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[]
- Manatsu no Kousen
- Koi no Shihatsu Ressha (恋の始発列車; The First Time the Train of Love Departures)
- Manatsu no Kousen (Instrumental)
Re-release Edition[]
- Manatsu no Kousen
- Koi no Shihatsu Ressha
- Manatsu no Kousen (Instrumental)
- Manatsu no Kousen (Early Version)
Featured Members[]
- 1st Gen: Nakazawa Yuko, Ishiguro Aya, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi
- 2nd Gen: Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari, Ichii Sayaka
Single Information[]
Lyrics and Composition: Tsunku
- Manatsu no Kousen
- Arrangement: Kono Shin
- Dance Choreographer: Natsu Mayumi
- Koi no Shihatsu Ressha
- Arrangement: Konishi Takao
Performances[]
TV Performances[]
- [1999.05.07] Music Station
- [1999.05.09] ASAYAN
- [1999.05.21] Music Station
- [1999.05.27] Utaban
- [2000.07.16] Hello! Morning
Concert Performances[]
- Manatsu no Kousen
- Morning Musume Summer Event '99
- Hello! Project '99
- Morning Musume Summer-Autumn Event '99
- LIVE!! Summer Night Town 99
- Dream Live Pop Revue 1999
- Hello! Project Happy New Year 2000
- Morning Musume Live Hatsu no Budokan ~Dancing Love Site 2000 Haru~
- Live Revolution 21 Haru ~Osaka Jou Hall Saishuu Bi~
- Hello! Project 2005 Natsu no Kayou Show -'05 Selection! Collection!-
- Otona no Nouryousai Fan Club Tour 2006 - Iida Kaori, Maeda Yuki
- Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai Concert Tour 2007 Natsu ~Thank You My Dearest~
- Morning Musume Concert Tour 2008 Haru ~Single Daizenshuu!!~
- Hello! Project 2008 Summer Wonderful Hearts Kouen ~Hishochi de Date Itashima SHOW~
- Hello! Project 2009 Winter Elder Club Kouen ~Thank you for your LOVE!~ - Nakazawa Yuko, Iida Kaori, Abe Natsumi, Yasuda Kei, Yaguchi Mari
- Hello! Project 2010 SUMMER ~Fankora!~
- Abe Natsumi Birthday Live 2012 ~thanks all~ - Abe Natsumi
- Birthday Live2013 +♪The Beating♪+ - Abe Natsumi
- Hello! Project 2016 SUMMER ~Sunshine Parade~ - Sato Masaki, Oda Sakura, Ogata Haruna, Nonaka Miki, Aikawa Maho, Hirose Ayaka, Fujii Rio, Tanimoto Ami
- Hello! Project Kenshuusei Happyoukai 2017 6gatsu ~June Tripper!~ - Hello Pro Kenshuusei, Tsubaki Factory
- Morning Musume Tanjou 20 Shuunen Kinen Concert Tour 2018 Haru ~We are MORNING MUSUME~ - Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Iikubo Haruna, Ishida Ayumi, Oda Sakura, Kaga Kaede, Yokoyama Reina
- Morning Musume '23 25th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT TOUR ~glad quarter-century~ (part of a medley) - Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Ishida Ayumi, Oda Sakura
- Morning Musume '23 25th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT TOUR ~glad quarter-century~ encore (part of a medley) - Fukumura Mizuki, Ikuta Erina, Ishida Ayumi, Oda Sakura
- Koi no Shihatsu Ressha
- Morning Musume Concert Tour 2005 Natsu Aki "Baribari Kyoushitsu ~Koharu-chan Irasshai!~"
- Morning Musume Tanjou 10nen Kinentai Concert Tour 2007 Natsu ~Thank You My Dearest~
Event Performances[]
- Manatsu no Kousen
- [2005.03.12] Yasuda Kei・Inaba Atsuko・Ayaka no Higaeri Bus Ryokou - Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka
- [2005.05.14] Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka no 1-Paku 2-Nichi Bus Ryokou in Nagano - Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka
- [2007.03.22] Morning Musume Fanclub Tour in Hawaii 2007 - Yoshizawa Hitomi
- [2007.06.02] Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka no 1-Paku 2-Nichi Bus Ryokou in Nagano Part 3 - Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka
- [2011.07.26] Morning Musume Fanclub Tour in HAWAII 2011 summer ~Aloha Kakou~
- [2021.09.03] Tsubaki Factory Asakura Kiki Birthday Event 2021 - Asakura Kiki
- [2023.08.12] Nakazawa Yuko Aa, Jinsei 50nen Geinou Seikatsu 25shuunen Kinen Recital ~Karasu no Furunyoubou~ - Nakazawa Yuko
- Koi no Shihatsu Ressha
- [2005.03.12] Yasuda Kei・Inaba Atsuko・Ayaka no Higaeri Bus Ryokou - Iida Kaori, Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka
- [2005.05.14] Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka no 1-Paku 2-Nichi Bus Ryokou in Nagano - Iida Kaori, Yasuda Kei, Inaba Atsuko, Ayaka
- [2010.03.24] Morning Musume Fanclub Tour in Hawaii 2010
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[]
- Niigaki Risa, Tanaka Reina, Kamei Eri, and Okai Chisato have recorded their own versions of the single for the Hello Cover Series.
- An English cover was recorded by Tara McDonald as "Endless Summer" for the album Cover Morning Musume! ~Various Artist Covers "MORNING MUSUME"!~.
- A Hawaiian version of this song is found on "Morning Musume Single Medley ~Hawaiian~" and on the album Hawaiian de Kiku Morning Musume Single Collection.
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[]
References[]
- ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbtpz_bwkak
- ↑ Morning Musume。EARLY SINGLE BOX Booklet Translation.
- ↑ "真夏の光線" (in Japanese). Tsunku.net.
External Links[]
- Discography: Hello! Project, UP-FRONT WORKS, Tsunku.net
- Wikipedia: Japanese, English
- Lyrics: Manatsu no Kousen, Koi no Shihatsu Ressha