Namie Amuro - LIVE STYLE 2011

After waiting for more than 14 business days which YesAsia promises to deliver your products by, my order for Queen of Hip Hop Namie Amuro's LIVE STYLE 2011 and another DVD (Stay tuned! Hint: It has something to do with the Queen of J-POP!!) finally arrived last week. YesAsia's delivery service has been getting from bad to worse. My previous order was also delayed but at least I received them eventually. Shame on them for making their customers wait obscenely.

Anyway, this is my second Namie Amuro concert DVD; the first being her Past<Future Tour 2010 (unboxed and reviewed on my tumblr blog last year). Reason why I got this one? Probably because it has some of the songs that I had never ever heard of and want to give a try while watching Miss Hip Hop dance to them and because I wanted to add up enough on YesAsia for the free shipping (true reason. :P)

Namie's concerts, at least judging from the 2 that I have, are relatively simple as compared to Koda Kumi and ayumi hamasaki. She does only a few costume changes and keep the whole concert very simple with minimal props and effects. However, that does not discount her talented singing as well as stage presence when she starts dancing and strutting her stuff. Her light designers are also damn good at the lighting.

Now, let's look at what LIVE STYLE 2011 brings us...

The DVD comes in a slipcase sleeve and here's the cover with the plastic shrink wrap still on. Initially, I didn't really get the story behind the picture because it looks as though she is smiling under water. It was upon watching the introduction cinematics of the concert did I come to realize that she is actually a really cool knight in armor with her helmet exploding. Interesting concept but didn't really deliver via the front cover due to lack of other elements suggesting that she was wearing an armor.

The shiny sticker on the shrink wrap that gives a short summary of the concert in Chinese. Basically, it says that there are 25 songs featured on this DVD and it comes with Chinese subtitles. Nothing very useful.

CDs or DVDs always look better without the shrink wrap because they often come clustered with other stickers that aren't very attractive to begin with. Furthermore, shrink wraps tend to attract a lot of dust and therefore, it makes photographing them difficult. Initially, I didn't really fancy the cover but I think this is one of those covers that will grow on you. She is definitely smiling with her eyes~~ Coolness!!

I'm a fan of Namie but unfortunately, not that big of a fan because I don't collect every single or album she's ever produced. But at least I can still recognize some of the songs in this concert. Some of the older ones or newer ones are foreign to me but when the new album (I heard it's announced already) is released, I will definitely go get that one.

Anyway, here's the track list. What I don't really enjoy about her concert DVDs is that they do not include the making ofs. I think the making ofs are fun to watch because it shows the artist in their every day life "state" and often, it shows the true sides of the singers off stage. Perhaps they wanted to keep all her concert DVDs to one disc? I don't know...

Here's the slipcase cover with the DVD case side by side. A sudden change in theme, yes? I've seen Namie mostly in her sleek outfits and seeing her in a dress is kinda fresh to me. Like I've said, I'm not her ultimate fan but hey, at least I support her original goods yes?

I'm also happy that they used a different cover on the inside so that there are more things to feast our eyes on instead of the same photo over and over again. Here we have the dancing queen sporting a pink dress, looking so feminine in her signature long hair curled up.

On the back of the plastic DVD case are some screen grabs of what you would expect in the concert. I must say, even though there aren't many special effects, Namie commands the entire arena and her presence on stage is not to be missed. The lighting is fantastic and gosh can she sing and dance at the same time! I'm really amazed at how she can keep up with her breath and still sing those really difficult songs like "Defend Love". *applause*

When you open the case, you're greeting with something simple - a poster folded neatly by the side and the black DVD. Unlike Koda Kumi and ayu, Namie's concerts do not include a lyric or photo booklet and I say that is such a pity. But that's probably because of the style of the concert as well since there aren't many costume changes and special effects worthy of making a photo book out of it.

But when I mean her concert is simple, I ain't saying it's sloppy. In fact, it's simple but packed with some really good but minimalistic details. Had to take a photo of the back of the DVD and insert because it's so gorgeous! Running on the theme of her latest compilation album featuring other artists - Checkmate!, the chess pieces are back again and this time, it's not just a prop but also a platform Namie can stand on. Really cool~ The entire stage is also a huge chess board too.

Last but not least - here's the poster that comes folded in the DVD casing. Namie Amuro in her long hair (I've never seen her in short hair before other than for a single song in this concert where she wore a wig) in an armor suit. Well, we can't really be definite that it's really her inside but this is really cool nevertheless. And yes, this is the armor introduced in the opening cinematics which resulted in the cover art we all see.


Namie Amuro is a strong performer who delivers even though her concerts are simple but very refined and sleek. Even if you do not like to watch dances, you can just pop this DVD in to listen to her sing live and I must say, it's amazing! Not many people (e.g. Korean girl bands) can do that without lip sync and I say she pulled it of splendidly.

It's a pity that some of the songs in this concert were meant to be performed with the featured artists on their original tracks (songs like "make it happen" and "WONDER WOMAN") but was performed by Namie alone. But again, getting other artists with other works to do to make a guest appearance is quite challenging but I would really want to watch them perform live together on these really good songs.

Overall, this concert is worth watching for the dances and Namie's amazing singing and stamina as well as stage presence. She's also the only artiste I know that can strut the runway while singing and dancing like a true top model! For a single mother aged 34, she maintains her energy and youth (and of course body) for the entertainment of everyone, I say that's extremely remarkable!

Can't wait for her next studio album! The singles so far are promising and I hope that every single track released thus far will make it to the album because they sound really good~

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Koda Kumi - Dejavu Live Tour 2011

The third post in a row on yet another fabulous release from a Japanese artiste - Koda Kumi! This time, we'll be looking at her Dejavu Live Tour 2011 which ran Japan-wide last year despite the unfortunate 3/11 disaster that crippled the country.

