Over the Rainbow (Mai Kuraki album)

Over the Rainbow
Studio album by Mai Kuraki
Released January 11, 2012
Recorded 2011–12
Genre J-pop, R&B
Length 55:44
Label Northern Music
Producer Mai Kuraki, Daikō Nagato
Mai Kuraki chronology

Future Kiss
(2010)		 Over the Rainbow
(2012)		 Mai Kuraki Best 151A: Love & Hope
(2014)
Singles from Over the Rainbow
  1. "1000 Mankai no Kiss"
    Released: March 9, 2011
  2. "Mou Ichido"
    Released: May 25, 2011
  3. "Your Best Friend"
    Released: October 19, 2011
  4. "Strong Heart"
    Released: November 23, 2011

Over the Rainbow is the tenth studio album of Japanese musician Mai Kuraki. It was released on January 11, 2012.[1]

Background

The album has four singles, namely:

It also includes the following songs:

Track listing [3]

All lyrics written by Mai Kuraki, except track 1, 5, 8, 10 (Kuraki/Giorgio Cancemi) and track 9 (Kuraki/Michael Africk). 

CD
No. TitleMusicArranger(s) Length
1. "Strong Heart" (first DVD and 38th overall single/theme song for the 2011 Kansai TV/Fuji TV Japanese drama HUNTER ~Sono Onna-tachi, Shoukin Kasegi~[4])CancemiCancemi 4:20
2. "Another Day*Another World"  Aika OhnoMasazumi Ozawa 3:56
3. "Sayonara wa Madaiwanai de (Album Edition)" (B-side of 1000 Mankai no Kiss)FootbreadFootbread, Park Sang-hyun (guitar) 4:35
4. "Stay the Same" (Sanrio's image song for Wish Me Mell[5])CancemiCancemi 5:12
5. "Your Best Friend" (37th single/ending theme for the 20th season of the Yomiuri TV/Nippon Television animation Case Closed)CancemiCancemi 5:52
6. "Mou Ichido" (36th single/theme song of the 2011 Tokai TV/Fuji TV Japanese drama Devil in the Mist)Hirokazu TajiriTajiri 4:00
7. "Brave Your Heart (featuring Alex Ru)" (theme song for the 2012 movie The Love Leading to Tomorrow)Akihito TokunagaTokunaga 4:58
8. "Sun Will Shine on U" (theme song of TV Kanazawa's となりのテレ金ちゃん)CancemiCancemi 4:20
9. "Love One Another (with Michael Africk)" (digital single for the benefit of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami victims)AfrickAfrick, Miguel Sá Pessoa, Perry Geyer 3:58
10. "Step by Step" (B-side of Your Best Friend/official image song of the Nemu no Sato Hotel and Resort, Mie Prefecture[6])CancemiCancemi 4:58
11. "1000 Mankai no Kiss" (35th single/official image song of Kose Corporation's Esprique Precious make-up line)OhnoTakeshi Hayama 5:03
12. "La La La * La"  TokunagaTokunaga 4:29

Chart procession

Oricon

(This album finished second behind EXILE's "EXILE Japan/Solo".)

Released Chart Peak Debut sales Sales total Chart run
January 11, 2012 Daily Albums Chart 2 11,080 49,998[7] 11 weeks[7]
Weekly Albums Chart 2 29,618
Monthly Albums Chart 14 44,374
Yearly Albums Chart TBD 49,998

Billboard Japan

Release Chart Peak position
January 11, 2012 Billboard Japan Hot Albums 2[8]

mora.jp

Released Chart Peak Chart run
January 11, 2012 Weekly Album Download Chart 11 1 week

Others

Released Chart Peak Chart run
January 11, 2012 Power Countdown Japan Hot 30 (Albums Chart) 2[9] 3 weeks

Reviews

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Amazon Japan (link)
EmbraceYou (link)
FM 139.7 (link)
HMV Japan (link)
MSN Music Japan Positive (link)
Oricon 75 of 100 (link)
Rakuten (link)
Yahoo! Japan (link)

The album received critical reception from different sites. EmbraceYou, a web magazine (webzine) based in New York, stated that "every track (in this album) sells in its own unique way."[10] FM 139.7, a blogsite dedicated to East Asian pop culture, described Over the Rainbow as "the final stage of Kuraki's evolution from R&B to J-pop, while maintaining some of her earlier youthful R&B momentum."[11]

In Amazon Japan, the album got four out of five stars in 32 reviews, aside from 165 likes. Out of 82 reviews, the album got 4.6 of 5 stars on Rakuten.

Release history

Region Date Label Distributor Format
Japan January 11, 2012 Northern Music J-Disc Being CD, CD+DVD, Digital download
Hong Kong January 13, 2012 Forward Music Forward Music
Taiwan
South Korea February 1, 2012 CNL Music CJ E&M

References

  1. ↑ "Kuraki Mai to release new album, "OVER THE RAINBOW"". TokyoHive. 2011-12-07. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Over the Rainbow (ALBUM+DVD)(First Press Limited Edition)(Japan Version) - Kuraki Mai". YesAsia. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  3. ↑ "Over the Rainbow Limited Edition - Mai Kuraki". Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  4. ↑ "HUNTER ~Sono Onna-tachi, Shoukin Kasegi~ - Credits". Kansai Telecasting Corporation (in Japanese). Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  5. ↑ "Maimai (Wish Me Mell)". Wish Me Mell (in Japanese). Sanrio. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  6. ↑ "Nemu no Sato Hotel and Resort Unveils 30-Second TVCM for 2011". NemunoSato.com (in Japanese). 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-12-16.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Over the Rainbow (Kuraki Mai)". Generasia. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
  8. ↑ "EXILE's new album stays on top for second week (EXILE ニューアルバム2週連続首位獲得！)". Billboard Japan. 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
  9. ↑ Power Countdown Japan Hot 30 (Albums Chart)
  10. ↑ Review: Mai Kuraki's Over the Rainbow. EmbraceYou. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  11. ↑ OVER THE RAINBOW – Kuraki Mai and Love For All. FM 139.7. Retrieved April 8, 2012.

External links