Ayumi Hamasaki
Ayumi Hamasaki is a Japanese singer, record producer, model and entrepreneur. Through her entire career, she has written all her lyrical content, has sometimes composed her music. Born and raised in Fukuoka, Hamasaki moved to Tokyo at fourteen in 1993 to pursue a career in singing and acting. In 1998, under the tutelage of Avex CEO Max Matsuura, Hamasaki released her debut single "Poker Face" and debut major-label album A Song for XX; the album debuted at the top of the Oricon charts and remained there for five weeks, selling over a million copies. Her next ten albums shipped over a million copies in Japan, with her third, selling nearly three million. A Best, her first compilation album, is her best-selling album, with more than four million copies sold in Japan. Since 2006, after her album Secret was released and single sales have declined. Hamasaki has sold over 50 million records, making her the best-selling Japanese solo artist of all time. Hamasaki has several domestic record achievements for her singles, such as the most number-one hits by a female artist.
From 1999 to 2010, Hamasaki had at least two singles each year topping the charts. Hamasaki is the first female recording artist to have ten studio albums since her debut to top the Oricon and the first artist to have a number-one album for 13 consecutive years since her debut. Hamasaki's second remix album, Super Eurobeat Presents Ayu-ro Mix, is recognized as one of the best selling remix albums of all time and remains her only album to be recognized in a worldwide accreditation. During the height of her career, Hamasaki has been dubbed as the "Empress of J-pop" because of her popularity in Japan and Asia. Following an ear infection in 2000, she has suffered worsening hearing loss and is deaf in one ear. Born in Fukuoka Prefecture, Hamasaki was raised as an only child by her grandmother, her father had left the family and never again came into contact with her. Hamasaki's mother worked to support the family, so Hamasaki was taken care of by her grandmother, she described herself as a "tomboy" when she was a teenager, as a “strange kid” who “liked to be alone”.
At age seven, Hamasaki began modeling for local institutions, such as banks, in order to supplement the family's income. She continued this career path by leaving her family at fourteen and moving to Tokyo as a model under SOS, a talent agency, her modeling career did not last long. Under the name of "Ayumi", Hamasaki released a rap EP, Nothing from Nothing, on the Nippon Columbia label in 1995, she was dismissed from the label. After this failure, Hamasaki took up acting and starred in B-movies such as Ladys Ladys!! Sōcho Saigo no television dramas such as Miseinen, which were poorly received by the public. From August 1995 to March 1996, Hamasaki co-hosted the SoundLink "magazine" Hōkago no Ōsama for the Nintendo Satellaview once a week with Shigeru Izumiya. Growing dissatisfied with her job, Hamasaki quit acting and moved in with her mother, who had moved to Tokyo. Hamasaki was a good student, earning good grades in junior high school, she lost faith in the curriculum, thinking that the subjects taught were of no use to her.
Her grades worsened. While living in Tokyo, she attempted to further her studies at Horikoshi Gakuen, a high school for the arts, but dropped out in the first year. Hamasaki did not attend school or have a job, so she spent much of her time shopping at Shibuya boutiques and dancing at Velfarre, an Avex-owned disco club. At Velfarre, she was introduced to Max Matsuura, through a friend. After hearing Hamasaki sing karaoke, Matsuura offered her a recording deal, but Hamasaki suspected ulterior motives and turned the offer down, he succeeded in recruiting her for the Avex label in the following year. Hamasaki started vocal training, but skipped most of her classes after finding her instructors to be too rigid and the classes dull; when she confessed this to Matsuura, he sent her to New York to train her vocals under another method. During her foreign sojourn, Hamasaki corresponded with Matsuura and impressed him with her style of writing. On her return to Japan, he suggested. Hamasaki made her debut under Avex at 19 on April 8, 1998 with the single "Poker Face".
