This is Rie Tomosaka's first single to be released in a year and a half! Remember Rie? If not, then meet her now. Like Rie's last single, "CAPPUCINO", "shoujo ROBOT" was also produced by our good friend, Shena Ringo. At first I couldn't figure out what Shena was thinking with this single. I did not like this CD much at all since the first time I heard it. However, after listening to it over many, many times (this single really took me a lot of time to prepare for the review), I think I finally started to understand it. Shena Ringo is a genius, and it was only after I heard these songs many times that I began to realize her divine plan. Shena's music is very complex, and you'll be amazed what you can hear the eighth, eleventh, and yes even the twentieth time through one of her songs. You may have noticed that I've talked more about Shena Ringo than I have about Rie Tomosaka so far in this review. That's because I believe there's some significance about her writing and producing this single. Shena Ringo fans need look no further than Rie's latest release for more of what they crave. Shena may not be releasing any music of her own right now, but it doesn't matter because she's delivering her usual style through Rie. Ever since Shena first began producing for Rie there has been a definite change in Rie's image. Rie is much more melodramatic and depressing. I like it better. It's very Shena-ish. 
A shot from the "shoujo ROBOT" promotion video. |
I also noticed that, as far as I could tell, Rie has only had women produce her songs. That kind of interested me, as I remembered her CAPPUCINO music video. I really liked the song, CAPPUCINO, but the video was too sexy for me. I mean, there was just way too much put into the sexy poses from Rie throughout the video. It was like they were drawing too much attention away from the good music and instead on to her other assets. Kind of interesting that music produced my women would be this sexy (I guess they think they know what men want). The coupling-with song from CAPPUCINO, "mokuren no CREAM", had a video produced for it as well, but I found the CREAM video much more enjoyable, as it showed off the much more 'Shena-ish' expression through anger (breaking things) and gross liquids flowing down stuff (you know, things like that). The promotion video for "shoujo ROBOT", fortunately, also had this same sense of suppressed anger and depression that I like, rather than hard-core sex appeal, but this time it was expressed through pure instrumentation and body language, rather than shattered glass and gooey liquids. "shoujo ROBOT" is a short song, just 2 minutes and 40 seconds. The first time you hear it, you will likely be bored. It's not a fast-tempo song that will hit you hard and fast. This is a depressing neo-rock kind of thing that really just takes time to sink in, despite the short length. I also must add that I was really impressed with the sound engineering in this song and throughout the single. The use of distortion effects and stereo seemed new and exciting to me, be it Shena's doing or whoever else. "ikenai ko" has always been and still is my favorite of the three on this single. It's also the fastest addicting song, so you will probably like it the first time you hear it (unlike the other two tracks on the single). This is the most upbeat and cheerful track of the three as well. I guess I really just like the melody. Rie's talents are shown flawlessly throughout this CD with very clean vocals and deep expression. When you first hear the beginning of "nihon ni umarete", or "Born in Japan", you are going to be bored out of your mind. Instantly you'll think, "Sleeper track!" as you hear the slow unaccompanied piano with blunt mournful vocals from Rie. More than a minute into the track it does heat up with full rock instrumentaion. The song never loses it's ultra-dramatic depressing feeling, but after hearing this song enough times I've finally started enjoying it as a very professional artistic expression from both the producer and the vocalist. The guitars and piano are everywhere in this song with notes that seem astray, and yet working together to create the chaotic effect. Rie has just the right amount of vibrato and whisper in her voice to sell the image in this song. Very good. I have to admit that for a long time I was planning on giving this single a rating of 5 or below, but just right before I reviewed it, everything suddenly clicked and it's like I finally figured this single out. Now I understand what this is all about! I recommend the CD to both Shena Ringo and Rie Tomosaka fans. To anyone planning on buying it, remember that this is not an easy listen. You're not going to love this the first time you hear it. You're going to be bored even if you usually love Shena Ringo's noise-rock style. We finally have a new song from Rie Tomosaka, and yet it's almost like a new release from Shena Ringo.
Buy it here.
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