Yuna Ito is a Japanese-Korean-American singer born in the States, but making her mark in the J-pop industry. She was cast as the powerful songstress Reira in a huge hit movie: NANA -Live Action- in 2005, which brought her huge fame. NANA is shoujo manga written and illustrated by Ai Yazawa and has completely enchanted readers around the world. The Live Action version was highly-anticipated and made millions. Her debut was kept a secret from the public, which kept everyone wondering - who is this Yuna Ito girl whose supposedly playing and singing the part of Reira, an extremely talented vocalist with the voice of an angel?

She’s had a fairly good career thus far. Her debut single (Sept. 7, 2005) ENDLESS STORY (Reira starring Yuna Ito) peaked at an impressive #2 on the Oricon charts, selling 467,000 copies. Her second, Faith/Pureyes peaked at #6, selling a mere 56,000 copies. Her third single, Precious, brought her back up a bit to #3 with 211,000 copies. Her fourth (stuck on you) and fifth (losin’) single, however did not sell as much. The second half the to NANA -Live Action- movie is coming out soon, as will Yuna’s sixth single Truth (Reira starring Yuna Ito).

I’m still in love with ENDLESS STORY and the b-side, JOURNEY is a great song as well, though they give off a bit more of a poppish sound than I would have though TRAPNEST (the band that Reira is part of in NANA) to be. Faith/Pureyes was not as good as ENDLESS STORY, but it would have been very difficult no matter what single, because Yuna recieved a lot of praise for her debut single. Precious is a really beautiful song, but the two b-sides were only so-so. I have to admit, I’m not much of a fan of stuck on you, but I do like the b-side, These Boots are Made for Walkin’ and its variation (actually, I like the variation more). I’m really disappointed in the sales for losin’, because I really enjoyed the single and the b-side, Stay for Love, was also great. I haven’t listened much to Truth, so there’s not much I can say yet. I’m very excited for the second movie! Yuna wasn’t in the first movie very much and had one line - in English. Reira plays a much bigger part in the second part - I can’t wait to see how she acts.

It’s been over a year since her debut, so here’s what I want to know - when’s her album coming out? Her sixth single will be released in only a few weeks, but as far as I hear, there’s no plan for a studio album. Hopefully, at the beginning of the year, we’ll hear something about Yuna’s debut album.

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