It—and the following four singles—were not major hits, however each release was better than the last, thus increasing her exposure and presence on the market. Hamasaki's debut album, A Song for ××, was "unassuming": the tracks, composed by Yasuhiko Hoshino, Akio Togashi, Mitsuru Igarashi, were "cautious" pop-rock songs. However, Hamasaki's lyrics, introspective observations about her feelings and experiences that focused on loneliness and individualism, resonated with the Japanese public; the songs gained Hamasaki a growing following, the release of the album was a success: it topped the Oricon charts for five weeks and sold over a million copies. For her achievements, she earned a Japan Gold Disc Award for "Best New Artist of the Year". With Ayu-mi-x, the first of a series of remix albums, Hamasaki began moving beyond the pop-rock of A Song for ×× and began to incorporate different styles including trance and orchestra. Hamasaki began to experiment with different musical styles in her singles as well, releasing dance
Audience (Ayumi Hamasaki song)
"Audience" is a song by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki from her third studio album Duty. It was released as the album's final single on 1 November 2000 by Avex Trax. Hamasaki wrote Max Matsuura Lewis produced it. Dai Nagao and HΛL composed both the single and album version; the single artwork was shot by Japanese photographer Toru Kumazawa and features duplicate clones of Hamasaki, resembling an audience. Musically, "Audience" is a dance -- disco song. "Audience" received positive reviews from music critics. It achieved lukewarm success in compare to her previous singles, with a peak position of number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan; the single remains Hamasaki's twenty–seventh best selling single in Japan. No music video was shot for the single. Ayumi Hamasaki's track. Hamasaki begun work on Duty and followed a similar musical concept like her first two albums A Song for ×× and Loveppears. "Audience" was written by Hamasaki.
Majority of the lyrics were about loneliness, chaos and the burden of her responsibilities, aimed towards her public image as an recording artist. In contrast to "Audience", the trilogy singles focused on hopelessness, a reflection of Hamasaki's disappointment that she had not expressed herself in any of her previous lyrics, she described her feelings after the writing as "unnatural" and was "nervous" for the final result. The song was recorded in mid -- 2000 in Japan. Max Matsuura produced both the single version and the album version, with additional production handling by Naoto Suzuki for the single version. HΛL played the keyboard, Suzuki played the guitar and all other instruments were handled by Dai Nagao. "Audience" is a dance song. In comparison, Duty was a rock–influenced album and "Audience" was the only dance track on the album."Audience" was her third song to incorporate an English–language phrase, alongside her single "Whatever" and the b–side to "Love", "Love: Since 1999". But because "Audience" and "Whatever" used one–worded phrases and "Love: Since 1999" was not written by Hamasaki, it does not count in using English–language conversation like she did in her 2002 album Rainbow.
"Audience" was released on 1 November 2000 in CD format by Avex Trax. The maxi single features over nine remixes, one instrumental and an a cappella of "Seasons"; the cover sleeve features several clones of Hamasaki. The cover shoot was photographed by Japanese photographer Toru Kumazawa with a total off seven make–up and hair assistants. Shinichi Hara had directed the cover sleeve and has been Hamasaki's creative director for promotional work and began collaborating with her in 1998, his final work was directing the sleeve for Hamasaki's 2009 single "Sunrise/Sunset". A digital release of the single was released in Australia, New Zealand, North America and the United Kingdom. A vinyl was distributed in Japan only. "Audience" has featured on three greatest hits compilation albums by Hamasaki including the white deluxe edition of A Best 2, A Complete: All Singles and A Summer Best. No music video was shot for the single. Only a video commercial for the single was aired in Japan; this became Hamasaki's first single to not feature a music video.
"Audience" received favorable reviews from most music critics. Alexey Eremenko, who had written her extended biography at Allmusic, highlighted the song as an album and career stand out. A reviewer for CDJournal was positive towards the track, commending the production and calling it “fun” but “aggressive” Hamasaki hosted an online voting poll for fans to choose their favorite tracks to be featured on her Ayumi Hamasaki 15th Anniversary Tour Best Live Tour; as a result, "Audience" were featured on the list."Audience" debuted at number three on the Japanese Count Down TV chart. The song was unable to pass Misia's single "Everything" and Southern All Stars' single "Blue in Green", it fell to number eight the next week. It fell to sixteen in its third week, fell at number thirty and forty-six in its fourth and fifth week, respectively; the song fell to seventy-nine. "Audience" lasted eight weeks. In the 2000 annual Count Down TV chart, "Audience" was placed at ninety-two."Audience" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipment of 200,000 units.
