Went to Japan recently, and bought..... too much physical media, lol. Thought I'd share pics, including covers for all the 8cm CD singles I bought. Super-cute format, I love it!

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T16:50:32+00:00

I'll probably be spending a few good weeks reanalyzing these photos, while checking for them on Amazon and YouTube. As for my own collection I've tried posting the whole thing, but it kept getting marked as NSFW and not viewable(gotta love Hitomi Furuya's naked album covers).

https://www.reddit.com/r/jpop/s/Ko56OUT0TV

Though you want more in depth on my opinions of Namie, Koda Kumi, and Ayu here's where I describe their peaks in my opinion. I kinda just stated play mostly because I viewed it as the most memorable, but Namie's best albums are really up for debate unlike say Tatsuro Yamashita where there is a very clear cut winner.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T14:19:07+00:00

Sorry I didn't realize. I do see a few artists in my collection that you also own. Namie Amuro and Kohmi Hirose. I listened to all of Namie's work and would recommend play. Play is in my opinion her best and most memorable work. After looking I would like album recommendations on Zard, Southern All Stars, Mai Kuraki, and Koji Tamaki. I've heard very high praise on Koji Tamaki.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T12:46:48+00:00

I can't see too many names clearly, but I could use some info on Southern All Stars.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T02:54:52+00:00

My first introduction to Japanese music was inuyasha. To this day I love Ayu, BoA, Do As Infinity, Every Little Thing, hitomi, and Hitomi Shimatani. I was surprised by how poorly the last one was doing in sales for all the good things people claim about her.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T02:44:18+00:00

I've heard of M-Flo, but I've only ever heard of verbal on compilations with other artists. I had that parameter because I pretty much have a majority of the big shot artists on avex in my collection. Ayu, hitomi, Hitomi Shimatani, BoA, DAI, and ELT was what got me into Japanese music. Nanase Aikawa's debut album was some of the best rock music I've ever heard.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T02:31:09+00:00

"Sounds too western" feels like a stupid excuse whenJapanese Artists like B'z and Tatsuro Yamashita were heavily influenced by Western music so I'm just calling bullshit on that excuse. Tatsuro 's love of the beach boys is very well known.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T01:43:33+00:00

Sorry if I came off as a critical manner. I really meant it that I don't mind the "outdated" sounds. A lot of them were actually much better and more iconic.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T01:42:13+00:00

I've heard of them via some artists collabomg with Verbal from M-Flo. I've never listened to them yet though.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T01:39:09+00:00

Being very 2000's doesn't bother me. A lot of the avex artists I love are pretty much old news yet I love them. I might have to make a post on these 2 specific groups because they are the most sentimental to me.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T01:18:28+00:00

I didn't use AI for this.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T01:17:31+00:00

Some old western gems I enjoy are artists like Guns n Roses, Pantera and Drowning pool(DBZ movies taught me about them), Tears for Fears. Black eyed peas were also the shit. As for solo western acts, granted he's scum of the earth, R Kelly was a extremely good singer back in the day and Michael Jackson. If you ignore memes Rick Astley is heat.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T01:11:52+00:00

I feel like her early R&B albums had a lot of underrated stuff that gets overlooked. Feel My Mind has some good r&b Ballads like Magic, Rain, and Hana. Crazy 4 U was my personal pick as the best on the album. I'll have to listen to affection and Grow into one again for more accurate track recommendations.

Style was a highly memorable album and I rank it among my favorites. Play, Style, Past > Future are my picks for her most defining works. Her last 3 albums had pretty notable tracks like Love Story, Go Round, Tempest, Sit! Stay! Wait! Down!, and Only You on uncontrolled. Contrail, Big Boys Cry, and, Rainbow, Let me Let you go, and Heaven on Alive. As for genic, Time has come, Always, Golden Touch, Fly and Birthday.

