Simply loved the music arrangements and how Akina sings this! BEAUTIFUL!!!!
GET YOUR COPIES OF 艶華 -ENKA- NOW!!!
VAMP
中森明菜 ❤ akinanakamori.com
Posted in July 2007 …
Enka Weekly Chart Screen Grab
as per Jamez’s request, here’s a shot for keepsake! she’ll most probably be in Top 20 this week! yay!
Enka Oricon Update
Week 1
・06/26（火） 第10位
・06/27（水） 第7位
・06/28（木） 第8位
・06/29（金） 第9位
・06/30（土） 第10位
・07/01（日） 第10位
Week 2
・07/02（月） 第10位
・07/03（火） 第18位
・07/04（水） 第18位
・07/05（木） 第15位
・07/06（金） 第15位
she stays put at 15th position! =))
艶華-Enka- Oricon Daily Ranking
Continuing from our last update:
・07/02（月） 第10位
・07/03（火） 第18位
・07/04（水） 第18位
・07/01（木） 第15位
After slipping to No. 18 and staying there after two days of new releases, 艶華-Enka- makes another small leap to No. 15, consolidating its likely 2nd week position in the Top 20, which is really good news! Let’s hope she keeps doing well.
Lastly, Danny Bunny, can we have a screenshot of her Top 10 Weekly ranking for keepsake. Thanks!
艷華一枚, 明菜一生 I’VE GOT MY ENKA!! CONTEST
we have our first fabulous entry for the photo contest from my celeb-pal (i’m allowed to show off here right?) Sharon who’s on a 4-year scholarship studying in Waseda University, Japan right now. Sharon is a huge Akina fan, all thanks to my years of heavy influence (hahahah).
Sharon’s favourite Akina song on Enka is "無言坂". she got Version B, and also bought a copy for her classmate who’s an Enka fan.
Thank you Shaz! we like how you made effort with the red background! we look forward to starting an online movement and get to see the fans from all over the world. for those who have reservations about revealing your faces, you can draw inspiration from Shaz’s photo – hide behind the CD! lol.
Faithway Newsletter No. 22 (July 2007)
It doesn’t look like anyone else has reported on the new Faithway Newsletter, so I am posting it here first!!
In terms of new updates, it is meagre because it looks like it rehashing what we already saw on the DVD, and there are no new photos from the Enka shoot, so it is a little disappointing for me especially when they mentioned that this is a special issue of 「艶華」, and there is nothing new. There is a survey that asks fans if their impression of the album and how many copies they bought.
The only truly new promotion is that Phiten has collaborated with Akina to produce a limited edition of their titanium bracelets and necklaces to ease muscle tension and pain. I am a huge fan of this product because I used to suffer from really bad stiff necks (due to my heavy gym routine) and wrist ache (not a trait of my sexuality but a result of constant prolonged typing on the keyboard). I used to wear a gym wrist protector and had to constantly crack my neck because of the tension until my sister bought me a Phiten necklace one year ago.
I have since upgraded to their newer translucent models and my cynical friend is now a convert after she complained of similar pain in her wrist and I lent her my old Phiten necklace to wrap around her wrist, and she has just bought 3 copies over Ebay. I am debating if I need another set for 5,500 yem including shipping, but for those who have never bought it before, I am the first to say I love this product and that it really works. Worth a try too because of Akina! 
艶華 review by 乱火
天城越え
Being a 名曲 in enka, naturally the expectation of Akina’s rendition of this track is demanding. The music arrangement was splendid, keeping the mood of the original track. Yet, Akina’s poetic approach gave it another world of interpretation, just like 私は風 from 歌姫. I would have to say that this is my favourite track in this whole album!
無言坂
Personally, I wanted to hear Akina sing this song badly, when it was decided to be included. To me, this song is one of my favourite enka song, also partly due to 玉置浩二 who composed the song.I guess Akina took a very different approach to this song, and also with a relatively different music arrangement compared to the original, I felt that Akina’s rendition could not bring out the images in the song. A very big disappointment for me alone, whereas the rest of the VAMPires seem to be enjoying this track.
氷雨
My impression of this song came from 日野美歌’s 1983 紅白 performance. A pleasant song which depicted a raining scene. I have to say that Akina managed to sustain that image of watching the rain goes while drinking 酒.
みちづれ
In my opinion, this is a very typical 演歌 tune. But somehow in Akina’s rendition, it turned into quite a 歌謡approach..which is enjoyable =)
空港
Upon first-time listening, it was quite difficult to decide whether this track is nice or not. However, after much listening, it simply grows on you and I come to realize that it is very much close to テレサ’s approach in singing, which I think Akina did very well !
越冬つばめ
This has to be my favourite 森昌子’s song. A technically demanding chorus, which I guess not many can do it well. Certainly, Akina has proven her powers! The music arrangement was true to the motif in the original music, yet with a modern touch.
悲しい酒
This track is a 苦手 for me. Both 美空ひばり and 明菜’s version.
舟唄
The intro is loyal to the original and I enjoy this track a lot! I guess it is not difficult to imagine 明菜’s voice in this 八代亜紀 song, as they share commonalities in low vocals.
石狩挽歌
Nice try! Enjoyable I would say!
矢切の渡し
The music arrangement took away the original 演歌 taste, but added an ethnic flavour. Overall, I enjoy Akina’s version more than the original =)
夜桜お七
This has to be the second best music arrangement in the album, after 天城越え. Full of dramatic building up to chorus and a wonderful usage of instruments to create the exotic atmosphere. Lastly, glad that Akina handled the さくら、さくら part well and not 土. Haha!
以上、乱火’s 2 cents worth.
