Sands of time, the title track of the single (umm… Sands of time) is also the ED of the Japanese drama ケータイ捜査官7 (Keitai Sousakan 7) and the band did a fantastic PV for the song that you can watch in full on Youtube courtesy of gangangan03, or if you want the subbed version of the PV, check out the release by #TV-Nihon, which was uploaded by Vanalovas.

And the long awaited lyrics are finally here! We have to thank rageguy for posting the romaji version on the Forums, and he kindly allowed us to post them here! The usual kanji, hiragana and karaoke versions are now also available (August 3rd 2008!)

We’re experimenting a little this time, and posting the lyrics (as per the original) without the usual dividing brackets. It would be great if you could let us know what you thought!

As always, if you spot any mistakes, please let me know either by commenting below or via the contact form. If you would like to post these lyrics elsewhere, please link back to this page. :)

JAPANESE (Kanji)

つないでた手を離したんだ I know…わかってる
無口なホームで…

I’m Mr. lover なんて強がる can you feel me?
未だに you’re my 心癒す diva
But I can’t say this word “逢いたいな”
I wanna 時を rewind right now

“逢いたいよ” って今すぐにでも 叫びたいのに
もうYou and I 言えない
意地をはっても つかめない あの頃は腕の中にいたのに
キミはもういない

Baby… come back to here for me
そう隣に… I wanna say it
You and I お互い 言えない 逢えない
あの時から素直になれない 魔法が解けない
I wanna use the sands of time… 君のそばにいたい

“愛してる” って叫んでみたけど 君の元には届かないよ
泣かないでくれよ ツラくなるから
胸の奥に想いを閉じ込めた
キミはもういない

Hey my girl 誰かの “モノ” になるなら
いっそ消えてほしいと願う 心の中
未だ思い出 flash back!
あの時 あの場所で出会わなければ…

“愛してる” って叫んでみたけど
君の元には届かないよ
泣かないでくれよ ツラくなるから
胸の奥に想いを閉じ込めた
“逢いたいよ” って今すぐにでも叫びたいのに
もうYou and I 言えない
意地をはっても つかめない
あの頃は腕の中に

The mp3 is encoded at 320kbps (as usual) using MediaCoder. Hope you all enjoy listening to the song!

Sands of Time [TV Size Rip] (2.22 MB, Zipped)

Unfortunately the previous video has been removed, but we get to hear the TV size version of the song in full with this new video! Apart from the ‘rock’-sounding ‘chorus’ featuring Kenji03 that we heard before, which runs from the start with a brief instrumental intro, the song seems to end halfway through the video, before (suddenly) starting again with Teeda singing the verse/interlude in harmony (with Kenji03?) which reminds me a little of the interlude of flower. This bit is very chilled out imho! Then the chorus starts again before fading away at the end.

And oh yes, the video itself. I’m not sure if the ending sequence will change for each episode, because the initial footage looked as though it could be part of the episode (1 in this case) and the last 15 seconds were labelled with ‘Next episode Preview” in the corner, which features some kung-fu fighting Phone Bravers! Wow, they’re cooler than I thought :) Anyway, this video is definitely worth watching; not just for the song, but also for the brief comedic, sad and exhilarating moments, not to mention the impressive list of sponsors running across the screen!

Feel free to watch it after the cut (below) or click here to view the video directly on Youtube! And before we forget to mention it, Back-on‘s Official Website now also has Sands of Time playing in the background as well!

p/s: If you can’t access either site, feel free to meander over to our dedicated Keitai Sousakan 7 discussion thread and download a zip file containing the mp3 rip (technology by Vixy.net) of the above video and the Flash swf file from the official website.

p/s2: Alternatively, you can now download a good quality mp3 rip of a raw file version from this page.

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The video has been uploaded by the-one-and-only gangangan03 (the one who kindly provides us with rare and amazing videos of Back-on!) and is a 25-second clip with various scenes from the show, which showcase quite a few members of the cast in-action, as well as the Phone Bravers; 01, 03 and 07 (and judgingl from the previous trailer: evil, good and good characters respectively)

“I am out of it evil!” & “Shiny shiny”

Sands of Time plays in the background (albeit VERY VERY quietly) where you can hear Kenji03 singing what seems to be the chorus of the song! It sounds a bit more rock-than-R&B imho (other thoughts welcome please!) and the clip ends as the ‘chorus’ reaches a climax, accompanied by the shiny metallic logo of Keitai Sousakan 7.

