A little late became…. March?! Well 2021 has been pretty hectic, and better late than never I suppose. After watching the Keyaki documentary I’m finally motivated into completing the logical follow-on to my favorite artists of 2020, my favorite songs of 2020!
Like last year’s list, this one is determined by local play count, modified by some sort of algorithm to account for time-owned versus number of plays. Science! Maybe.
I ended up with two lists for 2019, one for songs actually put out that year and one for older releases I had just stumbled upon. However 2020 was a lot more orderly, with most of the Top 10 actually being 2020 releases, so we can condense things a bit and start with just a quick ranking of the 10 runners up:
#20–11
- Love Yourself — Little Glee Monster
- Shine -未来へかざす火のように- — 平原綾香
- NOT A LOVE SONG — 平原綾香
- Beware — IZ*ONE
- Nobody’s fault — 櫻坂46
- 世界中の隣人よ — 乃木坂46
- Route 246 — 乃木坂46
- 涯 — NMB48
- コンセントレーション — 欅坂46
- 青春念仏 — NMB48
Pretty idol heavy, and surprisingly Little Glee Monster is making their only appearance here. I already talked about discovering and digging into Hirahara Ayaka’s back catalog near the end of last year in my Top Artists ranking, so maybe no surprise a few of her popular songs showing up now.
We also have a few more “new” entries for this year with Sakurazaka, and their former selves Keyakizaka, somehow both putting out great new music at the end of 2020 after mostly taking a pass the preceding 12 months.
Now on to my Top 10 songs for 2020:
#10 アイラブ豚まん — NMB48
I really didn’t think anything of it when I saw the MV for the first time – it is just an ad for a pork bun restaurant I’ve never heard of after all. But somehow after getting the CD and listening to it, I really got into this goofy, peppy song. Shibuya Nagisa singing a little of it to me during an online chat event has solidified アイラブ豚まん (AI RABU butaman / I Love Pork Buns) as my go-to happy song of the last 6 months. Somehow the vocals are credited to all of NMB, which seems odd.
#9 毎日がBrand new day — 乃木坂46
The Nogi 3rd song from Maiyan’s graduation single しあわせの保護色. It has a kind of weird MV where they seem to be separated into two groups of upper- and lower-ranked members for no apparent reason. But the song itself is a really pleasant listen, upbeat with catchy lyrics.
#8 イケナイコト — NMB48
This is the 2020 song that broke me. And it’s nothing against Shiroma Miru’s spicy solo, either – this one was all my fault. I really fell in love with this song right from the teaser trailer, and determined to sub the full version once it was out. I started translating イケナイコト (IKENAI KOTO) and 涯 (hate) just after NMB’s single だってだってだって released in August and pretty much finished them. But I wasn’t quite happy with the outcomes and kept re-doing them… and finally got so frustrated I never released anything for either. Or any other songs.
Recently I’ve really been feeling the urge to sub songs again, and with Miru’s pending graduation, maybe I will just put out what I have, issues and all, and move on to something else.
#7 胡桃とダイアローグ — AKB48
Ok this one might seem a bit out of place and time, and it is. But I think at some point I was watching a 48 Group theater show and they performed this song. It stuck in my head, and with a little searching I came up with 胡桃とダイアローグ (kurumi to DAIAROOGU / Dialogue with a Walnut) from AKB48’s 19th single チャンスの順番 back in 2010.
I’ve seen it performed a few times since then, so I guess it’s still in active rotation even with young members. I say that because after checking the lyrics at the advice of my wife, indeed this turns out to be one of those fairly creepy idol songs. So while I find the music easily gets stuck in my head, it somehow feels like a bit of a guilty pleasure.
#6 My fans — 日向坂46
Hinatazaka members have repeatedly said this is one of their favorite songs from their first album, released in September, 2020. Although it’s still a bit odd to see them perform it, with the rap-ish arrangement and slightly more aggressive lyrics, I do really like it. It’s a great pump-up-the-excitement sort of song, and a good break from their normal style. And in performances it’s fun to see them flail around with it and try to decide if they’re able to keep stern faces or not.
#5 Deadline — 欅坂46
A Keyaki climate change song? In any case the mixed 1st/2nd gen unit is interesting, though I’m not sure what the theme is. It’s a bit slower and more serious, and I would have expected Pon instead of Moriya, but the groups as it is works. Also it’s nice to see Matsuda Rina getting this kind of exposure. I’d love to see them perform this in something other than the black, fish-like dresses from the Last Live, but that may be a long time coming, if ever.
#4 サヨナラ Stay with me — 乃木坂46
Speaking of odd unit songs, I have no idea what the link running through this group is, or why Nogi management is still so adamant about excluding 2nd gens wherever possible. Despite that, and the always iffy inclusion of English phrases throughout, this is a fantastic song. Well maybe I am a sucker for upbeat yet sad romantic tunes, especially from Nogizaka. I already discussed my thoughts on this one and translated the lyrics here.
#3 See Through — 日向坂46
My favorite new song off Hinata’s album and one of my favorite Hinatazaka songs in general. It’s not the same style as My fans, but I get a lot of the same feeling with the dramatic change of pace from their usual happy tunes. See Through has a cool, dark vibe (and lyrics).
2020 also saw Kanemura Miku become my Hinata oshimen, and I really like the NaoMiku pairing. So here we have all of that in a duo song with a cool stage performance and the ideal Hinata members to pull it off. It seems to be one of the unit songs they like throwing in their lives (at least in abbreviated form), so I’m excited about seeing it regularly.
#2 瀬戸内の妹 — STU48
Another song I heard at just the right time and fell in love with at once. Somehow it’s been over a year since I translated this classic type of “sending your daughter off to marriage” song with a beautiful melody. It really fits with STU’s nautical/Setouchi theming, and it really does make me feel better just listening to it. As a bonus, the wedding dress modeling that has come out of it, especially with Captain Mitsuki, has been really beautiful.
#1 砂塵 — 欅坂46
Another of the final batch of Keyaki songs. Really before the music itself, I think the performance of this on the second day of their Last Live is what really sold 砂塵 (sajin / Sandstorm) to me. It’s an all-member (except the new 2nd gens) song and performance and they seem really into it in a happy, almost carefree way, especially compared to a lot of the heaviness that surrounded it during that Live.
Whenever I listen to it, I can distinctly picture Yuuka’s and Koike’s dancing in particular. It’s been described as the true Keyakizaka ending song, and it is at least the most upbeat, pleasant way to close out that history. With the active lighting, smoke, and choreography, these screenshots don’t do the performance justice, and I’m looking forward to the official release of the Last Live compilation at the end of this month to see it in action again.
It’s sad that with the rebranding into Sakurazaka, this may be the first and last performance of this song (along with a couple more on this list, コンセントレーション and Deadline), at least for quite a while.
That’s finally it from me for 2020. We’re deep into the first quarter of 2021 and the releases are coming at me fast, which is great. Fingers crossed for a better year in every respect.
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