"Last Angel feat.

Tohoshinki TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of t ...

" (stylized as ''LAST ANGEL feat. 東方神起'') is the 38th single by Japanese singer

Kumi Koda , known professionally as , is a Japanese singer from Kyoto, known for her urban and R&B songs. After debuting with the single " Take Back" in December 2000, Koda gained fame in March 2003 when the songs from her seventh single, " Real Emot ...

and is a collaboration with South Korean boy band

TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!), an initialism for Tong Vfang Xien Qi (), is a South Korean male pop duo consisting of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. They are known as in Japanese releases, and are sometimes referred to as DBSK, an abbreviation of ...

/Tohoshinki, released on November 7, 2007, in Japan. It charted at No. 3 on

Oricon , 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 ...

and stayed on the charts for twelve weeks. The single was released in CD and CD+DVD. Limited editions of the single contained a postcard with Koda Kumi and Tohoshinki. The title song was also the first collaboration attempt of Tohoshinki as a group.

Information

''Last Angel feat. Tohoshinki'' is Japanese singer-songwriter Koda Kumi's thirty-eighth single and the first collaboration attempt of South Korean group Tohoshinki/TVXQ. It ranked No. 3 on the Oricon Weekly charts and remained on the charts for twelve weeks. Upon its release, the single sold 57,310 within the first week, and recent figures show the single having sold 97,620. The single was released in both CD and CD+DVD editions, with limited editions containing a postcard of Kumi and TVXQ standing in front of the set for the music video. The title track was used as the promotional song for the Japanese release of the '' Resident Evil: Extinction'' film. It was also used in a commercial for music.jp. The rap in the song is performed by TVXQ members

Yunho Jung Yun-ho (; born February 6, 1986), also known by his stage name U-Know Yunho () or simply U-Know, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor, and a member of the pop duo TVXQ. Born and raised in Gwangju, South Korea, Yunho started his music ...

and

Yoochun Park Yoo-chun (born June 4, 1986), formerly known as Micky Yoochun and better known by the mononym Yoochun, is a South Korean singer-songwriter and actor. He is a former member of the South Korean boy bands JYJ and TVXQ. He has starred in dram ...

. The b-side, "Dear Family" was written by Kumi, while the a-side was written by Kumi and H.U.B. At the time, TVXQ was not as well-known throughout Japan and collaborated with Kumi to help gain notoriety in the country. The group learned Japanese prior to promoting in the country, whereas, at the time, South Korean groups had a difficult time becoming popular in Japan. It is speculated it is due to the collaboration why TVXQ's next single, '' Purple Line,'' was their first song to hit No. 1 on Oricon upon its release in January 2008. Tohoshinki is known as "Dong Bang Shin Ki" (동방신기) in South Korea, "Tohoshinki" (東方神起) in Japan and "TVXQ" internationally. The logo TVXQ comes from the

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

acronym of their name "Tong Vfang Xien Qi," which means "Rising Gods of the East." TVXQ had their own version on their 2008 album '' T'' titled "Last Angel -Tohoshinki ver.-" (stylized as ''LAST ANGEL -TOHOSHINKI ver.-'').

Packaging

The single was released in two editions: *CD: contains four musical tracks. *CD+DVD: contains four musical track, a music video and making video. Limited editions contained a postcard with Kumi and TVXQ and a foldout promotional poster. The Korean editions of the single carried a bonus booklet with the translation of the song. The CD+DVD Korean editions also had a translation of the interview in the making video.

Promotional advertisements

''Last Angel feat. Tohoshinki'' was used as the theme for the Japanese release of ''Resident Evil: Extinction.'' The film was better known as ''Biohazard III'' in Japan, whereas film, along with the other films in the series, is based on the

survival horror Survival horror is a subgenre of survival of the players as the game tries to frighten them with either horror graphics or scary ambience. Although combat can be part of the gameplay, the player is made to feel less in control than in typical ac ...

video game series ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

.''

Television performances

During the single's promotions, Kumi and Tohoshinki performed the song on several television stations to aid in the single's sales and notoriety. This included ''Music Fighter, Music Fair21, Music Japan, Music Station'' and ''Utaban.'' *November 2, 2007: Ongaku Senshi Music Fighter *November 3, 2007:

Music Fair is a Japanese music show. It is broadcast by Fuji Television. The shows started in 1964 and it is the longest-running Japanese music show and is sponsored by Shionogi. Current airtime 18:00 -18:30 (JST) every Saturday. Hosts *Fubuki Koshiji ( ...

21 *November 9, 2007: Music Japan *November 16, 2007:

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

*November 22, 2007:

Utaban was a Japanese music variety show, broadcast weekly from October 15, 1996 until March 23, 2010 on TBS. The name of the show is an abbreviation of , meaning "music program". A special version of the show, running for two hours, was occasionally ai ...

Along with the televised performances, TVXQ performed the song with Kumi during her '' Live Tour 2007 ~Black Cherry~.'' Kumi would later perform the song with TVXQ during their ''3rd Live Tour 2008 ~T~'' concert.

Music video

The music video for "Last Angel" was shot in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

, South Korea. The theme in the video carried an apocalyptic-theme, most notably due to the song being the theme for Japan's release of ''Resident Evil: Extinction.'' This is shown by the graying sky in the video's opening. Both Kumi and the members of TVXQ wear outfits that are completely white. Kumi performs a dual role, also being shown in a large, open room, donning futuristic attire. During the filming, TVXQ's lead vocalist,

Jaejoong Kim Jae-joong (; born January 26, 1986), also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and in Japan, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor and director. He is a member of the Korean pop group JYJ and was one of the original members ...

, donned his blonde hair, which he had been known to wear during his early years in the group.

Track listing

(SourceOfficial Tracklist
Retrieved 2012.09.07)

Charts

Alternate versions

LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki #LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki: Found on the single (2007) and corresponding album

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

(2008) #LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki nstrumental'': Found on the single (2007) #LAST ANGEL -TOHOSHINKI ver.-: Found on

album T (2008) #LAST ANGEL feat. Tohoshinki eroDoll remix'': Found on

Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 2 Koda Kumi Driving Hit's 2 is the third remix album released by Japanese singer/songwriter, Kumi Koda. It was released a year after '' Koda Kumi Driving Hit's'' on March 31, 2010. It ranked higher than its predecessor, coming in at #5 on Oricon and ...

(2010)

References

{{authority control 2007 singles 2007 songs Koda Kumi songs TVXQ songs Songs written by Koda Kumi Rhythm Zone singles Japanese television drama theme songs Songs written by Thomas G:son Songs written by Negin Djafari