''(An Imitation) Blood Orange'' (stylized as '' an imitation) blood orange') is the fifteenth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Japanese

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

band

Mr. Children , commonly referred to by their contracted nickname , are a Japanese pop rock band formed in 1989. Consisting of Kazutoshi Sakurai, Kenichi Tahara, Keisuke Nakagawa, and Hideya Suzuki, they made their major label debut in 1992. They are one of t ...

and was released on November 28, 2012. It was the band's first studio album in two years. The album consists of a total of 11 tracks, including their triple A-side single, "Inori: Namida no Kidou" / "End of the Day" / "Pieces", released in April 2012, as well as "Hypnosis". "Joutoku" was used as the theme song for

Ikuta Toma is a Japanese actor. Ikuta is known for his roles in ''Hanazakari no Kimitachi e'', '' Honey & Clover'', ''Sensei!'', '' Maō'' and ''Ouroboros''. He also stars in feature films, notably '' Hanamizuki'', '' Ningen Shikkaku'' and ''Brain Man''. ...

's drama ''Osozaki no Himawari: Boku no Jinsei, Renewal'' and their charity digital single "Kazoe Uta", released in April 2011, for victims of the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

. This album was released in two versions: a limited CD+DVD edition and a regular CD-only edition, but the same price. The limited edition comes with a DVD including the PVs for "Hypnosis", "Marshmallow Day", "Inori: Namida no Kidou", and "Joutoku". The album debuted on the Japanese

Oricon Chart , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nove ...

at number one on December 10, 2012. It sold over 530,235 copies in its first week of release. It was their 15th consecutive album to top the chart, and 12th consecutive studio album to sell over 500,000 copies during its first week. In 2012, they released three albums, including '' Mr. Children 2001–2005 ＜micro＞'' (over 716,000 copies sold in its first week) and '' Mr. Children 2005–2010 ＜macro＞'' (selling over 732,000 copies in the first week), released back on 10 May 2012. All three albums sold over 500,000 copies in their first weeks. It makes them the first band to achieve this feat. Mr. Children is the first group in four years who had three albums that sold over 500,000 copies in their first week of release since

Exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

did it in 2008 with ''Exile Love'', ''Exile Catchy Best'' (released in March 2008), and ''Exile Ballad Best'' (released in December 2008). ''(An Imitation) Blood Orange'' was the eighth best-selling album of 2012 in Japan according to the Oricon Yearly Chart, selling 612,507 copies (total sales for two weeks in 2012). All three of the albums released in 2012 finished in the top 10 of Oricon's yearly chart.

Track listing

All songs are written and composed by

Kazutoshi Sakurai is a Japanese musician. He composes and writes almost all of the songs for his band Mr. Children, in addition to writing lyrics and singing for his solo project group Bank Band. In 2006, Sakurai ranked No. 8 in HMV's "Top 30 Best Japanese Singe ...

and arranged by Takeshi Kobayashi and

DVD track listing

Limited edition #"Hypnosis" #"Marshmallow Day" #"Inori (Namida no Kidou)" #"Joutoku"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imitation Blood Orange 2012 albums Mr. Children albums Toy's Factory albums Japanese-language albums Albums produced by Takeshi Kobayashi