Hikaru Utada – Colors

	Album Title: Hikaru Utada – Colors
	Record Label: Toshiba EMI
	Catalog No.: TOCT-4455
	Release Date: January 29, 2003
	Purchase: Buy Used Copy

Overview

This is Hikaru Utada’s 12th single and it was released on January 29, 2003. This single reached #1 on the Oricon Weekly Charts and it has sold 893,790 copies. It includes the English theme song for Kingdom Hearts, “Simple and Clean”. Here are my thoughts about the release.

Body

“Colors” might seem ancient and outdated as a single (since it was released back in 2003), but I still think it’s a great song. I also thought it was a wise choice for Hikaru to include the song on her album Ultra Blue because the overall mood and BGM go along well with the newer songs on the album since it also has a somewhat synthetic influence.

First things first, “Simple and Clean” is NOT the English version of “Hikari”. It’s the BGM of Hikari set to English lyrics. The English lyrics are not similar to the Japanese lyrics at all. Aside from that, I like this song because it introduced me to Hikki and J-pop altogether.

The same thing applies to the PLANITb Remix as well. It is a fresh perspective on the original suitable for the opening of the game. Thank you, Kingdom Hearts!

Summary

This song will be special to fans of Kingdom Hearts and Hikaru Utada alike. That said, gamers should be advised there is a domestic edition of the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack for those wishing to hear the English versions. However, this single is worth it for “Colors” alone.