fAct Or fIctiOn: Utada Hikaru Fan also becomes a Shiina Ringo fan.
 

utada hikaru fan when exposed to shiina ringo , also becomes a fan.

lol, well... I'm proof, that this may be true xD

I say definitely -- in all cases!

It's true o_o... I started listening to Hikki in 2002, one year before start listening to Shiina, hahaha!

Shiina was the first Japanese artist I started listening too. Since then I've moved onto numerous others but I haven't heard hardly anything from Utada aside from video game soundtracks. If it goes one way, it doesn't seem to go the other... in my case.

100% true with me. Utada introduced me to jpop, she was everything until I heard Shiina.

Seconded.

wow... this is wierd... me tooooo...


Utada was my first. <3 XD

and then i heard a couple Different artist....

but when i i heard shiina.. it was like.. "MAGNET!"

it was true for a friend of mine. She was a big fan of utada, and when I showed her shiina and tokyo jihen, she also became a fan instantly.

As for me, I listened first to shiina, I only listened to utada later.
I only like 1 or 2 albums of utada. Her music is nice, but I really don't like her soundtrack music at all.

it was the other way with me - ringo came first :)

I think my progression went something like Ken Hirai -> Glay -> Hikki -> SR.

well...
there are 2 or 3 persons that I know that liked utada 1st and didn't liked SR when listened

i should have asked the question more clearly anyways...

it happens to me and some of of my frd too.

I liked hikaru, was also listening to toher jpop. The other jpop dont really do anything to me until Shiina ringo comes along and WOW.

In my experience, it also easier to convert a hikaru fan to a shiina fan more than any other fan,

Definately true. Shiina was my first Japanese encounter, and although I started listening to a lot of other Japanese music, I never liked Utada that much. I have heard a lot of her songs as you can't escape them in Japan really, but never felt compelled to buy any of her records.

Hahah thought that said Ken Hirai = Gay at first.

Let's see, first there was TM Revolution, and then Utada Hikaru...

Somewhere after Utada I got hooked on Shiina, so I guess it's a fact!

I remember there was a thread in which there was a discussion about Utada not being able to do Ringo and vice versa, and I just found I have a video of her singing a snippet of Tsumi to Batsu live. There is no music or anything and its just a few lines, but it was a pretty nice impersonation.

No requests! Search for it on Youtube. Anything beyond that doesn't belong in this forum.

Didn't I say "nothing beyond Youtube"? Youtube is fine, people post Youtube links and embedded videos all the time. But why would you REQUEST a Youtube video when you can just go look it up yourself?

Seen both of these gals live so yeah

Never was that big of a Hikaru Utada fan. I did really like "Simple and Clean"/"Hikari" from Kingdom Hearts and "Movin' On Without You" but other than that, she didn't really leave much of an impression on me. When I discovered Shiina Ringo, however, I haven't been the same since. She has turned my music world upside down.

I was always more of an Ayumi Hamasaki guy anyway. But looking back on her now, Shiina Ringo has her outclassed in every regard, IMO. Unfortunately, she does not have her number of fans. :(

Both Utada and Ayumi are great, but Utada has the more distinct voice.

Still trying to figure out WTF Exodus was all about.......

No figuring necessary, it was crap.

I dislike Ayumi Hamasaki, I've tried, on more than once occasion, to understand her appeal. Just generic J-Pop. What's the difference between Ayumi and Koda Kumi?

Koda Kumi is more R&B and scandalous. @_@

NIMH, did you mean Ringo has the more distinct voice?

I listened to Hikki before Ringo but I've only casually liked her.

:lol: Wasn't looking for an answer, was making an unflattering comparison.

No, I was comparing Utada and Ayumi.

Ringo has the *most* distinct voice out of all three of them.

