''Perfect Crime'' is the second

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 recording artist

Mai Kuraki (born October 28, 1982) is a Japanese pop and R&B singer-songwriter and record producer. After releasing her US debut single " Baby I Like" in 1999, Kuraki signed with Giza Studio and released her Japanese debut single " Love, Day After Tomorro ...

. It was released on July 4, 2001, by

Giza Studio is a Japanese record label. The Giza Studio started as an indie label in the late 1990s under the name Garage Indies Zapping Association, but soon Being Inc. bought it as their sister label company. Giza Studio is located in Osaka, Japan and ...

. In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the

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 Nov ...

chart, selling 800,210 copies in its first week and has been certified 4× Platinum by

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

after shipping over a 1.6 million copies. As of February 2018, the album has sold over 1,319,970 copies in Japan. The album's lead single, "

Reach for the Sky ''Reach for the Sky'' is a 1956 British biographical film about aviator Douglas Bader, based on the 1954 biography of the same name by Paul Brickhill. The film stars Kenneth More and was directed by Lewis Gilbert. It won the BAFTA Award for Bes ...

" was released on November 8, 2000. The song debuted at number three on the

chart, and went platinum for selling over 250,000 physical sales in Japan. The follow up

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single, " Tsumetai Umi/Start in My Life" also performed successfully on the chart, peaking at number two. The third single from the album, "

Stand Up Stand Up may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Stand-up comedy, a comic style in which a comedian performs in front of a live audience Film * ''Stand Up'' (2007 film), a film featuring Modi Rosenfeld * ''Stand Up'' (2008 film), a Brit ...

" has sold over 476,000 physical copies and became her fourth best selling single. Also, the song became the thirty-second best selling song of 2001 in Japan. The fourth single from the album, "

Always Always may refer to: Film and television * ''Always'', a 1985 film directed by Henry Jaglom * ''Always'' (1989 film), a 1989 romantic comedy-drama directed by Steven Spielberg * ''Always'' (2011 film), a 2011 South Korean film, also known as '' ...

" was used as the twelfth ending theme to the

Case Closed ''Case Closed'', also known as , is a Japanese detective manga series written and illustrated by Gosho Aoyama. It has been serialized in Shogakukan's ''shōnen'' manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' since January 1994, with its ch ...

anime and the theme song to '' Countdown to Heaven'', the fifth film in the series.

Background

Kuraki stated that despite being completely absorbed in the production of her first album, ''

Delicious Way ''Delicious Way'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the debut album by Japanese recording artist Mai Kuraki. It was released by Giza Studio and Giza Inc. in Japan on June 28, 2000. The album was entirely co-written by Kuraki herself, with the help of ...

'', when compared to ''Perfect Crime'', the latter felt like it had been created with more diligence and character that listening to it was similar to watching a film.

Singles

" was released as the lead single from the album in November 2000. The song was written by Kuraki herself,

Aika Ohno Aika may refer to: Arts and media * ''Aika'' (album), a 1996 album by Finnish singer-songwriter Aki Sirkesalo *''Agent Aika'', a 1997 anime OVA produced by Bandai Visual and Studio Fantasia * AIKA Online, an MMORPG *Aikakone or Aika, a Finnish m ...

and Cybersound and served as the theme song to the 2000 Japanese TV program ''

Audrey Audrey () is an English feminine given name. It is the Anglo-Norman form of the Anglo-Saxon name ''Æðelþryð'', composed of the elements '' æðel'' "noble" and ''þryð'' "strength". The Anglo-Norman form of the name was applied to Saint Aud ...

.'' The song debuted at number three and has sold over 468,320 copies in Japan. The song became her fifth best selling song of all time and has been certificated platinum by

. The rearranged version of the song was released on August, 2013 as "Re:ggae Summer 2013 version". The

single " Tsumetai Umi/Start in My Life" was released as the second single in February 2001. "Tsumetai Umi" samples R&B influences and is themed about

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

, while "Start in My Life" adopts 80's pop influences and themed about a farewell with her friends. Both songs were written by Kuraki herself,

and Cybersound. The later was used as the eleventh ending theme to the

anime. The single has sold over 356,310 copies and been certificated platinum by

. "

" was released as the third single in April 2001. The song has become the biggest hit from the album to date and her fourth best selling song of all time. It has sold over 476,000 copies and been certificated platinum by

. Also, the song became the thirty-second best selling song of 2001 in Japan. The song samples 80's

American rock American rock has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and country music, and also drew on folk music, jazz, blues, and classical music. American rock music was further influenced by the British Invasion of the American pop ...

music influence and was written by Kuraki herself and

Akihito Tokunaga (born 22 September 1971) is a Japanese musical composer and arranger under Giza Studio label since 2000. Biography Since college he worked as orchestrator, then start working as a bassist. For artists as Zard, Mai Kuraki, B'z and many others ...

. "

" was released as the fourth single in June, 2001. The song was written by Kuraki herself,

and Cybersound and used as the twelfth ending theme to the

anime and the theme song to '' Countdown to Heaven'', the fifth film in the series. The song has sold over 219,940 copies and been certificated platinum by

. The title track of the album, "Perfect Crime" was released as " Perfect Crime: Single Edit" in August, 2001. It was released as a

double-A side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

single with " Can't Forget Your Love" and peaked at number two on the

Oricon Weekly Singles Chart The Oricon Singles Chart is the Japanese music industry-standard singles popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Chart rankings are based on physical singles' sales. Until 2017, Oricon did not track download sales. In J ...

. The track was served as the theme song to the 2001 Japanese TV program '' Ikiru tame no Jonetsu toshite no Satsujin.'' " Can't Forget Your Love" became the lead single of Kuraki's third

, ''

Fairy Tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

''. The ninth track of the album, "Think About" was B-side track of her fifth single " Simply Wonderful". However, the title track of the single hadn't been included on any albums until the release of her first

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

, ''

Wish You the Best Wish You the Best may refer to: * ''Wish You the Best'' (album), a 2004 compilation album by Mai Kuraki * "Wish You the Best" (song), a 2023 song by Lewis Capaldi {{disambiguation ...

'' in January, 2004. The single has sold over 384,820 copies in Japan and been certificated platinum by

. The thirteenth track of the album, "The Rose ~Melody in the Sky~" was recorded on the limited edition of her 2009

single, "

Puzzle/Revive "Puzzle"/"Revive" is Mai Kuraki's thirty-first single, released as a double A-side on April 1, 2009. "Puzzle" was used for the thirteenth ''Detective Conan'' film '' Detective Conan: The Raven Chaser'', and "Revive" was used as the twenty-fifth ...

" as "The Rose: Melody In the Sky (Acoustic Live Ver.)".

Commercial performance

''Perfect Crime'' debuted at number-one with 800,210 copies sold, making it Kuraki's second number-one debut. The album stayed on the

albums chart for a total of 17 weeks, of which the album spent 6 in the top 10, non-consecutively. ''Perfect Crime'' was the 12th best selling album of 2001.

Track listing

Charts

Daily charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Yearly charts

Certification and sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2001 albums Mai Kuraki albums Giza Studio albums Being Inc. albums Japanese-language albums Albums produced by Daiko Nagato