JOINT
Encyclopedia
"Joint", stylized as "JOINT", is the fifth maxi single
by Japanese J-pop
artist Mami Kawada
, with both its A-side and B-side featured in her 2008 Savia
album. It contains four tracks in both regular and instrumental versions and spans 17:40. Both its A-side and B-side tracks are featured as opening and ending themes for the second season of the anime series Shakugan no Shana
. Geneon Entertainment released the single on October 31, 2007 in both a regular CD release and a limted CD and DVD
that featured the music video
for the track "Joint" bearing the catalog numbers GNCA-86 and GNCA-85 respectively.
" (2005), her second most successful single, titular track of which was featured as the opening theme to the first season of the anime adaptation of the light novel series Shakugan no Shana
. In 2007, Kawada was pleased to be asked once more to write theme music
for the upcoming second season of the anime adaptation entitled Shakugan no Shana II. Its story is focused around Yuji Sakai, an ordinary Japanese high school boy who inadvertently becomes involved in a perpetual war between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends the titular character Shana, a female fighter for the balancing force, and one of his classmates named Kazumi Yoshida. During an interview, Kawada described Yuji as giving the impression of following behind Shana; however, during the second season, she described Yuji as giving off the same impression as Shana—the impression of walking together with Shana and actually providing her support during her battles.
Earlier in the year, Kawada had released her fourth single "Get My Way!
" for the first season of the anime television series Hayate the Combat Butler
. Up until her release of "Get My Way!", Kawada described herself as being bound by a set image of how she was meant to write and sing. After releasing her fourth single, she described having completely lost the image of how she would regularly sing. Before the release of her first two singles of the year 2007, "Akai Namida / Beehive" and "Get My Way!", she mentioned spending much time thinking, and during 2007, she began to slowly experimenting with different types of music. Thanks to this, she stated herself as being freed from image of how she was meant to perform. However, she noted it being ironic that despite the "Joint" being an experiment with this new style, she was returning for a third time to create music for Shakugan no Shana.
As a result of the love-triangle relationship between Yuji, Shana, and Kazumi in Shakugan no Shana II is still continuing, Kawada stated that her opinion of Kazumi has changed and the lyrics she wrote for the B-side "Triangle" is a testament to this. To Kawada, Kazumi changed from young girl who hid her feelings into someone more mature and strong who desired to openly declare her desire to fight for Yuji's love. She conveyed to the composer for "Triangle", Kazuya Takase, that she wanted the composition to be electronic music that combined the feelings of wanting comforting pain but also wanting to run free in resulting the trance
-like feel of the song.
for "Joint" was directed by Ippei Morita, who has directed some of Mami Kawada's other music videos, and produced by I've Sound
. It was released by Geneon Entertainment on a DVD
in a limited edition of the single bearing the catelog number GNCA-85 bundled alongside the original CD containing the single's tracks.
's Weekly Albums Chart and remained on the chart for nineteen weeks making it Mami Kawada's highest-ranking and longest-lasting single.
Maxi single
A maxi single or maxi-single is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an a-side song and a b-side song.-The first maxi singles:...
by Japanese J-pop
J-pop
, an abbreviation for Japanese pop, is a musical genre that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1990s. Modern J-pop has its roots in 1960s music, such as The Beatles, and replaced kayōkyoku in the Japanese music scene...
artist Mami Kawada
Mami Kawada
is a J-pop singer who is currently signed to Geneon Entertainment Inc. She is also a member of the I've Sound who performs soundtracks for some eroge. Mami was usually paired up with co-I've member Kotoko when making soundtracks for anime...
, with both its A-side and B-side featured in her 2008 Savia
Savia (album)
Savia is an album by J-pop singer Mami Kawada. It is her 2nd studio album overall produced by I've Sound and Geneon Entertainment. The album was released on March 26, 2008....
album. It contains four tracks in both regular and instrumental versions and spans 17:40. Both its A-side and B-side tracks are featured as opening and ending themes for the second season of the anime series Shakugan no Shana
Shakugan no Shana
, also known simply as Shana, is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi, with illustrations by Noizi Ito. The series includes 25 novels released between November 2002 and October 2011 published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint...
. Geneon Entertainment released the single on October 31, 2007 in both a regular CD release and a limted CD and DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
that featured the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the track "Joint" bearing the catalog numbers GNCA-86 and GNCA-85 respectively.
Context
Two years prior, Mami Kawada had written the single "Hishoku no SoraHishoku no Sora
"Hishoku no Sora" is the 2nd single of J-pop singer Mami Kawada. The title track was used as the first intro theme to the anime Shakugan no Shana. This single peaked at the #11 spot on the Oricon charts and has sold 16,503 copies on its first week...
" (2005), her second most successful single, titular track of which was featured as the opening theme to the first season of the anime adaptation of the light novel series Shakugan no Shana
Shakugan no Shana
, also known simply as Shana, is a Japanese light novel series written by Yashichiro Takahashi, with illustrations by Noizi Ito. The series includes 25 novels released between November 2002 and October 2011 published by ASCII Media Works under their Dengeki Bunko imprint...
