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Favorite Japanese Covers of Japanese Songs?

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As the title says, what are your favorites? :3

 

Off the top of my head, here are 3 of my favorites:

 

"Television City"

 

Originally by LOSTAGE (2006)

 

- This was the first song that got me into LOSTAGE, and to a larger extent, one of the first songs to get me into the Japanese indie scene as a whole. It was songs like this that began to change my perspective of "indie-rock", which at the time I assumed was full of dull "salaryman-core" :lol:. The guitar riffs, the bassline, and the overall energy have kept this a favorite of mine to this day.

 

 

covered by 8otto (2009)

 

-as a band, I enjoy LOSTAGE wayyyyy more, but when it comes to this particular song, I can't decide who played it better. 8otto absolutely killed this. They replaced the original, high-energy of the song with a thick, funky groove, and Masaki's deadpan vocals almost gives the song a kind of sinister overtone. I fuckin' love it.

 

 

 

"delayed brain"

 

Originally by NUMBER GIRL (2002)

-Despite NUMBER GIRL being J-indie pioneers (and legends), I only got around to properly listening to them a few years ago. This one was an instant favorite for me tho. The slow-burning funk, Mukai's trademark delivery that's more spoken-word than it is singing, that looping guitar riff, and the hazy tones in the background definitely set this one apart.

 

 

covered by Natsuko Miyamoto (of MASS OF THE FERMENTING DREGS) (2017)

-Doing basic acoustic covers is pretty typical, but Natsukon did a pretty wonderful job here. It's a simple, folksy rendition, but her emotive vocals do a great job of fleshing out the areas where Mukai couldn't go in the original.

 

 

 

"5716"

Originally by Clammbon (2003)

-I actually heard downy's cover of this first, so admittedly, I don't have much of a history with this song, but it's pretty great nonetheless. It's a somber piano-pop song, with some cool, IDM-like electronics going on. Definitely one of the more emotional songs I've heard from Clammbon in general.

 

covered by downy (2014)

-I think it's safe to say that downy took this song and completely made it their own, as it barely resembles the original at all. It maintains a little bit of the melancholy of the original, but even that shifts to a lighter, more hopeful feeling during the chorus. So yeah, it may not sound anything like the original, but it's still a brilliant track on its own, and a testament to downy's enduring creativity.

 

 

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What are some of your favorite Japanese covers of other Japanese bands?

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死者列車 (Shisha ressha) originally by 無限マイナス (Mugen Minus), 2006

Spoiler

 

 

Covered by ムニムニ (Munimuni), 2007

Spoiler

 

 

Confession: I heard Munimuni's cover version first, and while I dig the original too, I just love the cover infinitely better. Maybe because the dreary goth shoegaze-y sound is closer to my usual style than Mugen's folk stuff. This is probably one of my most favorite Japanese covers of all time, now that I think about it.

Edited by Jigsaw9

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Off the top of my head, Acid Black Cherry's "Recreation" series is a fantastic set of 80's/90's J-pop hit covers. Obviously, most of the songs get blocked on YT b/c Motorod is under Avex, but here's one I found from "Recreation 4":

 

Reimy (Original | 1984) & Acid Black Cherry (Cover | 2014) - 青春のリグレット (Seishun no Regret) 

I prefer Acid Black Cherry's version & the 松任谷由実 (Yumi Matsuyoya) cover

Spoiler

 

 

Other Miscellaneous Covers (does Utaite count?) :

Spoiler

Shin ex-ViviD covering Kinyo Hanabi by Ai Otsuka

 

 

https://www.nicovideo.jp/user/1529380/video

This is Shougo from アンフィル cover channel "ごまめろん". He's mainly done Vocaloid covers, but he has a handful of Shonen anime OP covers. The video above is from "ごまめろっく" which is comprised of アンフィル members.

 

Going full-circle w/ Yasu, Sclaim has done a handful of Janne Da Arc, LUNA SEA, etc. covers.

 

Edited by colorfuljinsei

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Karasuna Mei of Kuroyuri to Kage performing Tsubasa wo Kudasai by Michio Yamagami. 

I will be real here, I never heard Tsubasa wo Kudasai and while I do enjoy a lot of Kayokyoku, I cannot name any artists or songs (except for like Haruo Oka).

Spoiler

 

 

Guruguru Eigakan - Bokutachi no Shippai (Originally from Morita Doji).

