Why I Realized I Prefer JPop Over KPop

Yuki Kajiura of FictionJunction YUUKA
(Akatsuki no Kuruma -Studio Live)

Okay so, I was flitting through my facebook, looking at my friends' posts. One friend posted about a video of Nami Tamaki's 'Reason'(Opening Song in Gundam Seed Destiny). I opened the link and found myself reminiscing my high school days of being addicted to anime and Jpop.


I then started to watch more Nami Tamaki's videos since I really like her voice and her songs so much. And looking through people's comments on each video, it dawned on me why I have so many Jap songs I downloaded.

Here's a quote from ZerigaXa in 'Akatsuki no Kuruma' video in youtube. It hits the spot, explaining why I keep listening to Japanese even though I am not familiar with the language:

"No, it has something with not understanding the words, yet, understanding the emotion. That's the beauty of listening to a song you can't understand. And the Japanese happen to be people who have some of the best expression in words."

Takanori Nishikawa(TM Revolution)
(Vestige - Live)

Here's another from Ratpack30:

"So true, so true......most Japanese music fills me with this energy i can't get from "normal" music. It goes straight to the heart. 

Might sound silly, but, even if the mind does not understand the words the heart understand the meaning of the words. "

Those two quotes about sums up why I like Japanese music so much. Personally, there are so many songs that touch a cord in my heart, and just the melody is enough to make me cry. Even though I don't understand the language. But I don't need to understand the lyrics, the song already makes me understand.

Maki Onaga of HIGH AND MIGHTY COLOR
(Pride - Live)

A lot of Japanese songs also make me energized, I can almost practically hear the energy itself. These types of songs are not just lively, but they just really give you that electrified feeling when you hear it. The blend of all the instruments makes it simply awesome, whether it's a lively song or a mellow one.

This is the magic of Jpop songs.

I can hear so much of the emotions from the song. I can immediately associate it with a feeling or a particular scenario. Hearing them live is simply beautiful. It gives me goosebumps, just listening to it.

I love Kpop songs too. They're catchy, they're beaty, but in my opinion, they lack the depth. I have friends who love Kpop and I join them in their fandom. But I realized that their themes in their songs are pretty much the same. Sexy, sultry, cute, boyish cuteness, dance, rap. They all revolve mostly around those themes.

Of course, it's not that I'm completely negative over Kpop. I just said I like Kpop too. It's just that I prefer JPop. There are a lot of Korean songs that strike a cord in my heart, but I mostly hear them on Korean drama. Korean songs are still amazing.

But I prefer JPop. ^_^



Some of my JPop favorites are:

Nami Tamaki
L'Arc~en~Ciel
FictionJunctionYUUKA
TM Revolution(Takanori Nishikawa)
HIGH AND MIGHTY COLOR
See-Saw

Top Left - Nami Tamaki
Top Right - HIGH AND MIGHTY COLOR
Bottom Left - Takanori Nishikawa(TM Revolution)
Bottom Right - See-Saw