Prisoner of Love (Hikaru Utada song)

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"Prisoner of Love"
Utada Prisoner of Love.jpg
Single by Hikaru Utada
from the album Heart Station
ReleasedMay 21, 2008
Genre Pop, R&B
Length4:46
Label EMI Music Japan
Songwriter(s) Hikaru Utada
Producer(s) Hikaru Utada
Hikaru Utada singles chronology
"Heart Station"
(2008)		"Prisoner of Love"
(2008)		"Come Back to Me"
(2009)
Music video
"Prisoner of Love" on YouTube

"Prisoner of Love" is Hikaru Utada's 21st Japanese single and 30th single overall, released on May 21, 2008. This was her first Japanese recut single in nine years, after the first one "First Love" in 1999. It is also her first single to be released only in CD+DVD format. "Prisoner of Love" (Quiet Version) serves as the insert song for the Japanese television drama, Last Friends , while the original version is used in the opening theme. [1] It won the Best Theme Song Award in the 57th Drama Academy Awards. [2] "Prisoner of Love" was the 3rd most downloaded song in Japan during 2008. [3]

Contents

The song was performed during Utada's two date concert series Wild Life in December 2010. [4]

Music video

The video for "Prisoner of Love", directed by Takeishi Wataru, features Utada writing, arranging, and composing the song. She is seen doing push-ups and punching the air, while the scene switches back to her crafting the song and having writer's block.

The video is very interesting in that it is her first to use various references to her U3 blog. She is seen peeling and eating an orange-like fruit called a mikan, and in her blog she mentioned having a surplus of them. She is also seen drawing her inventive superhero, Super-Kuman, based on Kuma Chang, her stuffed bear, which is the subject for her song "Boku wa Kuma".

Track listing

CD+DVD Version

CD
No.TitleLength
1."Prisoner of Love"4:46
2."Prisoner of Love ~Quiet Version~"4:34
3."Prisoner of Love (Original Karaoke)"4:44
4."Prisoner of Love ~Quiet Version~ (Original Karaoke)"4:34
DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Prisoner of Love (Music Video)"-:--

Digital sales information

On May 13, Barks.jp reported "Prisoner of Love" had sold over 1.5 million downloads across all formats, [5] and on July 7, Yahoo!Japan reported it had sold over 2.9 million downloads, [6] it has been certified by the RIAJ on September 2 for reaching the 1 million mark for Chaku-Uta Full downloads in Japan. [7] [8]

Chart rankings

Weekly charts

Charts (2008)Peak
position
Billboard Japan Hot 100 [9] 2
Oricon weekly singles [10] 2
Oricon yearly singles [11] 95
RIAJ Reco-kyō ringtones Top 100 [12] 2
RIAJ Reco-kyō ringtones Top 100 [12]
  • Quiet Version
27
Charts (2010)Peak
position
RIAJ Digital Track Chart Top 100 [13] 83

Year-end charts

Chart (2008)Peak
position
Billboard Japan Hot 100 [14] 48

Certifications and sales

ChartAmount
Oricon physical sales [15] 82,000
RIAJ physical certification [16] 100,000
RIAJ ringtone downloads [17] 1,000,000+
RIAJ full-length cellphone downloads [18] 1,000,000+
RIAJ PC downloads [17] 100,000+

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References

  1. ↑ "News (JP) - Hikki's WEBSITE". Hikki's WEBSITE. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "テレビ番組表 - テレビ欄・番組表のSmartザテレビジョン". Smartザテレビジョン. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "3044永利官网vip |主頁(歡迎您)". utada-online.net. Archived from the original on 9 December 2008.
  4. ↑ "宇多田ヒカル一時休止前ラスト公演で感涙＆Ust新記録樹立" (in Japanese). Natalie. 13 December 2010. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "宇多田ヒカル、デビュー以来全アルバムがミリオン達成". BARKS. 13 May 2008. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  6. ↑ Yahoo!Japan Archived August 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "一般社団法人 日本レコード協会｜各種統計". riaj.or.jp. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Oricon Sales: 'Heart Station' / 'Pol': 1M Chaku-Uta Full". Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
  9. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot 100" (in Japanese). Billboard Japan. 2 June 2010. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  10. ↑ "Ｐｒｉｓｏｎｅｒ Ｏｆ Ｌｏｖｅ - 宇多田ヒカル／ オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" (in Japanese). Oricon . Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  11. ↑ シングル 年間ランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  12. 1 2 "レコード協会調べ 5月度有料音楽配信チャート（「着うた（R）」）＜略称：5月度レコ協チャート（「着うた（R）」）＞" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 20 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  13. ↑ "レコード協会調べ 2010年06月09日～2010年06月15日 ＜略称：レコ協チャート（「着うたフル(R)」）＞" (in Japanese). RIAJ. 18 June 2010. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "Japan Billboard Hot 100 Year-end chart 2008". Billboard Japan. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  15. ↑ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon . Retrieved 17 September 2010. (subscription only)
  16. ↑ ゴールド等認定作品一覧 2008年5月. RIAJ (in Japanese). 10 June 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  17. 1 2 レコード協会調べ 6月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：6月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 20 July 2008. Retrieved 17 September 2010.
  18. ↑ レコード協会調べ 7月度有料音楽配信認定 ＜略称：7月度認定＞. RIAJ (in Japanese). 20 August 2008. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
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