"Audience" resulted in the lowest selling single off Duty, with only the lead "trilogy" singles selling over 500,000 units in Japan. Despite this result, "Audience" now remains Hamasaki's second best selling limited edition single to date with sales over 293,000 units, just behind "Fly High" which sold 300,000 units. "Audience" is her twenty–seventh best selling single. Hamasaki has performed "Audience" in all of her New Years countdown concerts up until the Ayumi Hamasaki Countdown Live 2006–2007 A, which became the songs last live performance at the countdown shows. Additionally, Hamasaki has performed "Audience" twice in her involvement with Avex Trax's concert A Nation, being performed in 2006 and the last performance being held in 2008."Audience" has been featured on several of Hamasaki's national and international tours that has spread throughout many Asian territories. The song had made its debut tour performance on Hamasaki's 2001 Ayumi Hama
J-pop
J-pop, natively known as pops, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in traditional Japanese music, but in 1960s pop and rock music, such as The Beatles and The Beach Boys, which led to Japanese rock bands such as Happy End fusing rock with Japanese music in the early 1970s. J-pop was further defined by new wave groups in the late 1970s electronic synth-pop band Yellow Magic Orchestra and pop rock band Southern All Stars. J-pop replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene; the term was coined by the Japanese media to distinguish Japanese music from foreign music and now refers to most Japanese popular music. Popular styles of Japanese pop music included technopop during the 1970s–1980s, city pop in the 1980s, Shibuya-kei in the 1990s; the origin of modern J-pop is said to be Japanese-language rock music inspired by the likes of The Beatles. Unlike the Japanese music genre called kayōkyoku, J-pop uses a special kind of pronunciation, similar to that of English.
One notable singer to do so is Keisuke Kuwata. Additionally, unlike Western music, the major second was not used in Japanese music, except art music, before rock music became popular in Japan; when the Group Sounds genre, inspired by Western rock, became popular, Japanese pop music adopted the major second, used in the final sounds of The Beatles' song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and The Rolling Stones' song " Satisfaction". Although Japanese pop music changed from music based on Japanese pentatonic scale and distortional tetrachord to the more occidental music over time, music that drew from the traditional Japanese singing style remained popular. At first, the term J-pop was used only for Western-style musicians in Japan, such as Pizzicato Five and Flipper's Guitar, just after Japanese radio station J-Wave was established. On the other hand, Mitsuhiro Hidaka of AAA from Avex Trax said that J-pop was derived from the Eurobeat genre. However, the term became a blanket term, covering other music genres—such as the majority of Japanese rock music of the 1990s.
In 1990, the Japanese subsidiary of Tower Records defined J-pop as all Japanese music belonging to the Recording Industry Association of Japan except Japanese independent music. Ito Music City, a Japanese record store, adopted expanded classifications including Group Sounds, idol of the 1970s–1980s, enka and established musicians of the 1970s–1980s, in addition to the main J-pop genres. Whereas rock musicians in Japan hate the term "pop", Taro Kato, a member of pop punk band Beat Crusaders, pointed out that the encoded pop music, like pop art, was catchier than "J-pop" and he said that J-pop was the pops music, memorable for its frequency of airplay, in an interview when the band completed their first full-length studio album under a major label, P. O. A.: Pop on Arrival, in 2005. Because the band did not want to perform J-pop music, their album featured the 1980s Pop of MTV. According to his fellow band member Toru Hidaka, the 1990s music that influenced him was not listened to by fans of other music in Japan at that time.
