In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in what’s new in J-pop.

With that in mind, here’s where you come in: I’m one person with one set of musical preferences, so please embed any other new J-pop tracks you’ve enjoyed in the comments so we can get a fuller spectrum each week.

*And just like I do with my reviews, I’ll wait until full versions of songs are available before posting them in this round-up. This will mostly apply to Johnny’s groups, who still limit the majority of their YouTube uploads to shorter, edited versions.

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2023-2024 Index

2025 Index: Dec 29 – Jan 11 // Jan 12 – Jan 18 // Jan 19 – Jan 25 // Jan 26 – Feb 1 // Feb 2 – Feb 8 // Feb 9 – Feb 15

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THIS WEEK: February 16 – February 22

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Ayumu Imazu – Thrifted

A “vibe,” as they say. It’s a bit too laidback for me.

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BACK-ON – Graduations

Kamen Rider tracks are always a lot of fun.

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Benny – WOAH

After a very cool intro this quickly becomes the kind of song I hate. The chorus is dreadful.

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BXB – I Wish

This feels like it could have been TWS’s “hey! hey!” but ends up being more “meh meh.”

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edhiii boi – I Don’t Wanna Grow Up

I like the punky energy of this.

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Exile Takahiro – Evolution

This sounds very classic Exile, which is a comforting thing.

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imase – Friends!!!

I honestly don’t get the fuss around this music.

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LiSA – ReawakeR (ft. Felix of Stray Kids)

I wrote about this here. I thought it was alright.

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MAZZEL – J.O.K.E.R.

Better than most of their recent work, but still pretty dull.

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M!LK – E Jan

A weird hybrid of sparkly idol pop and dull club drop. The two don’t mesh at all.

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Naniwa Danshi – Don’t Worry!!

I swear they just keep releasing the same song over and over.

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ONE OK ROCK – Tropical Therapy

They definitely released the new album’s best three songs as pre-releases first, but this new single is also pretty solid.

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OWV – Supernova

I could hear this particular boy group sound pretty much anywhere.

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Queen Bee – Purple

Queen Bee occasionally churn out an emotional mid-tempo like this (my favorite is definitely 2017’s Outroduction). Unfortunately, the melodies here just aren’t hitting me. Maybe the song will grow with time.

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Ryokuoushoku Shakai – Player 1 (song of the week!)

The best Ryokuoushoku Shakai song in quite awhile. I love the energy and guitar riff. The chorus could be a bit stronger, though.

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Sakanaction – Kaiju

A catchy toe-tapper.

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Sakurazaka46 – Nightmare Shoukougun

I appreciate them changing up their sound a bit, but this doesn’t really work for me. It’s just too plodding.

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SKE48 – Tick Tack Zack

There’s a fullness missing in the instrumental and arrangement. A song like this needs to absolutely explode and this one never does.

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Super Beaver – Namida no Syotai

A solid rock track.

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Vaundy – Run Sakamoto Run

I wrote about this a few weeks ago but now it has an mv.

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WATWING – Memories

Funky and fun but not particularly unique.

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This week’s old favorite:

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Eiji Hino (Shu Watanabe) & Ankh (Ryosuke Miura) – Time Judged All (2014)

Exhibit B in “Kamen Rider music is generally awesome.”