Received this DVD along with ayumi hamasaki's 13th studio album - Party Queen. The Dejavu Live Tour may be one of her smaller scale tours considering that this time round, she performed in small theater halls instead of the grand arenas - probably due to the disaster. But nevertheless, boy did she deliver a fierce show!

"Why won't you come with me to my Dejavu~"

I know that sentence (taken from the introduction to the album) will make English teachers cringe but... Let's go!

Got myself the Hong Kong press version of the DVD from YesAsia and of course, it didn't cost an arm and a leg as compared to the Japanese press of the exact same thing. The quality is exactly and same and it still looks stunning. From the looks of it, she definitely kept her theme consistent with her studio album (unboxed/reviewed here) and I ain't complaining because it looks gorgeous!

A close up on the round sticker which explains that this box comes with 2 DVDs - one featuring the actual concert and the second one featuring over 70 minutes of "making of"s as well as the special videos played during the actual concert itself. Think they included those so that you can hold your own concert as well if you project those as a backdrop on a huge screen - if you can find one. 

The first press of the tour DVD comes in a cardboard slipcase sleeve and here's a clearer view of it minus the ugly plastic wrapper jailing our Pop Diva away. Loving the whole classic Kumi-sultry look and her hair is so cool! They could have done a better job with the title though - love the embossing effect but the colors are a little questionable.

The back of the cardboard slipcase sleeve with yet another photo of Miss Photogenic. I hope she can maintain her figure even after her pregnancy so she will continue to deliver stunning photos after stunning photos. Like most of her DVDs, the track list runs on the left of the packaging neatly. Well, unlike Party Queen, yellow works well here, no?

Details on the spine. Hmmm... On solid black, the effect actually looks pretty good. Perhaps it didn't work as well on the front cover because there were too many distractions and we don't need more distracting colors to rob our attention away from Koda Kumi.

Ta da~ Instead of just simply recycling the exact photo used on the slipcase, they took another one for the DVD casing beneath the cardboard case. This time, we see more of her face and for some weird reason, she looks like a teacher in that photo. Probably because of her hair. Who would mind having a teacher as beautiful as her, yes? :P I would make her sing in class instead of teach. :P

"You don't know~ You don't know~ How beautiful you are~~~" Again, the bad color choices of the font came back to haunt us. I think they could do away with just a solid color to make the whole look more classy and sleek as opposed to using these cheap gradients.

The track list is reinforced on the insides as well for the convenience of people who watch DVDs like me - slipcase at one end of the room and the DVD case on the other. I'm not the neatest person, okay~ I think the plastic DVD case is good enough to stand alone on the shelves of any CD store even without the slipcase. But the slipcase is definitely a bonus, don't you think?

When you open up the DVD case, you are greeted with 2 DVDs (duh) and a photo booklet. The DVDs come in Gold (the concert itself) and Silver (the making of). Nothing too special about it considering that the design is simple. Actually, there are not many physical CD designs that really WOW me these days. There used to be some in the past... Maybe when I'm too free or something, I shall go review those since they are sitting on my shelf collecting dust anyway...

Hello Lion! Phantom of the Gradient strikes back again! Not that I'm against gradients but I don't think it's appropriate here, yes? Anyway, here's the photo booklet for the Dejavu concert DVD. No lyrics... I wonder why...

The track list on the first page of the booklet. Well, since they didn't put lyrics inside, I don't see why they want to repeat the obvious again in the lyric booklet. Probably just to fill up that empty space? I don't know... What do y'all think?

I must say, the costumes of this tour are all extremely gorgeous! She opened the show wearing something like a blue oversized cape looking dress with red visors, almost Gaga-inspired and suddenly, she transformed herself into this modern Mad Hatter character in this striped look. Even though the stage is small, she still managed to blow my socks off with her performance.

I think girls will kill for this dress! I think it's one of the nicest costumes in the entire show! Loving how the skirt is done~ Well, even though this time round, I would say that her concert is a little disjointed because parts do not flow as well as they should and unlike her UNIVERSE or FANTASIA concerts, this one did not really flow a storyline so it was a little confusing for me but still, her singing rocks.

The cutesy-cutesy part of her concert. Lovely energy and definitely adorable look.

To end of this post, I shall take a photo of the DVD concert along with the album itself. See the ties in the theme? And notice that they used a solid silver color for the title on the album but chose to do the cheap gradient thing on the DVD jacket? They should have just stuck to the solid silver for that elegant look. Nevertheless, the album and the concert are still amazing~ Now, I just hope that she would do a JAPONESQUE tour after she's done giving birth and recovering because that album is packed with awesome songs and I can't wait to see her perform those in an arena (no small theaters please~).

And in case y'all want to know what I got for my Mini Japan toy from YesAsia, I got a bread keychain that's so soft and smells like coffee! I hung it on my shelf so I can smell it and squish it every now and then because it's so adorable! 

In case you don't know, if you buy 2 eligible Japanese CD or DVD from YesAsia, you get to pick a free Mini Japan toy. Even though they are randomly picked for you (i.e. you do not get to choose exactly what you want but you get to pick which machine your toy comes from), it's always surprising to open up your shipment to see what freebie you got. Really cool~

Well, that's the end of this entry. I hope you enjoy the photos, yes? I'm still waiting for my next shipment to arrive and it consists of 2 more DVD concerts from ayumi hamasaki and Namie Amuro. So excited! Not only do I get things to photograph and write about, I get concerts to watch. :D

Till next time y'all!!

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