In contrast to this, although many Japanese rock musicians until the late 1980s disrespected the kayōkyoku music, many of Japanese rock bands of the 1990s—such as Glay—assimilated kayōkyoku into their music. After the late 1980s, breakbeat and samplers changed the Japanese music scene, where expert drummers had played good rhythm because traditional Japanese music did not have the rhythm based on rock or blues. Hide of Greeeen described their music genre as J-pop, he said, "I love rock, hip hop and breakbeats, but my field is J-pop. For example, hip hop musicians learn'the culture of hip hop'. We are not like those musicians and we love the music as sounds much; those professional people may say'What are you doing?' but I think that our musical style is cool after all. The good thing is good." Japanese popular music, called ryūkōka before being split into enka and poppusu, has origins in the Meiji period, but most Japanese scholars consider the Taishō period to be the actual starting point of ryūkōka, as it is the era in which the genre first gained nationwide popularity.
By the Taishō period, Western musical techniques and instruments, introduced to Japan in the Meiji period, were used. Influenced by Western genres such as jazz and blues, ryūkōka incorporated Western instruments such as the violin and guitar. However, the melodies were written according to the traditional Japanese pentatonic scale. In the 1930s, Ichiro Fujiyama released popular songs with his tenor voice. Fujiyama sang songs with a lower volume than opera through the microphone. Jazz musician Ryoichi Hattori attempted to produce Japanese native music which had a "flavor" of blues, he composed Noriko Awaya's hit song "Wakare no Blues". Awaya was called "Queen of Blues" in Japan. Due to pressure from the Imperial Army during the war, the performance of jazz music was temporarily halted in Japan. Hattori, who
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south; the kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", it is called the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands; the four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one; the population of 127 million is the world's tenth largest. 90.7 % of people live in cities. About 13.8 million people live in the capital of Japan. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people. Archaeological research indicates; the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD.
Influence from other regions China, followed by periods of isolation from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history. From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism; the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the Japanese surrender. Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.
Japan is a member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the G20, is considered a great power. Its economy is the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity, it is the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Japan benefits from a skilled and educated workforce. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, Japan maintains a modern military with the world's eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a developed country with a high standard of living and Human Development Index, its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, but is experiencing issues due to an aging population and low birthrate. Japan is renowned for its historical and extensive cinema, influential music industry, video gaming, rich cuisine and its major contributions to science and modern technology; the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, pronounced Nihon or Nippon and means "the origin of the sun".
The character nichi means "sun" or "day". The compound therefore means "origin of the sun" and is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun"; the earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, the Old Book of Tang. At the end of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan requested that Nihon be used as the name of their country; this name may have its origin in a letter sent in 607 and recorded in the official history of the Sui dynasty. Prince Shōtoku, the Regent of Japan, sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself "the Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises"; the message said: "Here, I, the emperor of the country where the sun rises, send a letter to the emperor of the country where the sun sets. How are you". Prior to the adoption of Nihon, other terms such as Yamato and Wakoku were used; the term Wa is a homophone of Wo 倭, used by the Chinese as a designation for the Japanese as early as the third century Three Kingdoms period.
Another form of Wa, Wei in Chinese) was used for an early state in Japan called Nakoku during the Han dynasty. However, the Japanese disliked some connotation of Wa 倭, it was therefore replaced with the substitute character Wa, meaning "togetherness, harmony"; the English word Japan derives from the historical Chinese pronunciation of 日本. The Old Mandarin or early Wu Chinese pronunciation of Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本; the old Malay word for Japan, Japun or Japang, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect Fukienese or Ningpo – and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia in the 16th century. These Early Portuguese traders brought the word
Music genre
A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometimes used interchangeably. Academics have argued that categorizing music by genre is inaccurate and outdated. Music can be divided into different genres in many different ways; the artistic nature of music means that these classifications are subjective and controversial, some genres may overlap. There are varying academic definitions of the term genre itself. In his book Form in Tonal Music, Douglass M. Green distinguishes between form, he lists madrigal, canzona and dance as examples of genres from the Renaissance period. To further clarify the meaning of genre, Green writes, "Beethoven's Op. 61 and Mendelssohn's Op. 64 are identical in genre – both are violin concertos – but different in form. However, Mozart's Rondo for Piano, K. 511, the Agnus Dei from his Mass, K. 317 are quite different in genre but happen to be similar in form."
