Ariamaru Tomi vs JL005 bin de
 

Ariamaru Tomi, Ringo's last true masterpiece, over my dead body.

JL005 bin de, the new song everyone raves about, and possibly best song on Sunny, if seven other songs don't exist.

Old vs new, ballad vs ballad. Which one do you prefer?

Ariamaru Tomi is pretty much the best ballad style song she's written post KZK (though, Shun is close), none of the new songs really stand a chance against it if we're being serious.

JL005 is not a bad song, but it's really let down by it's muddy ass production values and the fact that it just blends into the previous and next tracks/does not have a strong ending. Hopefully live versions can bring out its full potential - and believe me, I feel it could become so much more given the right arrangement (pretty much how I feel about all of the new songs actually). Still, it's definitely one of the better new songs.

I mean, even if I was in love with Sunny (and especially JL005) as Inseu and others appear to be, in my right mind and on a completely grounded level, anything on it would be very, very hard pressed to surpass Ariamaru Tomi. If AT was on Sanmon Gossip, it would be the best track there too (but it was left off because Ringo had the integrity to know it wouldn't sound right), and I love Sanmon Gossip. Thus, why including Ariamaru on Sunny (where it really sounds odd right after NIPPON, not to mention it's 5 years old) is a decision I'm finding hard to make sense of, and I seriously doubt I ever will understand it either. At least on an artistic level- but really, I don't think art had anything to do with it's placement- I think it has more to do with fattening the album up so they could sell it at album cost.

But to put it short, Ariamaru Tomi should be the clear winner if you're being totally honest with yourself. Even on the song vs. song level only it represents an amazing melody, great chord progression, fantastic vocals. JL005 as a song is quite beautiful and it does experiment slightly with electronics, but in the end, I doubt it will have the staying power that Ariamaru Tomi brought to the table. More than anything, I don't feel that sense of enchantment that Ariamaru gave me, and still gives me everytime I play it. Finally, it must not be ignored that for 5 years, Ariamaru Tomi wasn't even on an album- yet still one of her most popular tracks. That says a lot.

I really don't like Ariamaru Tomi that much. I never got why so many people love it -- and it might be my least favorite track off of HIT (maybe even my least favorite solo song?). With that said, I really like JL005 a lot.

I don't even see these songs as being similar enough in style to compare! To me Ariamaru is a really nice and well composed movie end credit theme. (it's an OP to a drama or something right? something like that.) It's a great song but it's pretty simple. JL005 is sort of like Disney Ringo to me, it's super elaborate with a lot of effects, I wouldn't call it a ballad, but if it is a ballad, it's like a ballad that a character sings in a dramatic broadway musical lol.
That said, I like certain parts of each song. I like Ariamaru's simplicity and the way the song just flows together and doesn't really surprise you but it still nice to listen to. But I like the dramatic rush that JL005 goes into.
I hate the beginning for JL005 though, idk why. It reminds me of like Heisei Fuzoku mixed with Jihen or something and it's just not my cup of tea.

I find JL005 to be like Osurebeki Otona-tachi in parts and SG ~Superficial Gossip~ in others.
In other words, I like it.

Ariamaru Tomi has one of the best build-up to release in recent memory.

Pretty much this. Calling them both ballads is simplifying the songs a little too much for my tastes. I can see a comparison between Ariamaru Tomi and something like Rakujitsu, but not really JL005.

: / It sounds like an SS song to me. It fits in quite well with the Gips outro, Yami ni Furu Ame, Sakana and particularly Honnou.

It lacks the corrosiveness of SS.
Even the more electronic-y/"softer" parts of SS (I'm thinking Yokushitsu and Yami ni Furu Ame), were still rather "hard" and had sharp edges to them. This is more wistful and smooth. And Ringo isn't screaching.
I can imagine hearing her scream-singing it in SS-era style though.

90% of the "corrosiveness" of SS comes from the production to be fair...

I mean none of those things have anything to do with the composition of the song, but I can go back further to MM if you want. It has a similar tone to Akane Sasu or Memai with guitar work straight out of the SS School of Ambiance (Yokushitsu/Sakana/Honnou). :p

I guess composition wise? As it is, I think the arrangement stops it from just being slotted into SS/MM