Single Review: Koda Kumi with Tetsuya Komuro

“Jump to the Breeze” made me realise something rather astonishing. Koda Kumi has managed to go her entire career to date barely working with Tetsuya Komuro. Not a single one of her albums features Komuro’s production or writing. This is pretty unprecedented, given that Kumi has always been signed to Avex, and women on that label get called to work with Komuro like it’s jury service. The first time Kumi had recorded a song written and produced by Komuro was “The Meaning of Peace” with BoA back in 2001, before she had even released an album. And then for the next twenty years and twenty albums, she never recorded a song with him. Until now. Avex and Komuro’s lawyers faxed Kumi and said ‘Bitch. It’s time.’

Komuro is highly regarded at Avex, and it’s easy to see why when you look at his resumé. He had the Midas touch throughout the 90s and early 2000s—generating a slew of hits. Hits which were so constant, regular and sold so many units, that Komuro became one of the most successful producers in Japanese music history. But even so, the way Avex has supported this man in the midst of scandals has been concerning, and raises the question of what is it that a man in Japanese entertainment has to do until he is held accountable and judged on his actions, and not purely on his monetary and commercial value—which unfortunately is how they get away with shit for so long. Money over hoes and morals. And it’s not like Komuro had only gotten a few parking tickets. This man committed financial fraud in 2008, which he was fully found guilty of. And Avex chose to reward this by reimbursing Komuro, giving him a nice salary and an official placement at Avex. FOR COMMITTING FINANCIAL FRAUD. And then 10 years later, he announced his retirement in the midst of allegations that he was committing adultery, whilst his wife was undergoing serious health issues. There was no proof at the time of Komuro’s infidelity. But his holding a press conference to announce his retirement reeked of ‘he was guilty of everything being reported on him’ and trying to get ahead of the evidence coming to light. But still, men were in the comments online defending this man. And I’m sure Max Matsuura was making sure his rent was being paid and that his side piece still had an allowance to hit up the Louis Vuitton store at Matsuya Ginza. Meanwhile Ami Suzuki was completely blacklisted simply for getting into litigation with her agency, ironically to save her career. And Avex cancelled everything on Kumi but her phone line for her talking about dry pussy fluid on a radio show. And let us not forget Minami Minegishi of AKB48, who shaved her head and filmed herself apologising profusely bald headed on camera in a video uploaded to the official AKB48 YouTube channel, as atonement for being caught dating. Women are the foundation of Japanese entertainment, and yet they get publicly shat on and shamed in ways men never are.

Koda Kumi with Tetsuya Komuro – Jump to the Breeze | Avex Music Creative Inc.

What the hell does all this shit have to do with a Kumi song? Well, she’s on a song with a man who is trash, which is unfortunate. But I’m sure Kumi holds Komuro in high regard, despite him being a cheating fraudster. Kumi probably grew up being familiar with Komuro’s work and there’s a likelihood that she wanted to be a star and signed to Avex because of it. And this is also happening during a period in time when Katy Perry is being dragged left and right for working with a producer who allegedly raped a woman. Nobody is making these connections of women working with toxic men, and it’s just as well for Kumi. But y’all know me when I drag my Pepe Silvia board out.

But this stuff with Komuro happened so long ago, that most have probably forgotten all about it. People work with problematic people all of the time. I’m just surprised that anybody still calls Komuro for work, when nothing he’s produced over the past decade has been particularly good. What he achieved during the golden era of his career, it clearly still means something, which is bonkers. Because he is so far removed from that period of his career. And when women are miles from a golden era of their career, that’s never enough to sustain them and keep them in the good graces of the music listening public. Just look at Namie Amuro. That bitch had to CLAW her way back to the top of the charts and create entirely new milestones. The success of “Body Feels Exit” was reduced to a footnote. That wasn’t enough for Amuro to skate by on.

Credit where it is due, “Jump to the Breeze” isn’t a terrible song. But it’s nothing amazing which speaks to Komuro’s genius. It’s just a song with his name on it. But it would seem that that’s enough these days. And Komuro’s name still has weight at Avex and to everybody who is on that payroll.

