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ULTRA BLUE (Music)

 ULTRA BLUE (Music)
type
TVTItem
 ULTRA BLUE (Music)
label
ULTRA BLUE (Music)
 ULTRA BLUE (Music)
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UltraBlue
 ULTRA BLUE (Music)
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ULTRA BLUE is the 4th Japanese studio album (6th in total) by Hikaru Utada, released in 2006. This is their first album release since their English-language crossover effort, Exodus, and features all their Japanese singles from 2003 to 2006 in addition to new material.Like Exodus before it, ULTRA BLUE is predominantly up-tempo electronica, but with a brighter, more ethereal atmosphere. The second half of the album features some acoustic ballads, while many of the tracks have elements of orchestral music as well. Unlike Exodus, the album features almost none of Utada's early R&B style. As with most of their work, ULTRA BLUE was written, composed and arranged entirely by Utada themself, other than "Colors" which also had arrangement work by longtime collaborator Kawano Kei.Six singles were released for the album: "Colors", "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro" (誰かの願いが叶う頃, "When Someone's Wish Comes True"), "Be My Last", "Keep Tryin'", "This is Love", and "Passion", the last of which served as the theme song for Kingdom Hearts II after "Hikari" served as the theme for the first game. The music videos from this album continue the trend of more elaborate music videos started with Deep River (though not all of them were directed by Kiriya Kazuaki), notably the major Scenery Porn in "Passion" and the self-referencing costumes in "Keep Tryin'"."Passion" also has an English version, "Sanctuary", that served as the theme for the international release of Kingdom Hearts II, becoming just as popular as "Simple and Clean" did with the fanbase.ULTRA BLUE under-performed somewhat in comparison to their first three Japanese albums, but was still a major success, debuting at #1 on the Japanese charts and selling over 900,000 physical copies, in addition to strong digital sales, and was the #7 best-selling album in Japan for 2006.
 ULTRA BLUE (Music)
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2023-10-25T19:17:52Z
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2023-10-25T19:17:52Z
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DBTropes
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_177a6464
type
Genre Shift
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_177a6464
comment
Genre Shift: A less obvious one than their last two albums. The album is very electronica-oriented, like Exodus, but is brighter, more polished and more pop-oriented overall. It also features a lot more orchestral strings, a trend that continues for the rest of their later work.
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_1f37a427
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Face on the Cover
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_1f37a427
comment
Face on the Cover: A close-up, as usual for their studio albums.
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_1f37a427
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_23b0d78
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Title Track
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_23b0d78
comment
Title Track: "Blue" is a partial one. invokedWord of God is that the album itself was originally to be titled Blue, but Utada thought it sounded too depressing and added "Ultra" to it.
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ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_23b0d78
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_44cf7d2c
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Incredibly Long Note
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_44cf7d2c
comment
Incredibly Long Note: The vocal run in the second pre-chorus of "Be My Last" goes on for about 12 seconds. Not as impressive as some other artists, but it's by far the longest note she's held in a song of hers.
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_44cf7d2c
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ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_44cf7d2c
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_49d59be9
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Scenery Porn
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_49d59be9
comment
Scenery Porn: The music videos for "Colors", "Keep Tryin'" and especially "Passion" all count, with some very vibrant and beautiful sets and costuming.
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_6439de78
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Heroic Sacrifice
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_6439de78
comment
Heroic Sacrifice: In the "Be My Last" music video, Hikaru does this to save their friend from being hit by a car.
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ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_6439de78
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_76c9393c
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Translated Cover Version
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_76c9393c
comment
Translated Cover Version: "Sanctuary" is the English version of "Passion". It wasn't included on the album, but was used as the theme song to Kingdom Hearts II and is a good contender for their invokedSignature Song in English-speaking countries.note The other contender would be "Simple and Clean", which was also used for Kingdom Hearts, and was itself a English translation of "Hikari".
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_85debad9
type
Plucky Girl
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_85debad9
comment
Plucky Girl: "Keep Tryin'" has Utada sing from this perspective and encourage everyone to... keep trying!
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_bf00b603
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No Romantic Resolution
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_bf00b603
comment
No Romantic Resolution: "Nichiyou no Asa" is all about this. It could be interpreted as a Will They or Won't They? situation, just Friends with Benefits, or possibly a full relationship that Utada just doesn't want to put a label on.
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_d1cedb73
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Slap-Slap-Kiss
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_d1cedb73
comment
Slap-Slap-Kiss: "This is Love" has shades of this:
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_d1cedb73
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 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_e6a83fb0
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Telegraph Gag STOP
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_e6a83fb0
comment
Telegraph Gag STOP: "Making Love" uses a Japanese language variant of this in the lyric booklet - the middle eight is written entirely in katakana, based on the old way of sending telegrams in Japanese.
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ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_e6a83fb0
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_e6dea5bf
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Self-Backing Vocalist
 ULTRA BLUE (Music) / int_e6dea5bf
comment
Self-Backing Vocalist: Prominently seen in "This is Love", "One Night Magic", and "Passion".
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ULTRA BLUE (Music)

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 ULTRA BLUE (Music)
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Asian-American Media / int_abac1c0b