I love Hikki but I'd easily get by without her music if i were forced!
Shiina on the other hand is just plain essential!! after you hear her you don't wanna go without her through the good or the bad!

utada to ringo is a realistic transition because utada works within the pop boundaries while maintaining creative control over her work and an exploratory/experimental edge. Ringo furthers that by taking her music to the limits of what is considered "pop" but still functioning as such while imbibing it a heavy dose of experimental and classical elements.

so ringo is almost like a much more extreme example of someone like utada in some senses. as for people who want to complain about utada, listen to her last two albums and tell me there is anyone out there who sounds like her? She definitely pioneered her own sound in the pop direction, just as Ringo did, albeit in another vein.

I was prepared for Ringo, her voice didn't put me off at all, it attracted me.

I'm pretty sure Faye Wong's later works prepared me somewhat. And I did listen to alot of J-Pop like TBG and Utada b4 Shiina, so the language didn't bother me. Now I don't listen to any Japanese Music except for Shiina.

I can say it happened this way for me. Although the discovery of ringo-hime had nothing to do with hikki. Hikki was the first j-artist I liked, and did not obsess over another one till ringo-hime.

Although Exodus 04 was the first hikki album I heard, I thought it was so good... Wow my tastes are very very different from secret of the nimh and cjhobbies. I do come from a r&b and rap background though. I wonder what are your thoughts on hikki's first coulple of albums???

ayu-chan's voice is so nasal and piecing (not in a bad way) that her voice is so recognizable to me... So I would definately agree that her voice is more distinct...

Utada introduced me to Shiina, when i saw her sing "tsumi to Batsu" I was all lyke "OMG, AWESOME DEWD!" >o< and then I saw Shiina in the related videos. Now I love them both... And they all lived happily ever after. =3=

Funny how a couple of people say Ringo turned their musical worlds upside down... because only now I realize my liking for alternative musicians such as Tori Amos or Kate Bush probably stemmed at the liking of Shiina.
As for Exodus, I like it... I think it was there that she proved what she's capable of, musically (and that at only 21 years, which I think is admirable). I understand if her fans don't like it though... it's a complete departure from her previous works. Without it though, she wouldn't have progressed like she did with said last 2 albums, as kuro_neko's already said.

Speaking about Faye Wong... she basically got me into Cocteau Twins, for which I'll be forever thankful :)
(and of course she's great herself)

I've always been a gigantic fan of Hikki (I SAW HER LIVE! I WAS LIKE, 20 FEET AWAY FROM HER!!), and just a few weeks ago, I decided to listen to Ringo.

WTF. I love her. I seem to be attracted to singers with distinctive voices (Western: Katy Perry, Duffy, Shakira; Eastern: Hikki, Ringo, alan). But she just has the experimentalism that Utada has, but it's taken to the furthest extreme, and it still comes out amazing.

On the subject of Exodus: it was my first Hikki album. I love it to death (just ahead of HEART STATION).

Haha, this is definitely a fact, at least in 90% cases. I was a big Utada fan since I discovered Ringo. Not that I dislike her now, but Ringo is way more interesting.

I can't agree more that you can't escapte utada's songs in japan...

I have heard a lot of utada's songs but have never been that interested. all her songs sounds a bit similar? they don't stimulate me like Shiina's do.
I suppose Utada's songs are a bit easier to listen, so public places like shopping malls, supermarkets will play her music. whereas shiina's music is not as suitable to play in public space. her music is something that you will need a quiet space, sit down and listen. so you can enjoy the layers and complexity in her music.

also the lyrics are very very different... shiina's lyrics are far more difficult to understand... Shiina uses less english words in her Japanese songs.

I do not think Ayumi has got a good voice. I even doubted whether she can sing.

another thing I have taken into accounting is that Utada was brought up in the U.S, and Japanese people tend to have a weird thing towards overseas born/brought up Japanese. It was actually a selling point when utada first came out. the medai especially mentioned that she was raised in america and she spoke fluent english. i remember reading an article 10 years ago said that Utada can pronouce 'R' and 'L' properly, unlike most japanese..

I was actually a Ringo fan prior to being a Hikaru fan. Actually I'm not a Hikaru fan, I can't stand her personality, but she has some good songs. :P

Me too! First j-pop album I bought was Utada's but now I'm totally Ringo fan.

