Lets turn back the hands of time as we look back on the songs that helped establish the Japanese music industry on the Oricon Weekly Chart. This week we look back on the third week of February for both 2010 and 2015 where Johnny’s boy group KAT-TUN and debuting solo vocalist Subaru Shibutani reigned supreme with “Love yourself ～君が嫌いな君が好き～” “(Kimi ga Kirai ga Suki)” and “記憶/ココロオドレバ” “(Kioku/ Kokoro Odoreba)” respectively. But just what made these songs so great?

Released back in 2010, “Love yourself ～Kimi ga Kiraina Kimi ga Suki～” was the eleventh single done by Johnny’s boy group KAT-TUN and was composed by Tatsugoo of the vocal unit Ragdoll fame. The track was written by ECO whom the group have a history with and worked together in the past. Originally paired to become the theme song for member Kazuya Kamenashi’s then upcoming drama adaptation of the manga ヤマトナデシコ七変化 (The Wallflower), “Love yourself ～Kimi ga Kiraina Kimi ga Suki～ “ was written to convey the message of the drama, and is done perfectly. The track blends mysterious composition and on point vocal range that the group is known for. The single sold very strong, passing over 150,000 in it’s first day and ended strong with 354,231 copies being sold at the end of the first week. At the time, it held the second most consecutive number one singles sold since its debut. “Love yourself ～Kimi ga Kiraina Kimi ga Suki～” is also KAT-TUN’s latest single to sell past 350,000 since their seventh single “Don’t U Ever Stop” back in 2008. The single also achieved number nine for Billboard Japan’s Hot Singles Sales Year End for 2010 selling over 430,000 copies.

Exploring his more creative side from his lead vocal part of the popular Johnny’s group Kanjani 8, Subaru Shibutani made his solo debut back in 2015 with double A-side single “Kioku /Kokoro Odoreba”. Originally composed by Tatsuro Mashiko “Kioku” relies on Shibutani’s chilling vocal strength to make a strong showing of his solo debut and was used as the theme song for the musical drama movie 味園ユニバース (La La La at Rock Bottom), which Shibutani had also started in. “Kokoro Odoreba” was composed as the brain child of the collaborative efforts of Kazuki Inoue, Kusumi Hideo, and Peach and is a more upbeat in style and tone using instruments which was a rarity at the time such as the use of the Harmonica. The B-side tracks of the single “乗っかりトレイン” (“Nokkari Train”) and “護り歌” (“Mamori Uta”) were composed by Shibutani himself, a talent that he would rely on more after leaving Kanjani 8 in 2019. Shibutani’s first voyage into the solo limelight paid off as“Kioku/ Kokoro Odoreba” sold over an astounding 101,000 copies. It was also the first single to reach that number for a solo artist since Kim Hyun Joong’s hit “HOT SUN” eight months prior.

Thanks for joining us in a look back and we and hope to see you next week!

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