Best: Bounce & Lovers

Best ~Bounce & Lovers~
Greatest hits album by Koda Kumi
Released	March 14, 2007
Recorded	2002–2007
Genre	J-Pop, blues
Label	Rhythm Zone RZCD-45563 (Japan)
Producer	Koda Kumi
Koda Kumi chronology
Black Cherry (2006) Best ~Bounce & Lovers~ (2007) Kingdom (2008)

Best: Bounce & Lovers (stylized as BEST ~BOUNCE & LOVERS~) is the third compilation album by Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi. The CD contains only ballads and features a track penned by Hideaki Tokunaga, while the DVD features certain music videos re-edited to show only the dancing scenes.^[1] It ranked #2 on both the Oricon daily and weekly charts, and remained on the charts for twenty-four weeks, despite being a limited release.^[2]

Information

Best ~Bounce & Lovers~ is Kumi Koda's third compilation album and was of a limited release. The release coincided with her sixth anniversary since her debut and was released alongside her single "But/Aishō", which was also a limited release. It was only released on CD+DVD, with the CD containing only ballads, which had been deemed her best by her fans, while the DVD contained dance versions of her most popular videos.^[3]

Several of the ballads placed on the CD had different arrangements, including the "Time Heals" version of "Saigo no Ame" and the "Alternate Orchestra" version of "1000 no Kotoba", which was originally released on her 2003 album grow into one as a bonus track.^[4] It also contained one new song, "Ashite e..." (明日へ... / Towards tomorrow...). The DVD contained one new music video: "Get Up & Move!!", the song which was originally released on her studio album Black Cherry. There was also a tutorial video for the song to teach viewers the dance.^[5][6] The only music video on the DVD to not be a dance version was of So Into You, which received a "short version."

The album charted at #2 on both the Oricon daily and weekly charts with first week sales of 161,458 copies and has since sold 295,624.^[7]

Packaging

Best ~Bounce & Lovers~ was released in two editions:

• CD+DVD: contains fourteen musical tracks and eight videos.
• CD+DVD (First Press Edition): contains fourteen musical tracks and ten videos.

The "first press editions" were released until they became unavailable, in which only the limited CD+DVD editions were available.

Music videos

On the DVD, there were seven music videos and one new music video, "Get Up & Move!!" The other music videos were of past singles, re-edited to show only the dancing. Those music videos included:

• "Crazy 4 U": only the scene from the parking garage was used.
• "Juicy": the dancing scenes in the bar with both Kumi in her lion and rabbit personas were shown.
• "So Into You": this is the only video to be edited as a "short version," which consisted of ninety-seconds of video of Kumi outside of the pagoda.
• "Selfish": the main clip used was of Kumi and the other vampires in the dance hall, along with short clips of Kumi claiming her throne.
• "Candy feat. Mr. Blistah": the three princesses of Kumi were used, with all of the story line from the main single edited out.
• "Hot Stuff feat. KM-MARKIT": KM-MARKIT's physical appearance was not in the video and only the footage of Kumi's crew and the opposing crew in the rink were used.

One of the bonus tracks on the DVD was the tutorial to "Get Up & Move!!"

Reception

While North American fans had generally positive reviews on the album, Japanese fans had more mixed reviews.

Monkey D. Ruffy said that the album "came out of nowhere" and appeared to be a "marketing of avex," but still praised the ballads on the CD, saying that the new track, "Ashite e...", was a "very strong track." Jae claimed that they were "not a ballad person" prior to the album and said how the DVD would be "great if you've been trying to learn the dance." Sukachu, however, had a more neutral review, claiming that while the album was nice, it would not be favorable to those who disliked ballads.^[8]

SNOW WHITE, a Japanese reviewer, explained how different the music on the CD sounded compared to her work post 2007, and praised several tracks, including "Rain", which was originally released on her feel my mind album. silent said that, while the dances were interesting, they found it to be "too narcissistic" to expect people to want to learn the dance to "Get Up & Move!!" NOPPU, however, gave the album a negative review, believing Avex wanting to "cash out" on Koda Kumi - saying how her first two compilation albums were "great" and "something to be heard," and that the artist did not need a "collection of ballads" to stay relevant.^[9]

On Rakuten, a popular Japanese ranking site, the album was given a 4.2 out of a 5.0 rating, with fans enjoying the selection of ballads.^[10]

Track listing

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

References