Some, like Peter van der Merwe, treat the terms genre and style as the same, saying that genre should be defined as pieces of music that share a certain style or "basic musical language." Others, such as Allan F. Moore, state that genre and style are two separate terms, that secondary characteristics such as subject matter can differentiate between genres. A music genre or subgenre may be defined by the musical techniques, the style, the cultural context, the content and spirit of the themes. Geographical origin is sometimes used to identify a music genre, though a single geographical category will include a wide variety of subgenres. Timothy Laurie argues that since the early 1980s, "genre has graduated from being a subset of popular music studies to being an ubiquitous framework for constituting and evaluating musical research objects". Among the criteria used to classify musical genres are the trichotomy of art and traditional musics. Alternatively, music can be divided on three variables: arousal and depth.
Arousal reflects the energy level of the music. These three variables help explain why many people like similar songs from different traditionally segregated genres. Musicologists have sometimes classified music according to a trichotomic distinction such as Philip Tagg's "axiomatic triangle consisting of'folk','art' and'popular' musics", he explains that each of these three is distinguishable from the others according to certain criteria. The term art music refers to classical traditions, including both contemporary and historical classical music forms. Art music exists in many parts of the world, it emphasizes formal styles that invite technical and detailed deconstruction and criticism, demand focused attention from the listener. In Western practice, art music is considered a written musical tradition, preserved in some form of music notation rather than being transmitted orally, by rote, or in recordings, as popular and traditional music are. Most western art music has been written down using the standard forms of music notation that evolved in Europe, beginning well before the Renaissance and reaching its maturity in the Romantic period.
The identity of a "work" or "piece" of art music is defined by the notated version rather than by a particular performance, is associated with the composer rather than the performer. This is so in the case of western classical music. Art music may include certain forms of jazz, though some feel that jazz is a form of popular music. Sacred Christian music forms an important part of the classical music tradition and repertoire, but can be considered to have an identity of its own; the term popular music refers to any musical style accessible to the general public and disseminated by the mass media. Musicologist and popular music specialist Philip Tagg defined the notion in the light of sociocultural and economical aspects: Popular music, unlike art music, is conceived for mass distribution to large and socioculturally heterogeneous groups of listeners and distributed in non-written form, only possible in an industrial monetary economy where it becomes a commodity and in capitalist societies, subject to the laws of'free' enterprise... it should ideally sell as much as possible.
Popular music is found on most commercial and public service radio stations, in most commercial music retailers and department stores, in movie and television soundtracks. It is noted on the Billboard charts and, in addition to singer-songwriters and composers, it involves music producers more than other genres do; the distinction between classical and popular music has sometimes been blurred in marginal areas such as minimalist music and light classics. Background music for films/movies draws on both traditions. In this respect, music is like fiction, which draws a distinction between literary fiction and popular fiction, not always precise. Country music known as country and western, hillbilly music, is a genre of popular music that originated in the southern United States in the early 1920s; the polka is a Czech dance and genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the early 1950s, developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and particular
Thousand Arms
Thousand Arms is a video game for the Sony PlayStation released by Atlus in 1998. The game mixes elements of Japanese role-playing video games and dating sim video games; the game takes place on a "steampunk" type of world. The Dark Acolytes, a mysterious organization of cyborgs and robots, is trying to find the five legendary Sacred Flames, bring chaos to the World in the process. Meis, a womanizing "Spirit Blacksmith" with the ability to make magical weapons, finds himself chosen to find the flames before the Dark Acolytes do. However, to increase the power of his weapons, Meis must have the help of a woman, must increase his'intimacy level' with her by going out on dates. Along his journey, he meets a colorful cast of characters, including girls to date and allies to join his party. Meis Triumph The 16-year-old heir to a family of Spirit Blacksmiths, Meis learned from his father how to be a womanizer. Stubborn and lazy, Meis is forced to change his ways against his will, first when the Dark Acolytes force him to leave his comfortable home, when the spirits of the Ancient Blacksmiths give him the mission of finding the sacred flames.
