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Manatsu no Kousen (真夏の光線; A Ray of Light in Midsummer) is Morning Musume's fifth single. It was released on May 12, 1999 as an 8cm CD.

It sold a total of 235,010 copies, peaking at #3 on the Oricon weekly charts, and ranking as the #93 single for 1999.

In 2004, it was re-released as part of the Morning Musume Early Single Box, a limited edition box set containing their first eight singles reissued on 12cm CDs, including "Manatsu no Kousen". In 2005, the singles were released individually, and first press editions came with a photo card.

Tracklist[]

Original Edition[]

  1. Manatsu no Kousen
  2. Koi no Shihatsu Ressha (恋の始発列車; The First Time the Train of Love Departures)
  3. Manatsu no Kousen (Instrumental)

Re-release Edition[]

  1. Manatsu no Kousen
  2. Koi no Shihatsu Ressha
  3. Manatsu no Kousen (Instrumental)
  4. Manatsu no Kousen (Early Version)

Featured Members[]

Single Information[]

Lyrics and Composition: Tsunku

Manatsu no Kousen
Koi no Shihatsu Ressha

Performances[]

TV Performances[]

Concert Performances[]

Manatsu no Kousen
Koi no Shihatsu Ressha

Event Performances[]

Manatsu no Kousen

Oricon Chart Positions[]

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Week Rank Sales
- - - - - - - 3 122,610
- - - - - - - 12 33,800
- - - - - - - 19 29,100
- - - - - - - 20 15,500
- - - - - - - 27 10,170
- - - - - - - 28 9,060
- - - - - - - 37 6,840
- - - - - - - 56 4,690
- - - - - - - 65 3,240

Total Reported Sales: 235,010

Cover Versions[]

Trivia[]

  • An application form for the 2nd Morning Musume & Heike Michiyo Protegee audition is included (which would spawn Melon Kinenbi).
  • When making the music video, Iida Kaori was sick during the shooting of the scenes at the beach. As a result, she does not do the exact dance moves as the other members. She fainted shortly after.
  • Nakazawa Yuko commented on the single for a series of YouTube videos counting up to Morning Musume's 50th single.[1]
  • The recording date for the track #4 in the re-release was set up in a hurry. The vocal, chorus, and the basic orchestra versions were all recorded on the same date, April 6, 1999, in 3 separate studios. This specific version was recorded on April 6, and the interlude after the 2 chorus part is entirely different. Because it is an earlier version, the bass and brass instruments were still being played from the pre-programmed sequence software. Also, the "gaya" (cheers and chatters) such as "fu fu" and the chorus parts weren’t recorded yet. Abe's main vocal take was also recorded on this day, and it is a different version from the single's.[2]
  • The Center of this single is Abe Natsumi.
  • This is the first Morning Musume single also without Fukuda Asuka.

Interviews[]

Comments
Tsunku commented on the single's release:[3]

This is the second summer for Morning Musume. Since last summer, the members had just increased from 5 to 8. Since this summer, the member has changed from 8 to 7. This is a song I wrote, filled with Mo-town flavor. The main chorus was already decided ahead of time since the beginning of the creative stage. That’s why the harmony was created smoothly and easily.After listening to the raw recording of 7 girls’ voices, I kept having imageries of ocean, shaved ice, watermelon, and rhino beetles. That’s why I named the song as "Manatsu No Kousen". Please enjoy your summer of 1999 with this song.

Interview
Interviewer: In May, in the middle of such a busy schedule, “Manatsu No Kousen” was released. I heard you were very certain this song was going to be such a big hit, but the result was rather disappointing.

Tsunku: The song wasn’t cheerful enough. It didn’t have enough ‘wow’ value. But everything in this world is a guess work. It’s impossible to predict.

Videos[]

Morning Musume - Manatsu no Kousen (MV)

References[]

External Links[]

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