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 Index: Feb 1 – Feb 18 // Feb 19 – 25 // Feb 26 – Mar 3 // Mar 4 – Mar 10 // Mar 11 – Mar 18 // Mar 19 – Mar 25 // Mar 26 – Apr 1 // Apr 2 – Apr 8 // Apr 9 – Apr 15 // Apr 16 – Apr 22 // Apr 23 – Apr 29 // Apr 30 – May 6 // May 7 – May 13 // May 14 – May 20 // May 21 – May 27 // May 29 – Jun 3 // Jun 4 – Jun 10 // Jun 11 – Jun 17 // Jun 18 – Jun 24 // Jun 25 – Jul 1 // Jul 2 – Jul 8 // Jul 9 – Jul 15 // Jul 16 – Jul 22 // Jul 23 – Jul 29 // Jul 30 – Aug 5 // Aug 6 – Aug 12 // Aug 13 – Aug 19 // Aug 20 – Aug 26 // Aug 27 – Sep 2 // Sep 3 – Sep 9 // Sep 10 – Sep 16 // Sep 17 – Sep 23 // Sep 24 – Sep 30 // Oct 1 – Oct 7 // Oct 8 – Oct 14 // Oct 15 – Oct 21 // Oct 22 – Oct 28 // Oct 29 – Nov 3 // Nov 4 – Nov 11

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THIS WEEK: Nov 12 – Nov 18

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Ado – Unravel

So many Ado songs lately! This one takes a bit to get going, but once it does it’s quite cathartic.

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Da-iCE – Naimonedari

Feels kind of like Da-iCE on autopilot.

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Faky – Departure

I’m so happy to see Faky release a new EP! I wish this had more energy, but it’s a pretty song nonetheless.

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FEMM – CHERRY on TOP

This is another group I’m happy to have back, even though this is essentially their goodbye era (and I don’t care much for the song itself).

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Girls2 – I Wanna Sengen

I like this punchy, guitar-driven sound for them.

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Hiromitsu Kitayama – RANSHIN (song of the week!)

I wrote about this here. I loved it, and it’s a song of the week!

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Kis-My-Ft2 – Heartbreaker

I wrote about this here. It’s okay, but nowhere near their best.

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L (Kim Myungsoo) – Starting Over

Another rock ballad from Myungsoo. It’s fine. He clearly loves this sound.

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Moonchild – Friends Are For

There are parts of this I enjoy, but much of it is just too chant-heavy for me.

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Naniwa Danshi – I Wish / Join Us!

Both of these songs are decent. Join Us gets the edge due to its slight techno influence and bounding energy.

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Nogizaka46 – Monopoly

I assume we’re getting a music video for this new single eventually? I’ll hold off on further judgment until then, but I like this very much.

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One N’ Only – Freaking Happy

This is nice and upbeat, but very generic.

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Queen Bee – Zero Ni (song of the week!)

Queen Bee’s new b-side is as quirky and interesting as expected. I just adore Avu-chan’s songwriting. This is another song of the week!

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Ryokuoushoku Shakai – Be A Flower

We’ve got a music video!

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Stereo Dive Foundation – Monogram

I like pretty much everything released by Stereo Dive Foundation. This song has more lulls than I’d prefer, but it’s still great.

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Yoasobi – Biri-Biri

Yoasobi + Pokemon is pretty much a guaranteed hit, right?

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&TEAM – War Cry / Dropkick (song of the week!)

I wrote about War Cry here and thought it was just so-so. However, b-side Dropkick is a jolt of fun 80’s synth energy. It should have been the single, and it’s a song of the week for me!

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This week’s old favorite:

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Lead – Still… (2012)

I always thought this sounded a bit like Sweetune in places and that (of course) is enough for me to go crazy over it…