Keys to Everything

1. Introduction for Kingdom
2. anytime (album version)
3. FREAKY
4. Under
5. Koi no Mahou
6. Himitsu
7. Ai no Uta (album version)
8. MORE
9. Amai Wana
10. Aishou
11. Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto
12. Wonderland
13. Run For Your Life
14. BUT
15. LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki
16. Black Cherry (live version)

• bonus video

17. LIVE DVD TRAILER from LIVE DVD ”KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ SPECIAL FINAL IN TOKYO DOME”

(Guest commentary with my sister in italics)

The Introduction is just Kuu waking up with a series of damn beautiful effects!!! JUST PRETTY!

I think I’ve seen the single version of the anytime video once, so I don’t know what scenes are different. Throughout the PV, Kumi’s actually wearing all her own clothes. So the idea behind this is that her boyfriend is behind the camera. The bit where she’ s crying actually makes me sad to see, then she’s puts on her boyfriend’s jumper and all is well with the world ‘She seems to be obssessed with ice cream …(Talking about the bunny suit) that looks so comfortable. I guess you can’t not look cute in that.’

Now for FREAKY. The whole fighty thing is cool. I like the concept and the set. Whoever did that butterfly eye makeup needs an award. I have no idea what it is about the video… it makes the song seem so much shorter! ‘I like the costumes and the set and the dancing is cool’

Under is a weaker video actually. I think if they’d put a couple of dancers in with Kuu it may have worked a bit better, she doesn’t look as amazing in the solo dance bit as she does in the pose shot. One exception to that is the kick that she does into the splits is awesome. ‘It’s very ghetto-gangsta!’ Word! HA

Koi no Mahou begins the mini-drama… the plot is confusing and difficult to explain, so I’m not going to. The outfit she’s wearing in the beginning is the same as the one she wears in the HImitsu video. The bits where she’s at the stall is cute. She should have bought those red earings in my opinion, they match the outfit :D It’s all shiny, happy and colourful, just like it should be.

Himitsu is the second installment in the drama. This one is shot in monochrome, which suits the tone and genre of the song really well. She’s doing a photoshoot and there’s this whole thing with a waiter (the secret oh ho ho I hear you say) who’s the guy she bumps into at the end of Koi no Mahou. I don’t know what it is but the bit where she’s in the evening gown surrounded by the see through curtainy things, somehow strikes me as a kind of French thing. I don’t know why.

Ai no Uta follows on from Himitsu. Aww… Kuu’s all sad ’cause of the happy couples. Her acting in the scenes when she’s surrounded by the tear drops is quite superb. The whole ‘I’m smiling on the inside but my true feelings will come out and I’ll collapse in an emotional heap’ thing works really well. The colour is also drained from the sad parts of the video, dulled in the flashback and all-out in the tear drop sections. ‘Jewelry’s a big theme here isn’t it’.

A quick drop off from the mini-drama, MORE. Basically, MORE, is just a great display of special effects. The ’set’ is kinda Tomb Raider and incredibly amazing. And there’s a beautiful red dress, and fire…. WOW. ‘She looks like a phoenix’

I could write about Amai Wana in my sleep. I’ve seen it so much, it was the only song I was weak enough to download before I got the album. Back to mini-drama. Lots of conflicting emotions in this one. I suppose they didn’t put dancing in because it would detract from the plot, But I wish there was a dance version… that would be too cool. ‘I want all her jewelry’

Another quick stop off from the drama… Aijou. The make-up is amazing, the kimono is just plain beautiful. The set, wow. Her director of photography gets a mental award from me. The set up of this PV just plain rocks.

And the last piece of the drama. The-futuristic-where-not-much-happens Anata ga Shite Kureta Koto. All this is is Kuu in a white shiny room with a lot of translucent screens showing clips of the various videos in the mini-drama. Now I’m sure it would help if I understood the words, but I don’t so I’m kind of lost on this one. ‘It’s very educational, I like looking at the shiny things’

Wonderland is, funnily enough, inspired by Alice in Wonderland. The COLOUR 0-0. It’s ridiculously cute, fits the song well too. Bouncing mushrooms, funny! I prefer the black dress to the white one. The candy-cane! The elephant! This is just an acid trip.

Run for Your Life was given a comic book kinda set up, which I love, and it illustrates the two different sides of Kuu. ‘Sexy is the best’ and ‘cutie is my life’. I feel a bit sorry for Cutie!Kuu, she gets left behind by the other girlies. Basically, they’re both after a guy, and while Sexy!Kuu goes straight after him, Cutie!Kuu runs for her life… straight into the guy. The PV totally captures the fun of the song.

Ahh… the ever controversial BUT. Geez, the amount of colour in the first outfit! Yikes! Masculine women bowing. Yeah, I don’t think I’ll say too much.

YAY LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki !  Tohoshinki rock, Koda rocks… win/win situation. The whole futuristic thing works with the movie tie in. All the guys look quite awesome so I won’t pick anyone out particularly. I adore Kuu’s massive sunglasses, I want them for my holiday to Egypt. JUST PLAIN FREAKOID AWESOME

Black Cherry -live version- begins with some interesting English from Kuu. I’m not too keen on the dancers outfits. Staged very well, Kuu’s singing is actually deeper than the album track. The crowd sure enjoy it.

LIVE DVD TRAILER makes me want the DVD so much. The clips are really well chosen and the entire thing just looks soooo……. 0-0