Beautiful! Hikki's best song to date...

Distance, the title track of Hikki's second album, was a catchy if somewhat standard, pop tune. Her voice sounded great (as per usual), but there was nothing exceptional about the song; nothing that made it stand out.

Luckily, someone had the brilliant idea to slow down the beat, and add hauntingly beautiful piano accompaniment. The result? "Final Distance" is an exquisite ballad that showcases the emotional range of Hikki's singing and sends shivers of delight through the listener. You won't find any vocal acrobatics a la Mariah Carey, but there is honesty to her singing that resonates with the musical soul.

The cost of an import CD may seem high, but Final Distance is truly worth it. Besides the melodic ballad version of "Distance", there are 5 more tracks: Track 2 is a wonderful dance mix version; Track 3 is an interesting vocal dub mix; Track 4 is the original album version; Track 5 is the Karaoke album version; and Track 6 is the instrumental version of Final Distance.

Her later single, Sakura Drops, has a unique sound, but in terms of emotional intensity, Final Distance is the hands down winner. Even if you've never heard J-Pop before, consider giving this CD a try. It showcases one of the brightest talents of the Japanese music industry in a most beautiful song.

Final Distance

Hikaru was going to release Distance as a single but it was around then that a mentally disturbed man killed a couple of children brutally at a school in Osaka. She changed some of the lyrics and slowed the song down. In case you were wondering. (I got this information from http://www.galacticmuffin.net/distance/info.htm )

New version for a reason

In response to the other reviews, this song was redone because of an incident that happened in Japan. I don't remember the specifics, except that one of the little girls killed was a huge Utada fan. Utada was touched by this and decided to dedicate this song to her.