Cherry Girl/Unmei

"Cherry Girl / Unmei"
Cherry Girl/運命"

"Cherry Girl" CD-only cover
Single by Koda Kumi
from the album Black Cherry
Released December 6, 2006
Genre J-pop, Pop
Label Rhythm Zone
Writer(s) Kumi Koda, Curtis A. Richardson, Charlene Gilliam, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard", and Sherrod Barnes
Producer(s) Andreao "Fanatic" Heard", Sherrod Barnes, The Conglomerate
Koda Kumi singles chronology
Won't Be Long
(2006)
Cherry Girl / Unmei
(2006)
But/Aishō
(2007)
Alternative cover
"Unmei" CD-only cover

Cherry Girl / Unmei (運命 / Fate) is Koda Kumi's 34th single under the Rhythm Zone label. This was her last single released before the release of her 2006 album, Black Cherry.[1] The single charted #2 on the Oricon charts.

Information

Cherry Girl/Unmei is Japanese singer-songwriter Kumi Koda's thirty-fourth single and final single in her Black Cherry era. It ranked #2 on the Oricon charts and remained on the charts for ten consecutive weeks.[2] It was released in both CD and CD+DVD editions, with the limited editions carrying the "Space Cowboy Remix" of Cherry Girl.[3] The limited editions of the CD+DVD version carried a sticker of the single's cover, the remix of Cherry Girl and a trailer of her upcoming film.

While Cherry Girl was an upbeat pop/rock mix, Unmei was a power ballad.

Cherry Girl became the theme song for Koda Kumi's debut drama Cherry Girl, which was later placed on the CD+2DVD version of her album Black Cherry. Unmei was used as the theme for the movie Oh! Oku.[4] Cherry Girl was composed by Kumi along with Curtis A. Richardson, Charlene Gilliam, Andreao "Fanatic" Heard and Sherrod Barnes.

Music video

Cherry Girl was composed of scenes from Kumi's film of the same name, along with her singing while wearing her initial outfit worn in the film's opening scene. Kumi had released a music video with a Charlie's Angels theme prior to this for her song No Regret.

Unmei carried a theme of love, telling the story of two people separated by fate, hence the song's title (unmei means "fate" in Japanese). The imagery and feel of the music video would later be the inspiration for other famous artists, including American singer Kelly Clarkson's song Already Gone.[5]

Response

The single garnered generally mixed reviews from North American fans. Cherry Girl received mixed reviews, with some fans praising the vocals and overall tone, while others said the background's bass "was pretty annoying."[6]

Japanese fans, however, gave the single more positive reviews. They compared Cherry Girl to Koda Kumi's earlier music, and that the music was "very cool" and the video was a "good look on her." Others said how Unmei was a nice track to come after the bass-heavy Cherry Girl.[7]

Track listing

(Source[8])

All lyrics written by Kumi Koda. 

CD
No. TitleMusicArranger(s) Length
1. "Cherry Girl"  Curtis A. RichardsonCharlene Gilliam • Andreao "Fanatic" Heard • Sherrod BarnesAndreao "Fanatic" Heard • The Conglomerate  
2. "Unmei (運命 / Fate)"  Hirofumi HibinoMasaki Iehara  
3. "Cherry Girl" (Space Cowboy Remix)Space Cowboy   
4. "Cherry Girl" (Instrumental)Curtis A. RichardsonCharlene Gilliam • Andreao "Fanatic" Heard • Sherrod BarnesAndreao "Fanatic" Heard • The Conglomerate  
5. "Unmei" (Instrumental)Hirofumi HibinoMasaki Iehara  
DVD
No. TitleDirector(s) Length
1. "Cherry Girl" (Music Video)   
2. "Unmei" (Music video)   
3. "DVD MOVIE「Cherry Girl」TRAILER"     

Charts

Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak position First week sales Sales total
December 6, 2006 Oricon Daily Charts 2
Oricon Weekly Charts 3 61,817 106,069
Oricon Monthly Charts 10
2006 Oricon Yearly Charts 145
Preceded by
"Won't Be Long" by Exile & Kumi Koda
RIAJ Reco-kyō Chart number-one song
"Unmei"
December 2006
Succeeded by
"Flavor of Life (Ballad Version)" by Hikaru Utada

Alternate versions

Currently, there are four renditions of Cherry Girl and three for Unmei

Cherry Girl

  1. Cherry Girl: Found on the single and corresponding album Black Cherry (2006)
  2. Cherry Girl [Space Cowboy Remix]: Found on the single (2006)
  3. Cherry Girl [Instrumental]: Found on the single (2006)
  4. Cherry Girl [Sunset in Ibiza Remix]: Found on Beach Mix (2012)

Unmei

  1. Unmei: Found on the single and corresponding album Black Cherry (2006)
  2. Unmei [Instrumental]: Found on the single (2006)
  3. Unmei [Shohei Matsumoto Remix]: Found on Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 3 (2011)

References

  1. "Black Cherry [Jacket C]". CD Japan. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  2. "Cherry Girl/運命 / KODA KUMI / ORICON STYLE". Oricon. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  3. "Koda Kumi: Cherry Girl/Unmei (with DVD)(Limited Edition)". Amazon Japan. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  4. "KODA KUMI "Unmei"". Recochoku. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  5. "Kelly Clarkson - Already Gone". YouTube. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  6. "Cherry Girl/Unmei (SINGLE+DVD)(Japan Version) Customer Reviews)". YesAsia. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  7. "Koda Kumi - Cherry Girl/Unmei Review". Amazon Japan. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
  8. "Cherry Girl/Unmei OFFICIAL". Rhythm Zone. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
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