I actually knew somewhat of Morita Doji from back when I was just getting into Japanese music, but never really listened to anything of her's until I found Guruguru Eigakan. 

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by AimiGen7

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The first one that sprung to mind is Sadie's cover of the popular song, Pegasus Fantasy. Originally, it was sung by the Japanese metal band, MAKE-UP who sang the original song in 1986 for the anime Saint Seiya and have released several editions of it, the latest one being subtitled as 'Version Omega'. I know at this point (in 2012) the quality of Sadie's songs are up for debate, but I rather enjoyed the heaviness of the song and how they put their own touch to the anime theme song. It's probably not the best or mind-blowing cover. But in my opinion it's one of the better covers that was featured on the V-Anime Rocks album. (Note: I haven't watched the anime yet.)

 

Pegasus Fantasy originally by MAKE-UP (Underneath I have included the original [1986] and the Version Omega [2012], which I could only find a TV size version of it unfortunately)

Spoiler

Pegasus Fantasy (Original version, 1986)

 

 

Pegasus Fantasy (Version Omega, 2012)

 

 

 

Covered by Sadie (2012)

Spoiler

 

 

Also, I just remembered Vidoll's cover of Kalimero's song, Aoi Tori. Absolutely love Jui's voice in it.

 

Aoi Tori originally by カリメロ [Kalimero] (2003)

Spoiler

 

 

Covered by Vidoll (2003)

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by monkeybanana4
updating

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椎名林檎 (Shiina Ringo) - 本能 (Honnou) (1999)

Spoiler

 

Covered by シビレバシル (sibilebashir) (2016)

Spoiler

 

Perfect music video parody as well.

Edited by Alkaloid

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I know most people are familiar with the Mousou Nikki battle already, but I have to say Moran's cover of the song (originally by Sid).

I honestly think their cover is way better than the original (no disrespect to Sid, but Moran's style just wowed me). They really made it their own.

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First that comes to my mind is Merry's two oldies covers from the Gekisei single.

 

Isezakicho Blues by Mina Aoe (1968) and Merry's cover

 

 

And Gakuseigai no Kissaten by Garo (1973) and Merry's cover

 

 

 

 

I'm a huge fan of Merry in general, but I actually think these two cover songs are among the best they've ever done. It just seems as they fit the band perfectly in every joint of the band, and ever since the release of the single I've been dying to hear Merry to something similar. Should be noted than the original tracks are both stunning as they are tho, and you'd be as stupid useless as you are pathetic not to make them sound good. Should be almost impossible as long as you don't make any huge changes.

 

 

Another Japanese cover I'm a huge, huge fan of are Boris' cover of Pyg's classic Flower, Sun, Rain. 

 



 

 

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I may be extremely biased, but EVE's cover of LM.C's "88" is much better imho because Takeru's voice is much more pleasant than Maya's (LM.C's fans please don't  kill me)

 

Edited by Nighttime Jae

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one of my favorite mucc albums is their cover album lol.  great listen start to finish but wine red will forever be close to my heart (the original is also great) ❤️

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Umbrella's version of "the hanged man" by More has to be one of the best covers I've heard in a while. 

 

Original by More

Spoiler

 

 

Cover by Umbrella

Spoiler

 

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This cover is probably my favorite one of all times: 

 

Band Maid - Honey

Spoiler

 

 

MUCC - Honey (the original song)

 

Spoiler

 

 

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On 2/22/2019 at 8:57 PM, Jigsaw9 said:

死者列車 (Shisha ressha) originally by 無限マイナス (Mugen Minus), 2006

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Covered by ムニムニ (Munimuni), 2007

  Hide contents

 

 

Confession: I heard Munimuni's cover version first, and while I dig the original too, I just love the cover infinitely better. Maybe because the dreary goth shoegaze-y sound is closer to my usual style than Mugen's folk stuff. This is probably one of my most favorite Japanese covers of all time, now that I think about it.

Sorry for the double combo of necro/offtopic posting BUT BLESS YOU @Jigsaw9 for reminding me of Munimuni's existence! ❤️ 

Edited by spockitty

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This is my favorite cover.

 

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR - Rosier

Spoiler

 

 

 

Another great one.

 

abingdon boys school - Sweetest Coma Again

Spoiler

 

 

Edited by Flame-X

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