It’s been a bizarre week for me. Each my favourite Okay-pop group (Infinite) and my favourite J-pop group (Kis-My-Ft2) returned with new music, but I discovered every of those singles to be among the many week’s most underwhelming materials. It’s significantly like Bizarro World.

To be trustworthy, it’s been a tough couple of years to be a Kisumai fan. After a gentle, pre-pandemic launch schedule, the frequency of the group’s singles has slowed to a crawl. And other than this spring’s incredible Candy Melody (which nonetheless hasn’t seen an official launch exterior YouTube), nearly all of those new tracks have been OST ballads. Making issues worst, eldest member Kitayama Hiromitsu introduced his departure from the group on the finish of this month. And quite than have a good time the great occasions with a enjoyable piece of music, we now have… one other ballad.

I’ve been watching most of Japan’s summer time music festivals and it’s so irritating to see all the opposite idol teams having such enjoyable, adopted by Kis-My-Ft2’s glum, downbeat efficiency. I get {that a} milestone like this must be marked with the solemnity it deserves, however I’ve all the time disliked when teams go for the apparent mushy ballad route. To me, the perfect fan service could be seeing the fellows do what they do finest — having fun with the stage and pumping up the gang.

With this lengthy preamble out of the way in which, Tomoni is okay. If it hadn’t come on the heels of three different ballads/mid-tempos, I’d discover it extra partaking. I don’t see myself enjoying the observe a lot in any respect, largely as a result of it’s coloured in a way of unhappiness that doesn’t make for a really fulfilling pay attention. I’m gutted to see Kitayama go, however I hope the re-formed six-member configuration can discover their footing once more and head again to the boisterous, upbeat materials they do finest.

Grade: C+