Dancemania EX × Trance Paradise

Hime Trance 2
Release Date: 6/28/06
Price: 1886 yen

The much-anticipated sequel to Hime Trance tried to replicate the formula that made the first album so magical, but the song selection didn’t end up quite as strong.

Let’s get the bad out of the way first: “Everytime We Touch” is garbage unless it’s the Delaction remix. The Scarf mix uses the worst possible synths and it didn’t help that the song was overplayed at this point. Speaking of overplayed, was it really necessary to have “Mermaid” again? As much as I love Delaction, their decision to not include most of the vocals kept the song from being a truly great one.

The 6 new EMI remixes were a bit of a mixed bag. “Boys” and “Hero” ended up as incredible as expected, but the rest took a while to grow on me. My biggest issue is that instead of remixing Dancemania tracks, they chose completely random Saifam tracks that never even appeared on Dancemania. I was dying for a Bambee, Ni-Ni, or Jenny Rom remix.

DJ Kaya and Heavens Wire produced most of the new original songs on the album. Heavens Wire didn’t disappoint with “Doubt,” “Paya Paya” and “everyday, everytime” (My name is Gavin-desu!), but DJ Kaya’s Miu*Miu tracks were mediocre at best.

Hime Trance 2 would still be a good album overall, and nearly matched the first in sales, but the cracks were starting to show.

01. [3:25] Distance / Osu! Bancho Soundtrack
02. [4:00] Cartoon Heroes (4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker Remix) / Barbie Young
03. [3:48] Kira Kira (o^-’)* (Heavens Wire Rmx) / Tsukasa
04. [3:20] D.O.U.B.T!!! ~Ai no Kakehiki wa DA*U*TO*~ / 4 Skips vs. Floorbreaker
05. [3:49] Ageha (Heavens Wire vs. Tri-Hedge Remix) / Mayka
06. [4:43] Everytime We Touch (Scarf! Remix) / Cascada
07. [4:23] Russian Roulette ~Russian Roulette~ / Bazooka
08. [3:23] Mermaid (Delaction Remix) / Tsukasa
09. [4:23] everyday, everytime / SP Show*Hey? feat. Mami
10. [1:49] Fine Together (DJ Hibiki & Ken-Bow Mix) / Delaction
11. [2:55] So So ~Koi no Golden*Goal~ (Overhead Champion Vocal Mix) / Misa
12. [2:39] Memory / Miu*Miu
13. [3:08] Paya Paya / Dank-One feat. ari
14. [3:40] 5, 6, 7, 8 (Team S Remix) / Captain Hook
15. [2:54] Arigato (Original Mix) / Aya
16. [3:42] Hero (Arpeggio Latin Mix) / Papaya
17. [4:01] Toy Boy (Delaction Remix) / Angie
18. [3:03] Boys (Orange Summer Mix) / Smile.dk
19. [3:55] Hallelujah / Miu*Miu
20. [4:36] 1 Nichi (Big Kiss vs. Raversonic Remix) / Misa
21. [3:29] Dancing Queen (Nasca Joker’s Harmony Mix) / Housecream
Bonus Track
22. [4:29] Love & Joy / Yuki Kimura

Pre-order at CDJapan.