Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba

Last updated
"Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba"
Real Emotion 1000 no Kotoba.jpg
Single by Koda Kumi
from the album Grow into One
LanguageJapanese
ReleasedMarch 5, 2003 (2003-03-05)
Length20:02
Label Rhythm Zone
Composer(s)
  • Kazuhiro Hara
  • H-wonder
  • Takahito Eguchi
  • Noriko Matsueda
Lyricist(s)
Koda Kumi singles chronology
"Maze"
(2002)		"Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba"
(2003)		"Come with Me"
(2003)

"Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba"(real Emotion/1000の言葉,real Emotion/Sen no Kotoba, lit. "real Emotion/1000 Words") is a double A-side single by Japanese singer Koda Kumi. The single contains the songs "Real Emotion" and "1000 no Kotoba", which were featured in the game Final Fantasy X-2 .

A-side and B-side the two sides of 78, 45, and 33 1/3 rpm phonograph records and cassette capes

The terms A-side and B-side refer to the two sides of 78, 45, and 33​1⁄3 rpm phonograph records, or cassettes, whether singles, extended plays (EPs), or long-playing (LP) records. The A-side usually featured the recording that the artist, record producer, or the record company intended to receive the initial promotional effort and then receive radio airplay, hopefully, to become a "hit" record. The B-side is a secondary recording that has a history of its own: some artists released B-sides that were considered as strong as the A-side and became hits in their own right. Others took the opposite approach: producer Phil Spector was in the habit of filling B-sides with on-the-spot instrumentals that no one would confuse with the A-side. With this practice, Spector was assured that airplay was focused on the side he wanted to be the hit side.

Koda Kumi Japanese singer

Kumiko Kōda, known professionally as Koda Kumi, is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single "Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba", were used as themes for the video game Final Fantasy X-2. Her popularity grew with the release of her fourth studio album Secret (2005), her sixteenth single "Butterfly" (2005), and her first greatest hits album Best: First Things (2005), reaching the number-three, number-two, and number-one spots respectively.

<i>Final Fantasy X-2</i> 2003 video game

Final Fantasy X-2 is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation 2, as the direct sequel to Final Fantasy X. The game's story follows the character Yuna from Final Fantasy X as she seeks to resolve political conflicts in the fictional world of Spira before they lead to war and to search for her lost love Tidus from Final Fantasy X.

Contents

This was Kumi's first single to chart in the top 10 on Oricon, coming in at #3. Since its release, it has sold over 283,000 copies. [1]

Oricon Inc., established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as Original Confidence Inc., which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc. was originally set up as a subsidiary of Original Confidence and took over the latter’s Oricon record charts in April 2002.

Background and release

"Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" is Japanese R&B singer-songwriter Kumi Koda's seventh single and first double A-side. The single became the artist's first the chart in the top ten on the weekly Oricon Singles Charts, charting at #3, and remained on the charts for twenty-eight weeks. Since its release, it has sold over 283,000 copies. She would not have another single surpass the physical sales of "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" until her 2006 single "4 Hot Wave". [2]

Japan Country in East Asia

Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south.

Singer-songwriter musician who writes, composes and sings

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose, and perform their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies.

The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Oricon does not include download sales. In Japan, physical sales decreased sharply in the 2000s, while download sales hit three to four times the amount of single sales.

"1000 no Kotoba" was arranged by Takahito Eguchi and Noriko Matsueda, who arranged much of the music for Final Fantasy X-2. It was published by Rhythm Zone on March 5, 2003 with the catalog number "RZCD-45080". [3] An orchestra version was included in limited editions of her album Grow into One as a bonus track, which played during the credits of Final Fantasy X-2. The song was also included on the game's soundtrack, Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack . An alternate orchestra version was included on her 2007 compilation album Best: Bounce & Lovers .

Rhythm Zone (RZN) is a record label in the Avex Group that releases urban contemporary Japanese music.

<i>Grow into One</i> 2003 studio album by Koda Kumi

Grow into One is the second studio album released by Japanese R&B-turned-pop singer Koda Kumi, released on March 19, 2003. It barely peaked in the Top 10 on Oricon, coming it at #8, and charted for forty-three weeks. The album also contained, at the time, one of her best-selling singles, "Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba". Combined with the singles, the album has sold over half a million copies in Japan.

A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for release together as a single work, but may be collected together as a greatest hits album or box set. If from several performers, there may be a theme, topic, time period, or genre which links the tracks, or they may have been intended for release as a single work—such as a tribute album. When the tracks are by the same recording artist, the album may be referred to as a retrospective album or an anthology.

