Chieco Kawabe – Sakura Kiss

Tracklist
1. Sakura Kiss
2. Shima uma no Yoru
3. Sakura Kiss -Instrumental-
4. Shima uma no Yoru -Instrumental-

Sakura Kiss is Chieco Kawabe’s fifth single. It was released on April 26, 2006. The A-side was used at the opening theme to the anime Ouran High School Host Club. Due to the tie-in, it charted at #71 and stayed on for three weeks. Sakura Kiss is her best selling single.

Sakura Kiss is another upbeat pop-rock track. The chorus is certainly catchy and fun, but the verses don’t stand out too much. The arrangement is also kind of interesting…in addition to the standard instruments, there’s a bunch of synth and strings come in at one point. It’s a fun track, but nowhere as good as her previous single, Candy Baby.

Shima uma no Yoru has always kind of confused me. It starts off well enough, with a little sillyness in the intro because you hear her blowing a raspberry. It then transitions into a regular pop-rock track. Near the end, Chieco comes in again with a huge bunch of kids singing the chorus. It’s a little bit all over the place, but the melodies are not too bad.