What's wrong with her personality? She just American to me. It shows that she went to school here. She is shockingly quick witted at times but she has the tendency to express things too harshly. Other than that, what's to hate?

I was introduce to Shiina and Chitose through hikki and ayumi's chart battle of 2001. Everyone within top 10 oricon for November 2001 has at least one album in my library. Shiina, Chitose, Ayumi, and Judy and Mary stuck however.

GIGAcorrupt and I are Utadanet natives. I've been visiting Electric Mole and RingoJihen since Adult. We introduced him to Shiina earlier this year there at UNet.

I actually wish that Shiina would work with Utada again before she retires. She is officially on Hiatus Jan 1 2011. We are getting a best album and 3 new songs it would seem and then a possible 2 yr wait til new material. I doubt she will write or compose for anyone else during the time either.
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Oh and on a side note, Shiina and Asian Kung fu generation got me into Number Girl, Zazen Boys, Toddle, Spiral Chord and Vola & The Oriental Machine. The later names are all the bands started by the members of Number Girl after they broke up. They were a band from Fukuoka that were very well respected among the indie scene and got signed EMI around the same as Shiina did. The lead guitarist, Hisako was in the band Hatsuiku Status with Shiina(she also was rumored to be why Shiina learned guitar). She later worked with Inazawa(drums) on Karuki Zamen Kuri no Hana and Mukai(Vocals/r.guitar) on Zazen Boys II album. If this band didn't exist, I don't know how Shiina's music today.

I tend to have discographies I don't really like.. well, I like some songs, but the others are most like for making fun .. Utada is one of those for me, Mikio is the other.. and Nao Matsuzaki is in this list also, hm

I can definitely attest on this one. Not only was I introduced to SR through Utada, once I heard Ringo, Utada didn't seem quite as gifted anymore.

I think some of it has to do with what you're looking for in music. If you like Japanese ladies with a microphone but you aren't into the bubblegum pop that makes up a lot of Jpop, you'll like Utada. She is edgier, more experimental, and has more complex arrangements than most, and she's so ridiculously popular (especially a few years ago) that you WILL run across her.

That said, if you like any of those things, well, SR has her beat.

I don't like the complete discography for any artist. People regard Shouso Strip to be the greatest of Shiina's solo stuff and I still don't really care for the album. I don't like majority of Utada's Distance and First Love albums, but I don't feel any less of a fan of either.

But I do own a most of AI, Gackt and BoA that I don't listen to often anymore. If I'm in the mood for it I will but hardly happens. I did at one point own all of the Beat Crusaders stuff. Terrible band I feel. Another Day Another Story is the only song I like.

I feel like I get a very different experience from them both. I don't feel like they are as easily comparable as other artists.

Eg. MEG vs Aira Mitsuki ; Koda Kumi or Hiyori Lee vs Namie Amuro

Utada and Shiina aren't as easily identified as a particular genre to say one excels at something the other does as well.

If you simply like Shiina more though that's cool. We all grow out things.

To what Canti said a page ago >.>

Yeah, I'm a native from Unet ^^ And since I was introduced to Shiina by Canti...so it's not really as if I found shiina because of Hikaru...I just happened to get involved in a conversation that was going around...I guess XD

And I've never listened to an artist with a "perfect" discography. To me before there were any other artist...there was Hikaru. Sure there might be songs that don't "rub" me the right way, but doesn't this happen with everyone? Take some of you for example...I've read that some of you don't like O.S.C.A, but I love that song, as it was the first SR/TJ song I listened to ^^

As for Hikaru's attitude. I really don't see anything wrong with her...I for one like how she sometimes expresses herself harshly XD everyone has their "quirks." But to each their own, right?