Concerning the single's release, Kumi had said, "If this song doesn’t sell, it means that I don’t have what it takes to be an artist. If that happens, then I’ll give up with good grace." [4] After the chart failures of her past singles, Koda Kumi decided that the single would decide her fate as an artist. When the single had a high success rate on the charts, Kumi felt that it was the starting point of her career, but grew discouraged when the following singles didn't chart well, saying, "Once people will listen to my songs, I will certainly be able to keep their interest." Because my hopes had been so high, the fall was really too hard." [4]

On November 18, 2003, a Final Fantasy X-2 single was released under Avex with the title "Kuon: Memories of Waves and Light" in November of the same year. The single contained three tracks: "Kuon: Memories of Waves and Light", "Besaid", and "Yuna's Ballad". [5]

Shortly after the release of Kuon ~Memories of Light and Waves~, a Taiwanese bootlegging company known as Alion International Records Co.,LTD unofficially released a single with an identical title. [6] The bootleg was distributed on several sites in the early 2000s. [7]

An orchestra version of "1000 no Kotoba" would be placed on limited editions of the corresponding album, grow into one, as a bonus track. This was the version of the song used during the ending credits, which could also be found on disc two of the Final Fantasy X-2 Original Soundtrack. She would release an alternate orchestra version on her third compilation album, Best ~Bounce & Lovers~, which was released in 2007.

Music video

"Real Emotion" had a music video, appearing in the DVD 7 Spirits , and released alongside her corresponding album Grow into One .

This would be the first time an artist took part in creating the dance for a video game, with Kumi's dance being digitized into the game for the opening number. [8] The music video showed aspects of creating the in-game video, with Kumi on the platform that would be used to track her movements, so as to layer them over the Yuna character.

Appearance in Final Fantasy X-2

"Real Emotion" was utilized as the opening song for the Square Enix role-playing video game Final Fantasy X-2, with the dance Kumi performed being overlapped and digitized onto the Yuna character.

While "1000 no Kotoba" was considered an a-side, the song did not receive an official music video. Instead, it received a music video in the game. The music video for the song was of the Yuna character singing the song in the Thunder Plains in the world of Spira. In the segment, Yuna sings the love song, written by the character Lenne, to her lover, Shuyin - both who had died 1000 years ago in Zanarkand. During the scene, it shows the couples' back story of how the two were killed by guards of Bevelle in front of the weapon Vegnagun. Lenne's song was written to reflect the "1000 words over 1000 years" she was never able to tell Shuyin.

Reception

Upon the single's release in 2003, it garnered positive reviews from both Japanese and North American fans.

Many North American fans said how they had discovered the single due to Final Fantasy X-2 and how they found "Real Emotion" to be "upbeat" and "empowering," while "1000 no Kotoba" was "very beautiful" and "touching." Reviewer Jae went into more detail, saying how "Real Emotion"'s lyrics were about "not relying on someone else," while "1000 no Kotoba" was a "beautiful power ballad about how she couldn't get out the words to describe her love before it was too late." [9]

In Japan, Renji said how the lyrics and music to "Real Emotion" were "very energetic" and how they "want[ed] to dance whenever the song [came] on." They also praised "1000 no Kotoba," saying how the song was "beautifully painful." Nagisa went on to praise "Real Emotion," commenting that the music video was very "nice and refreshing." With "1000 no Kotoba," they say how they get "chill bumps whenever {they] hear it." Reviewer gvg said how during "Real Emotion," Kumi's voice reminded them of Namie Amuro, but appeared to be "stronger." They commented on "1000 no Kotoba," saying how "listening to the song [brought them] to tears." [10]

"Real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba" peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart, becoming Koda's first top ten single on the chart. Since its release, it has sold over 283,000 copies. [1]

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Real Emotion" (original mix)Kenn KatoKazuhiro Hara h-wonder 4:02
2."1000 no Kotoba" (original mix) Kazushige Nojima
  • Eguchi
  • Matsueda
6:02
3."Real Emotion" (instrumental) Kazuhiroh-wonder3:59
4."1000 no Kotoba" (instrumental) 
  • Eguchi
  • Matsueda
  • Eguchi
  • Matsueda
6:02
Total length:20:05

Alternate versions

Real Emotion

1000 no Kotoba

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References

  1. 1 2 Oricon. "real Emotion/1000の言葉". Oricon. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  2. ↑ "Single Sales Chart". HBR3 Sakura. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2016.
  3. ↑ Gann, Patrick. "Kumi Koda – Real Emotion/1000 Words". RPGFan. Retrieved 2008-04-03.
  4. 1 2 Koda Kumi. "KODA REKI Translations". Koda Kumi. Archived from the original on 2016-12-31. Retrieved 2013-01-24.
  5. ↑ "久遠 ~光と波の記憶~ Music from FINAL FANTASY X-2 (CCCD)". Amazon Japan. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Takahito Eguichi, Noriko Matsueda - Music from Final Fantasy X-2 久遠 ~光と波の記憶~". Discogs. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  7. ↑ "ALCA-8165 Music from Final Fantasy X-2 久遠 ~光と波の記憶~". h-ray. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Koda Kumi, the motion actress of Yuna's dance". SquareSoft. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Customer Reviews - real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba (Japan Version)". YesAsia. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  10. ↑ "real Emotion/1000 no Kotoba User Reviews". Amazon Japan. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
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