from the liner notes of the "Mirai no Museum" CD single.[8]

Song credits

Visual credits

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Yasutaka Nakata. 

CD
No. Title Length
1. "Mirai no Museum" (未来のミュージアム, Museum of the Future)  
2. "Daijyobanai" (だいじょばない, I'm Not Okay)  
3. "Mirai no Museum" (Original Instrumental)  
4. "Daijyobanai" (Original Instrumental)  

Charts, peaks and positions

Weekly charts

Chart (2000) Peak
position
Japan (Oricon)[1] 2
Japan (Billboard)[16] 2
Japan Hot Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[30] 9
Japan Hot Animation (Billboard)[31] 1
Japan Hot Airplay (Billboard)[32] 7
Japan Hot Single Sales (Billboard)[33] 2
South Korea (Gaon Chart)[17] 23
Taiwan (G-Music)[18] 13

Certification

Region Certification Shipments
Japan (RIAJ)[19] Gold 100,000

Release history

Country Date Format Label Ref.
Japan 27 February 2013 CD single Universal Music Japan, Perfume Records [8]
Digipak [34]
Taiwan [34]
Japan Digital download [20]
United States [21]
Australia [23]
New Zealand [22]
Canada [24]
United Kingdom [25]

Notes

  1. ↑ Week references for G-Music: JPN 2012 week 15, "Spending All My Time" 2012 week 35, Love the World 2012 week 41, "Mirai no Museum" 2013 week 10, "Magic of Love" and Perfume World Tour 1st 2013 week 21, Level3 2013 week 40, "Sweet Refrain" 2013 week 48, "Cling Cling" 2014 week 30, Perfume 3rd Tour JPN and Perfume 4th Tour in Dome: Level3 2014 week 44.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Perfumeの作品 [Perfume Products]. Oricon (in Japanese). Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2009年3月" [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (March 2009)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. April 10, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  3. ↑ "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2009年7月" [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (July 2009)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. August 10, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
  4. ↑ "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2011年11月" [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (November 2011)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. December 10, 2011. Retrieved February 13, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Perfume世界展開に向けレーベル移籍！今春CM曲リリース" (in Japanese). Natalie. February 29, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  6. ↑ "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2012年4月" [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (April 2012)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. May 10, 2012. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  7. ↑ "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2012年8月" [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (August 2012)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. September 10, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 "Level 3" (Album). Perfume. Universal Music Japan; Universal J; Perfume Records. 2013.
  9. ↑ "Perfume" (in Japanese). Tokuma Japan Communications. Archived from the original on March 16, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 St. Michael, Patrick (22 October 2015). "Perfume "Level 3"". The Japan Times. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Shenmue, Alex (29 October 2014). "Perfume - Level 3 album review". Land of Rising. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  12. ↑ Nia (29 November 2013). "Perfume - Level 3 album review". Selective Hearing. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  13. ↑ Unknown, author. "Perfume / Mirai no Museum [CD]". CDJournal. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  14. ↑ Martin, Ian (29 November 2013). "Perfume - Songs, Highlights, Awards and Credits". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  15. ↑ "Perfumeのシングル売り上げランキング" [Perfume single sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Japan Billboard Hot 100". Billboard (in Japanese). March 6, 2013. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "2013년 11주차 Album Chart 국외". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "G-Music J-Pop Chart" (in Chinese). G-Music. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2013年2月" [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (February 2013)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. March 10, 2013. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "Mirai no Museum - EP - Perfume". iTunes Store (JP). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Mirai no Museum - EP - Perfume". iTunes Store (US). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "Mirai no Museum - EP - Perfume". iTunes Store (NZ). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "Mirai no Museum - EP - Perfume". iTunes Store (AU). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 "Mirai no Museum - EP - Perfume". iTunes Store (CA). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Mirai no Museum - EP - Perfume". iTunes Store (GB). 27 February 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  26. ↑ "Perfume × ドラえもん 未来のミュージアム". Youtube.com. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  27. ↑ "＜コメント＞Perfume mirai no museum opening doraemon !!!ム". Youtube.com. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  28. ↑ "[MV] Perfume「未来のミュージアム」". Youtube.com. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  29. ↑ "Perfume - Click the 'Most Popular' button on top-right". Youtube.com. 18 June 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  30. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot Airplay". Billboard (in Japanese). March 18, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot Animation". Billboard (in Japanese). March 25, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  32. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot Airplay". Billboard (in Japanese). March 11, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  33. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot Airplay". Billboard (in Japanese). March 11, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 "Mirai no Museum" (Digipak single). Perfume. Universal Music Japan; Universal J; Perfume Records. 2013.