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![Black Box [Anime Ver.] (SINGLE+BLU-RAY) (Limited Edition) (Japan Version)](https://d3tvwjfge35btc.cloudfront.net/Assets/46/218/S_p0210321846.jpg)
Black Box [Anime Ver.] (SINGLE+BLU-RAY) (Limited Edition) (Japan Version)
LiSA
Besides stunning visuals and themes, the NieR:Automata franchise has consistently served compelling, moody music evocative of its dystopian worldview. Arguably, the artist whose music most fits NieR:Automata's dark, soul-searching melancholy is amazarashi's Akita Hiromu. amazarashi contributed the Nier: Automata game tie-in song "Deserving of Life" in 2017 and the NieR:Automata Ver1.1a anime's Season 1 ending theme Antimony in 2023. For the second season of NieR:Automata Ver1.1a in 2024, Akita Hiromu writes and composes the opening theme Black Box (Track 1) performed by LiSA. This dream combination of Akita's songwriting and LiSA's singing yields a powerful and evocative rock number that... [read more]
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OH MY GIRL Mini Album Vol. 10 - Dreamy Resonance (Random Version)
OH MY GIRL
Best known for megahits like Secret Garden and SSFWL, Oh My Girl pulls off dreamy concepts like no one else. The girls again take us on a dreamlike journey in their tenth mini-album Dreamy Resonance. Oh My Girl stuns with their title track Classified (Track 1), a blend of classical music and pop dance beats that reminds of Red Velvet's Feel My Rhyrthm. Piano sounds, orchestra music, synth lines and jersey club rhythms mix up in a perfect way to create a beautiful ambience that matches well with the group's elegant style. The members express how much loved ones mean to them through Classified: "Sometimes I dive into your dream / Though I can't stay forever / Sometimes I cry to make you smile... [read more]
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KARD Mini Album Vol. 7 - Where To Now? (Part.1 : Yellow Light)
KARD
Over a year after ICKY, KARD finally drops their seventh mini-album Where To Now? (Part.1: Yellow Light)! J.Seph, BM, So Min and Ji Woo give it a whirl in the album for some new music styles they’ve never tried before. KARD starts off the summer album in a chill and light mood with the intro Waste My Time (Track 1). As the opening track, the tropical pop plug expresses how we want to spend time with our loved ones forever: "I know it's insane but I can't wait to let you waste my time." Lead single Tell My Momma (Track 2) is not as powerful as their previous title tracks, but it comes with an addictive melody and interesting lyrics that no one should miss out. So Min and Ji Woo sing "When... [read more]
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All the Long Nights (Blu-ray) (Special Edition) (Japan Version)
Fujima Sawako
| Imou Haruka
| Kamishiraishi Mone
| Shibukawa Kiyohiko
PMS is a common condition but there are very few films that seriously and empathetically portray how it affects life for women. Based on a novel by Seo Maiko, Miyake Sho's All the Long Nights shines a light on the everyday pains of a woman with severe PMS, while also emphasizing that her story is one of many in a world where everyone carries pains of their own. Kamishiraishi Mone plays Fujisawa Misa, a young woman whose premenstrual syndrome symptoms include fatigue and heightened anger and irritability. Her mood swings are so bad that it can be difficult for her to function normally during those few days of the month. We first see Misa leaving her job after some embarrassing moments in... [read more]
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Mad Fate (2023) (DVD) (Taiwan Version)
Lokman Yeung (Actor)
| Gordon Lam (Actor)
| Chan Charm Man (Actor)
| Wong Man Wai (Actor)
Soi Cheang has been on a run in recent years with 2021's Limbo and 2023’s Mad Fate winning major awards, and this year’s Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In winning the box office. The Hong Kong director has cycled through various genre specialties over the years, but atmospheric crime action is where he does his best work. Mad Fate premiered last year at the Berlin Film Festival and won Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing at the Hong Kong Film Awards. Though the uncanny thriller has received less attention than Twilight of the Warriors or even Limbo, Mad Fate has the distinction of bearing the increasingly rare Milkyway Image signature. Johnnie To is one of the film's... [read more]