As custom dictates, you can either watch the video on Youtube, or watch it here on BOO at the end of the cut/post. Please let us know what you think – either via commenting here or joining in with our discussion on the BOO forums! :)

p/s: Don’t forget to reduce/turndown your volume once you’ve finished (re-)watching the clip! EDIT: Clip has been removed. Please refer to this post for an updated video.

p/s2: NEW! We have made a clearer/louder audio rip of the CM Preview from the original source so you can hear the background music a lot better. Find the download link here on the Forums!

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No details of the tracklisting are available as yet (apart from the obvious Sands of Time song, which is the ending theme for ケータイ捜査官7 [Keitai Sousakan 7]) but the release date is set to be May 21st 2008, which is the same date listed for the CD on HMV Japan.

However, no news or information has been released on Back-on‘s official website nor official Myspace yet, so we haven’t been able to confirm the news. Given that Keitai Sousakan 7 premieres on April 2nd 2008, the May release date does give the band sufficient time to do some promotional work for the new single, so I’m almost certain the date must be correct. Of course, it would be even better if it was earlier! ;)

p/s: We’ve updated the band’s Discography to reflect the new information.
p/s2: Our first birthday is coming up in less than 2 weeks!

Alas we don’t get to hear the OP or the ED songs in this 4-minute preview clip, but it does give us a good idea about what the show will be like. As far as I can see, there is definitely some quite high-budget-looking CGI going around (think of the movie: Transformers (2008)) which includes the Phone Braver series characters (There’s at least one evil Phone Braver!) as well as a scary looking digger-truck that threatens the main protagonist at the start and end of the trailer.

The news comes courtesy of Affenheimtheater.de, who have cited Ryuganji.net as their source, although the video has been uploaded by tenmusu66 on Youtube. We’ve included the video at the end of this post, but a thank you to the three people above!

Let us know what you think of the PV? I have to admit I’m not convinced that I’ll like it yet, which is a view shared by Todd Brown of Twitch, as well as some commentators on Japan Probe, although trailers can be quite misleading and the series might turn out to be alot better! Either way, we do know that Back-on are practicing hard at their new song Sands of Time (pictures taken by Teeda from their official blog)!

Last but not least: Teeda himself!

And the video that you’ve been waiting for…

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This breaking news was first spotted by Sesshy on Back-on’s official blog, and it was subsequently posted onto their official Myspace in English. They were both accompanied by a picture of the band with the cast and Hitomi Shimatani at the press conference that was held by the production team of Keitai Sousakan 7 to launch the show.

We will be covering the drama in more depth in another post. For a quick low-down of the facts (info courtesy of August Ragone, The Good, The Bad, and Godzilla 続・夕陽の呉爾羅):

The 51-episode series revolves around Kieta, a high school freshman who joins “Anchor” (the digital-crime-fighting organisation) and is given the transformer-phone, Phonebraver 7, to help thwart the plans of an internet-based crime organisation.

The main role is played by 19 year-old Masataka Kubota, and is supported by actors Mickey Curtis (Agitator), Yuko Ito (Bubble Fiction), Kanji Tsuda (Japan Sink), Natsuki Okamoto (Arch Angels), Satoshi Matsuda (Kamen Rider Ryuki), and Nao Nagasawa (Hurricanger).

From left: Takashi Miike, Nao Nagasawa, Yuko Ito, Masataka Kubota,
Kanji Tsuda, Satoshi Matsuda, Natsuki Okamoto (Source: Nippon Cinema)

Some big names are involved with the project, including:

• Takashi Miike (三池崇史), the supervising director for KS7 who is famous for directing Great Yokai War and the Alive or Dead series.
• Mamoru Oshii (押井守), the director behind Ghost in the Shell.
• Shusuke Kaneko (金子修介), a well known director who most recently worked on the live movie version of Death Note.

In addition to the ‘all-star’ director group, TV Tokyo also recruited Hitomi Shimatani to sing the opening theme song. Apparently the new song is called WAKE YOU UP. There are reports that the singer may even guest-star in the series as well. (Author’s note: Will Back-on guest-star too?)

Alas we can’t see very much of the band from the photo posted on their blogs, but with a big thanks to bebekjelek, we can share some really good closeups of the band from the press conference that you can see below:

As a super-special bonus, we’ve kindly been given permission to post even more photos from the event that were taken by David Michaud of LeJapon.fr, a freelance photographer who hails from France and is based in Japan. The full-sized versions of the thumbnails (and more photos) can all been seen in the BOO Gallery – KS7 Press Conference, and aside from the excellent group photos, there are also individual pictures (closeups!) of Kenji03 and Teeda! I would really encourage everyone to view the photos in full, since thumbnails really don’t do them enough justice!

The commercial ‘tie-in’, or the transformer-robot-phone(s) Phonebraver (the Toshiba 815T PB) is actually receiving a tonne of attention in its own right, as it is probably the first ‘hybrid’ toy transformer and phone. The initial report on Gizmodo Japan was swiftly picked up by the US Gizmodo, before Akihabara News posted their report from the press conference.