He can't resist hitting on other beautiful women. In addition to his ability to reforge weapons to increase their power and grant them magical spells or special attacks, Meis can obtain "Elemental Beasts" to use in combat, similar to the "summons" seen in the Final Fantasy games, his weapon is a sword. Sodina Dawnfried The younger sister of a great Spirit Blacksmith named Jyabil, Sodina is a beautiful, 15-year-old red-haired girl. After her brother is killed by the Dark Acolytes, she decides to help Meis on his quest, she has feelings for Meis, but finds herself enraged by his lecherous behaviour. Her weapon of choice is a dagger. Muza Grifford A 21-year-old knight and an old friend of Meis, he's brave but not too clever, tends to freeze when in the presence of pretty girls, he has a large physique. He develops feelings for Wyna, his weapon of choice is a claymore, a huge sword that normal people would have a difficult time wielding. Wyna Grapple The 17-year-old daughter of the King of the Pirates, Wyna is a boisterous girl who loves fighting.
She wears a bikini as well as an eyepatch. If you pay attention during dates, you'll see. At first she's attracted to Meis because of his strength, but returns Muza's feelings, her weapon of choice is a large battle hammer. Nelsha Stylus A unique girl whose personality changes when she puts on new outfits, due to the spirits that inhabit them. Nelsha is a 16-year-old nerdy-looking girl who refers to herself in the third person, she dreams of becoming a title given to the best clothes designers in the world. Her weapon of choice is a magic sewing needle. In addition, Nelsha can change her costumes in combat, which changes her form and gives her different powers. Kyleen Nelphe A 16-year-old green-haired female thief who tries to use the party for her own purposes, but ends up befriending and joining them, her personality is sarcastic. She seems attracted to Soushi, her weapon of choice is a sword used for fencing. Soushi Maharoba An 18-year-old samurai with a lot of pride, who considers himself a ladykiller as well.
His most notable feature is his pink kimono. He and Meis can't stand each other at first but come to respect each other, his weapon is a katana called Masamune. The game's main antagonist is The Dark Emperor, he is the ancient ruler of the Clan of Darkness. He transformed his body into a machine in order to live long enough to find the Holy Flames of the Light, which he believes will allow him to become a god. Schmidt, "The Dark Master", serves under him, along with Jeala, who serves him out of unrequited love. Below them are "The Evil Mecha Five" - five powerful cyborg servants of the Emperor, all named after machine parts or tools. Shaft, Ratchet and Bolt. In addition to the girls on his party, Meis can date the following women: Marion, a young inventor and Gadget Master with a childish personality, she lives in the giant train called Mounthand. Palma Esterte, a priestess obsessed with cleanliness, she can be found in the huge ship called the Langoud. Kyoka Maharoba, Soushi's sister, a shy and proper Japanese girl who detests her brother's lecherous personality.
She can be found in the town of Boyzby. Mil Wind, a intelligent girl who stalks Meis as a way to research his womanizing personality, she lives in Meis' hometown. Her name is a pun on "windmill". Metalia, the "Jewel Master", the oldest of Meis' dates, over 200 years old as said by herself, this woman was a friend of Jyabil's and helps the heroes find the flames. Metalia can be found in the Myscatonia Library. Combat in Thousand Arms is turn based, with up to three party members to be taken into battle at once. However, only the front character is able to physically attack the enemy; the other two characters serve in a supporting role, taunting the enemy and utilizing certain items or spells. The enemies have the same limitations. If necessary, characters can be rotated out such that one of the support characters and the lead character exchange position. Since only one character can engage in direct combat with the enemy at a time, this tends to have the overall effect of slowing down combat when compared to games which allow all or most of the party to be involve
Love (Destiny)
"Love" is a song recorded by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki, serving as the second single for her second studio album, Loveppears. It was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Taiwan on April 14, 1999, through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. The track was written by Hamasaki herself, while production was handled by long-time collaborator Max Matsuura. Three versions of the recording have been made available—a ballad version arranged by Tsunku, an edited version with vocals by Tsunku, a dance-influenced version included on Loveppears. Upon its release, "Love" received near universal acclaim from music critics, praising her vocal performance, with some highlighting the single as one of Hamasaki's best work. Commercially, the recording experienced success in Japan, reaching number one on the Oricon Singles Chart and TBS' Count Down TV chart, her first song to do so on either charts, it became Hamasaki's first single to sell over 500,000 units, was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments of 400,000 copies.
