Happy New Year!

When the clock strikes twelve on December 31st, people all over the world cheer and wish each other a Happy New Year. It seems that for some people, this event is no more then a change of a calendar while for others, the New Year symbolizes the beginning of a better tomorrow and a chance to do something you didn’t get done in the year before. For us, the New Year brings with it new hopes and new opportunities to explore.

2007 has been a great year for JaME and it’s just the beginning for the JaME weblog. We thank you for your attention and hope that you’ll still be here with us in 2008 while we explore new opportunities and new ways to bring you the newest and best of Japanese media.

To end this year, the weblog team has made Top 3′s from 2007.

Sanaka’s choices:

Artists of the year
1: emmurée
2: lynch.
3: ONE OK ROCK

Albums of the year
1: heidi. – Kasou
2: ONE OK ROCK – Zeitakubyou
3: Monokuro Kinema – Monokuro eiga

Singles of the year
1: Sugar – rotten words
2: emmurée – Lover’s -Darkside-
3: lynch. – forgiven

Concerts of the year
1: the studs
2: MUCC
3: Dir en grey

Disappointments of the year
1: Sugizo joining SKIN
2: Daisuke being the vocalist of the studs
3: Dir en grey’s album THE MARROW OF A BONE

Surprises of the year
1: ai being DEATHGAZE’s vocalist
2: Fatima being one the the bands playing at AREA’s 10th Anniversary and Kanoma’s new band Moran
3: My sudden love for J-pop

Best newcomers/artist discoveries of the year
1: SHOWTA.
2: Psysalia Psysalis Psyche
3: The John’s Guerrilla

Kay’s choices:

Artists of the year
1: MUNEHIRO
2: lecca
3: Miyuki Nakajima

Albums of the year
1: MUNEHIRO – Limited
2: lecca – Otaku girls no utage
3: OLIVIA – The Cloudy Dreamer

Singles of the year
1: PUSHIM – HEY BOY
2: Ketsumeishi – Train
3: YUI – Rolling star

Concerts of the year
1: OLIVIA in Paris, France
2: TOKYO SKA PARADISE ORCHESTRA in Utrecht, The Netherlands
3: Plastic Tree in Amstelveen, The Netherlands

Disappointments of the year
1: Gechena disbanding
2: Jinkaku Radio still not releasing a new album!
3: Dir en grey performing in my country

Surprises of the year
1: The discovery of the Japanese reggae scene!
2: Jinkaku Radio releasing a DVD
3: MUNEHIRO turning major

Best newcomers/artist discoveries of the year
1: MUNEHIRO
2: lecca
3: Hirakawachi Icchome

Cynthia’s choices:

Artists of the year
1: ROACH
2: Jully
3: Yoshiki

Albums of the year
1: Teppei Koike – pieces
2: Straightener – Linear
3: Pay money To my Pain – Another day comes

Singles of the year
1: ROACH – scarlet
2: MUCC – FUZZ
3: BACK-ON – Butterfly

Concerts of the year
1: BACK-ON at Anime Matsuri in Houston, Texas
2: RENTRER EN SOI at Onicon in Houston, Texas
3: Japan Nite at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas

Disappointments of the year
1: kyohsuke, ex-La Vie En Rose, not announcing a new project
2: Missing La Vie En Rose’s first revival live
3: An Cafe not performing at Akon in Dallas, Texas

Surprises of the year
1: La Vie En Rose having several concerts even after their break up
2: miyavi joining S.K.I.N.
3: S.K.I.N. performing for the first time in the USA

Best newcomers/ artist discoveries of the year
1: Jully
2: BACK-ON
3: Base ball bear

Sarah’s choices:

Artists of the year
1: LUNA SEA
2: B’z
3: SID

Albums of the year
1: L’arc~en~Ciel – KISS
2: Yoshinori Sugimoto – HELLO
3: ROACH – MIND OF THE SUN

Singles of the year
1: SID – smile
2: Merry – Blind Romance/Saihate no PARADE
3: Suga Shikao – phonoscope

Concerts of the year
1: Merry – 5th Anniversary Special 2night
2: Various Artists – JRock Revolution (both days)
3: ORESKABAND – Anime Expo

Disappointments of the year
1: The various legal troubles suffered by some visual-kei indie bands
2: So many bands touring Europe but not the States!
3: No news of a second JRock Revolution

Surprises of the year
1: LUNA SEA’s one-night reunion
2: S.K.I.N.’s performance in the United States
3: B’z being inducted into the Hollywood Rock Walk

Best newcomers/artist discoveries of the year
1: ROACH
2: Acid Black Cherry
3: ayaka

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