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Red Velvet Mini Album Vol. 9 - Cosmic (Poster Version) (Random Version)
Red Velvet
Happy 10th anniversary to Red Velvet! Celebrating a decade of their idol career, Red Velvet gifts ReVeluvs an array of velvety sounds and dreamlike harmonies in their ninth mini-album Cosmic, which shows off the group's distinctive musicality at its best. Different from their other summer megahits like Red Flavor and Power Up, pop dance lead single Cosmic (Track 1) arrives in a dreamy, soft and romantic vibe that captures a fairy-tale love as vast and infinite as the universe: "I'm riding on your rhythm through the solar system. Come with me. We're going to cross this night, the two of us. Cosmic love." The ethereal ambience of the song blends well with the girls' mellow and enthralling... [read more]
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RIIZE Mini Album Vol. 1 - RIIZING (Photo Book Version) (Random Version)
RIIZE
Since debuting in September last year, RIIZE has been rising high with their viral hit Get a Guitar and several digital single releases. This time, they get a bass for their first mini-album RIIZING! "Don't stop the music, hands up on my bass!" Get in the groove and join RIIZE's summer party with Boom Boom Bass (Track 1). The boys continue to show their passion and excitement for music in the pop dance title song that easily hypes up audiences with its blend of funky disco beats and groovy bass lines. Pre-release single Impossible (Track 3), which RIIZE promoted on music shows in April, expresses the message that "impossible is nothing as long as we share the same dream and move forward... [read more]
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Seo In Guk 2024 Single Album - SEO IN GUK
Seo In Guk
Seo In Guk has generated buzz this year for the TV drama Death's Game and his recent appearance in K.Will's "No Sad Song For My Broken Heart" music video – but let's not forget that the actor-singer has new music out himself! Seo In Guk's 2024 self-titled single album, his first Korean release in two years, is composed of the double title songs Out of time and "Anything With You," both of which highlight his strong and emotive vocals. Out of time has a K.Will-type soulful ballad melody, but the groovy arrangement, pulsating bass line and silky vocals take the song to a different vibe. Seo In Guk sings moodily of being lost over a lost love – "I'm still in the lost time without you tonight"... [read more]
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Seventeen: Jeonghan X Wonwoo Single Album Vol. 1 - THIS MAN
Jeonghan X Wonwoo (Seventeen)
| Seventeen
Jeong Han and Won Woo, two of the visual representatives of Seventeen, bless Carats with their first subunit album THIS MAN! The duo blends their different charms and vocal colors in their first single album, which surprises with a more chic and dreamy mood than Seventeen's usual style. Vocalist Jeong Han and rapper Won Woo pursue a dark and sexy concept in the lead single Last Night (Guitar by Park Juwon) (Track 1). Written by Woozi and BUMZU, Last Night is a medium-tempo song with Latin-style rhythm, accompanied with acoustic guitar melody performed by gypsy jazz guitarist Park Juwon. Jeong Han's mellow voice and Won Woo's husky tone, along with the rhythmical synth beats, create a... [read more]
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KINO EP Album Vol. 1 - If this is love, I want a refund (Reality Version)
KINO
After parting ways with Cube Entertainment and launching his own label NAKED, Pentagon's Kino has been dropping one single after another that each brings out a new "lover boy" persona. If this is love, I want a refund captures the mood from mending a broken heart to being infatuated with someone again through five TikTok-ish catchy tunes. Broke My Heart (Feat. Lay Bankz) (Track 1) comes off bold and explicit as an intro track: "Why you broke my heart? Hope you go break your phone and your bone. Why you broke my heart? Hope you scream my name on top of him." This song just shows how Kino is trying to push the envelope as a solo artist now. Though it's about heartbreak and betrayal, Broke My... [read more]