. In 2007, Kawada was pleased to be asked once more to write theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for the upcoming second season of the anime adaptation entitled Shakugan no Shana II. Its story is focused around Yuji Sakai, an ordinary Japanese high school boy who inadvertently becomes involved in a perpetual war between forces of balance and imbalance in existence. In the process, he befriends the titular character Shana, a female fighter for the balancing force, and one of his classmates named Kazumi Yoshida. During an interview, Kawada described Yuji as giving the impression of following behind Shana; however, during the second season, she described Yuji as giving off the same impression as Shana—the impression of walking together with Shana and actually providing her support during her battles.
Earlier in the year, Kawada had released her fourth single "Get My Way!
Get my way!
"Get my way!" is the fourth single from J-pop singer Mami Kawada under Geneon Entertainment. The title track was used as the second outro theme for the anime series Hayate no Gotoku...
" for the first season of the anime television series Hayate the Combat Butler
Hayate the Combat Butler
is a Japanese manga series, written and illustrated by Kenjiro Hata, about a boy who starts a new job as a butler and the events he experiences with his employer. Shogakukan have released 29 volumes in Japan. The English edition of the series has been licensed by Viz Media for distribution in North...
. Up until her release of "Get My Way!", Kawada described herself as being bound by a set image of how she was meant to write and sing. After releasing her fourth single, she described having completely lost the image of how she would regularly sing. Before the release of her first two singles of the year 2007, "Akai Namida / Beehive" and "Get My Way!", she mentioned spending much time thinking, and during 2007, she began to slowly experimenting with different types of music. Thanks to this, she stated herself as being freed from image of how she was meant to perform. However, she noted it being ironic that despite the "Joint" being an experiment with this new style, she was returning for a third time to create music for Shakugan no Shana.
Concept and Creation
Mami Kawada choose the title "Joint" because that was the word that came strongly to her mind after completely reading the lyrics; it reflected how the protagonists of Shakugan no Shana II, Shana and Yuji, continually joined their power together to fight. After reading the script for Shakugan no Shana II, her first impression was that of the world about to fall into pieces. However, rereading the script, Kawada interpreted the work as an attempt to show that our world too is frail and could crumble at any moment as evidence by the many accidents that occur daily, which appear on the news. Thus, she try to convey the feeling everyone holding each other precious because of the miracle that everyone is alive today despite these accidents. In an effort to convey the mental state of both Yuji and Shana, Kawada tried write the lyrics to her two songs so as to "capture the world as seen through their eyes". However, she also stated that more than exclusively capturing the view points of the two protagonists, she tried to embody an image of the story as a whole but paralleling the story itself. Unlike in her previous work, "Hishoku no Sora", where she used words closely related to the series, in the lyrics for the tracks in "Joint", Kawada described wanting more emotion-inspiring lyrics. In response to comment that the expressions in her voice were very varied, Kawada stated that she simply sings with the music in the way that she most enjoys.As a result of the love-triangle relationship between Yuji, Shana, and Kazumi in Shakugan no Shana II is still continuing, Kawada stated that her opinion of Kazumi has changed and the lyrics she wrote for the B-side "Triangle" is a testament to this. To Kawada, Kazumi changed from young girl who hid her feelings into someone more mature and strong who desired to openly declare her desire to fight for Yuji's love. She conveyed to the composer for "Triangle", Kazuya Takase, that she wanted the composition to be electronic music that combined the feelings of wanting comforting pain but also wanting to run free in resulting the trance
Trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that developed in the 1990s.:251 It is generally characterized by a tempo of between 125 and 150 bpm,:252 repeating melodic synthesizer phrases, and a musical form that builds up and breaks down throughout a track...
-like feel of the song.
Music video
The music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Joint" was directed by Ippei Morita, who has directed some of Mami Kawada's other music videos, and produced by I've Sound
I've Sound
I've Sound, or simply called , is a Japanese techno/trance music production group based in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. Led by Kazuya Takase, it features the talents of seasoned "sound creators" and many different female vocalists, known as to their fans....
. It was released by Geneon Entertainment on a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in a limited edition of the single bearing the catelog number GNCA-85 bundled alongside the original CD containing the single's tracks.
Reception
It peak ranked 9th on OriconOricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
's Weekly Albums Chart and remained on the chart for nineteen weeks making it Mami Kawada's highest-ranking and longest-lasting single.
Track listing
- "Joint" – 4:01
- Lyrics: Mami Kawada
- Composition: Tomoyuki Nakazawa
- Arrangement: Tomoyuki Nakazawa, Takeshi Ozaki
- "Triangle" – 4:50
- Lyrics: Mami Kawada
- Composition & Arrangement by: Kazuya Takase
- "Joint (Instrumental)" – 4:01
- "Triangle (Instrumental)" – 4:48