[Tokyo Jihad]

What Baruga said.

I wanted to comment on Scribble R's comment: why I liked Sunny, but not Sampukan.

Sampukan was a part of Shiina's "paint by numbers" era. I felt this era was particularly uninspired and maybe in attempt to jump start the creative process, she seemed to pick a style of song. But it never felt like she ever made these songs "hers." They were just kind of generic or corny.

Sunny felt like Shiina was in the drivers seat. Yeah, half the album was old stuff and some of this older material was bland, but the more recent, original work was more interesting - more exciting. More "Shiina Ringo" than most of what we got post-"Ringo no Uta." She felt in command. She wasn't letting some style or collaborator drive.

Sunny has its sore spots. Its not as good as Reimports was. The mastering is extreme, but its no more offensive or incongruous to the material than Reimports (or Kyouiku.)

Sampukan felt labored. Sunny felt invested. That's just my interpretation of what I hear though.