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Everything Under Control (2023) (Blu-ray) (Hong Kong Version)
Hins Cheung (Actor)
| Ivana Wong (Actor)
| Carl Ao Ieong (Actor)
| Hung Kaho (Actor)
For some reason, the 2004 Korean horror comedy To Catch a Virgin Ghost has inspired not one but two Chinese-language remakes in recent years – Taiwan's Treat or Trick in 2021 and Hong Kong's Everything Under Control in 2023. Both remakes follow the same premise of a desperate guy and a gang henchman entering a creepy remote village in search of a colleague who ran off with stolen diamonds that the mob wants back. Each film localizes in different ways, particularly in the relative emphasis of the comedy, mystery and horror elements. Comedy comes first for Everything Under Control which was released in Hong Kong during Chinese New Year. Singer Hins Cheung makes a rare leading film appearance... [read more]
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Here I Am (Limited Edition)
Energy (Singer)
If you wait long enough, they will come. After 15 years of hiatus, oughties Taiwan boy band Energy officially returned this year. What's more, Energy is back in the original lineup of Milk, Edy, Toro, Kunda and Shuwei! Milk and Toro had previously left the group before their hiatus, with Toro's departure in 2003 in particular being a turning point for Energy back then. Having all five members together again is a true blast to the past to peak Energy circa early 2000s. This comeback was put in motion after the group reunited to great fanfare for a guest performance at a Mayday concert in 2023. Afterwards, Energy joined Mayday's B'in Music, and they make a full-blown return this year with a... [read more]
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Old Fox (2023) (Blu-ray) (English Subtitled) (Taiwan Version)
Akio Chen (Actor)
| Bai Run Yin (Actor)
| Liu Kuan Ting (Actor)
| Hsiao Ya Chuan (Director)
Nearly four decades of martial law came to an end in Taiwan in 1987. Along with the lifting of martial law came ripples of changes to Taiwanese life and society. Hsiao Ya Chuan's Old Fox is set in 1989 during this transitional era of myriad economic and social changes. These changes at first elude Liao Tai Lai (Liu Kuan Ting), an honest and hardworking restaurant server who lives frugally with his 11-year-old son Liao Jie (Bai Run Yin). Tai Lai has been slowly saving up to buy a home, but unbeknownst to him, property prices have surged beyond his expectations. While Tai Lai takes the news in stride, reality hits hard for the young Liao Jie who has stubbornly latched on to the hope of having... [read more]
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NCT: Do Young Vol. 1 - YOUTH (Saebom Version)
Do Young (NCT)
After promoting in NCT U, NCT 127 and NCT DOJAEJUNG, NCT's Do Young finally pursues a solo career with his ambitious first full-length album YOUTH! Working with various hitmakers, the vocalist captures the shining moments of youth in ten songs. Do Young is credited as a songwriter for the first time in the pre-release single Beginning (Track 1) for which he partnered up with producer Seo Dong Hwan, one of the writers of IU's Love wins all. Serving as the album's intro, Beginning sparks spring sentiments and brings listeners to a warm and hopeful setting. Next up is title track Little Light (Track 2), an unexpected collaboration with LUCY's bassist and producer Cho Won Sang. Resembling... [read more]
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KISS OF LIFE Single Album Vol. 1 - Midas Touch (Photobook Version)
KISS OF LIFE
Garnering nine newcomer awards in their freshman year, KISS OF LIFE made an impressive debut in 2023 with their self-titled album plus the EP Born to be XX. Julie, Natty, Belle and Ha Neul continue to show their bold and free-spirited charm in their first single album Midas Touch. The "monster rookies" explore the different phases of love with two singles. In title track Midas Touch (Track 1), KISS OF LIFE expresses the certainty of romantic love in a melody reminiscent of 2000s pop music. "Boy, if I touch ya, kiss ya / Watch out / The eyes that changed at the moment / You see, I got that Midas touch" – Julie's fierce rap, Natty's unique timbre, Belle's refreshing high notes and Ha Neul's... [read more]
