"Love Wars" (stylized as "Love♡Wars") is a song by Queen & Elizabeth, fictional characters portrayed by
AKB48 members
Tomomi Itano and
Tomomi Kasai, respectively, for the soundtrack of the 2009-2010
Kamen Rider Series ''
Kamen Rider W''.
Overview
Itano and Kasai had been cast members of ''Kamen Rider W'' since September 2009 when "Love Wars" was first announced on January 22, 2010, with the music video filmed shortly after this announcement. Within the fiction of the show in episode 23, Itano and Kasai's characters Queen and Elizabeth compete in a ''
Pop Idol''-inspired contest called ''Fuuuuuutic Idol'' to win a record deal. When they are eliminated from the competition in favor of a much worse musician, they call upon the television show's protagonists Shotaro Hidari (
Renn Kiriyama
is a Japanese stage and television actor from Yokohama. His debut role was as Bunta Marui in ''The Prince of Tennis'' musical '' Absolute King Rikkai feat. Rokkaku ~ First Service''. Kiriyama is also known for his role in Shotaro Hidari, the ma ...
) and Philip (
Masaki Suda) to investigate why they have lost, discovering that the rumored
Radio Tower Clown is to blame. Soon after the case is closed, Queen and Elizabeth get their record deal after making another appearance on Fuuuuuutic Idol. At the same time, Kasai and Itano (in character) began hosting an
Internet radio show connected with ''W'' on the fictional Wind Wave radio station titled .
Their single "Love♡Wars" was released on March 31, 2010, as four different variants: a standard CD single with no bonus tracks (Type-C), a CD+DVD single featuring a solo rendition of the title track by Itano as a bonus track (Type-A), a CD+DVD single featuring a solo rendition by Kasai as a bonus track (Type-B), and a CD+DVD single containing the fictional song Queen & Elizabeth "lost" to from the television series (Type-D). While each different version of the CD has its own cover, a fifth variant cover exists for the standard CD+DVD release. The DVDs featured in each release include the music video, while the Type-A and Type-B releases also include a making-of documentary for the music video.
"Love♡Wars" reached the No. 4 spot on the
Oricon Weekly Single Rankings chart, and remained in the charts for a total of 9 weeks.
Track listing
References
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AKB48 songs
Avex Trax singles
Kamen Rider
Japanese television drama theme songs
2010 singles
2010 songs
Songs with music by Shuhei Naruse
Songs with lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi