Kasai Tomomi (Tomo~mi) / 2nd Generation

The TomoTomo photo posted above is so sweet and adorable and it makes me happy ;_; Love them

and @noisyrequiem thanks for the update! Tomomi looks so good with her new hairstyle a natural hairstyle LOL long black straight hair with bangs! This is just like the old days! and she basically looks the same as she did during her debuts, amazing :O She looks so pretty and cute. I love it! I really miss her T_T

 

Finally! According to official fanclub sources, Tomomi announced her debut album during the Thursday's mini-live at Otodama Sea Studio. The album is due out later this year but the exact release date is yet to be announced.
During the concert, Tomomi performed one of the songs from an upcoming LP, called (working title) "Joshuseki Rain". Pre-recording version from a November's session with Yoshimasa Inoue (the composer of the song, BTW) is available here (starting at 3:28).


if the video does not show watch the video here

Glad to see Kasai being active both as a solo singer and a musical actress. She's good at singing and she should stick to it - I don't think she ever looked comfortable doing other idol activities such as gravure and variety shows.

Her new-old image is also quite refreshing.



Though it's very unlikely that the album will be a commercial success, at least both her goals as an artist (starring in musical and recording an album) are now to be achieved. Congratulations!

 

@noisyrequiem OMG YES!!! FINALLY!!!

I almost lost hope about Tomomi having new music... I'm SO happy she will release new music, and an album? I hope this means a lot of new songs! right now I don't worry about commercial success, I'm just so happy to have new music from her but of course, I wish her success, because I want her career as singer to continue... I hope she will get to appear on some music shows to promote!

also the new photo, Tomomi looks so pretty. I don't mind if she keep this hairstyle for her new album LOL it really suits her, natural and pretty.

To celebrate this, I'm going to post one of my favorite song & performance by Tomomi:


if the video does not show watch the video here

 

CDJapan is taking Pre-orders for Tomomi's album :

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/KIZC-430?utm_source=MAIL&utm_medium=text-artistmail&utm_campaign=Tomomi Kasai-20170830-person_prod-KIZC-430

There is a Type A and a Type B. Link is only for Type A, no Type B link yet. Release date quoted as 15th November.

Edit : Other music distributors are available, always buy to support your favourite artists, this message endorsed by my neighbour's cat.

 

I'll get the album, but I'll wait for more details of which type the event ticket will be included and the song list.

 

More details of the album have been released:
http://aramajapan.com/news/three-ye...ing-music-details-debut-album-released/81205/

I kinda hate it when the tracklists differ accross different versions - and only for 1 song in this case. But you do get a picture of Chiyuyu

 

Music video for a new song "STAR-T" apperared on King Records YT account


if the video does not show watch the video here

Nice catchy song, quite similar to "Mine". Neverertheless, a little too 'idolish' for my taste. I prefer more mature Kasai from her last two singles.

 

Cute and sexy as ever. The song sounds like an NMB song to me, for some reason.

 

I confess that kind of songs sound a bit 'all the same' to me but they always brighten my mood. I'm a bit surprised, though. I guess it's because I haven't seen her for some time, but she looks very different in that PV, she looks more mature...sometimes it was even a bit hard for me to recognize her...

 

I was pleasantly surprised by her new song. I haven't been following her much since her graduation so I didn't expect the vocal improvement! I see now from reading the last few pages of this thread that she undertook some vocal training, and it sounds to me like that was a good move. Her voice has more clarity and power now and I like how her voice is deeper now (though still pretty high, obviously). I'm happy that she looks like she's having fun in the video and hope her album sees some success. I might buy it if finances allow!

 

I agree fully.

 

Thanks for sharing! That explanation was very interesting and deep.

 

Finally Tomomi's new song is released! I really enjoyed the Pv and song, STAR-T sounds really idol-ish and her voice sounds so nice, I agree that we can hear that she improved in singing (she was already good before but even better now). I can't wait to hear more songs from her!

 

Listening to her new songs has made me realise how much I missed her singing
Really like the new songs, especially Joshi Seki RAIN, and the fact that there are so many different sounds she has gone for

 

"STAR-T" debuted at #25 on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart with estimated 1st week sales of 2,719 copies. As expected, the numbers are not impressive (keep in mind that a lot of fans bought several copies as the album was released in two versions), but still not so low comparing with the recent sales of the far more popular AKB graduates.

A video including short teasers of Tomomi's six new songs (the remaining 6 songs on the album are from her previous singles) was posted on King Records YT channel.


if the video does not show watch the video here

Overall, the album is quite a mess stylistically, from idol/anime-like songs to pop, R'n'B, tear-jerking ballads and even a heavy rock. On the other hand, such musical diversity allowed Kasai to show her full vocal range, which indeed improved a lot since the solo debut. Her singing voice in both Yoshimasa Inoue's compositions ("Joshuseki RAIN" and "No return") is the highlight of the album.

If Tomomi intends to pursue her career as a singer, she'll probably have to distance herself from her idol past and decide on one genre (R'n'B-like J-pop seems best suited to her voice and expression). She doesn't look and sing like an idol anymore, and being dependent on a sparse group of loyal fans from AKB era isn't profitable in the long term. I hope that Kasai's next releases will be much more consistent, as she has potential to become a successful solo artist.

 

http://sailormoon-official.com/stage/news/superlive_0629.php

Tomomi will be playing Sailor Moon in a live stage show that will debut in Tokyo and will be performed at Japonisme 2018 in Paris later in the year.

It looks like it might be a rotating cast so it's not clear if Tomomi will be going to Paris with the show. Exciting for her either way.

Edit:
She confirmed it on her Instagram as well and mentions going overseas. She seems extremely excited and says she's worried she's going to wake up and find it's all a dream: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkl8-mCgGM7/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1d7qc4fveoy5z

 

Off topic---------AND she's still sexy as hell.