Due to the single's success, it re-entered both charts. An accompanying music video was directed by Wataru Takeishi, featured Hamasaki in a large skyscraper while singing to the song in different areas. In order to promote the single, it appeared on several remix and greatest hits compilation albums, live concert torus conducted by Hamasaki, it was used as the theme song for Japanese television show SemiDouble. To date, the recording remains one of her highest-selling singles according to Oricon Style. Three versions of the recording have been made available for purchase. "Love" served as Hamasaki's second single for her album Loveppears but did not appear on the album for unknown reasons. Written by the singer, the production process was handled by Max Matsuura whilst it was composed by Japanese musician and businessman Tsunku, who worked as the producer for Japanese group Morning Musume and vocalist of Sharan Q at that time; the composition was arranged by Shingo Kobayashi and Yasuaki Maejima, mixed by Atsushi Hattori.
The second version, "Love", portrayed a duet with Tsunki and featured songwriting credits by him during the English chorus. Being arranged by Takao Konishi and mixed by Koji Uchikado, the track appeared as an A-side single in Japan and Taiwan during its April 1999 release; the final counterpart of the recording was titled "Love", was composed by Tsunki, but arranged by Naoto Suzuki and programmed by Takahiro Iida. "Love" was added to the track list of Loveppears, is musically a dance song, a genre that influences the album. According to the demo sheet music published at Ultimate Guitar Archive, the recording is set in time signature of common time with a tempo of 89 beats per minute. Lyrically, each song was written in third person perspective, a trait, shared with the rest of the tracks on Loveppears; the lyrical content of the songs delves on a lonely woman. "Love" was released by Avex Trax in Japan and Taiwan on April 14, 1999, through Avex Entertainment Inc. worldwide in September 2008. The mini CD format featured a total of four tracks, with the first two being original recordings accompanied instrumentals.
Subsequently, on February 28, 2001, Avex Trax distributed a CD single including the four tracks from the mini CD, plus two remixes of Hamasaki's single "Kanariya" and one remix of a previous album track, "From Your Letter". The artwork of the CD and digital format was shot by Toru Kumazawa, featured an image of Hamasaki hugging an unidentified male. Upon its release, "Love" received widespread acclaim from music critics. A reviewer at Amazon was positive towards the songwriting, praised Hamasaki's "painful" and "love" performance. In 2015, Japanese website Goo.ne.jp hosted a 24-hour only poll for audiences in Japan to vote for their favorite single released by Hamasaki. Commercially, "Love" experienced success in Japan, it debuted inside the top ten on the Oricon Singles Chart, selling 70,540 in its first week of availability. The recording went to number one, becoming Hamasaki's first number one single on that chart, it lasted 26 weeks. Charting together as "Love"/"Love", both tracks debuted at number one on the Count Down TV chart hosted by Tokyo Broadcasting System, having become her first number one there as well, spent 26 weeks within the top 100.
By the end of 1999, "Love" sold over 650,790 units in Japan, thus being ranked at number 30 on Oricon's Annual 1999 chart behind two fellow releases of the singer, "Boys & Girls" and her extended play A. Likewise, it charted at number 28 on TBS' Annual Chart. In July 1999, the single was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments of 400,000 units; as of July 2016, "Love" marks the singer's 12th highest-selling song based on Oricon Style's database. Following the CD single release, "Love" charted at number 20 on the Oricon Singles Chart, the highest result from her re-released maxi CDs, it lasted four weeks within the top 100, sold 39,080 units. Additionally, the song reached number 100 on TBS Count Down TV chart on May 14, 2001, her lowest entry to date. An accompanying music video for the single was directed by Wataru Takeishi, it opens with Hamasaki watching her previous music videos on several television screens. Sitting in a small room, she exits it and finds a large number