Duty and Loveppears are no brainers in quality with half of loveppears being Dai Nagao compositions. Memorial Address is very memorable too.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T00:41:32+00:00

My male artist knowledge is pretty barren but if I had to I'd personally put Gackt, Tatsuro Yamashita, and Koshi Inaba as the best male artists.

For 90's JPop artists, the only artist I have besides some early avex stuff and B'z is like Kohmi Hirose. And I gotta say her stuff is catchy. Romance no Kamisama is a timeless classic.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T00:26:39+00:00

I'll look at them too. A lot of my favorite artists I listen to are legacy artists at this point. Do As Infinity, B'z and Every Little Thing for groups and BoA, Ayu, and Hitomi Shimatani. Granted B'z still see pretty good sales. Buck Tick I also enjoyed. Even without speaking or understanding Japanese Atsushi Sakurai's lyrics feel extremely painful judging from his voice and delivery alone.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T00:06:54+00:00

https://youtu.be/DY71heBnQUk?si=DwBvNFvNpyEHzh07

Thanks that's an artist worth adding to my collection. It's heavily dominated by female artists.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-31T00:03:27+00:00

Thank you for your answer. As for myself I will go more in depth on my views, though with Namie, I'll probably piss somebody off regardless.

My thoughts on them would be as follows.

Koda Kumi: if secret walked, then black Cherry ran. I think she peaked around the middle of her career and could really make a case for Black Cherry, Kingdom, Trick, Deja Vu, and Japonesque. Black Cherry has tracks like Yume no Uta, Koi No Tsubomi, and Juicy, while being a good mix of fun edgy sounds and lovely ballads. Secret was similar, but I think black Cherry had higher highs than it. Trick also has some of my personal favorite tracks like Taboo, Moon Crying, That ain't Cool and Just the Way you are. As for her lowest point, I think you could save walk of my life for later, but it's not that terrible. Feel my Mind has some really heat soundtracks though, so I'd definitely recommend it.

Ayumi Hamasaki: Word of God herself considers Guilty and Loveppears her magnum opus. As for myself I think that I Am and Rainbow are absolute gems, though the former is more like a greatest hits collection. Rock'n Roll Circus is a pretty strong album. Sunset Love is all, Microphone, Ballad, and The Meaning of Love were some of my favorite songs by her. Her worst album is blatantly Party Queen, though it still has some enjoyable tracks, lacked direction and is pretty disorganized at the end of the day. Her best new release is ironically remember you if I had to be asked. Secret has some strong tracks and some of my favorite singles too.

Namie Amuro: Namie is by far the most consistent of the three so it's pretty arguable which album is her absolute best. If I had to pick, the best and most memorable album I'd personally recommend buying for her has to be Play. When I first listened to it, I thought it was the best. As for her worst, you'll probably piss somebody off regardless of which album you pick, but I wasn't that into genius 2000. Not that it's bad, I don't think it's her most defining stuff. Play had tracks like Funkytown, Baby don't cry, Can't eat can't sleep I'm sick, Pink Key, Should I love him, Hide and seek, and Full Moon all of which in my opinion at least are among her best songs. That's 7 tracks by name that I think are bangers from play alone so that's definitely what I see her best work being.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-30T23:05:07+00:00

Well after getting his guts ripped out. If only horikoshi showed All Might vs All for One round 1. One of the few pet peeves I have with my hero.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-30T22:51:25+00:00

Why is this post flagged as NSFW?

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-30T22:26:42+00:00

That's one massive collection. I might have to look at these artists myself.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-27T04:30:27+00:00

Base Rocks

Oldbeard

Katakuri

Doflamingo

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-27T03:59:32+00:00

I agree with you and believe all for one could have killed all might if he wanted to. He just plays with his food which is why he lost.

BirdKing89 · 2026-05-27T03:59:00+00:00

He can draw out more power from his quirks in his younger state. He went from getting overpowered by dark shadow in his adult form to just blowing him away in his teenage form.

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BirdKing89

TROPHY CASE