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Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction Theme Song: Zezezezettai Seiiki (Limited Edition) (Japan Version)
ano feat. Ikuta Lilas
| ano
| Ikuta Lilas
Zezezezettai Seiiki is exactly the kind of riot grrrl collaboration song I want from ano and Lilas Ikuta! Two of Japan's most exciting new-generation female vocalists, ano and Lilas Ikuta came together to voice the main characters of the two-part anime feature Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction, and naturally they're also singing the theme songs. Written by ano and composed by TK, Zezezezettai Seiiki is a thoroughly fun, fast and fierce punk rock banger that gets an extra kick from the two singers' distinctive vocal tones. The song echos the predicament and bond of the anime's bestie teenage heroines who try to live normally in a time of absurd war. The lyrics are as playfully catchy,... [read more]
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DAY6 Mini Album Vol. 8 - Fourever (Random Version)
DAY6
Welcome to DAY6's Show! After three years of wait, DAY6 finally returns from the military and drops their long-awaited eighth mini-album Fourever! Sung Jin, Young K, Won Pil and Do Woon make a promise to fans My Day to stay together Fourever with seven heart-racing new songs. DAY6 kicks off the album with the momentous and anthemic jam Welcome to the Show (Track 1)! The blend of post-Britpop and progressive house elements in the song creates an arena rock ambience overflowing with emotions and the members' powerful vocals. With its heartwarming lyrics and electrifying sounds, Welcome to the Show is for sure the perfect song to perform at DAY6's comeback concert following a three-year group... [read more]
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Red Velvet: Wendy Mini Album Vol. 2 - Wish You Hell (Photo Book Version)
Wendy (Red Velvet)
Two years after revealing her soft and sentimental side in the solo debut EP Like Water, Red Velvet's Wendy lends her voice to more beautiful pieces again in her second mini-album! The K-pop vocalist shows her joyful and bluesy moods in one go through her ethereal vocals in Wish You Hell. Wendy chants "I wish you hell!" in the title track Wish You Hell (Track 1)! The cute, upbeat and addictive pop jam bids farewell to a past self after finding one's true self: "Stuck in a doll, I was always smiling. I'm done with you, don't ever come back. I wish you hell. I don't wish you well. … I wish you hell, I found myself." Wendy's refreshing and crystal-clear vocal tone is the cherry on top for this... [read more]
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Anytime Anywhere (SINGLE+BLU-RAY) (First Press Limited Edition) (Japan Version)
milet
milet applies her husky, soulful vocals and songwriting talents to four songs of different vibes in her latest EP Anytime Anywhere. Two of the songs, title track Anytime Anywhere and bliss, are ending themes for the anime Frieren: Beyond Journey's End. Anytime Anywhere (Track 1) begins as a medium-tempo ballad that milet performs with a toned-down, almost conversational touch. The song and her singing build to a soul-freeing refrain and realization: "So if I were to be born again / I would surely choose this place once more / So if we were to meet again / I'd never let you go, I'd choose the present." The song's second verse after the refrain again assumes an intimate and conversational air... [read more]
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Orange (First Press Limited Edition) (Japan Version)
SPYAIR
SPYAIR's music has always been the soul of the Haikyu!! anime series. From openings like Imagination and I'm a Believer to ending theme One Day, SPYAIR definitely has a place in Haikyu!! fans' hearts and memories. Last year, Yosuke joined the band as the new vocalist replacing Ike, and now SPYAIR brings the single Orange to accompany the release of the movie Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle. Orange (Track 1) serves as the theme song of the anime film that unfolds the battle between Karasuno High and their destined rival Nekoma High in the Spring High Tournament. Orange is an empowering anthem that encourages one to keep going forward towards their dream without looking back: "We laughed and... [read more]
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