With all this promotion going on, it is quite unbelievable that all the blogs and news site (such as Variety Japan, Tokyograph etc.) never actually mentioned that Back-on are singing the ending theme for the drama. I’m guessing that this is because of all the big names that have dominated the headlines, but as a fellow fan, I’m sure you find this rather disappointing as well!

However, (even if I am biased!) I think their music will speak for itself when the drama is premiered on April 2nd 2008. This is the second time that Back-on‘s music will feature as main theme for a J-drama (the first being Shinjuku Swan) but given the wide ranging publicity given to Keitai Sousakan 7 and the fact that it is a prime-time kid-friendly show (contrasting especially with Shinjuku Swan) it is more than likely to be a major breakthrough for Back-on reaching the mainstream. Let’s keep our fingers crossed! :)

Usually this sort of news would, for obvious reasons, pass right by international fans (like myself) and be filed away as ‘general news’, but with a huge thanks to mau37 and also acq128 (in particular, who has kindly given us permission to post his video and sent us some photos that will be uploaded to the Gallery!) we’ve now been offered a unique audio-visual glimpse into their live Japanese gig performances via Youtube!

Without further ado, I’d first like to introduce the 2-part video uploaded by acq128, of Back-on performing Chain at clubAsia in Shibuya on February 3rd 2008, as a special guest of the headline band ROOKiEZ at 『 ROOKiEZ presents BUMP ON da STYLE vol.07 1st ANNIVERSARY BASH』, which celebrated ROOKiEZ‘s first year together. Other bands that also performed at the event included P.T.P (Pay money To my Pain), SOLZER, Dogma, and Magenta Beach. The American rap artist Matthew ‘Masaru’ Barron (who featured in GFS’ Taneuma) was also present as a DJ.

Unfortunately the video isn’t complete (the notes for the second video mentions something about running out of memory) so it’s only the start and end of Chain. But interestingly enough, acq128 did mention that Back-on were being very considerate and didn’t go all out for this performance, as they didn’t want to steal the limelight from ROOKiEZ. More love for Back-on? I think so!

Part 1

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Part 2

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You can definitely feel the amazing energy from the band *and* the audience when you watch the videos (it helps that the video was shot from the audience!) and we even get closeups of Teeda and Shu (in the second video)!  A huge bonus is that the (second) video actually captures the end of Kenji03‘s crowd-surfing!

The audio quality is also pretty good, enough so that when Kenij03 launches into the first ‘high’ point of Chain‘s chorus, I felt an extra sense of excitement! Cheesy, I know, to put it like that, but I really don’t know how else to say this!

So moving swiftly on; the second set of videos comes courtesy of mau37, who uploaded videos of Back-on performing flower and Chain live at Shibuya GAME for 『LionFESTA vol.16』 on February 10th 2008, with bands such as エイジアエンジニア (Asia Engineer) . If one thinks of acq128‘s videos as the ‘preview’ or ‘appetiser’, then these videos are, without doubt, the main course, as they are both full length recordings of each song!

Chain

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flower

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This particular set of videos have been filmed from slightly further back (away from the pumped-up audience) than the previous set, but is also of equally great visual and (more importantly) audio quality! Although both videos are a little dark at first, once the lighting brightens up, we get some fantastically detailed views of Kenji03, Teeda (especially in the second video) and occasionally Icchan and Shu! (Alas no Gori?)

This really helps brings the videos ‘to life’ (for me at least) and makes Teeda so particularly charismatic! (Small wonder that ookami et. co are all such fans! Of course we have much love for Kenji03 and the others as well!) However, there may well be an extra small Easter egg for some Kenji03 fans: he seems to be wearing a smart suit-jacket and shirt! If you add in a tie, won’t it will be a small step in the right direction towards a tuxedo? I do like the look at any rate!

‘Teeda and Kenji03 demonstrate how to stop traffic…’

And before I degrade into more fangirly inappropriate comments , as a quick conclusion, what I really really love about all these videos is that they have all been filmed so very up close to the band! I guess this is a taste of what it is like to be ‘live and intimate’ and certainly makes me want to hop on a plane to Japan to see Back-on perform live! I really hope you enjoy watching the videos too, as they are (imho) particularly exciting and special for fans who have not yet had the opportunity of seeing the band performing live.

So, a big thank you again to mau37 and acq128! And, as always, please let us know what you think of the videos! :)

p/s: If you are interested in Back-on‘s gig schedule, you can always visit the Schedule page on BOO. As part our new year’s resolution, we are working on keeping this as up-to-date as possible.