Kohaku’s artist lineup for this year has been released.

Newcomers on the red team (female) are Aoyama Thelma, Akimoto Junko (enka singer who I think made it big this year with her single “Ai no Mama De”), Ikimonogakari, GIRL NEXT DOOR, Perfume, and Fujioka Fujimaki and Ohashi Nozomi (the two men and the little girl who sang the theme to Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea).

Newcomers to the white team (male) are Kimaguren, Kiyama Yusaku, Jero, Shuchishin with Pabo, Tohoshinki(DBSK), Mr. Children, and Mizutani Yutaka (enka singer who made a comeback).

Overall, expected additions for the year. I’m not familiar with enka singers, but the female singers who made it big this year all made it onto the show (Perfume! Yes!). I’m surprised and pleased that Ikimonogakari are finally on. For the male artists though, I’m surprised it took this long for Mr. Children to make it on.

Full lineup is

RED TEAM: aiko, Aoyama Thelma, Akiyama Junko, Ayaka, Angela Aki, Ikimonogakari, Ishikawa Sayuri, Otsuka Ai, Kawanaka Mizuki, GIRL NEXT DOOR, Koda Kumi, Godai Natsuko, Kobayashi Sachiko, Sakamoto Fuyumi, SPEED, Tendo Yoshimi, Nakashima Mika, Nakamura Mitsuko, Hamasaki Ayumi, Perfume, Hitoto Yo, Hirahara Ayaka, Fuji Ayako, Fujioka Fujimaki and Ohashi Nozomi, Mizumori Kaori, and Wada Akiko.

WHITE TEAM: Akikawa Masafumi, Aqua Timez, Itsuki Hiroshi, EXILE, Kitajima Saburo, Kitayama Takeshi, Kimagurin, Kiyama Yusaku, Kobukuro, Shuuchishin with Pabo, SMAP, Tohoshinki (DBSK), TOKIO, Tokunaga Hideaki, Hikawa Kiyoshi, Hirai Ken, Fuse Akira, Porno Graffiti, Maekawa Kiyoshi, Mikawa Kenichi, Mr. Children, Mizutani Yutaka, Mori Shinichi, Moriyama Naotaro, and WaT.

Overall, same as you’d expect – the popular pop artists plus all those established enka singers (I had to google every one of them… pain). I’m glad that Perfume made it onto Kouhaku – hopefully, they’ll be here the year after too. Also, Tohoshinki has officially made it big in Japan. Absent from the list are any girl idols besides Perfume – not a year for AKB48 or H!P, I guess. Also absent despite their pretty big hype this year: Amuro Namie, Fukuhara Miho, and Shimizu Shota.

So will Kouhaku be your Japanese new year’s programming of choice?

(…unfortunately, no matter how nicely Perfume and Otsuka Ai will be strutting their stuff on stage, all the enka will render my early death. Yeah, not really a fan. I’ll be sticking to my good old standby: Johnny’s Countdown. )

WaT’s new single, “Toki wo Koete ~Fantastic World~” will drop April 23rd.

WaT’s releases haven’t interested or inspired me for the past year or so. I don’t enjoy their solo work, and together they are, for lack of a better term, boring. It’s always midtempo, with WaT singing a sweet tune while strumming lightly on their guitars – mellow, cheerful, and unmemorable. I don’t even remember what Yume no Tochuu actually sounds like. Still, I hold hope – I enjoyed a lot of their slightly earlier works (“5 Centi” or “Boku no Kimochi”… and I liked “Bokura no Love Story” too) and know that they could make extremely enjoyable and at least slightly inspired pop.

I wouldn’t say “Toki wo Koete ~Fantastic World~” is particularly inspired, but it’s a giant improvement over “Yume no Tochuu.” There’s slightly a more upbeat rock sound and also incorporates some light synth inserts, making the sound more varied. The song is still happy and mellow, but the rhythm changes during the chorus give a bit of a twist. It’s still not that memorable and not a song that gets stuck in my head, but at least I can remember what the chorus sounds like this time around.

As a duo, WaT’s music is like pop-rock doped on Ritalin – they’re always cheerful and mellow, every song, every time. They have a great sound, but there’s only so many songs two people strumming on guitars can sing when their songs seem to only convey one feeling. I can’t say that their releases are bad, because musically they’re well constructed and mix well – I just wish that one day I can listen to one of their new songs and feel like I’m actually hearing something new.

Raise your hand if you’re like me and breathed a sigh of relief that WaT’s new release next Wednesday, Yume no Tochuu/TOKIMEI☆DooBeeDoo, would be with the both of them again. Sure, their two solos singles did decently sales-wise, but I sure didn’t enjoy listening to Teppei nasally sing sugary sweet pop songs unharmonized and Wentz doing – whatever the heck he felt like doing.

Is it up to par with their bigger hits, though? Let’s face it, their WaT Collection album really didn’t do that hotly.

On first listen, I like the title song. It’s two boys singing a sugary ballad while strumming on their guitars with an orchestral background – just the way I remembered them. But then again, I remember them from this because it sounds like every other thing they’ve done – the midtempo, the simple guitar that swells with the orchestra, the simple melodies. It’s a good song, and gives you exactly what you’d expect the duo to come out with – if you liked WaT’s earlier songs, you’ll like this one too – if you can even tell them apart.

It seems like WaT can’t seem to release different music without doing it solo – which, from their two solo singles, seem to be a bad idea in itself. One of these days, hopefully, they’ll release something that doesn’t sound exactly like they took their old songs and changed a few notes in the middle.