And I also believe that Hikaru is very talented or "gifted" ^^ To me she doesn't sound like the "regular" J-poper, she's more than that. Because if she weren't, well, I would have most likely never bothered becoming a fan of hers or going out of my way to drive for 6 hours non-stop to see her in Vegas :P

I'm also not going to say that I became a fan of Ringo because I thought she was more than Hikaru, more like; I became a fan, because like Hikaru...Shiina possesed something more than the average muscician ^^ I didn't find out that Hikaru and Shiina had collaborated in a song untill I found out in Utaite Myouri. At first, Hikaru's voice sounded way more powerfull to me and at first I felt that Shiina didn't compare much. But I can't really say one is better than the other now, it'b be just wrong to do so. Because both ladies have such DIFFERENT styles :) and that's what I really love about them both XD

All in all...even though I've become a fan of Shiina and her TJ work...I will always have a special place for Hikaru :)

You'd need to post Marunouchi Sadistic on the Utada fansite with a poll that said "do you like this?" yes or no. And then for a controlled test repeat on a forum that listens to white noise.

When I was in Japan I remember First Love being everywhere, orgel style (played with a music box, just like this) in department store, and I kind of greeted it as a guilty pleasure I really liked without knowing who it was, but then I also like music boxes in general. That makes me sound like I have the music taste of a two-month old infant, but those kind of sounds sort of turn up on SR demos and the Stem single as well… And they’re a nice crystal blue / white colour synesthesically.

Automatic was also the first Japanese song I ever sung at karaoke after first hearing it in my ex’s car. So I’m kind of a natural somewhat random fan of Utada’s melodies, because I would always have to get past a “this is too mainstream music for me to really like” barrier. But actually a lot of SR was like that as well to start with. Exodus was the other big one when posters of it came out over here, like a piece of Japan memory, and Easy Breezy is a tuuune, so for those reason in particular I wished it were more successful. Living in Japan without being able to read or speak very well, the most visible and easy to understand parts of my generation’s culture had a lot of meaning and I remember Utada, Ayumi Hamasaki and Namie Amuro very well (didn’t know SR at all though!!)

I don’t know why but SR and Utada do kind of seem to compare to each other, there’s probably quite a strong 90s indie and R&B influence to both of their earlier albums, but while I’m very, very into SS or KZK, SR is very complicated melodically. That’s a good thing and her melodies are why I’m a fan, but you can’t exactly chill to them. Comparing to SR, something like this jazzy Acoustic version of Automatic feels like “breathing” again, if that makes sense.

So anyway, I like this theory. And I miss the days when I thought of SR as an “experimental” artist…

At the risk of sounding negative and depressing...

Utada and Ayumi Hamasaki are both seppuku-inducing music. Utada has this rotten, plastic R&B sound that's no different than Western pop singers'.

I have a feeling that Ringo's music would weird out most of Utada's Japanese fans.

One of them is an EMI queen, and the other is an Avex queen. I can sigh about how the market elevates those women to that status, but I can't blame any particular record label for offering something they know is acceptable to consumers.

I like both to an extent. That's all there is.

I guess you haven't listened to Ultra Blue and Heart Station then. both are great album that are quite different to her early R&B stuff and are much more pop. about half of Deep River is also great

Yeah they're pseudo-experimental elevator music in vein of Faye Wong. (I'm Chinese Canadian and I avoid insipid mandopop like that at all cost) Maybe there's exotic (image) appeal...but come on, she's basically the Japanese version of Celine Dion, except she writes her own lyrics.

Don't take my words 100% seriously though, because I only like crazy chicks...

Her mother Keiko Fuji however is one of the greatest enka singers.

Utada's voice is distinctive. I don't need to be told it's Utada when I hear Utada. And I mean distinct in a good way.

Surely that counts for something?

I have barely listened to Utada Hikaru, but curiously it's mainly because I've always had the preconception that she may be exactly the way Inseu describes her.

But then again, I like crazy girls too but it's far from being exclusive, so I probably might be giving her a chance some time in the future.

I'm another Hikki fan that has become a Ringo fan. But there was like eight years in between my finding out about each of them.

Hikki fan first, then Ringo, then bigger fan of Ringo than Hikki, but both are right up there in my top 5 (ish) artists still.