I guess my point is that I think it’s a shame that Kumi recorded a song with Komuro. It’s not like she needed to or that he’s a sure fire way to a number 1 hit anymore. But at this point, I’m convinced that not only is misogyny and his contributions to Avex in the 90s and early 2000s tag-teaming to work in Komuro’s favour, but that he also has dirt on Avex and everyone there. Allowing him to stay receiving financial support from Matsuura and getting his wishes to work with Kumi, Ayumi Hamasaki and Amuro—decades after he last worked with them, and they were more than happy to let years pass without having anything to do with him.

But I’m getting majorly sidetracked. Let’s get into this song.

Koda Kumi with Tetsuya Komuro – Jump to the Breeze | Avex Music Creative Inc.

“Jump to the Breeze” was originally released in 2023 exclusively in China, with its music video premiering on the social media platform BilliBilli, as part of a tie-in with the mobile game Azur Lane, which is published by BilliBilli. Hamasaki’s 2024 digital single “Aurora” was also tied to Azur Lane and got a similar treatment—early release in China and a music video premiere on BilliBilli before it was made available worldwide on YouTube.

But the 2024 worldwide release of “Jump to the Breeze” now features a slightly different arrangement to the original. The differences in arrangement aren’t huge, but they’re enough to the point where they’re noticeable and will result in some having a preference. I personally prefer the arrangement of the original version, but prefer the mixing on the 2024 version. The 2023 version is plain and vanilla. Where-as the 2024 version adds in these little touches here and there throughout the song, which result in it sounding over-produced—like things were added purely for the sake of it. I’ve found Komuro’s insistence on adding things for the sake of it to be a problem for years now. Komuro’s productions have always been pretty extra and overblown, and this worked in the late 80s and early 90s when so much of pop and dance music was about going big. But Komuro never did learn the art of sometimes less being more. And I frequently find that his inability to subtract and keep songs simple is ultimately what ends up ruining them, in addition to his productions sounding dated. His 2024 version of “Jump to the Breeze” doesn’t ruin the original version of the song, but his bad habits do creep into it.

I’mma be honest. “Jump to the Breeze” is not the complete disaster I was expecting it to be. Komuro’s production is pleasant enough. Kumi’s performance is nice. Komuro isn’t trying hard to be trendy or recapture the golden era of his earlier sound, which results in a song which doesn’t sound as desperate and as dated as the last songs he produced for Amuro (“How Do You Feel Now?”) and Hamasaki (“Mask”). Komuro’s problem post 2000 is that he’s never managed to find where his sound fits in a soundscape which has changed so much and so fast over the past couple of decades. But when Komuro is given a theme or an idea to base a song around, he can usually turn in something not terrible, as he does with “Jump to the Breeze”.

Koda Kumi with Tetsuya Komuro – Jump to the Breeze | Avex Music Creative Inc.

It’s a shame that albums and singles in Japanese music are approached in such isolation. Because “Jump to the Breeze” would have been a great fit for Kumi’s album, Unicorn. Or, she could have covered a song that Komuro was responsible for. She coulda been really controversial and covered Amuro’s “A Walk in the Park” or “Body Feels Exit”, which I think she would sound GREAT on. And given the removal of Amuro’s music from streaming services, her versions probably would have gotten a whole lotta plays. This also would have gotten people talking and given a Kumi release the jolt and fire that I think her singles and albums lack nowadays. And in an age of nostalgia, I think that Kumi and Komuro covering a classic would have been the way to go to really get people interested in the song. Kumi is at a stage in her career where only her fans are really checking for her releases. Nothing she does seems to really hit in a way where it garners her new fans and listeners. And Komuro is a relic, in that space of ‘If you know him, you know him. If you don’t, then you won’t care.’ I think the two of them covering a Komuro classic would have gone some way toward allowing them to reach people beyond their most die-hard fans and actually created a conversation. As nice as “Jump to the Breeze”, it will come and go. Much like a breeze. But for what it is, the song is fine.